Eco-Friendly Archives - With love from Lou

There’s no doubt that the world has become a lot more eco-friendly over recent years. Plastic straws are being stamped out, reusable coffee mugs are a huge craze, and more and more people are taking steps to try and reduce their carbon footprint. If you’re keen to live a more eco-friendly life, one of the best places to start is in the home. Here are some easy and effective habits for you to try.

Turn off lights and electrics

This one might seem obvious, but taking steps to turn off the lights in your home is an essential habit if you want to reduce energy waste. Let as much natural light in as possible during the day to ensure you don’t need to use artificial lighting. Along with your lights, be sure to turn off any electrics that aren’t in use by switching them off at the plug. You might not think it’s worth switching off plugs when not in use, but even leaving a phone charger switched on without having it connected to a phone can use up a small amount of energy. Be mindful of these things and remember to always check your plugs and lights before leaving the house!

Fix leaky taps

Did you know that a faulty tap that drips once per second every day would waste one gallon of water every four and a half hours? Drippy taps are a common occurrence and can happen when a tap is faulty or you simply haven’t turned the tap off tightly enough. In order to cut down your levels of water waste, remember to check taps are turned tightly and get any loose taps fixed as soon as possible. You should also try and cut down on your water use in general, adopting simple habits like not leaving taps running while you brush your teeth, and taking shorter showers in the morning.

Get energy efficient lighting

The type of lighting you use in your property can really impact the amount of energy that’s wasted, as certain lightbulbs use less energy than others. A lot of property companies such as RW Invest are taking these steps on board and incorporating smart lighting into many of their properties as a way to reduce the carbon footprint for tenants living in a property. Making your lighting more eco-friendly could be as simple as switching your light bulbs for LED or CFL’s, or going more extreme and fitting a whole new smart lighting fixture.

Use eco-friendly cleaning products

Modern household products are filled with a bunch of nasty chemicals that are released into the atmosphere and our homes. Not only are these chemicals bad for the environment, but they’re also harming our health. In order to live a more eco-friendly lifestyle in your home, ditch your usual toxic cleaning products for more natural alternatives. A number of brands offer quality eco-friendly products that work just as well as traditional brands. You could even try making your own DIY cleaning products with everyday ingredients such as white vinegar, baking soda and lemon juice!

Do you try to be eco-friendly in your home?
If so, why not let me know what habits you’ve adopted to help.
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When you’re designing a new kitchen, you’ve got a lot to think about. You’ll no doubt want an attractive space that’s practical to cook in, and then there’s the environment to consider. If you’re keen to create an eco-friendly kitchen, it’s worth paying attention to the following design dos and don’ts.

DO choose sustainable materials
From metals, stones and timbers to glass and plastics, kitchens now contain a host of materials. When you’re planning this part of your property, it’s important to pay attention to the sustainability of the materials you source. Fortunately, it’s now straightforward to find eco-friendly solutions for cooking spaces. For example, if you’d like to include solid wood countertops in your kitchen, you won’t struggle to find providers with impressive green credentials. You could buy sustainable wooden worktops from a supplier like Worktop Express®, which ensures all of its timbers are logged from sites with effective replanting programmes in place. Regardless of the materials you’re searching for, make sure sustainability is central to your decision making process.

DON’T forget to include recycling storage
Separating your waste paper, packaging, glass and food can seem like a hassle if you don’t have convenient recycling solutions in your cooking space. To encourage you to recycle your rubbish, make sure you incorporate space for suitable containers within this room. If you want to keep your recycling out of sight, you could include deep shelves in your storage units that accommodate boxes for waste. By ensuring your containers are easily accessible when you’re cooking and clearing up, you should find it easier to stick to a recycling regime.

DO opt for power-saving solutions
When you’re choosing lights and taps for your kitchen, think carefully about how much energy they will use. Did you know that a halogen bulb costs on average over £8 a year to run, while an LED can cost just £1.71? By installing efficient lighting in your cooking area, you could significantly reduce your electricity consumption, not to mention your bills. You can also bring down your energy usage by installing lower flow taps or by fitting flow regulators or aerators to existing taps. As well as cutting the amount of water you get through, these solutions ensure you don’t use as much energy to heat and pump water around your home.

DON’T neglect energy-efficiency when selecting appliances
Try to ensure you opt for eco-friendly appliances too. You might be surprised by how much energy and money you can save each year by opting for the most efficient white goods. For example, while the best rated fridge-freezers can cost as little as £25 a year to run, the most expensive models can set you back well over £80. As well as being bad news for your budget, inefficient appliances are damaging to the planet. So, take care to check the energy rating when you’re shopping for everything from your dishwasher and cooker to your kettle.

Paying attention to design tips like these should help ensure you create an eco-friendly kitchen – and the best thing is, they don’t require you to compromise when it comes to style or practicality.

Will you be going for an eco-friendly kitchen design next time you do up your home?
Or do you already have an eco-friendly kitchen? Why not let me know in the comments below?!

Thanks for reading guys.
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Eco-Friendly Habits For the Home

Eco-Friendly Kitchen Design : The Do’s and Don’ts