Creating a beautiful home for your family is an ongoing project, you’ll want to get the interior design work right, create a safe place, and to keep your home eco-friendly. With these top ideas creating an eco-friendly home needn’t be a chore.
1. Choose eco-fabrics
When we are decorating our homes, we need to pick out plenty of fabrics. From sofas to curtains, cushions and tablecloths, be sure to choose fabrics that are eco-friendly. A few options include:
- Soy cashmere: Soy fabric is made using soybean hulls; these hulls would otherwise go to waste in food production. Soy plants have minimal impact on the environment during the growing process, and they are also compostable. Soy cashmere is well regarded for its UV resistance and antibacterial properties.
- Bamboo: Bamboo absorbs a large amount of C02 during the growth process; it also produces lots of oxygen. One of the great things about bamboo is that it does not need fertilizers or pesticides to grow.
- Hemp: Hemp requires far less water to grow when compared with alternatives such as cotton. Hemp fabric is biodegradable, and the plant enriches the soil as it grows. You’ll find that hemp products are durable and long-lasting.
2. Conserve water
To create an eco-friendly home, saving water is a real-must. There are several ways that you can save water around the home; a few ideas include:
Water-conserving toilets: To save water, try installing a dual flush toilet. These toilets allow you to switch between a low volume flush and a high volume flush. With a bigger trapway, you’ll also find that these toilets are less prone to clogging.
Rainwater collectors: Rainwater is a useful natural resource that you can use around the home. You might like to use rainwater as a ‘backup source’ or even as your primary source of water. Rainwater is perfect for washing dishes, clothes, or to water your garden.
Water-conserving apps: Try using water-conserving apps such as Dropcountr. The app lets you connect to the utilities around your home, providing you with helpful data about your water usage.
3. Sustainable renovations
When you’re planning to renovate your home, ensure that you commission sustainable building and design work. To ensure an eco-friendly renovation it’s important to work with sustainable architects. Working with sustainable architects arrives with many benefits, including reducing your carbon footprint, saving money on energy bills, improved comfort, and modern design work.
Speak to the architects about the possibility of adding solar panels to the roof, this can save you money in the long run and cut your energy bills by up to 50%. If your architect thinks it would benefit you and the house then you should contact your local solar company so they can come round and give you a quote.
4. Grow your own vegetables
Growing your own vegetables is just about the best way to create an eco-friendly home. Teaching your children to grow their own food is a great way to equip them with self-sufficient skills and eco-friendly values. What’s more, gardening is a great source of home entertainment for kids. You can check out trimthatweed for a great guide about how to plant a vegetable garden
First off, you’ll need to create the perfect compost pile. It’s important to use an equal amount of brown materials and green materials. Brown materials include paper, leaves, and wood, while green materials include grass, vegetable waste, and manure.
To help you start growing, try using the ‘My Garden Organizer’ app. With this application, you can manage your vegetable garden by creating a list of all your vegetable beds. When you add a new bed, you can put in the cultivar and planting date to stay organized and make progress!
This is a contributed post and therefore may not represent the views and opinions of this blog or its author.
