Every person on earth has a responsibility to leave the environment better than they found it. When it comes to homeownership, you can reduce your carbon footprint at a greater rate than many others. If you own a home and want to make the property more eco-friendly, here are a few tips to get you started.
Install Solar Panels
The first thing you can do to make your home more eco-friendly is install solar panels. Switching from gas or electric power to solar will help reduce your carbon footprint and make your home more sustainable. When you power your home from the sun, you lessen your need for harmful power sources like fossil fuels, which damage the planet. Additionally, solar panels for home can lower your monthly electric bill and save your family hundreds of dollars every year.
If you can’t afford a full roof full of solar panels, even one or two can make a difference in your home’s sustainability. The less you can rely on traditional means to power your home, the better off you are when it comes to keeping your home eco-friendly. Just a couple of residential solar panels can drastically reduce your energy costs and help you live a more planet-conscious life.
Plant a Sustainable Garden
The next thing you can do to make your home more eco-friendly is to plant a sustainable garden. Almost every home in the world has a lawn of some sort. This is usable, healthy soil wasted on growing plants with no purpose other than looking nice and wasting water. Rather than devoting resources to maintaining a grass lawn, planting local wildflowers for pollinators can help create a more sustainable future.
Depending on your space, you may be able to plant a food garden as well. A few veggie plants will not only help local pollinators, but also give you and your family access to organic produce at a reduced cost. When you grow your own food, you can choose how you treat pests and condition the soil. If you want to go fully organic, you can do so for a fraction of the cost than you’d find at the store. By planting a garden, you can benefit both your family and the nature around you.
Limit Plastic Waste
Finally, you can make your home more eco-friendly by limiting plastic waste. This step involves your family more than the home itself, but it’s equally as important. As much as you can, reduce the amount of single-use plastics you bring into your home. If you can swap plastic items for glass or ceramic, you can get many more uses without the environmental damage that comes with it.
While living a completely plastic-free life is difficult to impossible, reducing the amount of plastic you use is entirely attainable. Simple substitutions like metal or glass straws, reusable Keurig cups, or shampoo and conditioner bars can help make your home more eco-friendly.
Overall, reducing your carbon footprint is an admirable goal. With these tips, you can keep your home eco-friendly and sustainable.
