Reducing your carbon footprint at home can seem like a big task. It needn’t be a case of throwing out everything you own and buying the most eco-friendly products and appliances you can find. In fact, it is the complete opposite of that.
A great place to start is to make sure you keep on using everything you own for as long as possible negating the need to buy new. Stop buying products you don’t need because you want them and start looking at ways you can reuse what you have and reduce your household waste.
Here are 3 easy ways you can reduce your carbon footprint at home:
Repair, Don’t Replace
It can be so easy to go down the disposable product route, but this is part of what is harming the environment. The more that goes to landfill, the worse the situation gets. So resist the urge to buy cheaper, throwaway products and opt for items that will last you for years to come.
The same with your appliances. Only replace when absolutely necessary. Opt for a Stove Repair, refrigerator repairs and so on over buying new. This will be better for the environment as it saves more unused items being discarded. If you do plan to buy new, look for high efficiency rated products that use less energy and look to rehome your old appliances or offer it to a company that can salvage it.
Upcycle Old Furniture
After a new look for your home? Then why not update what you already have. Aside from being a great way to reduce your carbon footprint, it will also save you a lot of money.
There are so many tutorials online to help you. Set out in a step by step way to makeover your home and give it a fresh new look for a lot less than buying new. As before, if you do choose to buy new, look to donate your unwanted good to others who need it or want to upcycle it for future use.
Learn to Reuse
By simply cutting down on what you buy and choosing longer-lasting reusable products, you will already be reducing your carbon footprint. Go a step further by coming up with new uses for unused items around the home. Reuse them instead of putting them in the refuse pile to end up in the garbage.
Old clothes you don’t wear can be remade into smaller items for children, and children’s clothes, in turn, can be used for dolls or teddy clothes. Or even rags to use to clean around the home.
How about a memory blanket? Stitch together all your child’s old outfits and create a lovely blanket that can be used for years to come. Head over to Pinterest to find some patterns to help you get started.
Apply this same thinking to other items around the home and see if you can reuse anything instead of throwing it away and see how close you can come to living a zero-waste lifestyle.
Do you think you have reduced your carbon footprint over the past few years? Let us know in the comments below!
