Making your home eco-friendly today is easier than ever, thanks to a plethora of technological advancements and changes. Today, virtually anyone with a little DIY know-how can substantially reduce their impact on the environment without disrupting their lifestyle: at least, not too much. From lighting and blind upgrades with Lutron to ensuring that you have a whole new home cinema set up, you can transform your home. Choosing the right transformations to add a little eco-friendliness to your home is never a bad thing and it’s only going to serve you well.
But how should you go about transforming your home? Let’s take a look.
Install Rainwater Harvesting
These days, rainwater harvesting has come a long way from collecting water in a tarpaulin in your backyard and then pouring it into ugly plastic buckets. Instead, most systems now integrate into your existing roof and guttering system. Instead of channelling water to storm drains, these fill large tanks, often built into the ground. You can then use the water they collect for watering plants, showering, or washing clothes.
Switch To Low-Impact Materials
All materials used to construct your home come with some environmental impact. However, the degree of damage they cause to the natural world varies tremendously.
Traditionally, homeowners would install wood flooring, tiles, and glass to be environmentally friendly. However, today, there are even better materials available. For instance, marmoleum is similar to vinyl but doesn’t contain any synthetic materials, such as PVC. Therefore, it is significantly safer for global ecology.
Other popular materials, such as bamboo, help to reduce deforestation. This material grows rapidly and uses a small amount of land in relatively marginal areas.
Encourage Biodiversity With Landscaping And Ponds
Loss of biodiversity is one of the biggest threats to the Earth’s biosphere. Losing too many species could lead to cascading extinction events and even threaten humanity itself.
Therefore, we each need to do our bit to preserve biodiversity on the patches of land we own. You can do this by planting a range of plant species in your yard, offering food for birds, and setting up “bee hotels” to encourage more pollination. Adding a pond will encourage ever more species to enter your garden, making it easier to reconstruct a functioning web of life.
Build A Green Roof
Installing a green roof is challenging, but also possible if you have the right home for it. The process involves installing soil and turf on a flat roof and then allowing nature to take its course. Green roofs increase the total surface area life can use to thrive on your property.
Install A Smart Thermostat
Smart thermostats are another powerful way to reduce your energy usage, thereby reducing the amount of CO2 emitted into the atmosphere. They work by carefully monitoring how much energy your home uses and then adjusting accordingly. Over time, you’ll notice your bills start to go down and your energy usage reduces considerably.
Improve Insulation
Another option is to improve the insulation in your home. Adding foam sheeting to your attic and pumping your cavity walls full of material can help to retain warmth and prevent it from escaping.
You should also invest in insulating your basement. Cold ground can have a refrigerator-like effect on your entire home unless you keep it out with a thick layer of padding.
Disclosure: This is a featured post.