This article is part of a series of articles on how to make your home more eco-friendly, to read the previous articles, you can go here:
How can I make my home eco-friendly? KITCHEN
How can I make my home eco-friendly? BATHROOM
Eco-friendly home: Energy, Lights, and Reusables.
Get rid of stuff in an eco-friendly way
If you are on a budget, I also have a list of 20 actions that you can take that will save the plant and save you money at the same time.
Today I want to focus on what is left to make more eco-friendly about your house. We are left with the bedroom, home office, and some miscellaneous actions that can be applied in the whole house.
I am not using any affiliate links, everything I recommend is because I like it and think it is useful. Feel free to search for different options in the same products category.
Contents
- Eco-friendly mattress
- Bedding
- Closet
- Condoms
- Intrauterine Devices (IUD)
- Lubricants
- Lower your bedroom temperature
- Home office
- Painting
- Furniture
- Floors
- Plants
Bedroom
This might be your favorite place in the whole house, so let’s make it more eco-friendly for you and your family!
Eco-friendly mattress
You will not buy mattresses very often, and I am strongly suggesting to wait to replace yours until it has served its purpose, and it is no longer good. Just one mattress takes up a lot of space in the landfills. The best option when replacing yours would be to donate your old one to charities that use them in homeless or other shelters or donate to people living on the streets. There are people who will gladly use your mattress for longer.
When it’s really the time to replace your old mattress, you should be looking for quality and eco-friendly options. These mattresses may be more expensive, but you will only invest once in one or two decades. The better quality, the longer it will last. Hopefully, you find one that is recyclable so it never ends up in the landfill.
When choosing the best option for you, you should be looking at the materials used for the mattress. Are they using organic materials such as organic cotton, wool, bamboo, latex, or rubber? Are the materials recyclable or better biodegradable? Or are they treating those materials with harsh toxins and chemicals? How long will the mattress last? And was is made close by or did they have to ship it from another country?
While doing some research I found Avocado Mattress and I love what they do, apart from using the best material, they are certified B-Corp and Climate Neutral Certified®. There are other great brands, so do your research and pick the best option for you.
Bedding
As with mattresses I recommend changing or buying new items only after the ones you have now, are no longer good. When you need a new item, look for eco-friendly fabrics like linen, hemp, or organic cotton. These fabrics are more durable and have a lesser impact on the Earth in the process of plantation and production.
To learn more about eco-friendly fabrics, read this article that covers all the important aspects.
Closet
The fashion industry is one of the dirtiest industries on the planet. It produces 10% of all the carbon emissions, it pollutes water with toxin and chemical dies, and it is the second-largest consumer of the world’s water supply, thus helping to cause draughts. Moreover, some plastic containing fabrics like polyester will not decompose easily and will pollute the rivers and ocean with microplastics.
Fast fashion
Fast fashion means that fashion trends are changing really fast, items going from the catwalk to the consumer in no time, and trends changing every season or more so that new clothes can be mass-produced and sold to the customers. This way, many clothing products are used just a few times before they end up in the landfills. We now buy more clothes than ever, and keep them for a very short time. Read more about this issue in my article about eco-friendly fabrics.
To lessen this impact, as a consumer, you have several options. The first would be not to participate in the fast fashion industry. Have quality items that you will keep for a long time in your closet. Do not change your whole closet each season, but use what you have. Replace only the items you are no longer able to use.
Buying new items
When you need a new item, you could first explore thrift stores. In this case, you are giving an item a second chance. You are prolonging its life, so the material doesn’t matter so much if you buy it and use it as long as it’s usable. Despite what anyone might think, shopping in thrift stores is great. It’s cheap, you are helping the environment and you can find great items.
The second option is to buy new clothes, but choose eco-friendly materials like hemp, linen, organic cotton, bamboo linen, or recycled textiles.
Moreover, discard of old items in an eco-friendly way, do not send clothing into landfills, there are several options of what you can do. Here, I describe 7 ways to discard of textiles without trashing them.
Contraception
We all know the bedroom is not only used for sleeping, so let’s talk also about safe and eco-friendly sex. I will only mention some options, but there are many more to be explored.
Condoms
If condoms are contraception of your choice, you will create trash that will be sent to the landfills, but its the trash that is wort it. Unwanted pregnancy or an STD has a far greater impact on you or the planet that the condom. To dispose of the condom, put it in your trash, please do not flush the condoms.
Fortunately, there are ways to reduce your condom’s impact. Because there are companies that only use organic products, and don’t use chemicals in the process, therefore polluting less in the production phase.
Sustain in certified B-Corp and they only use fair trade latex in their condoms, they do not use Nitrosamine and their products are Non-GMO and Paraben free. Glyde is another brand to consider, they are certified non-toxic, ethical, and fair-trade condom. It’s also certified by the Vegan Society.
Intrauterine Devices (IUD)
If you are not using condoms, you could consider Intrauterine Devices (IUD). IUDs are an effective way to prevent pregnancy, and they do not generate almost any waste compared to other forms of contraception. There are hormonal and hormone-free versions available. Talk to your doctor and choose the best one for you.
Lubricants
Many commercially available lubricants are petroleum-based, this is not eco-friendly as the extraction leads to water waste, the release of greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere, and can lead to oil spills. Many use toxic ingredients, preservatives, etc.
Look for a lubricant with natural organic ingredients, or you can even use some natural oils like coconut oil. If you are using oil-based lubricants, beware, as the oils may damage the latex in the condom. If you are using condoms, look for water-based lubricants. Always check whether the lubricant is safe to use with condoms.
Lower your bedroom temperature
To make your bedroom more eco-friendly, you may opt to lower the temperature of your bedroom (recommended is 60 – 67 degrees Fahrenheit, or 15-20 Celsius). It is healthier to sleep in a cool environment, and you will save energy and resources. Cooler temperatures in the bedroom promote better and more restful sleep.
Home Office
If you work at home or have a home office that you use sometimes, here are some tips on how to green it up. You may use some of these tips even if you don’t have one.
Go paperless
Every time it is possible, use electronic documents instead of printed documents. Use paper or print only when strictly necessary.
Recycled paper products
And for when you really need to use paper, have recycled notebooks, printer paper, or other necessary items on hand.
Recycle, compost
When you are done using paper, recycle, or compost it. Recycle any office waste possible. Nowadays, you can find places that recycle old cartridges, unused or broken electronics, and office appliances.
To start your own worm bin in your house or apartment, read this Complete beginners’ guide to worm composting in an apartment!
Ink/fountain pen
Go vintage and use a quality fountain pen. It looks cool and can avoid sending hundreds of single-use pens to the landfills.
Unplug the appliances
I mention this in another article from this series, but I think it is necessary to stress in the home office section. You might have a printer or other office electronics at home that you use only a few times a month. Please keep them unplugged, unless you are currently using them.
Applicable in any room
Painting
When its time to paint your house, or any particular room, you should be looking into more eco-friendly options. Conventional paints may contain formaldehyde, heavy metals like lead or volatile organic compounds aka VOCs. The paint is likely to emit traces of these compounds even years after you painted the wall. Commercial paint is detrimental to your health and our environment.
There are several greener options on the market now. You can find paints with low-levels of VOCs, or natural paints made of natural materials, like clay, milk proteins, lime, minerals, and non-toxic pigments.
There is contrasting information on the longevity of greener paints, some say it will last a bit less, some says, if applied correctly, they will last the same amount of time as conventional paint. I think it is worth trying it and making a judgment for yourself.
Furniture
When you are in need of a new piece of furniture, I would really encourage you to first try to find a used item. Used items can be more stylish and better quality than new items. I was just looking around our apartment, and all of our furniture was either bought second hand, or someone gave it to us when they didn’t need it anymore, except our bed and sofa.
We fixed some of the items to look even better: we polished and painted them, installed new handles, we even reupholstered some chairs ourselves. If you want really stylish pieces, go to an antique store or store specialized in repairing and reconditioning old furniture.
Floors
In case you are about to replace your flooring, you can also look into some eco-friendly options. To be honest, there are many interesting options to explore, so I will mention some of them, and you can do your research and pick what you like the best for your house.
I would love to have reclaimed hardwood floors at our future house. I love the idea of using old materials, make them pretty again, and give them a second or third chance of life. It can be more difficult to source, but the effort is worth it, as you are not contributing to deforestation.
Another interesting option might be cork flooring. Cork is a bark of the cork tree. The tree keeps growing after they harvest the cork. They harvest the same tree every 9 years once the tree reached maturity. The trees grow mainly in the Mediterranean, so it does involve transport of the material.
Linoleum was very popular when I was a kid. I had no idea, but it is made from a mix of linseed oil, cork dust, tree resins, wood flour, pigments, and ground limestone. Please don’t get confused with vinyl which is synthetic.
Other options to look into are recycled glass, ceramic, or porcelain tiles, metal tiles, rubber flooring, wool carpets, and others.
Plants
Have many plants at your house. Having plants in the house is beneficial to you. Plants absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen. Therefore they increase oxygen levels at your home, some plants also remove indoor pollutants and clean the air. Also, plants make our homes look better, calmer, and healthier.
This is the last article in a series about making your home more eco-friendly. I really hope you can get some inspiration from the articles and implement some changes in your own life at your pace. If I were to recommend the first action to make, it would definitely be to start your own worm bin!
To read the previous articles, go here:
to read the previous articles, you can go here:
How can I make my home eco-friendly? KITCHEN
How can I make my home eco-friendly? BATHROOM
Eco-friendly home: Energy, Lights, and Reusables.
Get rid of stuff in an eco-friendly way
I am not using any affiliate links, everything I recommend is because I like it and think it is useful. Feel free to search for different options in the same products category.
