Earth Day, which takes place on April 22, encourages people to be environmentally conscious. People all over the world celebrate Earth Day by picking up litter in parks and public places, planting trees, walking or riding their bikes and switching off the lights. All of these steps are wonderful initiatives to follow, but their impact lasts only 24 hours. If you create an eco-friendly home renovation, your positive environmental impact will last for years. Here are several ways to create an environmentally friendly renovation:
Recycle Old Materials
Typically, the main motto of a home renovation is out with the old and in with the new. However, if you want to renovate the green way, you’re going to have to think about how you’re disposing of your old materials and appliances.
For instance, you can recycle items made of ferrous metal. Items made with ferrous metal include an old microwave, an oven, a broken fridge or pieces of scrap metal left over from your renovation. You can bring all of this ferrous metal to your local recycling facility, which will pay you for your metal. Taking your metal to a recycling facility means it will avoid sitting in a landfill for many years. If you’re interested in this sustainable practice, click here to see where to take scrap metal in Torontoand learn about what other household items they accept.
Re-Think Your Paint
Many household paints contain VOCs, Volatile Organic Compounds. VOCs are unstable chemicals that let off fumes. It’s why you can feel light-headed or sick when you’re painting a room that doesn’t have much ventilation. VOCs have been shown to be harmful to your health, and bad for the environment.
That’s why you should buy low-VOC paints or no-VOC paints when you’re planning a greener renovation. You’ll limit or eliminate those harmful fumes.
Think Energy-Efficient
You want to cut down on your energy consumption so you can shrink your carbon footprint. Start by making sure that your home is well insulated from top to bottom. Then, purchase appliances that are touted for their energy-efficiency and replace the bulbs of your light fixtures with LED or CFL bulbs.
Try Green Energy
Years ago, green energy was considered financially out of reach for the average homeowner. Now, it’s growing in popularity due to being more accessible and affordable than it used to be. Any homeowner can install solar-powered lights in their yard or put solar panels on their roof. During the day, the panels absorb sunlight and convert it to usable energy to run the major appliances and electronics in your house. It’s green and convenient.
The ultimate goal for environmentally friendly renovators is to create a net-zero home. A net-zero home is one that creates just as much energy as it uses — it effectively cancels out the energy costs for the owner. So, if you make your home energy-efficient and establish ways to source green energy, you can shrink your home’s carbon footprint down to nothing.
When you’re thinking of going green, the best place to start is at home. Follow these initiatives to recycle materials, reduce pollution and conserve energy to create an environmentally friendly renovation and make a positive environmental difference for much longer than a day.
You might be interested in reading, “Toronto Tradespeople Find Treasures During Their Work Day“.
