Running A More Eco-Friendly Home
With more focus than ever on our environment, more and more households are becoming conscious of the impact they’re making towards global warming – which is very much real. So how can you make a difference? Well here’s how you can run a more eco-friendly home and hopefully make a contribution to helping, rather than harming the environment.
Stop The Water
We use a lot more water than we probably admit to using and that might be the amount of time we spend in the shower to how many baths we have a week. But even the smaller things like brushing your teeth and leaving the water running can be a waste of water. Being conscious of your water usage is certainly going to help the environment so try to take more showers than baths. When you take showers, try to limit your time. If you own a dishwasher or washing machine, reduce your loads or pack in more so you don’t use it so often. And the most simple one is to turn off the water while you brush your teeth!
These small steps will end up helping both the environment and more importantly, your water bill. And if you’re looking for the perfect furniture to make your bathroom more eco-friendly, definitely check out Blindstyle’s bathroom range.
Opt For Layers Over Heating
Blasting on your boiler is nice during the cooler months, but sometimes it might be better to add on layers and snuggle under your duvet while watching tv. It not only helps you save money on your heating – and let’s admit, it’s expensive to do so. But you’ll be reducing your carbon footprint in the process. There’s also something very satisfying about having a duvet day on the sofa, so indulge yourself! Heating is important, but you should just use it to take the chill off your home. Wearing more layers costs you nothing and doesn’t impact your environment.
Install A Smart Meter
With technology becoming smarter than ever, many households now install smart meters in order to monitor their usage of energy. During the year, it’s important to see how much energy you are using. Being able to see this through a smart meter will actually help in you cutting back on your usage because you’ll be seeing the amount it uses and therefore the cost of it. It’s like for those who pay their bills on a meter. You can see what it is exactly that’s running your funds down, and you then end up making a conscious effort to make that money stretch further. Smart meters can also control your heating and therefore allows you to program your heating for certain times of the day or week and some even adapt to what you input. It ends up learning what you like and then reduces it where it can to save you money. Talk about clever technology!
Talking about technology, you may want to consider investing in solar panels. These are the latest in energy-saving as they turn sunlight into clean electricity and if you have enough of it, you can be completely self-reliant on it. This can end up saving you a lot in household bills as no one can charge you for it. Solar panels are a long-term investment so it’s something you’ll want to install when you are in a property that you see yourself in for the rest of your life.
Insulate Your Home
Insulation doesn’t have to be costly, and it has major benefits for keeping your home warm and saving you money. If you haven’t already got insulation in your home, there are plenty of options available to suit all budgets. The best insulation points are in your walls and in your loft space if you have access to one. You can also provide insulation to your windows and doors too. Buying some heavier curtains or thermal blinds are great for stopping the heat from getting out through the windows. You can also get a draught excluder to go along the bottom of your doors to prevent any cold air getting into the room.
If your windows are double or triple glazed and if you have the budget, you may want to invest and replace them with more efficient versions. The same goes for your doors both externally and internally.
Recycling Is Key
Recycling is the most important aspect of being good to your environment and, you should be making an active effort to dispose of your waste properly. For example, InSinkErator is still the preferred choice for disposing of food waste, especially when some areas don’t supply separate bins for food disposal. Ideally, you want two bins, one for general waste and one for recycling. Depending on where you live, you might want to keep your glass separate as there might be commercial, public bins nearby where you can divide your recycling specifically.
A lot of products nowadays are also made from recycled products, so make an effort to buy more products that are made from recycling. This helps the cycle continue, and you’ll be happy knowing you’re not impacting the environment any further.
Make Cleaning Products Naturally
A lot of cleaning products are made from chemicals which can be harmful to the environment and also for you and your household. However, a lot of natural products that you find in your home can be great for cleaning. Natural products like vinegar, citric acids and bicarbonate of soda are all capable of breaking down stubborn grime and bacteria in your home.
Chemical products are only going to end up getting washed down into the water supply which means the water will take more in order to become safe to use again. And these natural household products are much cheaper, so it’s much more financially beneficial to go natural!
Being eco-friendly can sometimes be harder than we think, but we have to remember that we’re leaving this world and leaving it for future generations who’ll depend on it. So, all need to do our bit to keep our planet as green as it can be for as long as we can.