Learn how you can create an eco-friendly home!

An eco-friendly home is an energy-saving and environmentally friendly home.

Let’s talk about some of the simple steps that we all can take in day-to-day living that will create not only energy savings for us but help contribute to the conservation of our environment.

It’s been an eye-opening experience for me to research the topic of an eco-friendly home. I’m about the middle of the road when it comes to environmental awareness, so I haven’t been living in a cave for the last few years. But, what I know and what I put into practice on a daily basis are two different things!

Here are some things I, and you, can do in our everyday living to help preserve our environment:

• • So simple, yet so effective…is to drink your coffee, water, soda, etc. out of a glass, mug, wide-mouth stainless steel, or BPA-free plastic bottle, whatever works for you. Just don’t use a throwaway cup, particularly styrofoam or an insulated, coated disposable coffee cup. I use a ceramic coffee cup and saucer at the office and wash them after each use. It sits on my desk waiting patiently to be used again. Actually, you could not convince me to drink coffee out of any other type of cup – it just doesn’t taste the same!

• • Switch to energy-saving bulbs. Most of us are aware of this, and no, my home is not lit with CFLs (compact fluorescent bulbs). But it should be because one of these little guys can prevent the emission of over 400 pounds of greenhouse gases. And, manufacturers are now creating CFLs that are warmer in color and cast a light that is more similar to the light bulbs we are accustomed to using, definitely a plus for home decorating projects.

• • Recycle all of your dead batteries. It is so easy to drop them into the garbage…who’ll know, right? But every battery you throw away could put more heavy metals and corrosive acids into polluting the air, soil, and water.
• Adjust your heating/cooling temperature when away from home, or at night. Use a programmable thermostat to control the interior temperature of your home so you don’t have to remember to make the adjustments yourself. Why keep your home cooled/heated when no one is there? It uses energy and costs you money. For a $50 to $100 investment, you’ll probably make that up within the first year. Take the time to ensure that your heating and cooling equipment is functioning properly, windows are caulked and airtight, ceiling fans are put to good use, and the simple but effective action of opening up the windows for some cross ventilation will go a long way to keeping your house cool on warm days.
• Lower the temperature on your hot water heater from 140 to 120 degrees. You could reduce the cost of heating your water by 6 to 10%. And, think about how pleased you’ll be when the utility bill comes and it has actually gone down!

These are just a few eco-friendly home ideas for you, to help you and me learn to live in an environmentally friendly way.

Eco-friendly home decorating opens up a whole new avenue for making decorating and design decisions:

• • Furniture – certainly re-purposing what you already own or purchasing from consignment shops is one way to furnish your home and be kind to the environment. But, there are sources available for home furnishing that use nontoxic natural glues, organic fabrics, latex foam, wool batting, and renewable woods.

• • Lighting – using CFLs (compact fluorescent bulbs) is certainly a huge step in the right direction. There are other actions you can take with lighting your home that will help create an eco-friendly home.

• • Flooring – options in sustainable hardwood flooring and area rugs are becoming more available to environmentally conscious homeowners.

• • Paint – create a beautiful and eco-friendly home with environmentally safe options, specifically low VOC (Volatile Organic Compounds) paint.
• Accessories– find home accents using materials such as recycled glass and reclaimed wood to create an environmentally friendly and global fair trade home.

If you put some effort and research into it, you can find sustainable products for just about every room in your home, from furniture to accessories, right down to cleaning products.

One small change added to another will help you create your own eco-friendly home!