Today, many homes and businesses are moving towards sustainability due to the benefits of adopting an eco-friendly lifestyle. Becoming more sustainable helps save our planet for current and future generations, save money in your home, and keep your environment safer and cleaner.
Living sustainably at home primarily involves optimizing energy efficiency and minimizing wastage, reducing water usage, and waste recycling. These measures help protect the planet, slow climate change, and promote a healthier ecosystem.
Additionally, sustainable lifestyle choices at home can improve personal well-being, save money on family utilities, and maintain a clean and clutter-free home environment.
Whether you are already adopting sustainable lifestyle practices in your home and family, or you are just considering it now, you will see some practical ways to go sustainable in your home now.
Benefits of Living More Sustainably at Home
Living more sustainably at home has many benefits some of which have been highlighted earlier. To recap and expatiate, here are some benefits of living sustainably in your home.
- Reduce running costs in your home
- Keeps your environment clean
- Reduce pests and rodent nuisance
- Reduce exposure to harmful chemicals and pollutants
- Preserve local natural resources and combat global warming
- Give a sense of responsibility to the planet
- Increase property value in case you want to sell your home
Effective Ways to Live More Sustainably at Home
The above further emphasizes the importance of living more sustainably in your home. Imbibing this culture to every member of your home can enhance your family’s resource efficiency in terms of energy, water, material usage, and organic material consumption.
Now we see some effective ways to live more sustainably in your home.
1. Reduce waste generation
Reducing waste generation is one of the first ways to live more sustainably at home. This involves limiting how much you dispose of as waste in your home. It also involves limiting how many products you purchase in your home.
Understanding this principle of sustainability makes you realize clearly that not everything needs to be disposed of. On the aspect of reducing purchases, the more gadgets, equipment, etc. you have, the more your waste generation will be. And when they break down, these products or items could potentially become waste in your home and home surroundings.
So, before you think about purchasing another similar product to your home, or disposing of a waste material, consider if you truly need the new product, if the old product can be reused or used for something else, and if the waste material to be disposed of can be converted to another useful item in the home.
2. Reuse old materials
Reusing old materials is another effective way to live more sustainably at home. It involves using an item several times or for a different purpose after the initial use.
Take for example, disposing of a plastic can after a single use would increase the overall energy cost of processing the waste at the dumpsite. It can also increase your cost of purchasing new products every time. But if you and your family reuse such reusable products, it not only helps you minimize costs but also reduces the energy burden while also reducing the potential of adding litter to the environment.
In the example of reusable plastic cans, you can use them to store other liquids in your home instead of disposing them right away. Other examples involve putting usable wood planks, metal sheets, and carpeting to use as sheds, outdoor and indoor tables, benches, etc, or calling a residential dumpster rental when making a home renovation to help move your household waste to other people who may be able to reuse them.
3. Prioritize recycling
Recycling is simply the process of converting waste materials into new products or materials as a sustainable way of reducing waste disposal and creating value from waste. Recycling emphasizes the need and possibility of changing old materials into new raw materials.
For example, old newspapers, magazines, and cardboard can be collected, processed/recycled into new paper products like notebooks, tissues, or paper packaging materials. This process helps reduce the need for cutting down more trees, conserves energy and water used in paper production, and prevents waste buildup in landfills.
Many people are opting for recycled products because they are cheaper and also give you a sense of responsibility to the planet, which is what sustainability is all about; preserving the earth for current and future generations.
4. Consider composting
Composting is a sustainable approach for converting organic waste into compost (organic manure). Instead of indiscriminately disposing of waste food and leftovers, you can intentionally collect them into your compost to make organic manure for your garden.
Composting diverts organic wastes from the landfills where they would otherwise be decomposed anaerobically to produce methane gas, a potent greenhouse gas that contributes significantly to global warming and climate change. Methane is the major component of natural gas and can also be captured from landfills for cooking.
Composts can be used to fertilize the soil for your home-grown plants/crops and to improve the soil structure, acidity, and moisture retention needed to maintain a healthy green environment and a symbiotic ecosystem.
5. Start a family garden
Another great way to live sustainably in your home is starting a family garden. Having a garden in your compound can enhance the aesthetics of your home environment. You can also get food and fruits for consumption by your family, friends, and neighbors.
Gardening is a sustainability practice because planting trees and crops helps increase the environmental oxygen supply and mop up carbon dioxide, another greenhouse gas. Your compost can also be put to use in your family garden, thus creating a sustainable balance between food and waste.
Gardening also saves you the stress of always having to go to the food store for everything you need in your kitchen when you can easily get some from your garden. You can grow basic plants and herbs like lettuce, oregano, rosemary, basil, and fruits.
Also, by putting excess land to use, it preserves it from erosion and desiccation. A home garden is a great way for your family to live sustainably while deriving significant benefits from your farm.
6. Optimize your home’s energy use
Optimizing your home’s energy is a sustainable practice because it helps minimize your home’s energy consumption and energy costs. Many people spend a significant amount of money on energy costs yearly.
Opt for energy-efficient and eco-friendly appliances, minimize carbon fuels as much as possible, plan towards clean and efficient energy sources like solar home electricity, and regularly service old equipment to ensure that they are still functioning optimally. These can help reduce your home energy costs while preserving the environment directly or indirectly.
For example, instead of relying solely on your home’s heating and air conditioning system (HVAC) to maintain your home temperature at all times, set the thermostat at a cooler temperature than usual in winter or a hotter temperature in summer while complementing the rest using additional layers of clothing or blanket during winter, and fans/natural ventilation during summer. This puts lesser energy strain on your HVAC units, as well as reduces emissions from them into the environment.
7. Turn off or unplug your appliances when not in use
As little as it may seem, turning off your appliances or unplugging them when not in use is an effective way to live more sustainably in your home. It reduces the potential for energy loss, prevents energy radiations, and prevents sparks and electrical accidents in your home.
Turning off your light bulbs and electrical appliances when not in use reduces energy consumption and saves energy costs for you and your home. Add this to your family practice if you want to live more sustainably in your home.
8. Minimize water wastage
Water might not be the scarcest commodity on the planet but some people don’t have access to quality water. Whether you have a large water tank that can serve you and your entire family, water wastage can affect you in ways you could never imagine.
Minimizing water wastage can help reduce the energy cost of pumping water into your water tanks, reduce electricity costs, as well as prevent excess water from clogging parts of your home and surrounding.
Take shorter showers or bathe from the bucket, turn off taps when not in use, and fix broken pipes or leaky taps as soon as possible. Also, softening your domestic water source can help prevent soap wastage, water wastage, enhance your washing machine efficiency, and prevent the development of boiler scales which can destroy your pots and kettles.
By adopting these measures, you can live more sustainably with your family.
9. Practice upcycling
Upcycling is slightly different from recycling. It is the process of converting waste materials into new products with better quality or value without changing the form of the material. While recycling involves first breaking down the old material into a new raw material, upcycling simply remodeling the same old material for a different use.
For example, instead of disposing of old clothes, you can re-sew them into new fashion items and clothing accessories. Also, you can convert condemned jars and bottles into decorative jars, vases, or storage containers. Another example involves turning used tires into outdoor seats or playground equipment.
Upcycling is a creative and innovative way to live more sustainably at home. It is an efficient way to reuse materials and products in your home to reduce waste and minimize costs in buying new things every time.
10. Donate unused belongings
Donating unused belongings is another way to live more sustainably at home. Giving your unused items to people who need them can divert them away from the landfill, and declutter your living space by getting rid of them to those who might need them.
Allowing something to go to waste is a loss of value, but allowing something that could be used by someone else to go to waste is even worse. When you donate your unused belongings to other people, not only does it help your environment but it also helps foster good relationships with people.
Final words
Living more sustainably with your family requires you to understand the importance of energy saving, waste reduction, waste value creation, recycling, and upcycling. With these, you can enjoy the benefits of living sustainably with your family.
Have you faced any challenges with trying to live sustainably at home? Share with us in the comments below and tell us how you were able to surmount them, or how you plan to surmount them.
