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This simple home improvement can be completed in a day or two and makes a huge difference to the sustainability of your home, and your energy bills. You’ll be recycling perfectly usable items, you’ll be supporting your local economy, and you’ll be saving money. These materials last much longer than their non-sustainable equivalents and are crafted from recycled materials, which translates to less of our planet’s natural resources being consumed. If you are taking a hot shower, the Alliance recommends collecting the normally discarded cold water in a bucket for watering plants or some other use around the house.
Here are eight simple sustainable home improvements that can be made to any property to lower its energy consumption and reduce expenses. When it’s time, replace appliances to energy efficient models (look for the “energy star” label). Unfortunately, millions of trees are consumed each year to create toilet paper. This not only worsens our climate crisis, but also endangers wildlife habitats and indigenous communities worldwide. Partaking in a regular energy audit can help you save money in the long run, reduce unnecessary energy use, and improve the quality of your existing energy output.
Choose Wild Energy.
When choosing new appliances always look for their energy-efficiency rating. Though lower-rated products may be a little cheaper, they will cost you more in the long run. This home improvement is a big investment, but it can make a tremendous difference. Generating your own electricity on-site makes huge savings on your electricity bill, and you can even sell any excess energy you produce to energy suppliers. In the right conditions, this home improvement can make you money not just save you money.
In fact, leaving unused devices plugged in can cost you up to $200 more per month, on average, in electricity. However, the truth is that electricity is often produced in power plants that use fossil fuels. Clean alternatives are available, but up until now they have been beyond the reach of most people. When improving our homes, we can ask ourselves if a piece of furniture we don’t need could be given a second life. Our Buy back and resell service is one way we’re making it more affordable to live more sustainably. According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, the cost of unused but plugged-in devices is around 19 billion dollars annually in the US and generates 44 million tons of carbon.
MORE SUSTAINABILITY INFORMATION
Cutting down on disposable, single-use plastic is a step towards a more sustainable home life and a step towards protecting our environment from harmful waste. Who Gives A Crap is a certified B Corporation that specializes in sustainable, biodegradable, septic-safe, non-toxic toilet paper that is tree-free and gives back. Who Gives A Crap donates half of its profits to non-profit organizations focused on building toilets and improving access to water and basic sanitation in developing countries. Each year, households discard 254 million tons of paper towels. Just like plastic, this unrecyclable paper chokes up landfills and creates needless waste.
How to save energy at home When it comes to saving energy, the little things can make a big difference. We have loads of products and tips to make your home more energy efficient. To maximize the impact of your donation, our partners on the ground will determine the most appropriate species of tree and shrubs. We only plant native tree species that will restore the local ecosystem, re-establish wildlife habitat, and reduce the likelihood of future fires.
GREEN UP YOUR DIET
We also want to enable people to make more sustainable choices and make it easy for them to reduce food waste, eat more plant-based food and to care for and pass on IKEA products. Bottled water companies try to give tap water a bad name, even though the water from your faucet is practically free and much city water has won quality tests and taste tests against name-brand water. And the extraction of water and production of all those plastic bottles is notoriously harmful to communities and wildlife.
Installing strips on the backside of a flatscreen television can bring light into a space without causing screen glare. Some systems can even work with your television to accentuate the viewing experience by mimicking the lighting on the screen. Dual pane UPVC windows help to retain heat in your home during the colder months and cool your home in spring and summer by keeping warm air outside.
Top Sustainable Ins...
Salvage and junk yards can be goldmines for cheap and easy-to-reuse materials that can be incredibly cheap to buy. Before you head to a big brand store to buy wood for countertops or flooring, look for reclaimed wood you can repurpose. Not only does this save you money, but it also saves the planet too. You can often find classic, old-school fixtures and fittings there too, including sinks and bathtubs.
Meat production is one of the most environmentally destructive industries on the planet, responsible for massive amounts of water use, pollution, greenhouse gas emissions and habitat destruction. You have three chances a day to improve the health of the planet — by reducing your meat consumption you can reduce your environmental footprint. Also, nearly 40 percent of edible food in the United States goes to waste -- wasting all of the natural resources that went into producing it. Prevent food waste with smart, planned shopping and creative ways to consume what you purchase.Learn more about how to adopt an Earth-friendly dietand Beat Food Waste. One of the best things you can do for wildlife and the planet, today and for the future, is to get politically involved in your community and at the national level. Urge your representatives to pass stronger policies to limit greenhouse gases, fight climate change, protect our wildlife and public lands and support access to reproductive health services.
The more sustainable you can make it, the more healthy your immediate environment will be! And implementing small shifts in your behavior, products, or consumption habits will ripple outwards to make a bigger positive impact for the planet. LED lighting also presents you with several aesthetic options that traditional lightbulbs cannot compete with. LED strip lighting can be installed on the underside of shelving for a fantastic look that adds a lot of style to a living room or home library.
Make sure your big purchases have big environmental benefits. Looking for ideas on how to live more sustainably at home? Watch documentaries about the food industry and environment. A few good ones are Food Inc., Our Planet, Before the Flood, and The True Cost. Before buying anything new, first check your local Craigslist, Freecycle, or Buy Nothing groups. Research whether you can sign up for local renewable energy from your utility company.
Use power strips to make it easier to unplug several things at once, and make it a habit to leave things that you don't use everyday unplugged. Home solar systems do not have to be installed on roofs, though it is preferable. Solar arrays can be built on flat land that gets a lot of sunshine, so if you have a large area around your home this can be a cheaper option.
If you’re resolved to add an element of eco-friendliness into your home this year, you’re in luck. More plant-based food options Our goal is that by 2025, 50% of main meals offered in IKEA restaurants will be plant-based and 80% will be non-red meat.
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