One of the main motivations for many modular homeowners is a desire to be eco-friendly. Reusing modules and living small are both excellent ways to do your bit for the environment, but there’s so much more that you can do to turn your home into an eco-friendly paradise! Check out these top tips to get you started…
Waste Solutions
As humans, we’re constantly leaving waste behind us to the detriment of the environment. Whether this is plastic, dirty water, or food waste – this can be super harmful to the flora and fauna. When designing your home, you can add some ingenious waste-saving hacks to reduce this impact.
You can create composting solutions, wastewater reduction systems, and zero-waste hacks to be built right into your home. This is a massive advantage, as traditional homes can have old-fashioned systems that are difficult to change.
Reusing your wastewater can be as simple as draining your shower water back into your toilet. These small changes really benefit the area that you’re living in and can even save you money too! There are plenty of companies out there making environmentally friendly soaps and cleaning solutions that can be more easily disposed of than traditional products.
Size Matters
These come in a range of sizes, from 10ft to 40ft! While you might be tempted to go for the biggest one that you can afford, living smaller is much more eco-friendly. It’s cheaper to heat a smaller space and requires less energy to run, so consider if you really need that extra space or not.
Looking for a pre-owned unit can reduce your impact too – you can find some great providers that will help you get exactly what you’re looking for.
If you’re going down the pre-owned route, then you may need to invest in chemical removal or repainting. These are built to be resistant to sea water and corrosion, which means that they may be coated in chemicals.
Before you get one in place, check out the coating and consider whether stripping this off is necessary. Otherwise, these chemicals can leach into the land around your home and possibly impact the wildlife nearby.
Use Solar Energy
Adding solar panels to your home can also offset the impact that you have on the environment. Using this renewable energy source can save you money and reduce your carbon footprint – so it’s a win-win!
These panels can be affixed to the roof of your home to soak up the sunlight and power. By taking steps to reduce your energy consumption, you can also make this energy last even longer. Small steps like placing appliances on timers, wrapping up warm in the winter instead of hitting the thermostat, and reducing the appliances you use can make a huge impact.
You can fit a smart meter in your home to identify the culprits that are soaking up all this energy. You may be surprised at just how much energy your appliances use, then you can take necessary action to use your solar power more economically.
Using the correct insulation and sealant can also help you keep those energy bills down too! There are a lot of options out there for insulation, so if you’re concerned about the environmental impact, take time to research each before you decide.
Recycle Furniture
When you’re designing the interior of your home, you may be tempted to get all-new, bespoke furniture for the space. While this may help you to get the exact layout you want, it can be pretty wasteful when there’s a lot of furniture already out there.
Visiting charity shops and scouting out unwanted furniture are great ways to reduce the amount of furniture in the world. You can customise and upcycle them to fit your needs exactly, like installing folding elements or matching them to your colour scheme.
Older pieces of furniture can also be sturdier than newer pieces, as they tend to be made of solid wood rather than composites.
These types of homes can be a wonderful way to reduce your impact on the planet, but it’s important to keep these extra tips in mind to maximise this. If you follow these, then you’ll be shrinking your carbon footprint and protecting the environment around your home – what more could you want?
