How to make your home Eco-friendly
During the last few years, more people has become aware of the importance of taking care of our environment. We can see the news in the media taking about recycling and new ways to improve our ecosystem. However, there is still a lot of people that think than there is nothing they can do that would really matter; and this is not true!
Every little thing would matter and with every decision we made, we can influence more people on the community to do the same. Just like a snow ball!
Sustainable design
If you follow the trends about architecture and interior design, you would have notice that the interior design practice has change dramatically. Over the recent years, the approach is to provide sustainable and healthy environments for the people that are going to use it. This new approach about the architecture and design is known as Sustainable design.
“Sustainable design is the philosophy of designing physical objects, the built environment, and services to comply with the principles of social, economic, and ecological sustainability.” McLennan, J. F. (2004), The Philosophy of Sustainable Design
If you are thinking about a total refurbish of your home, you can always get in touch with an architect that share your ideas over ecology and sustainable design.
Example of a beautiful interior design using upcycles materials (Source)
But there is a lot of thighs you can do to achieve an eco-friendly interior.
7 easy tips to have an Eco-friendly home:
Let the sun light your rooms: Maximise the daylight to reduce the energy consumption. You can use sheer curtains to still have some privacy but letting the sun in.
Decorate with plants: Live plants can act as a natural air filter for your home. If you would like to improve indoor air quality you can buy some lilies, bamboo pal, gerbera daisy, spider plants or rubber plants.
Use natural and organic materials: I know this can go a bit over the budget, especially in some furniture pieces. But at least try to avoid plastic, particleboard and chromed metal.
Change your lighting to energy-efficient: It can help you save money in your energy bill, good news for your pocket and the environment.
Try to buy locally: this would help reduce the carbon emission produce by long-distance transportation. By buy product produce on your local area, not only you would help the environment, but also you would improve your local economy as well.
Reclaim, recycle and reuse: Open Pinterest and search for DIY and upcycling ideas. You can find some of my favourite project on my Pinterest board. If you don’t have time for DIY project, try to find products that used reclaimed or recycled materials
Use water-based paints: Water based products are friendly to your health and also you would avoid the strong smell of paint. You can find more information about the difference between water and solvent based products on Dulux expert blog.
Example of a minimalist and sustainable design. (Source)
Example of a Eco-friendly design by the architecture studio Masquespacio.
Also, do not forget that by asking for sustainable design, we can motivate designers to continue developing environmentally responsible products. The same way, that by having a wider selection options, the customers will be more likely to choose go for a ‘greener’ alternative.
We have the power of chance things, with every little decision we can help change the environment. So what are you going to do?
Do you have some other easy tips to share? Let me know in the comments below or on social media.
Si sigues las noticias y tendencias en arquitectura e interiorismo, te habrás dado cuenta del dramático cambio que se ha dado en la industria respecto al interés por el uso de materiales y tecnologías basadas en el diseño sostenible. Y es que cada pequeña decisión que tomamos puede afectar al medioambiente, e influenciar a otras personas en tu entorno a estar más concienciados.
Tú también puedes conseguir un diseño sostenible en tu casa, sin tener que invertir en una reforma completa. Por ejemplo, aquí te doy algunos consejos para conseguirlo. Deja entrar la luz del sol para reducir el consumo energético Decora con plantas que mejoraran la calidad del aire. Usa materiales naturales y orgánicos o al menos aléjate de plásticos y metales cromados. Compra local, tanto para mejorar la economía de la zona, como para reducir la huella de carbono por el transporte. Reutiliza y recicla, antes de tirar hecha un ojo a Pinterest y busca ideas para reutilizar.
