From Guest Blogger Tina Samuels: 5 Ways To Make My Home Greener

Going green doesn’t have to be hard or expensive.

Anyone can take steps to have a greener home. It doesn’t take a lot of effort to do so, either. You can do a few simple things to have a greener home and help the environment.

Remember, every step you take toward being greener is one less footprint you’re leaving on the planet.

Composting

Composting is pretty simple.

You save all of your organic scraps, including some paper products, place them in a pile outdoors, and wait for them to rot. This is the simplest approach to creating compost. You can use a bin or other composting methods.

All you really need to do is keep the compost moist and stir it as the organic matter breaks down. Once it has broken down you have free compost for all of your gardening needs.

From houseplants to entire garden plots, you can generate your own rich, natural fertilizer. Not only does this green up your home, it reduces your contribution to landfills.

Shades

In the summer it can get very hot in some areas.

The heat can make the inside of our homes feel stuffy and hot. You don’t need to crank up the air conditioning in order to stay cool. Just cover your windows. It might sound counter-productive, but covering your windows keeps out the sun’s rays which can really heat up your rooms.

Place reflective or very dark curtains over your windows to keep the indoors shady and cool all summer. You’ll save quite a bit on energy bills if you are able to forgo air conditioning.

Gray Water

Recycling your gray water is another easy way to go green.

Gray water is all water that does not contain human waste (septic or toilet water). This water comes from your bath, shower, kitchen sink, and washing machine. The water can be filtered and use for watering your lawn, your garden, even washing cars.

Many towns and states have regulations on how gray water must be disposed. The most progressive are offering tax rebates for homeowners that install gray water recycling systems.

Natural Gardening

Natural gardening can be a number of gardening methods.

Using native plants (plants native to your area) creates a greener home by using fewer resources to care for the plants. Flowers that are native to an area survive very well in that local climate- extra watering usually isn’t needed, no fertilizers, or other artificial growth methods.

Natural gardening can also mean growing your own food with compost you have created and forgetting about chemical fertilizers. Avoid pesticides unless they are natural – such as planting marigolds around your garden as a natural bug repellant.

Upcycling

Upcycling is repurposing things you already have or have purchased.

You may take an old piece of furniture and paint it, or turn it into a totally different type of furniture. Turning what would normally be trash into something new is upcycling.

This is not just a recycling method; it’s an art form for many. There’s a strong sense of satisfaction in creating something new from something old.

About the Author: Tina Samuels writes on home improvement, small business topics, roof replacement, and green energy.