Studies have revealed the negative impact of home improvements and renovations on the planet, and every homeowner now has a chance to reverse this damage by making home maintenance more sustainable. Every deliberate choice you make, whether it’s repurposing old items or recycling, conserving water, or choosing eco-friendly building materials, has a significant impact on the environment. The following DIY tips can help make your home maintenance tasks more sustainable.
1. Use wood with sustainability certifications
If you need to replace any wooden part of your home, consider using sustainable wood. In other words, choose wood that has been sourced responsibly due to deliberate and sustainable forestry practices. How will you know if your wood is sustainably sourced? Just look or ask for certifications like the Forestry Stewardship Council (FSC), which confirms that the wood you want to purchase comes from forests managed responsibly. Such certification proves that a specific area of the forest (where you got your wood) is being managed in line with sustainability principles and that you’re not contributing to deforesting the planet. If you can’t find such certified wood, opt for bamboo, as it’s one of the most renewable resources with very little impact on the environment.
2. Be careful with reclaimed wood
Using reclaimed wood for various home DIY improvements is one of the most popular sustainability moves. However, it comes with some issues you should be careful about. First, reclaimed wood that has been treated with harsh chemicals like paint (containing VOCs) can make the surrounding air toxic. Additionally, some types of reclaimed wood (exposed to extensive moisture or humidity) can expose your indoor space to mold and mildew. Also, reclaimed wood gathered from suspicious sources can contain common pests like termites, carpenter ants, and other wood-eating critters, which can spread to other parts of your home. You can work with experienced pest control services like Terminix Pest Control if you notice any pest infestation on your structures from reclaimed wood.
3. Repair and restore
Instead of discarding damaged or broken items in your home, find creative ways to repair and restore them. It could be something as little as a tear in your favorite clothing or a broken furniture. Being able to bring new life into damaged or broken items can save you loads of money on replacement expenses. Even better, it’s more sustainable and protects the environment. Thankfully, you can pick up so many hacks online on how to restore some of the basic home items without replacing them.
4. Add a DIY rain barrel to your home
Water wastage is one of the major sustainability issues most homes face. Whether it’s from the kitchen, bathroom, or garden, water wastage damages the ecosystem, disrupts the food chain, negatively affects aquatic life, and affects the supply of drinking water. To top it all, it increases your water bills. Adding a simple DIY barrel to your home can be a massive game-changer for water sustainability. You’ll be able to collect rainwater for your yard and garden and cut down on water wastage.
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