4 Eco-Friendly Ways to Renovate Your Home

Renovating your home offers countless benefits. When you decide to make some changes, you will get the chance to:

-Make your home look the way you’ve always wanted it to

-Add comfort and functional value

-Prevent the need for maintenance in the future

-Increase your home’s resale value

With these benefits in mind, it can be easy to dive into all of your dream home improvement projects headfirst.  

Before you do so, you should consider if the projects you have in mind are eco-friendly. If you want to minimise your environmental impact during the renovation process, check out these 4 ways to renovate your home. Mother Nature will thank you!  

1) Paint with VOC-Free Paint

The next time you want to paint a room in your home, make a conscious decision to purchase VOC-free paint.  

VOCs, or volatile organic compounds, contribute to the formation of ground-level ozone. While ozone occurs naturally in the atmosphere, ground-level ozone is very dangerous because it lowers the outdoor air quality. 

According to the environmental activists at Treehugger.com, high levels of this toxic gas can produce adverse effects like:

-Diminished forest growth and crop yield

-Plants’ reduced resistance to insects, diseases, and other pollutants

-Aesthetic impacts on urban vegetation

If you can’t find a VOC-free paint you like, low-VOC products will also help you reduce your environmental impact.

2) Insulate Your Attic

The act of insulating your attic is very beneficial to the environment. When you insulate your attic, you will keep cool air in during the summer and warm air during the winter. This means that you’ll: 

-Use less energy
-Produce fewer emissions
-Reduce your overall carbon footprint

You can take it a step further by recruiting an installer that uses an eco-friendly insulation material. For example, the folks at South Dakota Insulation use Greenfiber insulation, which are made from post-consumer paper fibers.  

Some other eco-friendly materials you could use for insulation include:

-Soy-based polyurethane spray foam

-Sheep’s wool

-Cotton

3) Use Reclaimed Wood

If you want to put in new flooring or build a new custom piece of furniture for your home, go with reclaimed wood whenever possible.

Reclaimed wood is lumber that has been used for other building projects in the past. It’s not difficult to find, as home improvement retailers like Home Depot carry it. You can also find great bargains on local classified ad websites like craigslist.  

When you use reclaimed wood, also called salvaged or recycled wood, you will eliminate waste and the unnecessary need for fossil fuels to cut down and haul existing trees.  

Plus, using reclaimed wood will give your home a unique rustic charm and offer the durability you need for high-traffic rooms or heavily-used furniture.

4) Make the Switch to Energy-Efficient Appliances

The next time your dishwasher, water heater, washer, dryer, oven, or another appliance breaks down, look into getting an energy-efficient version. For example, choosing a convection oven over a conventional one can reduce your energy consumption by up to 20%.  

You can also invest in low-flow toilets for every bathroom in your home. While all toilets manufactured after 1994 use no more than 1.6 gallons per flush, there are even more efficient options on the market that you can choose from.  

Bottom Line

Your budget, the time of year, the space you have available, and a lot of other factors will cross your mind when you think about renovating your home. Make your carbon footprint another thing to consider! This way, you can make your home more enjoyable for your family and the environment as a whole a healthier place to live.