We are all very aware of the environmental impact each of us has on the earth. Hopefully we all try and do our bit to make the earth a better place to live. If you are think of building a new home or renovating your existing home, then think about making your home green and environmentally friendly.
If you think making your home green means living like a hippie, eating lentils and reusing your own waste to fertilise your next batch of lentils growing in the compost heap out the back you are very wrong. A green home has great advantages even to those who don’t eat lentils or like the grateful dead. Your home could become energy efficient, which means that you spend less on heating your home and water. It will also improve the resale value of your home. You will also have the satisfaction that your upgrades will help the environment by reducing the amount of fossil fuel required, also you will benefit from more natural lighting in your home.
So for those of you who feel that you would go green but don’t wish to don flares and tie dyed t-shirts, here are some ideas to make your home environmentally friendly:
- What is the Cost of the Materials: When you are building or renovating you have to look, not only at the actual cost but also the environmental cost of materials. Many building materials take massive amount of energy to produce and last a mere 10 to 20 years. One should look to renewable materials, materials which have less impact on the environment. A example would be to use local timber rather than imported timbers. Also recycled timber would been the most efficient. .
- Buy Local: When sourcing materials for your renovation or building project, try and select materials which are locally produced. Aside from saving you’re the obvious transportation costs, the environmental savings of transporting materials over distances are huge.
- Extended your homes Lifespan: Many modern homes are only built to last 50 years. That means your children will probably see your house being demolished. This short lived existence of the modern home is due in large to the inferior materials used in modern building. It is worth spending a little extra to extend the lifespan of you home. Not only will it save you money on repairs in the short term but it will also increase the value of your home and give a little back to the earth.
- 3 That’s the Magic Number: When it comes to packaging we all know the three ‘R’s or at least we should – Reduce, Re-Use and Recycle. We can also employ this way of thinking to building and renovating. When building consider do you really need the extras rooms you had planned, consider reducing the overall size of the house your are about to build, it will save you money and go a little way to conserving the earths resources, you will reduce the waste produced by a larger house, have two bathrooms rather than three for example. If you are renovating or demolishing an old house to build new consider reusing the materials that are there if possible. Give materials that you do not use to local recycle centres, builders or house reclaim yards. You may even make some money selling them to the right people.
- Use recycled materials: When building or renovating a property consider using recycled materials yourself. Go to house reclaim yards, local recycle centres or the local buy & sell magazine. You can make a feature of recycled materials in your home by using native timbers, bricks and other materials.
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