by Tahmina Sattar

Created on: July 26, 2009

The key to making your home environmentally friendly is to implement energy saving devices, practice recycling and make it a habit in your house to cut down on wastage of water and energy. This may seem like a huge change in lifestyle- actually making your home more environmentally friendly is simple. Take these following steps to see the positive difference you can make for our world.

Water water everywhere?

*Check your plumbing. Make sure leaks are fixed quickly. If you do not already have a dual flush system on your toilet cistern, try placing a bottle of water inside the cistern to prevent water wastage when you flush. Make sure the water displaced is not more than half the water in the cistern.

*Recycle grey water from baths and showers to water the garden or lawn. Extend the outlet pipe of your washing machine so the rinse water can run off onto the lawn.

*Always try to fill your washing machine cycles and dishwasher to optimise water usage.Otherwise be careful to use the economy or half cycle option.

Recycle- "One man's rubbish is another man's treasure!"

*Keep a small tub or bucket in the kitchen to collect food scraps and use for composting. Vegetable peels, used teabags and used cooking oil make great compost! Use biodegradable waste paper to add to your compost to keep the smell away.

*Recycle food containers, jars, cans and papers. Find out about your local collection box for these items and make it a weekly habit to drop off your recycled food containers.Empty cereal and shoe boxes are great for children's activities. Why buy storage containers? Wash jam jars and the like to store your spices, lentils, tea, sugar. These make for a colourful display to cheer up your kitchen deco.

*Go through your wardrobe and find those clothes and shoes that no longer fit or no longer wanted. Give them to friends (who do not mind hand-me-downs) or donate to charities.

Lights off! Plugs Out!

*Switch off that light when you leave that room. You will be surprised to know that Carbon dioxide emissions could be reduced by 620,000 tonnes if every household in the UK alone turned off lights in unused rooms!(http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/Home-improvement s/The-Energy-Saving-House).

*Unplug chargers for mobile phones when they are not used, as this is a cause of energy waste and carbon dioxide emissions.

*Try not to leave your appliances on standby mode, turn the tv switch off, take the powercable off the laptop. These add to the energy waste.

*Use energy saving light bulbs as they use less electricity and usually last a lot longer than traditional light bulbs.

Energy efficient shopping.

*If you are in the market to purchase a new appliance, look for energy efficiency logo's that meet strict guidelines on carbon dioxide emissions.

*If you are planning home improvements, there is the option to add solar panels or domestic wind turbines to produce a sustainable renewable energy for your home.

Take a step at a time towards making your house environmentally friendly. The collective efforts will make a substantial benefit for the overall environment and a cleaner,greener future for our children.

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