From Guest Blogger Delicia Warren: Five Ways To Make Your Home Environmentally Friendly

We all want to make the world a better, healthier place, and being as environmentally aware as we can is one way to do that. It’s one thing to ensure that we always use sustainable and green companies when we are buying food or booking flights, for example, but quite another to ensure that our homes are just as environmentally friendly. Here are some ways to make things greener at home.

Use Energy Efficient Light Bulbs

There have been variations on the types of energy efficient light bulbs you can find today for a long time, but it has taken people a while to realize that they are actually an extremely green way of living. It makes a lot of sense to switch out your current bulbs for energy efficient ones because they use a lot less electricity, and therefore cost you less in energy bills. However, they also last longer so you’ll save even more money by not having to replace them so often.

Install Solar Panels

To make your home ultra-environmentally friendly, you can use the environment itself to help you and install solar panels from cooperative electric utilities. This is a way of providing your home with clean electricity, and you might even make a little money if you can sell the electricity back again. There are a variety of schemes you can join that allow you to do just that. Using this kind of sustainable energy means cutting down your use of fossil fuels which can only be a good thing.

Talk To An Expert

If you want to become more environmentally friendly but you don’t know where to start or how you can make a difference it’s a good idea to speak to an expert about it. There are people who specialize in consulting on how to make domestic (and commercial) properties more eco-friendly, and by discussing your ideas with someone in this field, you may come up with more ways to go green than you initially thought of.

Use Natural Cleaning Products

Most cleaning products that you buy in stores are packed full of chemicals which are harmful to the environment. When you wash these chemicals away, they go into the water supply, and the water, therefore, needs to be purified for longer before it can be re-used. This sounds like a no-win situation, but actually you can easily do something about this; stop using the harsh chemicals and use homemade cleaning products instead. You can make your own using natural products such as vinegar, baking soda, and lemon juice, for example.

Insulate Your Home

To truly make the most out of the energy you’re using you should insulate your home. If it is already insulated, have the insulation checked out to ensure that it is still doing its job. Investing in good insulations will save you a lot of money in the long term when it comes to your energy bills as it will help to keep the heat in your home during the colder months.

— Delicia Warren is a freelance writer, passionate about the environment, organic farming and food production. An advocate for a holistic approach to the world’s problems, she has a particular interest in the small changes individuals can make to their lifestyle to minimize their environmental footprint.