Everyone of us today is more aware of our obligations to the environment than at any other time in our history. Eco-friendly options are everywhere, from the food and drink that we buy, to the homes that we live in. There are even environmentally friendly web browsers and search engines!
Every now and then we could all do with refreshing our surroundings a little. It’s amazing how much difference even the smallest changes in our home environment can make. Here are four home improvement tips that will ensure your next home improvement project is as green and eco-friendly as possible.
Use Reclaimed Materials
Recycling and reusing are two of the strongest weapons we have in the battle for our environment and its long-term survival. When you are undertaking any DIY projects for home improvement, ask yourself if you really need to be using the newest, shiniest, often most expensive, materials available. In many cases, you can get just as effective results by using recycled materials.
Reclaimed wood is one of the easiest reclaimed materials you can find, and it will make a huge difference in terms of both the cost, and environmental impact of your home renovations.
Don’t Demolish, Deconstruct
For many home improvements, you’re going to need to make yourself more space, or alter the space that exists inside your home. Rather than tearing things down, demolishing them and breaking materials in the process, try instead to dismantle and deconstruct in a non-destructive way. This will allow you to reuse as many of the materials as possible. This doesn’t just apply to walls, doors and other structural elements. Light fixtures and similar fittings can also be salvaged and repurposed elsewhere in your home improvements.
Hire Firms with Environmental Credentials
There is no doubt many aspects of your home improvements that you will wish to undertake yourself. After all, an obvious way of reducing your environmental footprint would be to avoid bringing in large amounts of mechanised equipment.
However, for the aspects of your home improvement that do require an outside firm, make sure that you check their histories and their previous approaches to environmentally-friendly construction. Incode Engineering are a great example of a firm with the experience and reputation to undertake eco-friendly home improvements.
Donate Unwanted Items
During any major home improvements, you will end up with plenty of materials, objects, and items that will need to be disposed of. An easy and obvious way to make your project more eco-friendly is to donate these where appropriate. For example, any spare materials you end up with that can easily be stored, you can offer to anyone else undertaking building work. If you have fixtures, fittings, and furniture that is otherwise going on the scrapheap, consider whether you could advertise it online and offer it to people in a similar situation for free. Habitat for Humanity are a wonderful organisation to approach.
Undertaking serious home improvements doesn’t have to come at a high cost, either to you or the environment. In fact, you will often find that the more you save in one area, the more you will save in the other. Following the above tips will therefore give you the best chance at saving money while saving the planet.
Article Submitted By Community Writer
