When tackling home improvement projects, one thing most people tend to overlook is whether they are using eco-friendly methods that help benefit the environment. There are plenty of ways to make a project more environmentally friendly. Here are a few great ideas:
- When buying plants, ask your local gardening shop if they sell native plants. Native plants offer plenty of benefits to the environment. For one, you don’t need any pesticides or herbicides to sustain them. They also do a better job of sustaining local wildlife compared to non-native alternatives.
- Don’t just buy plants for your outdoor living spaces – place them around your home’s interiors as well. They can help purify the air around your home by eliminating toxic agents such as formaldehyde, benzene, and trichloroethylene. Try to place one plant for every 100 square feet of your home.
- Hot weather means it’s time to replace heavy draperies and comforters with lighter fabrics. If they’re old and worn out, don’t throw them away! Drapes can be repurposed as window treatments for other rooms in your home. If you have old pieces of clothing around your house, you can also make use of them along with your old drapes to create a patchwork blanket – always a fun project to do with kids.
- During warmer seasons, many families clear their closets, garages, and other storage areas of some of the stuff they no longer need. In case you have items such as paint, chemical products or treated lumber, think twice about how you dispose of them, as they can be harmful to the environment. Consider local municipal guidelines for proper disposal of these items, or head to your nearest recycling center, as these usually have drop-off areas for potentially harmful products.
For more helpful tips on green living, check out this page.