You want to renovate your home, but you also want to do it in a way that doesn’t harm your wallet or the environment. Thankfully, there are ways to go about this. From Energy Star appliances to bamboo flooring, there are plenty of eco-friendly ways to renovate your home.
Opt for planet-friendly flooring
Instead using traditional building materials for your floors, consider more eco-friendly options like bamboo or reclaimed wood. Bamboo grows like a weed in most parts of the country, making it an affordable and sustainable material for floors and countertops. Reclaimed wood is another great design option. “Upcycled” from sources like old barns, retired ships, or wine casts, reclaimed wood cuts down on waste and decreases the demand for virgin wood taken from forests.
Use recycled glass
Unlike food or beverage packaging, glass can be recycled endlessly without losing its quality. This makes recycled glass a great option for your windows or even your countertops. It’s cheaper, eco-friendly, and they’ll look just as good as brand-new glass.
Restore, don’t replace
Before you start knocking down all of your walls, take a look and see what can be salvaged. By restoring something over demolishing it or replacing it, you’re using less materials and less money in the long-run.
Go for energy-efficient appliances
Energy-efficient appliances will save you now and well into the future. So, when you’re shopping around for new appliances, keep an eye out for the Energy Star logo to make sure that your appliances are certified energy-efficient.
Use low VOC paint
VOC, or volatile organic compounds, are unstable chemicals that mainly produce that new paint smell you’re so familiar with. However, that new paint smell is also harmful to people and the environment and, according to the EPA, it doesn’t go away and can actually build up inside our homes. To reduce exposure, opt for low VOC paint or VOC-free paint.
Here at Ivy Lea Construction, we can help you choose design features to make your kitchen as energy-efficient and environmentally-friendly as possible. Give us a call today to speak with a home improvement expert and get started on your home renovation.
