How To Make Your Home More Environmentally Friendly

Start At Home.

We’re all trying to do our part to reduce our carbon footprint and become more eco friendly. Maybe you’re biking more or using a reusable water bottle everywhere you go, and these are great! But have you thought about the impact your home is having on the environment?

Our homes are one of the biggest environmental impact items that we have control over. And now, with the majority of us working from home, it has an even greater impact than normal. But the problem is, your home is where you relax and unwind, too. It’s not the place to feel inconvenienced every 5min to have a very minor impact on the world, is it?

This is not to say that we should only make choices that are easy to make- the easiest choice would be to continue doing what you’re doing right now. And that’s not enough, is it? But if you start implementing changes that are unsustainable for you and your family, it’s too easy to give up altogether when just one is beyond frustrating. That’s why it’s important to choose the things that will make you stretch, but not make you snap.

So here are some suggestions that you can choose from to help reduce your home’s environmental impact. They aren’t overly expensive changes like solar panels, and I’m not going to ask you to get rid of your AC. I want these changes to be something you can maintain easily and barely notice. Without further ado, here are five easy changes to make your home more environmentally friendly:

1. Replace Single Use Kitchen Plastics

Ziploc bags and cling wrap will soon be things of the past. There are so many companies making reusable versions of these products now that you have plenty to choose from. They’ve improved immensely, to the point that I actually prefer these items for a lot of uses. Some of my favorites include companies like Stasher Bags, who have microwave & dishwasher safe bags that seal up air tight. They come in a ton of colors and shapes and you can write on them as well.

Net Zero Company has stretchy silicone lids- great for storing meals or baked goods. It’s extra helpful if you, like me, lose the lids to your tupperware faster than you lose socks in the dryer.

2. Invest in a Toaster Oven

Do you use your oven often? I bet some of those uses are for small meals or heating something up more evenly than a microwave can do. Did you know that a toaster oven can do most of the same things as a full size oven? If you’re heating up something smaller, using a toaster oven means less square footage to be heated up. According to Energy Star, “Cooking a meal in a toaster oven has the potential to save over 50% of the energy used to cook the same meal in a conventional electric oven”

So the next time you’re heating up something that could fit in your toaster oven, try that instead of your oven. It often takes less time too, as an added bonus!

3. Replace Paper Goods with Bamboo

Did you know that bamboo is the fastest growing plant ? It’s actually a grass, so it doesn’t require replanting when it’s cut down and grows much faster than the trees used for traditional paper products. It also requires a fraction of the water to make the same amount of product.

Bamboo is also naturally antibacterial and doesn’t require a bunch of added chemicals to make it usable as toilet paper or paper towels. You really can’t go wrong with bamboo products, the benefits are numerous. They’re strong and soft, require less water, less land, less chemicals to process and are better for the environment. What’s not to love?

4. Compost

I have to admit, I was skeptical of composting. I thought it’d smell and I’d for sure put in something I wasn’t supposed to and screw it up. But six months later, I am so glad we finally took the leap. Not only does it not smell, but as an added benefit it’s helped reduce our plastic trash bag use drastically.

We’ve tried to find better trash bags, but could not find anything with the strength of regular plastic bags. This is one of those no compromise things for me. Standing in a pile of smelly trash in the middle of my home, ripped bag in hand, on the verge of tears, is not something I wish to repeat (yes, repeat). So until I find a better alternative, plastic trash bags are one change that isn’t realistic for me. Which means that removing the need to use these bags by putting a lot of my trash into the compost instead is phenomenal.

Check out one of the many local compost companies around the Front Range that make composting easy for you, with ample drop off sites and 24/7 access.

5. Replace Bathroom Items

I love a hot shower, it is one of my favorite ways to unwind. Extra hot with all of my favorite good smelling products. But a lot of the products we use in our shower, or the bathroom entirely, can actually hurt the environment well after when we use them.

Thankfully microplastics were banned in 2015, and those bans are in full effect now. The Microbead-Free Waters Act bans plastics in things like exfoliators and toothpastes that are smaller than 5mm that would normally go straight down the drain, too small to get filtered out. This was a huge win for the environment.

But there’s also the plastic used for bottles and containers in the shower. Instead of buying liquid shampoo, try a shampoo bar. No plastic, since they’re wrapped in paper, and they’re generally much better for your hair. They also last a long time and take up less space when shipped to stores because they’re so dense. Instead of typical toothpaste containers, try a chewable toothpaste alternative that comes in a reusable glass bottle and paper refill packs. They still clean your teeth excellently and have whitening versions as well. The bathroom is packed with ways to reduce plastic and waste without great inconvenience!

We usually consider home to be the four walls you sleep within every night. But Earth is our home too, so finding ways to take care of it will pay off long term. The small choices we make can have a huge effect over the course of our lives. Here’s a quick summary of the methods we talked about:

• Single use bags→ Reusable durable bags

• Traditional oven→ Toaster oven

• Paper goods → Bamboo goods

• Filling plastic trash bags→ Compost

• Liquid shampoo→ shampoo bars

• Plastic tube toothpaste→ Toothpaste chews in a glass bottle