The home is your refuge. It’s the one place in the world that has your back. When the rest of the world is on your back, the home is somewhere where you can kick back, unwind and truly be yourself. But in an environmentally conscious age, your home is also something else… An opportunity. It’s a place that allows you to make small but incredibly meaningful lifestyle changes to ensure that you make the world a better place. Still, while we all want to do our bit to help the environment, none of us is made of money. In a post-crisis economy, we work hard for every penny we have and become extremely gun shy when it comes to our spending, especially when we don’t see the immediate value in it.
Fortunately, however, many of the best things that we can do for our planet can end up paying for themselves by reducing waste and energy usage (without detracting from your own sense of style). For example...
Rethink Your Roof--
We all know the benefits of double glazed windows and doors to save the environment and your hard earned money. But did you know that you can also lose a lot of the heating you’re paying for through your roof itself. Firstly, take a good hard look at your attic insulation. If you see damp patches or evidence of animal infestation such as droppings or teeth marks you may need to replace your insulation. But even the roof itself can be upgraded to make your home more eco friendly and cost effective by changing to a metal roof. There are lots of reasons to consider metal. As a natural conductor, it’s well placed to seal in the heat from your home, while reflecting the sun’s rays rather than absorbing them so that your home stays cool in the summer. Thus, you save money on heating and AC. Plus metal roofs are usually made of entirely recycled materials and can be completely customized to your specifications and style.
Light up for Less--
We all want to have a bright beautiful home, but there’s certainly no need for us to spend a fortune on lighting it. Not only are traditional filament based light bulbs 90% inefficient (only 10% of the energy they create is light energy, the rest is heat) they don’t last very long and are not recyclable. Compact Fluorescent Lights (CFL) on the other hand last far longer, while using far less energy and they can even be recycled at local recycling centers. Of course, if you’re looking for completely carbon neutral and low cost lighting, be sure to make use of the natural light your home gets for as long as you can.
Stop Using Cleaning Products--
That’s not to say that you should stop cleaning. However, we’ve been conditioned to believe that we need a different bottle of environmentally damaging, chemical based cleaners for every surface on every room. This is, in fact, nonsense. There’s nothing that expensive cleaning products do that can’t be accomplished by a combination of spirit vinegar and water or a paste made from water and baking soda.
1 comment:
This was great to reead
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