How to make your home more eco-friendly: 7 principles

An eco-friendly lifestyle benefits both the environment and your health.

Adopting this lifestyle gradually can enhance your quality of life. For instance, keeping a plant at home improves air quality by increasing oxygen and reducing bacteria.

Moreover, consuming reasonably allows you to declutter, freeing up energy and time from unnecessary items. If your family owns two cars, you likely incur expenses for taxes, maintenance, and repairs on both. By letting go of unnecessary things, you can save money and direct it towards self-development, travel, or family time.

People often ask how my husband and I afford to pay rent, a mortgage, travel frequently, and enroll in paid courses annually. The secret is that we minimize unnecessary expenses and judiciously utilize resources.

In this article, I will guide you on making your household more conscious and eco-friendly. I adhere to most of the principles mentioned in this article myself, as much as renting allows.

Remember, you don't have to adopt all eco-friendly habits in one day. It's better to introduce them gradually and at your comfort level.

Treat water with care

Humankind has used six times more water over the last century, and the rate of consumption is only increasing. This is due to both an improved quality of life and population growth.

According to the World Water Commission, each person needs 20 to 50 liters of water every day for drinking, cooking and personal hygiene. However, not all water is used wisely: a lot of water is wasted, for example, when washing dishes and brushing teeth.

What to do. Here's how you can save water:

1. Turn off the water when you brush your teeth: 10 liters of water runs through the tap in a minute. You can wet your brush and then turn off the water and open the tap only when you have already brushed your teeth.
2. Take a shower instead of a bath: for 5 minutes in the shower will take 30-50 liters of water, and taking a bath usually involves the consumption of 150-170 liters. A non-standard bathtub, such as a corner bathtub, may take 400 liters.
3. Do not open the faucet at full capacity, or better yet, install an aerator. This is a special nozzle on the faucet to disperse the water. The aerator allows you to noticeably reduce the intensity of the jet and thus saves up to 50% of water.
4. For washing, use the economy mode - some models have an "Eco" mark - or wash at +30...40 °C. Load the drum fully. It is even better to avoid machine drying and hang your clothes on the dryer.
5. Use a dishwasher instead of washing dishes by hand: water savings per family is about 60 liters per day.
6. Fix all faucets: a dripping faucet can leak up to 20 liters of water per day.

Save electricity

In our country, most of the heat and electricity is created by burning fossil fuels - coal, oil and gas. About 63% of electricity is generated by these resources. According to scientists' calculations, oil will run out in 40-60 years, and gas - in 100 years. The forecast is disappointing, so it is worth starting to save electricity and heat at home.

• *Here are a few ways to save on electricity:

1. Use LED bulbs. They are 50% more energy efficient than fluorescent bulbs and 90% more energy efficient than incandescent bulbs. They usually last 1-2 years.
2. Turn off appliances and lights if you don't use them for more than half an hour.
3. If you plan to buy new appliances, choose appliances with energy efficiency class "A".
4. Install motion sensors in rooms that are underutilized or where family members often forget to turn off the lights. For example, if you live in a private home, you can install a motion sensor in the yard.
5. Insulate your walls and windows or install energy-efficient double-glazed windows if the old ones have already served their purpose. This way the heat will stay in the apartment and you won't need additional heaters.
6. Put thermostatic regulators on the radiators to avoid wasting extra heat unnecessarily. If the radiators work at maximum, they are likely to dry out the air: you will have to ventilate the room more often, and the heat will escape to the street.
7. Wipe windows, chandeliers and lamps to keep the room brighter. This way you will be able to stay in daylight longer.

 

When washing my clothes, I try to fully load the drum, choose a wash mode of 30 °C, and use eco-powder, which contains natural ingredients.

Eat responsibly

Every year, we throw away 1.3 billion tons of food - that's just under half of what we produce. The average American throws away 115 kilograms of food per year, Europeans throw away 95 kilograms, and Asians and Africans throw away up to 10 kilograms. Just imagine that half of the food we throw away would be enough to solve world hunger.

What to do. How to be more environmentally friendly and frugal with food:

1. Before going to the store, make a shopping list to buy only what you need and not be tempted by advertisements and flashy promotions. This is often a marketing ploy to get you to buy more stuff.
2. go to the store satiated: hunger provokes the purchase of unnecessary products.
3. Store food at the right temperature and in the right containers. Also, keep track of expiration dates.
4. When you prepare a menu, choose dishes where the food is repeated: this way you are less likely to throw away stale food. For example, for lunch you can prepare a soup, and for dinner - stewed cabbage, if there is a part of the cauliflower left.
5. Introduce a "leftovers dinner" day into your weekly menu: some of the food will go into pizza and pie toppings.
6. Cook as much as you are willing to eat for two or three days to keep the food from spoiling. If you realize you can't get enough of a dish, you can freeze it and reheat it in the oven a couple of days later.

Get a houseplant

A houseplant can be your best friend if you decide to take care of your health. Plants clean the air of excess carbon dioxide and oxygenate it. In addition to carbon dioxide, plants can absorb volatile organic compounds from the air, such as formaldehyde, carbon monoxide, benzene and methane. However, to purify the air in the apartment, each square meter of the apartment will have to place from 10 to 1000 plants.

In any case, plants have a positive effect on psychological health and help to maintain optimal humidity in the room, which is important in the conditions of urban life.

What to do. Here are some useful plants you can get:

• mother-in-law's tongue - absorbs nitrogen oxides and formaldehyde;
• chlorophytum - collects carbon monoxides, toxic substances, formaldehyde;
• Benjamin ficus - cleanses dust and toxic compounds emitted by furniture and plastics;
• geraniums - kills pathogenic microbes;
• begonia - attracts dust, moisturizes the air;
• diffenbachia - destroys staphylococcus, toluene, xylene, which emit paints;
• dracaena - removes benzene, trichloroethylene, protects from exhaust from the street;
• aloe - removes formaldehyde, medicinal;
• spathiphyllum - takes mold spores out of the air, cleans the air of formaldehyde;
• bamboo palm, or chamaedorea - moisturizes the air;
• gerbera - absorbs benzene, releases a lot of oxygen;
• cypress - picks up dust, defuses the air;
• lemon and orange trees - gets rid of germs;
• laurel - cleans dust, germs, has a healing effect;
• Schefflera - neutralizes nicotine and resins.

 

Chlorophytum is a plant that offers aesthetic appeal and the ability to purify the air by removing carbon monoxide, toxic substances, and formaldehyde. In St. Petersburg, this plant typically costs around $10.

Consider Overpopulation of Items

We often succumb to impulsive buying, influenced by affordability, trends, Black Fridays, sales, and other marketing strategies. Each year, 150 billion clothing items are produced globally, with more than half discarded due to size issues or style preferences.

About 70% of household waste consists of disposable items such as product packaging, plastic utensils, napkins, toothpicks, and bags. It's crucial to remember that possessions require our time for maintenance - they need to be repaired, cleaned, and washed.

What to do. Here are some ways to be frugal and eco-friendly when shopping for clothes:

1. Before purchasing, consider if you truly need the item. Can it be rented, borrowed, or bought second-hand? You can often find gently used items at minimal cost on sites like "eBay".
2. Plan your purchases: know what you need and make a list.
3. Only buy a new item if the old one is beyond repair. Use the 1:1 principle - one new item for one old one.
4. Consider adopting a capsule wardrobe. This approach allows you to create numerous stylish outfits with a minimal number of versatile pieces.
5. Choose durable items made from robust materials that are less likely to break or tear.
6. Take good care of your items to extend their lifespan.
7. Opt for reusable items over disposable ones: bring your own bottle and mug, use reusable food storage containers, use your own bags for buying fruits and vegetables in bulk, carry your own shopping bag or backpack, and use reusable shoe covers and personal hygiene products.
8. Sell or donate items you no longer need but are still usable. There are special services, sharing groups, "give-away" communities, and freemarkets for this purpose. Some cities even provide bins from charity stores or foundations to accept donations.

 

I buy a lot of my clothes second hand. This allows me to be frugal and conscious about my closet

 

In my household, I use reusable booties, jute sponges for dishes, and special bags for fruits and vegetables.

Opt for Healthier Cosmetics

We use a variety of cosmetics daily to maintain our youth and beauty, and household chemicals to clean our homes. These products come into contact with our skin, allowing potentially harmful components to penetrate our bodies. Therefore, it's advisable to choose products with a composition that's safe for both humans and nature.

What to do. Here's how to transition to eco-friendly cosmetics and household chemicals:

1. Pay attention to ecolabels: they indicate if a product is safe. For convenience, you can install the Ecolabel Guide app on your phone.
2. Assess the composition of cosmetics on dedicated websites and follow expert reviews.
3. Avoid products that contain ingredients which may cause allergies, negatively impact the nervous and cardiovascular systems, damage hair and skin, or increase the risk of cancer. These include: a-PAHs, parabens, phosphates, phenols, propylene glycol, formaldehyde, chlorine, sodium hydrochloride, ammonia, nitrobenzene, and petroleum distillates.

 

The Ecolabel Guide mobile app recognizes over 100 ecolabels on product packaging.

Beginning Waste Separation

On average, each person generates about 400 kilograms of waste per year, of which 80-90% ends up in landfills. Here, it takes hundreds of years to decompose. For instance, a bag remains in a landfill for over 200 years, a diaper for 450 years, and glass for 1000 years.

Today, it's possible to recycle half of the total waste volume. Many cities already have collection points, containers, waste removal services, and regular collection campaigns. Recycling helps slow the expansion of landfills, conserve natural resources, and save money.

Steps to Begin. Here's how to start sorting your trash:

1. Identify accessible recycling drop-off locations where you can take your recyclables.
2. Understand what is accepted at these locations and read the guidelines carefully. They vary in each city. If something is unclear, ask questions. Make a brief set of instructions for yourself and family members detailing what can and can't be recycled.
3. Organize a space in your home to store recyclables. This could be a balcony, pantry, under the sink, under a table, or a shelf in the kitchen. The place should be aesthetically pleasing and convenient.
4. Start by sorting simple materials like paper, glass, and metal. Gradually expand the list of items you recycle.
5. Review the waste you're producing. Consider if you can reduce it, replace it with something with less or no packaging, or eliminate it altogether. For example, instead of buying disposable one-liter water bottles, consider arranging delivery of bottled water with a pump or using a pitcher or faucet with a filter. Remember, the best waste is the one that isn't produced.

How do you contribute to environmental sustainability?