How to Make Your Home More Eco-Friendly

These are just some of the strategies you can use to do this.

Reduce New Purchases

First, try to reduce your new purchases. Every item you buy has an environmental footprint, whether obvious or not. Every product must be grown, created or manufactured, and all these processes play a role in greenhouse gas emissions or environmental pollution in some way, even if that role is minor. Products also must be shipped from one place to another, sometimes crossing entire countries to reach your local stores.

The easiest way to do this is to avoid buying unnecessary things, especially luxury pleasures. But there are other strategies that can help you reduce overall consumption:

• Avoid single-use items. Where possible, avoid single-use products. Instead of buying plastic utensils and paper plates for the next party, hold out and wash dishes. Rather than single-use plastic straws, rely on a portable stainless steel cup for all your drinks.
• Buy used items. You can also reduce your impact by buying secondhand. Here, you're not necessarily reducing consumption; you are simply purchasing an item that has already been in use rather than increasing demand for newly produced goods.
• Share and borrow. Similarly, consider involving your community: share what you have and borrow what you don't. You don't necessarily need to buy a snow blower if you can occasionally borrow one from a neighbor.

Install a Bidet

Did you know that a bidet can significantly benefit the environment? Paper towels aren't the worst for ecology, but we use them too much. Most of us use over 100 rolls of toilet paper per year, and if you have a whole family living in your home, your household's paper consumption will increase proportionally. You can completely eliminate toilet paper use by investing in a bidet that uses minimal water for cleaning. In addition, water usually makes more effective cleaning than any number of paper towels.

Upgrade Windows and Doors

Your heater and air conditioner will work harder if your home loses heat. That's why one of the best improvements is upgrading doors and windows, which are the most common sources of heat loss. If your windows are very old, consider replacing them entirely. Otherwise, check for air leaks and seal them if possible.

It's also a good idea to assess your insulation and increase it where possible. Spray-in insulation is very easy to add and can make your home much more resilient to temperature changes.

Evaluate Your Appliances (and Update if Necessary)

Next, evaluate your current appliances such as the washing machine, refrigerator and even the oven. Modern appliances are usually much more energy-efficient, capable of performing the same tasks with far less water, electricity or gas consumption. However, buying a new appliance just for the sake of it may be wasteful; update your appliances only if the current ones are overly inefficient or not working properly. Otherwise, try to extend their lifespan.

Reduce Utility Consumption

As mentioned in sections about reducing consumption and improving windows, cutting down on your utilities and wastewater can significantly impact the eco-friendliness of your home. Here are some of the best ways to minimize utility consumption:

• Move into a smaller space. This is a big step, and most people aren't ready to make it, but living in a smaller house will reduce your utility costs to a fraction of previous levels.
• Turn off devices when not in use. Turn on and off devices when you don't need them, including lights in rooms you've recently left.
• Adjust temperature settings. If possible, try raising the temperature a bit in summer and lowering it slightly in winter.
• Monitor water usage. Pay attention to how long you spend in the shower, washing hands and doing dishes.

Some of these strategies cost thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars, so it's understandable why you might not be able to implement all of them. But many of these improvements and upgrades are cheap or free—and even the smallest behavior changes can accumulate to a large-scale impact. Take time to analyze your own lifestyle and make the changes you can afford (or manage).