Making your house more eco-friendly sounds like a lot of work, when actually it can be extremely simple and budget friendly too. Since becoming a parent, I’ve become more tuned in about how important protecting our planet is for future generations. Of course, we can’t save the planet from environmental toxins alone, but by lessening our homes impact on the planet is definitely a great place to start.
Together we can really make a big difference to our planet, which is why I’m sharing some of the things that I have put into action to help create an eco-friendly home.
Cut Down Your Plastic Use
Millions of people buy bottled water, but because they recycle they’re convinced that they aren’t polluting the environment. Wrong! I thought exactly the same thing. BRITA have conducted research into how many single-use plastic water bottles Brits use each year and it turns out to be 7.7 billion. That’s a lot of water bottles that’s contributing to polluting our seas and wildlife, to increasing the use of water and CO2 to make the bottles in the first place. Drinking filtered tap water or using a reusable bottle is much kinder to the environment.
BRITA have teamed up with the Marine Conservation Society on The Plastic Challenge to help cut down the use of single-use water bottles that are damaging our oceans and are harmful to the resident wildlife.
Put Your Waste Back Into the Soil
I’m guilty of putting my kitchen scraps in the bin, rather than on the compost heap. Many of the things that we throw away are actually compostable and can be used to fertilise the soil to help grow healthy plants and vegetables. Keeping things like vegetable and fruit peelings and eggs shells out of the landfills prevents them from creating methane gas which is a major contributor to global warming.
Recycle as Much as Possible
There are so many environmental benefits to recycling, yet there are many of us that aren’t doing it. We’re very enthusiastic about recycling in our house and it’s nice to know that we are doing our small bit for the environment – it doesn’t take that much effort at all! One of the major advantages of recycling is that it reduces the amount of green house gases in the atmosphere that contribute to global warming.
Update Your Light Bulbs
Simply by switching the type of light bulb that you use in your home can make it more eco-friendly. Instead of the traditional light bulbs that waste lots of energy, opt for LED bulbs that will dramatically reduce the amount of energy your house uses for light. Even better, make the most of natural sunlight, especially now that the days are longer and we have more daylight during the summer.
Insulate your home
Insulating your home is a major step in making it more eco-friendly. Not only will it cut the cost of your monthly energy bills, but it will also cut the level of energy that your house looses daily making it more energy-efficient.
Of course, there are many other ways to make your home more eco-friendly, but these are just some of the things that we have tried and have found them pretty simple to implement without having a massive impact on our routine. I really think that we can make a big difference to our planet’s future and it can be as simple as buying less bottled water.
How eco-friendly is your home? Do you buy a lot of bottled water?
*This post was commissioned by BRITA, but all opinions are my own.
Lovely tips. I try to recycle as much as I can now.
Recycling is a massive way to help the environment.
I need to make more of an effort to put old food scraps on the compost heap. My parents always have but for some reason it’s the one thing I always forget to do.
I’m exactly the same. I was really surprised that egg shells could be composted.
I used to buy a tonne of bottled water when I was younger. Now I know the horrible effect it has on the environment I am a re-fill bottle person all the way!
These are some great tips listed. I think it is so important for us to try and be more eco-friendly and help ze planet!
When I have a garden I am totally going to do the food scrap thing too 🙂
Absolutely! We’re responsible for the planet and the state that it will be in for future generations. It’s really important that we pay attention and look after it.
It’s so important for us to make more of an effort to do this, as past generations haven’t and it’s up to us now!
Very true! We have to do our bit for the future generations.
I feel good that I do these tips already lol. I use some fruit peelings for my plants too, helps the leaves to keep green and healthy 🙂
It’s amazing the effect they can have and I love that it means re-using food scraps.
Great tips I never thought about plastic drinks bottles like u say u think its ok as u recycle them. I think I need to get a new reusable bottle.
I thought the same thing! I was so surprised to learn about all the damage they can cause.
I do recycle all recyclable material in my house, but I have to say I do buy bottled water so I guess that’s something I need to work on. I just know that tap water is filled with so much crap, I’m not sure a Brita water filter is strong enough to remove. I am planning to install a tap filter soon so that will definitely cut out my bottle water consumption. Great tips!
The amount of impurities that are in our water is shocking isn’t it!
And scary!
Brilliant post, I’m always keen to be as eco-friendly as I can. My husband is actually in the process of insulating our back room, which is always so cold!
That will be lovely in the winter then. I bet you will notice a big difference after all the insulation is installed.
I definitely need to put more effort into being more eco friendly. I do try but sometimes I get a bit lax.
I think it’s very easy to get a bit lax about these things, but something is better than nothing.
Some great tips here. I’m trying to stay good to the environment, although it can be tricky at times x
This is something I’ve been thinking a lot about. I like that most of these ideas can be applied to renters as well. 🙂 Thanks for the ideas
Really useful post, you’re so right, the little things add up don’t they? I recently bought a Hydratem8 bottle and I love it SO much, it nenourages me to drink more water and is eco friendly of course – hurrah!
Excellent suggestions! I’m a terror for chucking my veggie peelings and stuff into the bin instead of recycling it!
I am MAD on recycling. My family think I’m crazy but I literally go hunting in the bin if someone’s chucked a bottle or tin in…. Oooops!!!
Great post. I recycle as much as possible and I mix and match using a brita filter and bottled water.
I am not sure about the new place I have moved into but my old place used eco friendly lightbulbs. We had a compost heap too.
I try my best to recycle as much as I can as I do use quite a lot of packaging x
I definitely need to make some eco-friendly improvements to our home. Recycling is something I have to prioritize. Cutting down on plastic use would be helpful.
LED bulbs last so much longer too- we switched them all over in our old house and then we didn’t ever need to replace them, whereas the old ones used to blow quite frequently.
I just use tap water- I can’t understand people buying water in bottles when tap water is perfectly drinkable. Our water is fairly hard so we do need to de-scale things like the kettle every now and then, but that doesn’t bother me.
This is a great post, reducing plastic is the one we struggle the most with!
These are fantastic tips on how to create an eco friendly home 🙂 I try to recycle as much as possible!
I’m composting our kitchen scraps since we started growing our own veg and it’s amazing how much less smelly the bins are come collection day. Some good tips here.
Great tips! It’s easy to do with simple everyday small choices.
Fantastic tips! We recycle as much as possible, put the waste back into the earth and compost a lot of things. We grow our own veg too and have water butts for watering them. I need to look at the lightbulbs though!
We were discussing getting an energy monitor last night – I think it would be quite addictive to see when our usage was going up. Can see us sitting in the dark before long! I need to get a water filter as we are using more bottled water than ever at the moment.
There are lots of great tips here. I definitely don’t buy water bottles (we have a Brita jug in the fridge) and I’m quite passionate about reducing food waste. We compost all scraps, but I’m actively trying to reduce the amount that goes into our council compost bin. Lovely post!
so many great tips – I am on it with recycling! x
Great tips! It’s so important to take care of the environment and a good way to start is with the home. Thanks for sharing!