Discover Nectr’s top 5 sustainability tips for living greener.

Sustainable living is about making conscious choices to reduce our impact on the environment. To create a sustainable home, it’s important to optimise energy and water usage and find efficient ways to minimise and manage household waste. Most households are aware of the key choices to be made and are already on the path to sustainable living, however there is always more that we can do.

1) Electricity

It is no secret that by proactively reducing your energy usage you will also in turn reduce your carbon emissions. Therefore, it is important to remember a few points such as always turning off your lights when they’re not in use, purchase appliances with a good energy rating and switch off appliances at the wall when they are not in use. Many appliances still use power when they are in standby mode. For more tips of saving electricity, checkout our blog on Cutting down your energy usage and bill.

2) Water

We have mentioned it before but keeping your shower to a maximum of 4 minutes will ensure you’re not wasting too much water or energy by heating the water up.

If possible, fully load your dishwasher and washing machine to ensure that you are not wasting energy. Half loads use the same amount of energy than a full load does, so be conscious of this the next time you go to turn your dishwasher and washing machine on.

3) Recycle and re-use

There are so many easy ways to make your home more sustainable and a good place to start is through recycling. Next time you are putting the bins out, make sure your waste is going into the correct rubbish bins.

It can also be fun reusing some products that you would usually just throw in the bin. Glass jars for instance can be reused in places such as the kitchen, home office or bathroom. It could be even a fun idea to make them into cocktail jugs.

If you have items that are gathering dust, think about how you might be able to reuse these, fix them up or even donate them to somebody who will get good use out of them.

4) Windows

Curtains and blinds are not just made for keeping those nosey neighbours away, they are also made for keeping the heat and cool air at bay and managing the temperature in the room. It’s therefore a good idea to consider the most efficient window shades to use in each room, especially if they face the afternoon sun.

5) Gardening

Plants are not just for a pretty view. Potted plants used indoors are effective for air cleaning. If you wish to take this a step further (and if you have the room to), create your own small vegetable and herb garden. There’s nothing quite as satisfying as picking your own vegetables and herbs to use in your cooking, plus it reduces waste associated with buying it from the Supermarket.

There are many other things you can do within the home to make it more sustainable, and these 5 tips are a good place to start.