Five Ways to Make a Sustainable Home

A sustainable home with solar panels.

When you’re a homeowner who has the environment on your mind, you probably want to know ways you can make your home more sustainable. The condition of the environment has never been more pertinent and climate change remains an existential issue. With a wide variety of ways to make your home more sustainable and decrease your carbon footprint, there’s no reason not to try your best.

Large corporations including agriculture, auto manufacturers, oil, and fossil fuel companies are responsible for a large portion of the environmental damage, but it’s important for everyone to do their part. Here are five methods to make your home more eco-friendly, sustainable, and efficient.

Install Solar Panels

One way to make your home more sustainable is to install solar panels. There are many ways to put panels onto your home to produce energy. There are even solar roofs available that don’t look like panels. There are solar tiles and solar shingles that both provide their own advantages. Not only can solar provide a great way to produce energy from the sun, you’ll even have the chance to store power or send it back to the grid for payment. If it is within your means, thinking about how you can benefit from installing solar panels is a good idea.

Recycle & Compost

It is also a very good idea to recycle and compost. Plastic bottles and paper should be recycled. Paper comes from trees, which are very important for the climate because they turn carbon into oxygen. On the other hand, plastic doesn’t degrade and should be recycled so that it’s made into other products. Composting is also important. You can take your food waste and use it as a fertilizer. This will help you grow your own food, which also decreases your carbon footprint.

Switch to Sustainable Products

Another thing that is very important is to switch to sustainable products. Looking into a zero waste store will provide quite a few options to make your home more eco-friendly. There are a wide variety of products that can help you make your home more sustainable. You can switch to plant-based utensils instead of plastic. Use bamboo paper products and toothbrushes. Reusable cotton rounds provide an efficient way to clean your face and wash off makeup. Eco-friendly straws are another option. If you open your mind to new possibilities you will be able to find new ways to make your home sustainable.

Thermostat & Heat

Heating is one of the largest uses of energy in your home. Investing in a smart thermostat and water heater will make your property more energy-efficient. These technologies provide the ability to change the temperature of your environment and water. You’ll be stunned about how much this can decrease your bills and save on precious energy. It will make going green easy.

Furthermore, your water heater could be set high. Sometimes you don’t need the heater to be at the temperature it’s at. A good way to test that is to turn on the hot tap on the shower or sink and if the water is unbearably hot, you can probably turn down the water heater—saving you money and energy.

Switch to LED Lights

If you are still using traditional light bulbs you are wasting a lot of power and are spending too much on the bulb themselves. LED bulbs last much longer and are more energy-efficient than incandescent bulbs, lowering your electricity bills and providing a way to cut down on energy use. Without replacing bulbs as often, you’ll save money on them. There’s no excuse not to transition from traditional light bulbs.

Living sustainably requires effort but it isn’t hard. If you are dedicated to making your home more energy-efficient and environmentally-friendly, there are plenty of ways to get it done. There are even more options than these, it all begins with changing your mindset. Dedicate yourself to making your home as green as possible by using these simple tips and finding your own methods to cut down on power, use sustainable products, and limit your use of water and heat. You will be doing your part to mitigate the impact we have on the environment. 

 Ryan Beitler is a writer, journalist, and blogger who has written about environmentalism and sustainability for a wide variety of products. 

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