Do you make much effort to protect the environment when you’re at home? Wasted energy, pollution, and rubbish that’s sent off to landfill or incinerators are just a few of the surrounding issues. But with a bit of care and planning, we can make our homes much more eco-friendly, and without even making any significant changes. Here are a few of the ways it can be done.
-
Start a Compost Heap
Composting is a something that anyone with a garden can do, and can really help you do your bit to reducing your carbon footprint. You can compost all kinds of waste products which mean less being sent to landfill or burned in incinerators – both of which are horrendous for the planet. That is when resource compost bins come in handy. Fruits and vegetables, egg shells, cardboard, and cuttings from your garden. Certain things shouldn’t be added to the pile as it can attract pests and affect the aeration of the pile. This can result in fungus which can prevent the proper rotting of the compost. So things like meat, dairy and cooked foods should all be avoided. As a bonus, along with helping the environment, it gives you free, high-quality compost to use in your garden as well!
-
Install Solar Panels
Solar panels help to cut your electricity bill and are a very eco-friendly upgrade for your home. Since sunshine is completely renewable, there’s no damage to the environment at all. There are lots of different companies out there, Semper Solaris is just one of them so be sure to do your research when deciding on the best ones for you.
-
Switch to Energy Saving Bulbs
Standard light bulbs are expensive to buy and don’t last for very long. Plus they use a ridiculous amount of energy, powered by electricity companies that burn fossil fuels. Bad for the environment, bad for your bank balance. Thankfully there are plenty of energy-saving varieties on the market. They can last up to twenty-five years and use significantly less energy. Once you’ve fitted these bulbs in your ceiling lights and lamps, you don’t have to think about them again for potentially two decades or more. So why wouldn’t you?!
-
Utilize Your Recycling Bin
Recycling is one of the best things you can do at home for the environment. Most homes or developments don’t have to drive anywhere or leave home to find a recycling center or bottle bank, these days many properties are issued a recycling bin. It’s no hassle to you whatsoever, but there are still too many people who don’t bother or don’t make enough of an effort. Make a conscious effort to put everything into the correct bins, and you help to do your bit for the environment.
-
Upcycle
Reusing an old piece of furniture instead of buying new helps the environment in a couple of ways. First, it means things aren’t getting sent to landfill. Second, every time you buy new you help to create a demand. More demand means more factories which of course is not good for the planet due to the burning of fossil fuels.
What do you do to ensure your home is as eco-friendly as possible?
Leave your tips or ideas in the comment section!
Shared on HEALTHY HAPPY GREEN & NATURAL BLOG HOP!
Shared on WASTE LESS WEDNESDAY BLOG HOP!
Shared on HEALTHY LIVING LINK UP!
Shared on OUR SIMPLY HOMESTEAD BLOG HOP
Very informative.Thanks for writing this piece. I learned a few things that will hopefully help me going forward.
Pingback: Homestead Blog Hop #120 - The Not So Modern Housewife
The only one of these I do not do is solar panels …. yet … but they will be added when we convert a small outhouse to our new kitchen! But I do all the others and more besides and blog about them once a week in a series I call #WeeklyGreenTips. I’d love it too if you would like to link up this post to my monthly Green link party #GoingGreen. So glad to have found your blog via #WasteLessWednesday!
HI Rosie,
So glad to know that there are more & more people in our world living green and caring about our home and planet. I will definitely check out your blog and link party. Thanks so much for letting me know. Have a healthy, happy & blessed day!
We do all but the solar pannels here…and we’ve even looked into that! Thanks for a great list.
Posts like this would be perfect for the Waste Less Wednesday Blog Hop. One is live now: http://www.skipthebag.com/2017/01/waste-less-wednesday-blog-hop-11817.html
Hi Katy,
Great to hear that you are helping our planet. Thanks for the blog hop info. I will check it out. Have a healthy, happy & blessed day!
What are “incinerators compos”? Is that a typo?
I’ve never had any trouble with cooked foods in the compost if they are plant-based foods like rice. We do sometimes see squirrels, birds, or even groundhogs eating from our compost, but the worst problem they cause is tipping over the bin (ours are giant flowerpots) and we can just set it up again.
It’s not actually true that “every property is issued a recycling bin” or even that everyplace offers curbside recycling. My parents live in a town in Oklahoma that quit offering curbside recycling and now has ONE place for 35,000 residents to drop off recyclables during hours that are inconvenient for 9-to-5 workers! I live in Pittsburgh, PA, where we have great curbside collection but not in bins: cans and bottles go in blue bags (available free from the major grocery chain) and paper and cardboard can be in blue bags, paper bags, or bundled with twine.
Hi Becca,
That was a typo error – The incinerators compose. I have corrected the error.
And you are correct not everyone has compost bins that is also and typo error. I now have reworded to what I wanted to say. You are also right that different areas of various ways of recycling some bins some bags, or other variations to recycle.
Thanks you for pointing our my wording mistakes and thank you for stopping by and commenting.
Have a healthy happy & blessed weekend!
I am a huge recycler and hardly produce any regular trash anymore, but wold love to focus more on composting. These are some great things to think about!
Hi Jennifer,
Recycling and composting be such a healthy practice for our environment and also our own health. Thanks you for stopping and commenting. Have a healthy, happy & blessed weekend.