You might be a small person on an enormous planet, but every individual’s effort to help protect the earth really does combine to make a difference. And there’s plenty you can do right from your own home. Just a little thought and planning means you can do your bit, reduce your carbon footprint and keep your conscience clear. As an added incentive, many of these will save you money too! Here are some of the things you could be doing at home which will all play a role in helping the environment.
Buy Greener Products
When you buy from a company which is kinder to the environment, you help to create a demand. This means more products that are made in this way, as opposed to From low VOC paint which is less damaging to the ozone layer, to mattress companies which use recycled, natural and organic materials. In fact, you can find a detailed review of the top 3 selling mattresses from My Green Mattress here. Instead of buying from traditional companies which burn fossil fuels and create products that emit chemicals that harm the ozone layer, research into more eco-friendly companies instead.
Switch To Energy Saving Bulbs
Switching your light bulbs is a quick and easy way to both save money and help the environment. Energy saving bulbs demand much less electricity, meaning fewer fossil fuels are burned to power them. They also last far longer- many years in some case. So although they’re more expensive to buy up front, they’re far cheaper in the long run. And less changing bulbs when they blow too, which let’s face it is annoying. Especially if you have high ceilings!
Make Eco-Friendly Upgrades
One of the eco-friendly ways you can upgrade your home is by adding insulation to the walls and roof. This helps to trap warmth, meaning less power is being used when you put your heating on. Another way is by having solar panels installed. Since solar power is renewable energy from the sun, there are no fossil fuels being burned. This means no damage to the environment. Both of these will reduce your fuel bill too.
Recycle
One of the ways we, as humans, damage our environment is with waste. When things are thrown away they’re either sent to landfill or sent to be incinerated– both methods are incredibly bad for our planet. Waste in landfill sites emits harmful chemicals and greenhouse gases both into the air and into the ground. Incinerators burn waste which too releases harmful gases and chemicals into the environment. When you recycle, waste can be effectively re-used and so isn’t being disposed of through either of these two methods.
Compost
You might already do your bit by recycling, but why not take it a step further and compost too? Here all organic matter can rot down and be used as fertilizer in your garden. It reduces the amount of material that’s sent as waste to landfill or incinerators, and you get the added bonus of free compost too. Fruit and vegetable cores and peelings, teabags, egg shells and even cardboard packaging such as boxes and toilet roll tubes can go onto the pile.
