Easy Ways to Make Your House More Eco-Friendly
There is something of an ecological revolution underway at the moment, as public approval for sustainability and eco-friendly solutions is higher than ever before. As news regarding the climate crisis grows ever grimmer, it becomes more and more important for each household to pull their own individual weight in combating greenhouse gas emissions. But what can you do to make your home more eco-friendly?
Install a Smart Meter
Smart meters have been available to households for some time now, but a recently-introduced government initiative requires energy suppliers to offer smart meter installation to their customers’ homes for free. Installing a smart meter won’t make your home inherently more eco-friendly, mind; it will simply tell you exactly what energy you’re using, and how much it costs.
Having this information to hand can be very motivating when it comes to changing your energy usage habits, though. Being able to monitor your usage, and the cost incurred by leaving your kitchen light on, will incentivise you all the more to keep vigilant for any wasteful usage.
Go Solar
The best way for any household to reduce their carbon footprint is to reduce their reliance on conventional energy supply – something that has become increasingly more accessible with the development of commercial green energy solutions such as solar panels. You could install solar panels on your roof and invest in a home battery, enabling you to harvest your own energy without burning fossil fuels.
If you can’t afford the up-front costs of getting solar panels installed, there are still some shorter-term measures you can take to reduce your energy usage and take advantage of solar technology. For example, you may find yourself trailing fairy lights out to the garden in the summer for decoration or for entertaining friends; instead, you could install solar-powered outdoor lights, and save on your home’s electricity usage as a result.
Insulate Your Home
Perhaps the single most impactful passive intervention you can make to your home’s sustainability is the installation of proper insulation. Cavity wall insulation can create well over a tonne of carbon dioxide savings per year, making for a powerful way to reduce your home’s carbon footprint. Meanwhile, updating your roof insulation can reduce heat loss, bringing down your usage yet further.
Change Your Habits
Lastly, an often-overlooked way in which your home can rack up emissions is in the purchases you make on its behalf – from appliances to furniture and other homeware items. By altering your buying habits, you can create a more sustainable home with less retail-related impact on the environment.
One of the better ways to do this is to shop second-hand for furniture and appliances. Charity shops are an excellent place to look for these, as are local online marketplaces. In buying appliances second-hand especially, you are limiting your consumption of rare earth elements, both the extraction methods and the disposal of which are harmful to the environment.
What's Your Reaction?
