Sustainable living is all the rage because people realize their impact on the environment. The change is about making positive changes. Genuine sustainable living means reducing your carbon footprint and making better choices.
How Does Sustainable Living Relate to Home Décor?
Eco-friendly décor includes fabrics and items that you can reuse, get from responsible providers, and recycle. It means you’re finding new uses for that vintage wicker pendant light or refinishing a dresser to match your home. By doing so, you can customize your look to reflect your view without hurting the environment in the process.
You can also select responsibly sourced fabrics for upholstery or in pillows. Recycled cotton is an excellent option for pillow covers. Organic hemp also makes for fantastic upholstery options. Choosing these materials in your home helps to reduce your carbon footprint.
How Can You Improve?
When you shop, visit a thrift store or choose the right fabrics. Linen is an excellent example of eco-friendly material as it breaks down naturally. If you have lots of clothes that you don’t wear, consider repurposing the fabric into other items. Using the fabrics for unique drapes or cute table runners gives pops of your personality all over your home.
Donate extra things directly to others instead of giving them to places like Goodwill for a better shot of getting your stuff to people. Resale stores will often end up throwing away donations because they get so many things in. Getting items into the hands of people is better than donating when you don’t know if your stuff will end up in the trash.
Are Natural Materials Always a Good Choice?
The answer is sometimes. It all depends on how these materials came about. As an example, bamboo is one of the most sustainable resources on the planet. You can use bamboo for everything from flooring to fabric. As an easy to grow and process crop, most people think it is eco-friendly. If the material is fairly traded and producers are properly compensated, then yes, it would be part of sustainable living. If it is not, then the answer would be no, even if it is eco-friendly.
The same thing can be said for silk. As a natural fabric, you might think it is considered a great fabric. The truth is that it is not when harvested in the traditional method involving the death of millions of silkworms. Mulberry silk isn’t extracted until after the moth leaves the cocoon. This makes mulberry silk an environmentally friendly option. You can also choose upcycled silk options instead.
Is Lighting Part of Eco-friendly Living?
Lighting absolutely can be part of eco-friendly living, as can your electricity usage. Typical light bulbs use more electricity than their LED or energy-efficient counterparts. By swapping your bulbs with better choices, you are lowering your demand on the electrical grid.
Other ways to make your carbon footprint smaller in your home include choosing energy-efficient appliances. Cooking with small appliances instead of your stove or oven can also make your footprint smaller. It’s a bunch of smaller choices that make up your footprint, so sustainable living is a combination of all of the choices you make within your home.
How Can You Produce Less Home Waste?
When you decorate your home, you don’t always think about the amount of waste you create. Instead of using regular paper towels on that cute holder, choose a washable cloth. You might even add a bidet in the bathroom to cut down on how much toilet paper goes down the toilet. Consider the items that you choose to use in your home and select the ones that use eco-friendly packing.
Skip the plastic-wrapped items where you can and choose the things that use recycled packaging instead. You can take one step further and look at your personal products like deodorants and toothpaste to find refillable products. Staying away from single-use packaging is a small thing that can significantly impact the environment over time.
The Bottom Line to Sustainable Living
Living sustainably is more than just a buzz phrase that sounds trendy. It’s a choice to change your style in your home and life to have less of an impact on the planet. Choose repurposed décor elements and make minor changes along the way. Choosing the right materials and selecting energy-efficient lights and appliances will make a difference. You might think that these are all small choices, but the impact can be huge over time if more people make these choices. Start with yourself and your home, and you will become part of the solution.
