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These days we are all called upon to be as green as we can be when it comes to our everyday lives, so that means we recycle where possible and try to cut down on waste. However, we could also apply these green habits to our environment, designing our homes to be as eco-friendly as possible. There is one major advantage to going green in the home, and that is it can save you money too. In some cases, quite a lot of money. However, adopting a green way of living also provides an excellent example to our children, teaching them how to appreciate the planet they live on and to be aware of the value of money. Read on for 4 great eco-frendly ways to green your home for a better future!
1. Making a Green Start
Windows are a great place to start with in the home. If your windows are looking a little worse for wear, consider having them replaced with energy efficient windows that have special coatings designed to reflect the heat of the sun and provide insulation. This way, the rooms in your home will keep cool in the summer and retain the heat in the winter, keeping cooling and heating costs down. Make sure seals are tight and work efficiently by installing window shutters as dressings rather than curtains or blinds. Consider replacing small windows with larger ones to take advantage of as much natural daylight as possible, obviating the need to have artificial lights on during the day.
2. Paint by Numbers
Make your home healthier by using paints on the walls that have no or low volatile organic compounds (VOC’s), or opt for wallpaper instead. You can also use other eco-friendly wall coverings such as ceramic or cork tiles, or even recycled wooden panels. These will also add texture and interest to your walls – giving your home an overall unique look and feel.
3. Friendly Furniture
Turn your back on man-made, synthetic materials for your furniture and embrace natural materials instead. Wood is the prime resource for furniture, and solid wood, such as furniture made by Ercol, is not only extremely hard-wearing, making it suitable for most uses, especially those suffered by a big and busy family, but you can also find wood that is sustainably harvested. This is especially true if you ensure your wooden furniture is FSC-certified. This is a stamp that certifies the wood has been sourced from sustainable forests and is a great ethical as well as environmental choice.
4. Bring Nature Indoors
This is a simple touch, but bringing foliage into the home can add beauty and interest to rooms and also help to improve the quality of the air. Plants will remove harmful chemicals from the air by performing a natural filtration. A great plant to use in this way is the Aloe Vera plant, as it also develops brown spots on its leaves when pollution levels get too high in the home.
Turning your home into a green haven will not only help to create a healthy and peaceful environment for you and your family but will also benefit the planet, and there are not many things you can say that about these days.
[…] By Jennie […]