No matter why you want to remodel your home, you know it’s going to take some time and money to do it, which is why you need to plan for everything well before you start. However, other than making financial arrangements and scheduling everything, you should also take into account the environment. Namely, making your renovations greener and preserving the planet is not just a fad, but a necessity, as is making your new sustainable home, so take a look at these smart tips for fixing up your home with eco-friendliness and sustainability in mind.
Recycle and Repurpose Building Material
Salvaging anything that can indeed be salvaged throughout reconstructing your home can save you money and keep the world safer and cleaner. For instance, in case you’re tearing a whole wall down, perhaps the remaining brick can be used to build a patio adjacent to your home, which would be an ideal area for dining or simply relaxing with your family and friends.
Another way to make the best of reclaimed brick is to build a garden path. If you’re pulling out your hardwood flooring, you can turn it into panel slats on your walls, a fence in your backyard, or table tops for one or more of your rooms. You can even reuse the existing faucets when fixing up your bathroom or kitchen. Of course, there will be some material that you can’t repurpose, so make sure you donate anything that’s still in good condition, and take the rest to an appropriate recycling facility.
Don’t Replace All of Your Furniture
It’s completely understandable that you’re sick and tired of the furniture you’ve had for years and years and that you want to revive your living space with brand new things. Even so, you should refrain yourself from buying everything you want. Instead, only buy what you actually need and avoid adding waste to the already overflowing landfills. Simply repainting your kitchen cabinets can turn your kitchen into a completely different room, and investing in some fresh cabinet or drawer knobs can turn an old-fashioned piece of furniture into a modern and stylish one.
When it comes to chairs, armchairs and sofas, just because they’ve been with you for a while, it doesn’t mean that you should dispose of them. You can recover them and give them a new life by replacing their upholstery. Simply find a reliable and well-stocked fabric store with a wide and colorful range of premium upholstery fabric and pick the perfect design for your living room or dining room. Whether you’re into stripes, floral or animal print, you can find what you need and redesign your dull and outdated furniture into something new and exciting.
Choose Green Building Features for More Sustainable Home
There are some building features that can make your home far more sustainable. For example, you can equip your roof with solar panels both to reduce your electricity bills and be eco-friendly, or you can create a green roof for improved air quality and rainwater management, but also better insulation, which means that you’ll decrease the energy necessary for cooling and heating your home. Next, opt for windows that will increase the energy efficiency of your home.
This means that they allow plenty of natural light into your living space, so that you never have to turn on the lights during the day. In addition, top-quality windows will provide you with proper insulation and lower the amount of energy used for heating during the colder months and cooling during the summer. Such windows may cost more to obtain and install, but they will pay off in a while. Not only are they a greener option, but they will contribute greatly to the comfort of your living space, as drafty rooms in winter months can make staying inside your home extremely inconvenient.
Cut Down on Water Usage
If you’ve already decided to take on a home remodeling project, make it count by making the right adjustments to reduce your everyday water usage. One excellent example is purchasing a smart dishwasher, since handwashing your dishes is far less effective and requires more water to do. Another good idea is replacing your toilet tank with a low-flow one or with a dual-flush model.
Quite similarly, low-flow shower heads are an efficient way of controlling how much water you use every time you take a shower. Perhaps you could consider an environmentally friendly water system, such as a rainwater tank, which can collect water that you could later use for flushing your toilet, watering your grass or even doing your laundry. This would cut the water consumption in your household significantly, which would make this a wise investment.
Making your renovation greener and creating a sustainable home can benefit you and the planet tremendously. After all, you can’t expect the humanity to advance and life on this world to improve if you’re not ready to do your part to make it happen. So, if you’re readapting your home, do so with the utmost respect and concern for ecology and be the change you want to see in the world.
