How To Make Your New Home More Eco-Friendly

Jul 19, 2023 According to official reports, an average Australian household consumes around 6570 Kilowatts (KW) of electricity per hour. This huge energy consumption is not only adding to your carbon footprint but also causing environmental problems like deforestation, global warming and climate change. Thus, it is necessary to make your home more sustainable by adopting energy-saving and environmentally friendly practices.  You can use these practices when you are moving into a new home so that you can design your home to save energy and also choose appliances and furniture that are eco-friendly. Here are some important ways you can make your new home more eco-friendly: 

Tips To Make Your New Home Eco-Friendly

1. Design Your Home To Include Ventilation And Light

The first step you can take while your removalists Newcastle help pack up and load your belongings from your old home is to design your new home with sustainable features. You can include a roof garden with rainwater harvesting to catch and reuse rainwater and help in water conservation. You can also build a terrace and a garden wall to cool down the temperatures in your home and reduce the usage of heating and cooling devices due to natural ventilation.

2. Use Secondhand And Reusable Furniture Items

You can avoid buying new furniture and use more secondhand items when arranging your new home. This will reduce the mass production and consumption of new goods and resources and help save on greenhouse gas emissions. You can also upcycle your furniture instead of throwing it in a landfill, where it will decompose and affect the marine and land ecosystems. Find ways to repaint, redesign, and add new decorative elements to your existing furniture to upcycle them.

3. Install Energy-Efficient Appliances And Check The Rating

Another step to make your new home eco-friendlier is to use energy-efficient appliances with a high star rating. These appliances with a high energy star rating consume less energy than other appliances of the same weight. You can also check the electrical consumption given on the appliances and choose one that uses less electricity per year.

4. Monitor Your Energy Consumption With A Smart Meter

Another great way to save energy in your new home and make it more sustainable is by installing a smart meter. A smart meter will automatically calculate and display your electricity consumption and help you see where you use energy most. You can use this smart meter to monitor and reduce your electric consumption, such as turning off appliances when not in use or using your heater and air conditioning less. Tip: Here are some useful tips to help you safely move and set up electronics in your new home.

5. Switch To Solar Panels For Your New Home

One of the best ways to become more sustainable and eco-friendly is to install solar panels on your rooftop. These solar panels will trap the sun’s energy and convert it into electricity for your home. You can even get solar battery-powered panels that store this energy in the battery and then use it in the evening and night. While installing these solar panels might cause you a little extra initially, they will help you save huge amounts on your energy bills in the long run.

6. Create A Cleaning Caddy With DIY Solutions

While your removalists in Newcastle unpack and reassemble your furniture, you should give your new home a good sweep. But traditional chemical cleaners leave toxic residues and end up in landfills, harming the ecosystem. You can reduce this wastage by switching to more natural and DIY cleaners like baking soda and vinegar that are safe to use and help sparkle up your home.

7. Replace Plastic With Bamboo And Glass Alternatives

You can also make your home more sustainable by replacing all single-use plastic products with eco-friendly options like glass and bamboo. For instance, you can replace plastic straws with reusable glass and metal straws. You can even use old glass coffee jars and steel tins to store your items and avoid buying plastic containers that take years to decompose in landfills. Tip: Here are helpful tips for reading plastic signals so that you can now understand what can be recycled and what is single-use.

8. Set Up A Compost Pit In Your Garden

Lastly, you can reduce the carbon footprint of your new home by setting up a compost pit in your garden. Let your professional removalists in Newcastle unload your belongings while you create a compost pit and add all your organic and food waste. If your home does not have a garden, you can ask your local authorities about composting pits nearby where you can contribute your organic and food waste.  Some Additional Tips 

• Use low-flow showerheads and faucets to conserve water.
• Switch to energy-efficient lighting like LED and CFL bulbs.
• Wash your clothes at 30 degrees Celsius to save energy.
• Insulate your home properly to prevent heat from escaping.

Tip: If you are still in the process of moving homes, here are some eco-friendly tips for your relocation. 

Conclusion

Using the above tips, you can make your new home in Newcastle eco-friendly and sustainable and help reduce global warming and greenhouse gas emissions. You should use more natural light sources in your home and install smart meters to monitor your energy consumption.