The hope of transforming your home into a more eco-friendly place is not as difficult as it seems. While you may be totally focused on doing the big things like switching to solar power or geothermal, there are actually some little stuff you can do, which in turn will help you make your home greener without having to spend a lot of money. After all, the concept of going green likewise includes saving money, right?
1 – Start ditching common household cleaners.
Perhaps you don’t know it yet, but you can actually replace traditional household cleaners you buy at the home improvement store with green cleaners. By doing so, you’re not just reducing your contribution to Earth’s waste but you’re also minimizing the exposure of your family to allergens found in the chemicals that make up those cleaners. In order to find out which products are green, read their labels and see if they are plant-based.
2 – Take a look at your insulation.
Remember that your insulation plays a very big role on how you consume energy at home. This means that if you don’t have proper insulation, you’re most likely going to spend a bit more on your annual energy use. The purpose of upgrading your insulation is to prevent the likelihood of leaks coming from the ducts, doors, windows, ceilings, and even your walls. If you’re taking this step, you will realize later on that you actually can save about 30 percent in your annual energy bills.
3 – Keep everything you wear outdoors outside.
This includes your shoes. Although you might not feel there’s a difference when you leave your shoes at the door or place them inside, you should know that when you do the latter, you might be bringing stuff like chemicals, car exhaust and fuel, and even pesticides. All those things could prove nasty to your health and energy use when they get inside the living and is distributed via the heating and cooling systems.
4 – Minimize waste by embracing the habit of donating stuff.
If you have so many spare clothes and other stuff this year that you no longer use, you can donate them instead of throwing them all away. By doing so, you’re actually contributing to the minimization of carbon emissions. If those clothes find their way to the waste landfill, they end up adding to the already serious waste problem in this world.
5 – Cook safer.
Transforming your home into an eco-friendly place does not only mean you save energy and minimize waste production. It also means you get to use things that are safer than what you’re used to. For instance, you can begin using cast iron and/or stainless steel pots and pans when cooking. Although non-stick varieties are the trend these days because they help you reduce your use of oil and are more convenient to clean, they actually can be a fire hazard and the coating, when scraped, can blend with the food you’re cooking.
6 – Do away with pesticides and buy sprays.
Finally, pest control at home does not have to be about killing the pests. If you want to live green, you need to change your strategy from cure to prevention. This means that you need to do away with bug sprays and poisonous pesticides to eliminate roaches, ants, flies, rats, bed bugs, and other pests. Instead, you should focus on keeping your property clean and make sure there are no food sources, which gives reason for pests to inhabit your home.
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