There is a movement afoot to live a more sustainable life. A big part of waste comes from our homes. From heating, electricity, water there are many ways that our home is contributing to pollution, climate change and scarcity of resources.
Because of this, many people are looking to make a smaller footprint. Some buy and live in tiny houses, others are going off grid.
You don’t need to do anything as extreme as that to have a more sustainable home.
In this article, I will go over some ways that you can dramatically lower your impact on the planet through some changes to your home.
1 – Alternative energy
Accessibility to wind and solar power has made it cheap and easy to curb your dependance on the grid.
Technology has really caught up with the promise of solar power in particular. Panels are now very cheap so they are becoming more mainstream. Not only that, but they can produce far more energy than in the past. And with new batteries, you can store that energy you’ve produced and use it when the sun isn’t shining.
Wind turbines are a great alternative if you live somewhere that isn’t sunny enough for it to be worth getting solar panels.
2 – Get a well
Besides the sustainability of having a well, it is a great way to avoid the frequent water bans that happen these days. You can do practical things like water your lawn, or indulge in some luxury with wall mounted water fountains.
You won’t be worrying about a city water supply that is contaminated or high water bills in areas where access to fresh water is becoming scarce.
There are many pros and cons to well water, but if you want to rely less on the grid then it pays to have control over your water by drilling a well.
3 – Use permaculture techniques
Whether you live in the country, suburbs or city, you can use landscaping techniques called permaculture to lessen your use of resources.
Think of your home and garden as a closed loop. You are trying to minimize your need for water by using grey water techniques like having your sink and tub water flow through a filter that can then be used in your vegetable garden. You can use an indoor composting toilet to reduce the waste going into the sewer.
You can plant trees, bushes and ground cover plants that require less water than a lawn.
Keeping chickens is not only great to have fresh eggs, but they will take care of any bugs in your gardena and also fertilize it at the same time. Even if your garden is mostly grass, it will benefit from having chickens scratching at the ground to aerate it and their droppings will give you a nice green lawn.
Conclusion
Less dependence on the grid is the best way to lower the footprint of your home. Once again, you don’t have to go off grid, but use techniques to use less resources and you can sleep well at night knowing you are not a resource hog.
