How to make your home more eco-friendly
31 January, 2020
How to make your home more eco-friendly
Surrey residents are more likely than those living in other parts of the UK to change their lifestyle behaviours to help save the environment. A survey by Modular Classrooms recently revealed that 60% of people in Surrey say they are prepared to make significant lifestyle changes from eating less meat to using their cars less. With that in mind, here are five ways to make your home more eco-friendly.
Get a smart meter
Keep an eye on your energy use with a Smart Meter. Most energy providers install them free of charge and watching the pennies go up on the gauge will soon make you more efficient at turning things off when they’re not in use or dropping the heating down a degree or two.
Insulate
The best way to instantly improve your home’s energy-efficiency status is to check your roof, walls and floors are properly insulated – combined, they can account for a huge amount of heat loss, and thus higher bills to pay. Equally, draughts are common culprits for this, so fit excluders around doors, windows and letterboxes. Consider covering any exposed hardwood floors with large area rugs to prevent air from slipping out through the cracks in your floors.
Go natural
Did you know mainstream household cleaning products are packed with nasty gases? Switch to eco-friendly brands or try natural products such as vinegar, citric fruit acid and bicarbonate of soda, which are very effective at getting rid of grime. Air fresheners (aerosols in particular) are especially harmful to the atmosphere, so try a natural spray alternative.
Buy a house plant
Studies have found that having a leafy plant in your house can help absorb harmful volatile organic compounds, one of the main categories of pollutant gases. The most effective plant for this is the bromeliad, which is said to remove over 80 percent of nasties in the air. What’s more, this pretty plant will help to brighten up your home.
Install solar panels
Solar panels aren’t cheap, so consider this as a long-term investment – depending on where you live, it could take up to 20 years to break even. However, the money you’ll save on energy bills is well worth the investment (sometimes they’ll make enough to allow you to sell some back to the grid) and that’s not to mention the good you’ll be doing for the environment.
