The pandemic may have had a positive effect on the environment, but this shouldn’t stop you from making your own contribution to helping the environment. While you can change your lifestyle to benefit the environment, the best thing you can do is make your entire home eco-friendly.
Here are some changes you can make to make your home eco-friendly.
Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle
This is a no-brainer. The three Rs of environmental protection is a good place to start. Reduce your consumption by asking yourself if you really need something that you see in the store. You should also check if it has a real purpose or you are simply buying it on impulse.
If you lean towards buying it, you can also ask yourself if you can reuse it. For instance, you’re buying a bottle of mayonnaise. You can use the bottle for something else after you consume its contents. You should also avoid throwing away things if they can still be used. A wine-stained shirt can be repurposed into a cleaning rag.
Recycling should also be on your mind if you have no choice but to buy something made out of plastic. But remember, not all plastics can be recycled. So, you should check the plastic resin identification code of the product. Products with codes 1, 2, and 5 are normally recycled. Plastics with the codes 3, 6, and 7 are not normally recycled. On the other hand, plastics with the number code 4 can be recycled sometimes.
Start a Garden
You can also start a garden in your backyard if you didn’t start one already. A garden allows you to have a fresh supply of vegetables for your table. Since you’re the one who’s growing the plants, you’ll know that the plants were grown without using chemical fertilizer.
Gardening also has another benefit for people who are staying home due to the pandemic. It can help you improve your mental health. It helps reduce the feeling of anxiety and depression. Tending to a garden also reduces the risk of heart disease. It also gives you the chance to get your daily dose of vitamin D since you’ll be working on your garden outdoors. So, starting a garden is not only an eco-friendly thing to do, but it’s also a way to keep yourself physically and mentally healthy.
Make Your Own Cleaning Products
Making your own cleaning products can save you money. It also allows you to know what’s in the cleaning products you made. There are a lot of resources online where you can find procedures to make your own cleaning products. These products normally use components that you can find in your kitchen, like vinegar, baking soda, and lemon rinds.
Set Up a Solar Panel Array
Setting up your own solar panel array at home allows you to produce your own power using a renewable resource. Using solar energy as your source of electricity can help reduce your electricity bills. If the solar array is set up properly, you can earn tax credits from the local and federal governments.
But the biggest benefit of having your own solar panel array at home is that it will help save the environment. You may think a single household will not make a difference in environmental protection. But if your neighbors notice the benefits you’re getting from your setup, they may think of setting one up themselves. And the more people using solar power for their energy needs, the lesser greenhouse gases are produced. And it started with your solar panel array at home.
You should also make sure to get a suitable home battery for your solar panel to store the power you need. It should be big enough to store power to last a night or two and small enough to fit the space you set aside for it.
Take a Shower
People are still debating whether a shower is more economical than a bath. But this would depend on how long it takes for you to shower along with your bathtub size. If you have a huge bathtub that takes several gallons of water, it will be more costly than taking a five-minute shower.
A five-minute shower normally uses up to 25 gallons of water. In comparison, a bathtub normally requires around 70 gallons of water. This clearly shows the advantage of taking a shower compared to taking a bath.
But if you’re planning to use the shower for a longer time, you may want to rethink it if you want to have an eco-friendly household.
Being conscious about the environment doesn’t always mean going out with a sign telling people to save the planet. It can start in your home with the different things you do to ensure the environment is protected. These benefits from these small things aren’t only limited to the environment since you also get to save money along the way.
