From colleges and universities to global conferences and now even in homes, people are becoming more aware and conscious of the eco-friendly environment. Where the government is taking steps to make the environment green and eco-friendly on a larger scale by reducing harmful emissions and activities, people are also putting their efforts in small personal ways to play their part in making their surroundings greener and less harmful to breathe in. it is not always difficult neither costly to make your environment eco-friendlier. You can simply start by investing in more plants and recycling your waste materials. Also, it is not mandatory to implement change from something big, you can start making an effort for your environment from your home. If we give a look at the bigger picture there are so many ways, some are big and some are small, with which we can help others as well as ourselves to make our home and environment more sustainable.
The article below highlights a few creative and easy-to-implement changes with flexible budget options, which can make your surroundings more eco-friendly for you and for others.
1. Smart Meter
In the winter seasons, our heating systems and boilers are one of the biggest sources of energy consumers in our homes. It is very easy for most homeowners to leave their heating systems on all day long to make their place warmer but it has a lot of adverse effects not only on the environment but also on the utility bills. One of the easiest ways to look into the mentioned issue is to install a smart meter at your place. These gadgets are designed in a way that you can set them up with special settings, i.e., they can turn on the heating systems at instructed times only. For example, if you set the timer of a smart meter in a way that It can turn on the heating system and boiler 2 hours before you reach home then you will have a warm environment at your home when you will come back from work, or you can also turn it on a while before you wake up in the morning. On the other hand, a lot of energy will be saved by not keeping it turned on for the whole day. This smart gadget is useful for those who want to reduce their energy consumption and also for those who want to keep an eye on their monthly utility bills and want to reduce the cost.
2. Roller Blinds or Honeycombs over your Windows
As mentioned in the first point, heating or cooling systems are one of the major reasons which causes a lot of energy consumption in our homes which ultimately leads to increased utility cost. As per some evaluations, heating or cooling systems contribute around 45% to 55% of total energy consumption. Another major factor which triggers the usage of heating or cooling systems is the windows. If your windows are not properly installed or insulated, then it will lead to more heating or cooling leakage. If this is the case, then your Coolers or heaters will have to run for a longer time period in order to maintain the required temperature for your place. A very easy solution to this issue is the installation of roller blinds or honeycombs over your windows. These blinds or combs will act as window insulators and will create a blockade between your window and room which will keep your place cooler in summer and warmer in winter. Another major benefit of these honeycombs and roller blinds is that they provide more privacy than a simple old-fashioned window with control over light i.e., homeowners can flip the blinds and combs as per their choice to let the desired sunlight pass through.
3. Compost Your Food Waste
Every person ends up with some leftovers after every meal to throw away, no matter how efficiently they eat. The most eco-friendly and efficient way to throw this trash is to throw it in the bin of compost instead of throwing it in the trash bin. Research and a lot of studies have shown that disposing of food waste in landfills is one of the prime reasons for methane emissions. But, on the other hand, composting the waste material is one the most effective ways to prevent food decomposition and the release of harmful greenhouse gases into the environment. It is one of the most low-cost things which every person can do but the impact will be bigger. In many countries, governments have now taken the initiative and created multiple compost locations for the ease of people so that people can throw their food waste materials easily into compost bins instead of landfills.
4. Green Detergents
We have all been using multiple floor cleaners and detergents for so many years and we have never even thought about the damage and negative impact that these products are creating on our environment. When we wash down these products and send them to the drainage, then drained water mixes up with the water supply and it takes a lot of effort, hard work, and energy to clean and filter this water and make it chemical free at the treatment plants. There are a lot of other easy-to-make and simple solutions to this problem that you can use in order to make your cleaning products more eco-friendly. These include vinegar, lemon juice, and bicarbonate soda which you can use instead of using processed washing powders and cleansers. Mentioned natural and homemade products kill germs and also make your house dirt free with a fragrance of lime. By doing this, you can put a little effort into making your surroundings greener and eco-friendlier without any heavy investment.
5. Low-Flow Toilets
As we all know, toilets consume a lot of water and analysis has shown that 35% of the whole residential water consumption is because of the toilets. A normal toilet consumes about 3.5 to 6.5 gallons of water at every flush. These old-fashioned toilets not only result in the waste of a lot of water but also make your water utility bills higher. In order to make your toilet water consumption less, we recommend installing low-flow toilets. This modern toilet technique is designed in such a way that they take very less water from the local water supply pipes and use as little as 1.5 gallons of water per flush. This shows that installation of low-flow toilets can save up to 2.00 to 3.00 gallons of water per flush which will not only preserve water waste but also it will have a major impact on your monthly expenses by reducing your overall water utility expense.
6. Reduced Consumption of Paper Toilets
This is true that we cannot 100% omit the usage of tissue paper or paper towels in our home toilets and kitchens. But we can definitely reduce our consumption to a very minimum level. Research and studies have shown that the waste of paper towels and tissue papers results in more carbon emissions and footprints in the environment than the other technologies. Engineers and designers have now designed & developed a lot of other replacements for old paper towels such as air hand dryers etc. As it is not feasible for every homeowner to install such modern technologies in their small toilets and kitchens and obviously these gadgets require a one-time investment, therefore, the most effective and eco-friendly way is to use cotton towels for hand drying purposes. These Cotton towels can reduce your contribution to the carbon footprints in the environment by almost 50 – 55 percent with no high investment.
7. Turn your Ice Maker Off
Most of the people leave their ice maker on for the whole day while we all know that we do not consume dozens of ice cubes on a daily basis. As per the research, this small ice maker can increase your energy consumption by 20 – 25 percent if left on 24/7. Increased energy consumption means increased carbon emissions into the environment. Therefore, we highly recommend turning off this gadget when not in use, and it would be better to turn it off completely. Instead of using an ice maker, just buy a few ice cube trays and freeze as much ice as you need on a daily basis. This small effort will result in low energy consumption by your refrigerator and obviously will have a minor impact on your energy bill.
“Go Green and Breathe Clean”. In the article, we have highlighted 7 very easy-to-adopt and low-budget options which do not require major investment to play your role in order to make your surroundings green and eco-friendly. If you are looking for someone to guide you with a variety of other eco-friendly options for your home, then IND Construction is all yours to guide you through. IND Construction has a team of experienced designers and engineers who are working on eco-friendly projects on a daily basis. They can make your green imaginations and thoughts come true with flexible budget options.
You made a good point when you mentioned that recycling waste materials is a good way to become more eco-friendly. Would it be a good idea to invest in biodegradable plastic bags? I would imagine that using this kind of bag would help you reduce the amount of plastic waste that ends up in the environment.