Climate change and sustainability are major issues facing the world today. Scientists predict that climate change will only get worse in the coming years, causing many people to shift towards a more sustainable lifestyle. One area where people are trying to become more sustainable is home decor. Many aspects of home decor can be considered unsustainable and bad for the environment. However, there are some design ideas that you can incorporate to make your home more sustainable. These ideas work regardless of whether you just bought one of the El Paso houses for sale or own a rural townhouse. So what are these great ideas that can help the environment? Here are five of sustainable home decor ideas.
House Plants
A great sustainable home decor option that anyone can use are house plants. House plants offer a lot to your home from a design standpoint, making your home appear greener and more natural. However, house plants are also fantastic for your home in other ways, helping to improve air quality and giving off great scents. In addition, plants don’t require resources and materials to make. As long as you don’t use plastic pots, basically everything about having a house plant is environmentally friendly. For this reason, houseplants are always a fantastic option for sustainable home decor.
Limit Plastic
One of the biggest problems the environment is facing right now is the massive amount of plastic thrown away. Most of this plastic finds itself in either the ocean or our soil, something that greatly harms the environment and the wildlife that call it home. If you truly want to be sustainable, then you’re going to need to limit the amount of plastic you use. The concept should extend to your home decor plans, as you should try to use as little plastic in your design as possible. Even when it comes to packaging, you should try to purchase items that come in biodegradable packaging and won’t be a major problem once it’s tossed out as waste. Plastic is extremely prevalent, so it may be tough to find items that don’t have plastic packaging or plastic in them, but you should still try your best.
Use Homemade Items
If you’re looking to be sustainable and creative, using homemade items can be a fantastic way to decorate your home’s interior. Purchasing from major brands that use up lots of unnecessary resources and materials only furthers climate change. However, shopping from locally owned businesses that hand-make their items is a much more sustainable alternative. Not only do these locally owned businesses typically use fewer resources, but they also don’t have to spend lots of resources on packaging and shipping. If you want to have a more sustainable home, try buying from local brands rather than buying products from huge corporations.
Let In More Natural Light
Something that could cause your room to be unsustainable is an over-reliance on artificial light. If your room requires lots of artificial light to be functional, then you’re going to need to waste a lot of energy on lighting it up. One way to solve this problem is to alter your room to let in more natural light, thus causing you to rely on artificial light less often. There are several ways you can let more natural light into your room. The first is to alter a room’s blinds or curtains, replacing them with options that let in more natural light. Another way is to alter your windows entirely or to add new ones. Some windows let more light in than others, and you’d be shocked how much brighter new windows can make your room. Finally, if you really want to combine home decor and sustainability, you can install a skylight. A skylight will totally brighten your room with natural light, lowering your reliance on energy, while serving as an extremely interesting design point.
Shop Secondhand
Another great way to be more sustainable with your home decor is to shop for secondhand items at places like thrift stores. Many people throw away or sell their furniture and other items well before it’s actually time for an upgrade. As a result, you can find plenty of great furniture options when shopping at secondhand stores. These furniture pieces are likely in decent condition, and even if they’re not, it’s still relatively easy to restore them to their original glory. Shopping secondhand like this is much better for the environment than purchasing brand new furniture pieces, as it means resources and materials aren’t wasted on making an entirely new furniture piece. If you want to have sustainable home decor, try incorporating secondhand pieces into your design plans.