Disclosure: This is a collaborative post.
We are all trying to live a more eco-friendly lifestyle and the best place to start is always at home. It’s important that you take steps to reduce your energy consumption and buy more environmentally friendly products. It’s particularly important to consider the environment when you are decorating your home, but this is something that a lot of people forget. The materials that you use while decorating have the potential to be very harmful to the environment, and you need to spend some time finding green alternatives if you want to reduce your impact on the environment. These are some of the best eco-friendly decorating tips to follow next time you are giving your home a makeover.
Buy Second Hand Furniture
Buying second hand is the easiest way to reduce your impact on the environment because you are cutting the emissions that are caused by the manufacturing and transporting of the items. It’s also a great way to save yourself a lot of money on furniture, so check local antique shops and charity shops to see what you can find. Usually, you can get some great stuff for next to nothing as long as you are willing to put a bit of work in. It’s not that hard to bring wooden furniture back to life if you sand it down and repaint it, and it will look just as great as some brand new furniture.
Be Careful With Carpets
A lot of people don’t realize that carpets are incredibly bad for the environment. They tend to be made from plastics and they are treated with a lot of harmful chemicals. They only have a lifespan of around ten years as well, so you will be replacing them a lot. If you want to be more eco-friendly, you should try to avoid carpets as much as possible and look for better alternatives, like coir matting, for example. Coir matting is a great alternative that is made from coconut husk fibres, so it is far more eco-friendly than standard carpets. It’s also very hard wearing, so you don’t need to worry about replacing it too often.
Pick The Right Paint
In the past, paint needed to be filled with VOCs (volatile organic compounds) to bond to the wall and dry properly, which meant that a lot of nasty chemicals were released into your home and the wider environment and that can last for years. A lot of standard paints still contain these VOCs, but the good news is that there are plenty of green alternatives out there. When you are buying paint to decorate your home, it is important that you check the labels and find paint that is made from natural ingredients and does not contain any VOCs. It’s much better for the environment and it will also help to improve the air quality in your home and protect your health.
If you follow these simple tips, you can decorate your home without causing any damage to the environment.
