Today’s focus is on our environment and how you can make a difference when buying for your homes. Nowadays, we are all doing more to protect our environment with daily tasks such as food and waste recycling, to being mindful when we shop that we reuse plastic carrier bags are becoming part of our everyday.
As with anything that is important, there is always the opportunity to do more, and that includes buying for your home.
Your Four Step Guide To Creating An Environmentally Friendly Home
1. Choose Quality
- It may be common sense, but choose products that are made of a good quality. They will last longer and, therefore, be more economical in the long-term. Yes, this they may cost a little more and, you might even have to wait a little longer to purchase, but it will be worth it in the long run.
- Try not to buy on impulse or buy with “we need this now” mentality. This will help prevent your homes from becoming cluttered with stuff that you probably don’t need or, indeed, love.
- Take more of a “make do, beg or borrow” stance, as a temporary measure until you can afford the best quality products for your home.
- If you are desperately in need of something for your home check out local charity furniture shops or preloved sites and you can always donate the items back when your ready to purchase a better quality item.
- If it’s an important item that is going to be used a lot, buying bad quality will mean you will only end up replacing it. This in turn wastes money, and you’ll be adding to the landfill sites. It’s worth investing in larger quality items such as beds, as they need to last a long period of time.
- Check that the manufacturer of the items has tested the product properly and offers a warranty. This helps confirm that they credit their own products to last.
2. Sustainability
- You can really help our environment when purchasing furniture items by checking that they carry the Forest Stewardship Councils approved sign. Just by doing this you are ensuring that you’re doing your bit for responsible management of forests.
3. Reduce Your Carbon Footprint
Source It Closer!
- It makes sense to buy locally. By doing so ensures a reduced carbon footprint which really helps with fuel omissions.
- It is common place today for us to make a lot of purchases over the internet. If you shop like this, seize the opportunity to source items closer to your home.
Don’t Be afraid to ask!
- Shopping on the high street is no different. Don’t be afraid to ask, even from the big guys where a product is coming from. For example, about eight years ago, we bought out our solid oak farmhouse kitchen table and chairs from John Lewis, and unbeknownst to us, it came all the way from France. We only found this out when there was a delay on it.
4. Look for Environmentally Friendly Designs
- There are a lot of great new designers out there who are creating more environmentally friendly products such as lighting, furniture, accessories and other household goods. Check them out! They are a growing part of the interior design industry and it is always exciting to find new products that will give you the feel good factor. Tom Raffield is one great example. If you missed my post on him, you can check it out here.
This is one of my Environmentally Conscious Presentation Boards. It is a few years old, but demonstrates that there are always alternatives to buying with our environment in mind. |
You may not be able to apply these steps all of the time but, by making a conscious decision to think before you buy, you will be doing your bit for our planet, which can only be a good thing!
Have a great weekend!
Maria
2 Comments
Fantastic. I am a firm believer in recycling/upcycling, which is why my home is so vibrantly weird lol. I would much rather reuse than abuse!! Great post Maria xx
Great to hear that you are of the same mindset Amanda. Thanks for taking time out to read and comment :D xx