How to Have a Sustainable Home

Although your home may be older, it is still possible to make it sustainable. Cutting down on energy, recycling and reusing items is a step in the right direction. Here are some tips to help your home be more sustainable.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Before you buy new furniture, go to thrift stores and classified ads to find furniture. Sanding and painting can bring the furniture back to life. Update your existing furniture by adding new knobs. If you are reflooring consider carpet tiles that are can be recycled and/or bamboo.

2. Before completely replacing something, consider if you can salvage part of it and make it new again. For example, can you add crown molding and paint to an interior closet door to make it look new? Can you remove a light fixture and paint it or add new shades to update it. We usually replace things because they start to look dated, but it is only a matter of 3-5 years before that new product looks dated again. Compare your item to a new one and see if there is a way that you can repaint or redesign it to make it look fresh.

3. Plant low water tolerance plants. Make your lawn smaller and outline it with succulent plants or rock. Add a water feature to encourage birds. Plant trees that will shade your house from the sun, but lose their leaves in the winter to allow your house to warm up. Put in a soaker hose to water the plants, they take little construction to put in. You can drag your hose to the location of the soaker hose and attach it when you need to water. Do not use pesticides. Use natural products to kill weeds or just ignore them.

4. Put up heavy curtains that will block out the heat and keep in the warmth. Put up blinds outside your windows that the sun hits in the afternoon during the summer. Put up shade canopy over open patios to help shade your home. Caulk and weatherstrip your windows and doors.

5. Put rain barrels and other receptacles around your yard to catch rain water, so that it can be used in the summer to water your lawn and plants. Most everyone has a side yard that they do not use and you can put containers of all sized to catch rain water and help the landscape from having runoff water.

6. Put in waterless toilets and water heaters and put in a filtering device for your tap water, so that you no longer buy the plastic water bottles. Fix any leaking faucets and toilets and angle stops.

[woodsusa]

on 6/6/2009 I love love love these ideas! I wish more people would put more effort into updating older things...homes, furniture, etc...instead of just throwing it out! Great article!