Living in an eco-friendly home can improve the quality of your life. Aside from preserving natural resources, an eco-friendly home creates a healthier indoor environment, boosts the value of your property, and helps you save money on utility costs.

The idea of making the home eco-friendly is exciting for many, but only a very few take the necessary steps to make the switch. Some homeowners think that making the ‘green change’ at home requires a lot of hard work and money. However, this is only a misconception.

Here are smart (and easy) ways to make your home eco-friendly:

1. Invest In A Water Tank

Water is a vital resource at home. Without it, the health and safety of the entire household will be adversely affected.

Instead of solely relying on water utility companies in your area for water, invest in a water tank. This is an eco-friendly move as water tanks store rainwater, providing the household with an alternative water supply for washing, drinking, and outdoor use. Water tanks from The Water Tank Factory and other reliable suppliers can also help take the pressure off the main water supply at home and reduce water bills.

2. Install Solar Panels

Paying for energy bills every month is a must, but this responsibility can often cause stress. Allocating money to pay bills might be difficult, especially if you have a shoestring budget.

Another way to make your home eco-friendly is to invest in solar panels. This technology works by converting particles of light from the sun into a steady flow of electricity. The electricity produced by the panels can then be used to power your appliances and other fixtures at home.

Purchasing and installing solar panels is a cost-effective investment as these can drastically reduce your energy bills. You can also make money from solar panels through net metering and tax grants or subsidies from your local government.

3. Start A Compost Pile

About 1.3 billion tonnes of food wastes are thrown in landfills every year. Food waste is very harmful to the environment because it decomposes into toxic effluents in landfills. These are greenhouse gasses that are more potent than carbon dioxide.

Starting a compost pile in your backyard is a great way to reduce food waste and make your home eco-friendlier. Composting will also make your life as a gardener easier as compost naturally enriches the soil. Using compost can also save you money from buying chemical fertilisers, as compost encourage the growth of fungi that breaks down organic matter into nutrient-filled materials for your plants.

Starting a compost pile is easy. Simply layer straw or twigs a few inches deep on the soil, and then add compost materials in layers. Ideally, you should alternate between dry and moist materials to ensure that organic material breaks down fast.

4. Reuse And Recycle

It’s common for households to buy items and then throw them away after using them. For example, boxes of cereals should be thrown away once the cereal inside is consumed.

One of the easiest ways to make your home eco-friendly is to prioritise reusing and recycling. This simply means looking for other ways to reuse common household items. For instance, you can reuse boxes into storage containers and glass jars into planters. If you have plastic bottles at home, turn them into bird feeders, egg yolk suckers, hanging baskets, or piggy banks.

5. Use Eco-Friendly Paint

Repainting your home is a cheap home improvement project that can boost the appeal and value of your property. Aside from paying attention to the paint colour you choose whenever you repaint your home, you should also be wary of the type of paint you use.

Paints with high VOC or volatile organic compounds or VOC release gasses into the environment that can trigger irritation of the nose, eyes, and throat. VOCs also produce carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, which impacts global warming.

When painting anything in your home—be it walls or furniture—opt to use eco-friendly paints. Carefully read the paint's label and ensure its low or zero VOC content. You can also use paint with zero chemical emissions or allergy- and asthma-friendly.

Your Consistency Counts

The key to making your home eco-friendly is to remain consistent in your efforts. Incorporate all of the tips mentioned in this article into the household’s daily routine instead of doing these for a couple of days, weeks, or months only. Yes, making these changes can be difficult at first, but with the benefits, everyone (including the environment) can enjoy, everything will be worth it!