Being Eco Friendly With Your Home Decor

Stocking your home with the best decor is a challenge for every homeowner, but adding in the extra venture of making an eco friendly home and many decorators find themselves stumped. Many companies claim to be eco friendly and use recycled materials, but how can you be sure? This is a question that plagues many home owners. You can take some simple steps when decorating your home to make your living space more eco friendly and look amazing too. See these eco friendly home decor ideas.

This is a guest post by Bryn Huntpalmer from Modernize. We hope that you find it enjoyable and informative.

The first consideration when creating eco friendly decor is to see what things you already own that you can repurpose or reuse (“upcylce”). When you think of eco friendly terms, the word recycle is probably one of the first you think of, and for good reason. One of the most eco-friendly things you can do is to reuse something that you already have. Each time we create something new from plastic, paper or metal for use in our home we use valuable energy and pollute our environment during the manufacturing process.

By buying fewer new items and repurposing things you’ve already bought, you help the environment and make a more eco friendly home. You can use cracked bowls as storage vessels for your keys or cosmetics. Old cardboard boxes can be re-purposed into playhouses for your children and excess food can be used for compost. Rusty garden tools make wonderful wall decor (after a thorough wash of course). Before you throw something in the trash always stop and think, can I get creative with this to be more eco friendly? You’ll be shocked what you can come up with if you take a moment to step back before you throw things away.

When choosing the finishes for your home, it’s important to consider eco friendly options. You can ask just a few quick questions at your tile or flooring store to learn more before you purchase. Just ask, “Is this made with recycled materials?” and the second part of this question should be “If so, how much?”. This will help you weed out eco-posers. Many companies use just a teeny tiny percentage of recycled materials so that they can call themselves eco friendly. Be sure you know the percentage or recycled materials used so you can make an informed decision. Next you may want to know “How does this company minimize waste and reduce energy use during the manufacturing process?”. One of our most valuable resources is our energy supply. Companies who make an effort, because it isn’t easy, should be rewarded with your business.

Choosing locally made furnishings and decor is not only good for your local economy, it’s eco friendly as well. The cost, energy and pollution caused by freight each year is astounding. By choosing to buy from a maker near you instead of purchasing online can reduce these harmful byproducts and help your environment. You’ll feel closer to your community knowing your home is decorated with locally made products and you will be able to save the earth from unnecessary pollution.

Creating an eco friendly home may require a bit or research, but by asking the right questions and having the right mentality, soon it will become second nature. You’ll feel good knowing that you’ve created a home that respects the environment and you can pass your knowledge to your family by example.

For more ideas and inspiration, head to Modernize.com.

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