5 ways to go greener throughout your home

If you’re wondering about how to go greener in your home, I have some simple ideas for you. It can feel overwhelming to do everything at once, so the key is to start small.

Why not pick just one room in your home and try putting a new habit in place? The next month, add a new one, and so on. By the end of the year, you’ll have a whole new sustainable lifestyle!

Kitchen

One of the easiest ways to reduce your carbon footprint is to eliminate food waste. This is especially good because you’ll save money too. Writing a meal plan is a a good start, as well as finding a couple of recipes to use up leftovers – adding cooked rice and veggies together can make a great lunch. Writing a shopping list – and sticking to it- and never shopping when hungry are two more ideas to help you reduce your food waste.

Bedroom

Often a very neglected area of a family home, it’s actually very important to enjoy the time you spend in your bedroom, given that we spend so much of our lives asleep. And talking of sleep, what about the actual bed? It’s important to keep air quality good and a simple thing to do is get some houseplants. Not only do they put oxygen into your room, but they can remove pollutants too. Next time you decorate, be sure to use low VOC paints and when choosing bedding, opt for natural fibres such as organic cotton.

Bathroom

The bathroom is the best place to think about conserving water. Taking a shower instead of a bath is the obvious one, but there are other simple ideas too, such as turning the tap off when you brush your teeth or switching to a low flush toilet.

Living Room

Our living area often attracts clutter and with all the makeover programmes on TV, we’re urged to keep things for a short time before throwing away. But you don’t have to be so wasteful. You could get stuck into upcycling old furniture so that you get a new look for a fraction of the cost, and without creating any waste. And if you are buying new, scour antiques shops or second hand places first, before then looking at FSC-certified furniture.

Garden

Whether you have a garage, a shed or just an area of ‘stuff’ that needs sorting through, there are lots of things your neighbours might love or you could recycle from your garden area. Some councils take old paint for use in charity projects. Steel recycling is easy enough to arrange, simply search online for a recycling firm near you – some will even by the excess materials off you for cash! Even car batteries can be recycled at your local household recycling centre.