Living in an Eco-friendly Home: Is it Worth it?

All this talk about climate change has got everyone on their toes. Imagine radical changes in temperatures, abnormal occurrences of natural disasters and other catastrophes. We hear of strong typhoons in areas where there were none before, snow in places for the first time ever, melting glaciers that rose the sea level higher and many others.

Climate change is being taken seriously now by everyone. Well, maybe not everyone. But those who care deeply for the environment hold as their advocacy, environment protection and conservation.

You might be one of those who have a deep concern for the environment. You know of some big words such as carbon footprint, renewable resources, sustainability, recyclable materials, green building and others. Merely knowing them is not enough of an effort in protecting the environment but it is a start.

Because of this, you feel that you have a limited capability to contribute to the global effort of protecting the environment. Or, so you thought.

Here’s the good news, every little thing counts much.

Make Your Home Eco-friendly

You don’t have to launch a big campaign to be called an advocate for the environment. Neither are you required to exert gargantuan efforts such as staging a massive rally protesting man-made destruction of the environment.

Start in your own home.

Let your own effort domino to all the members of your family, your neighbors, friends and colleagues. That is how you can contribute to environment protection.

Easier said than done. But, it can be done.

The Road to an Eco-friendly Home

In your effort to do significant things for the environment, you probably would want to make your home Eco-friendly right away. Do you have to tear down your existing structure and build a new green building of a home? That could be ideal but may not be necessary at this point as it can cost too much.

You have to remember, an Eco-friendly home is more than just the structure. It is the lifestyle of the whole household. Here are some ways for you to get on the road to an Eco-friendly home:

Replace your light bulbs with LED bulbs

How is an LED bulb eco-friendly, you might ask. For starters, it has no mercury and it produces less heat. Thus, it is more efficient and energy saving as it produces more light with less heat. That, adds to the bulb’s longevity, meaning you don’t need to replace them as often compared to the traditional incandescent bulbs. Accompany that with the habit of putting off the lights when the room is not in use.

Conserve water

The first step to take in conserving water in your home is to check for leaks. You may not take too seriously a dripping faucet in your home thinking that it’s just a drop a minute. But if it’s going on like that for several hours then just imagine the volume of water that you could have saved and put to good use than just let it down the drain.

Another no-brainer thing to do to conserve water is to avoid running tap water when you brush your teeth. Using a cup or glass when brushing can help you save water.

Install setback thermostat for your heating and cooling system

If you don’t have this yet, better get one. You can save greatly in energy bills when you do. With a setback thermostat, you can program your heating and cooling system, such that they will work less or none when there are no one in the house and start to work again a little prior to when you come back.

Use a recycle bin

There are a lot of things or waste that can be recycled – Bottles, paper, milk cartons and some other domestic wastes. If you have a recycle bin, you tend to be serious about segregating your recyclable wastes for how will you maximize its use if you aren’t.

Make your own compost

Kitchen waste? You can make full use of them. Get for yourself a compost bin where you can throw all your food scraps in and create your own fertilizer. Yes, you can turn your waste into another one’s treasure. This time, for your plants.

Plant a vegetable and herb garden

You may now have your stock of fertilizer or compost that you can mix with your soil that will be great food for vegetables and herbs. Start with the vegetable and herbs that you use frequently. This will also be a way to live sustainably by growing your own food.

Use cold water in your laundry and skip the dryer when you can

What can add to your rising utility bills is your use of your heater when washing your clothes and using the dryer. Using the cold setting will allow you to reduce carbon emissions that will pollute the air around you. Not only that, you will also get to save your clothes from fading their colors.

When drying clothes especially during summer, try to line-dry them under the heat of the sun and the warm breeze.

Install a water filtration system

You have to remember that one of the major contributors to the global waste is the single-use plastic water bottles. When you have a water filtration system, you will have clean water from your tap. The filtration system here doesn’t only refer to the complicated system for the whole house. You can go for the faucet attachment, under-sink filter, countertop filter, pitcher filter and others.

DIY your home cleaning products

When you look for home cleaning products in stores, you certainly would be appalled by how expensive they can get. Health is wealth after all. But if you are somewhat strapped for cash and would want to save more money, then go the DIY way. Common pantry items such as baking soda, vinegar, cornstarch, lemon juice, oil and salt can be cheaper alternatives. You can also make your own solution as there are several recipes that you can get over the internet.

Is it Worth Going the Eco-friendly Way?

Others may have this notion that the eco-friendly way is going the costly road. You may not feel its positive impact right away. It may seem like a big investment at first but in the long run, you will see how much savings you can get while doing your part in protecting the environment and the quality of life for your family.

Think of it as your way of preserving a quality life for yourself, your children, and for generations to come. So, is it worth it? If it’s for a quality life for everyone, then yes, it’s worth it.