It is undeniable that the climate of the earth is undergoing rapid change. With average temperatures soaring every year and ice caps melting, it has become a matter of grave concern for everyone. With so much effort already being made to reverse the climate change, what can we do to be more environmentally friendly?
Every individual has a part to play now in saving the environment we live in. How we design our homes to be more environment-friendly has a huge impact on the climate too.
From our homes to workspaces, everything needs to be redesigned, keeping in mind the impact we make on the environment. Many commercial places are now taking this as a social responsibility and ensuring to include some methods to make their buildings and open spaces more environment-friendly. Instead of constructing buildings one after another without any scope for vegetation, they are now finding out new ways of planting trees and gardening on high rises.
Modern designs and some conviction on your part can help you make your home much more eco-friendly and reduce its impact on the environment. Here are four ways you can make your home more environmentally friendly.
Install a water tank
As the environment gradually changes, the biggest crisis that most people are going to face is a shortage of consumable water. Every year, several big cities across the world suffer from water crisis during the dry months of the year.
This water crisis needs a solution at the grass-roots level itself. If every household could save some water from being wasted every day, we could reduce the environmental impact. How then do you save water with the help of your home’s design?
Rainwater harvesting integrated into your home’s layout can be a great way of saving some precious water. All you need to do is to collect the rainwater falling on your terrace or roof and channel it to a storage tank on the ground. This water can be used, even without any treatments, for a variety of uses. You can use it for washing, cleaning, or watering your plants. If you want to go one step further, you could also filter and treat this water to make it drinkable.
Make use of solar power
Now that solar power has become an almost mainstream source of electricity generation, it won’t be difficult to integrate it into your home’s design. Many countries nowadays encourage homeowners to opt for solar power rather than depending entirely on the grid’s supply. You can power certain portions of your home using solar panels while other, heavier appliances can run on grid supply.
Solar panels produce zero emissions, and modern solar panels are much more affordable too. This can help you reduce your impact on the climate by a huge amount. Even if you cannot go full solar, there are appliances that individually run on solar power, such as solar cookers, solar water heaters, or solar-powered grills. While you’re at it look for ways to reduce your energy consumption. Replacing old florescent light bulbs with energy efficient LED lighting is a great place to start.
Using some of these at your home will also take you a step closer to your goal.
Reuse as much as you can
We sometimes have a tendency of thoughtlessly bringing home certain articles that we cannot use more than once. These include plastic cutlery, plastic wraps or carry bags, plastic water bottles or straws and many more similar items.
Single-use plastics are one of the most dangerous threats to our environment currently. Articles that we use at home can be reused usually, and there is no need to buy plastic products for home use. Go for reusable products instead, such as metal straws, metal cutlery, water bottles, cloth bags or other such items. There are many new innovative products these days that are both reusable and eco-friendly. Try buying more of such products for your home.
Reduce chemical use in cleaning
Most cleaning products that we use today are nothing but harsh chemicals that are extremely harmful to the environment. These acidic cleaning agents are washed-away and absorbed by the soil or dumped into water bodies, polluting your environment.
Instead of using these chemicals, use natural products like vinegar, citrus fruits or soda for your day to day cleaning. These are almost equally effective and harmless too.
About the Author: This article is written by Luci Aldrin, a part time writer for Conservergy and full-time conservationist. She guest writes for a wide range of publications surrounding environmental sustainability and energy conservation.