Guest post by Amelia
Sustainable Living in 2013: How to make your Home Eco-friendly on a Budget
The UK property market is currently booming, and although this growth may be short-lived it has encouraged many citizens to consider their next real estate move. The aspiring home-owners of today have additional opportunities in the current market, however, with the option of building an eco-friendly kit home one of the most popular. Even if this is beyond your means, however, the benefits of sustainable building solutions when applied within a standard home are difficult to ignore in 2013.
How to Embrace Sustainable Living on a Budget
The issue facing most home-owners is that while they are continually encouraged to create a more sustainable living space, this is perceived as being a costly exercise. While the installation of solar panels may deliver significant cost and energy savings over time, for example, residents must be able to pay an estimated £7,000 up front to achieve this goal. With this in mind, what cost effective solutions can home-owners follow in the quest to create a sustainable and energy efficient property? Consider the following:
Carefully Monitor your Energy Usage: On a fundamental level, you and your fellow residents are directly responsible for the amount of energy that is used within the home. Regulating this can be an issue, however, especially for young families who are already struggling with the harsh economic climate. By making an effort to monitor your consumption and minimizing the use of energy in idle rooms, however, you can cut your annual bills and make a positive impact on the environment.
Invest in Home Insulation: While solar power may be outside of your financial means, home insulation is a more affordable alternative that will dramatically reduce your energy consumption. Now a standard feature across all new build properties, those of you with older properties can have your home insulated for a competitive and easily affordable fee. The task itself is also surprisingly quick and easy, which means that you will not face significant disruption while work is completed.
Consider Using Sustainable Material During Refurbishment Projects: Even if you cannot afford to spend additional money in the pursuit of sustainable living, there will eventually come a time when you set some capital aside to redecorate or improve your living space. This provides you with an ideal opportunity to contribute towards the environment, as the consumer market is now well populated with sustainable and eco-friendly materials that are free from harmful toxins. They also guarantee and excellent finish in your home, so that you are not forced to compromise on its final aesthetic.
Hey Lisa,
I have been following your blog and twitter page and I enjoyed your eco-friendly article today. A little while ago you tweeted us wanting to know what pickURgift was and how it works. I thought I would use your article today and show you since being eco-friendly is pretty high on my list.
PickURgift is a site where a gift giver creates a reverse wish list. This is a list of gift that you want to give but you just are not sure exactly which one to give. Lets say you have a friend who is building their eco-friendly house and you wanted to give them a eco-friendly house warming gift. You are not sure what to give them so you create a page like this
http://www.pickurgift.com/341-ecofriendly-home-lifewithlisa
You would send it to her and if she saw something from this ecofriendly page you created, she would pick the gift she wanted and you would be informed of which gift to buy. I used a website called greenhome.com (just searched it out) and created this page in about 5 minutes.
I hope you get the gist of the site. We are new and still working out some flow issues and bugs but we are getting there.
Thanks for your ear,
Rick Swenson
Co-founder
Oh I want the rainbarrel Rick…lol
Insulation is key to saving money and you learn that quickly when you live in the Northeast.