From Guest Blogger Lizzie Weakly: Tips for an Eco-friendly Winter Home

Living a sustainable, eco-friendly life can be a year round pursuit. No matter what day, month, or year it is, there are things you can be doing to help do your art to protect mother nature. Winter is just another season rife with ways to not only save resources, but also to save money at the same time.

We’ve compiled a list of just some of the things you can do this winter to keep warm whilst not badly impacting on the planet.

Raid the blanket cupboard

For most of the summer, you various blankets and throws have likely been confined to a cupboard upstairs, out of sight and out of mind. Now, you were likely to extract them at some point during winter, but likely only when the weather has got so cold that you have been left with no choice but to pull out the blankets too.

But why wait until the worst weather arrive? Whenever it gets cold enough to just turn your fireplace on, it is the right time to get the blankets out. One blanket may be enough to warm you up enough to negate the use of the fireplace. Whenever you can do this, it is the most eco-friendly options.
Upcycling

Say the reason you don’t get your blankets out if because they have become frayed or otherwise damaged. You don’t want to buy new ones, but using the blankets is no longer viable. What should you do? Upcycle them!

In all likelihood, some of the material will still be usable. So why not cut out the good material from all of your tarnished blankets, and then sew them back together? You’ll be recycling your material, and you’ll be making a unique blanket in the mean time, that you can tailor to whatever size you want.

And why just use blankets? Old bed sheets, curtains, or anything made of reasonably similar fabric can be added to your new, wondrous blanket! The upcycling needn’t stop there either. If you have a draughty window frame, you can do something similar by sewing together old socks and the like to make makeshift draught excluders.
Insulation

These, of course, are short term solutions. Eventually, you will need to turn the heating on. The key then becomes about trapping heat, and poor insulation in your home will make this very difficult. The thing about insulation is that while it may not be made of the most eco-friendly material in the world, but it can last for a long time. Half of the battle with environmentally-friendly activities is combating the disposable nature of society, which this type of practice is ideal for. Yes, it isn’t made of green material, but if it can last 50 years, it does its part for saving the planet (just make sure you get it done before winter kicks in).

That said, there are companies that offer green insulation. Hemp loft insulation, recycled wood, and other materials can be used instead of the more traditional options, delivering the same level of heat retention. This means that instead of running a fireplace all day, you can run it for an hour and trap the resulting heat inside for much longer.