If you’re concerned about the environment, you have probably started examining the inside of your home already. Maybe you installed some new energy-saving appliances, replaced your old light bulbs with LED ones, or started running your air conditioner a little less often. But what about the outside of your home?
There are plenty of ways you can make the outside of your home eco-friendlier. Whether you’re dealing with a small spot or a large yard, here are a few changes that you can make without spending a fortune.
Install Solar Lights
One of the easiest things you can do is to install solar lights. Do you have lights along your walkways, or on your patio? If so, you can easily swap these out with solar lights. Solar lights take their energy from the sun throughout the day, then use it to run the bulb when it gets dark. They are a great way to keep the outside of your home well lit without having to run anything off of electricity. They are also easy to install, so if there’s a spot where you’ve been wanting some extra light, now is a great time to add some solar lights.
Eco-Friendly Landscaping
To really make the outside of your home eco-friendly, you’ll want to focus on the landscaping. There are several things you can do to make sure your landscaping is the best it can be. For example, when selecting plants, choose plants that are native to your area. Or, you can use organic mulch to better protect your plants, regulate temperature, and retain water. For bigger projects, consider terracing any slopes you have to protect against erosion and stormwater runoff.
Planting a Garden
While you’re out there working on your landscaping, consider planting a garden. A garden is a great way to become eco-friendlier, and it doesn’t take much work. Once complete, you’ll have a spot where you can grow your own fruits, vegetables and herbs. Best of all, you’ll know exactly which chemicals you used, or didn’t use, while growing these plants. If you’ve never had a salad made up entirely of the vegetables you’ve grown, you’re missing out.
For more information on growing your own garden, you can read this guide.
Set Up a Composting Spot
We humans are wasteful. Each day we throw away a ton of food scraps, paper, plastic, and more. Wouldn’t it be great if we could turn at least some of this waste into something useful? Well, if you set up a composting spot in your yard, you can.
A composting spot turns your old food scraps into useable fertilizer. It’s a slow process, and it will require you to collect all of your food scraps, but the results are worth it. Now, rather than spending money to buy fertilizer, you can reuse stuff that would have just ended up in a dump. This not only makes your backyard eco-friendlier, but it helps the planet as a whole by making our dumps a little less crowded.
Gathering Rain Water
To run a successful garden, or any other type of landscaping, you’re going to need water. Rather than running your faucet and driving up your water bill, you should consider collecting rain. It’s easy to set up rain barrels on your own, and you don’t need much equipment as well. A simple DIY project like this can be completed in an afternoon, and you’ll have enough water for all of your plants going forward. Mother Nature provides us with plenty of water on her own, so make the most of it by assembling a rain barrel. You can get detailed instructions from this guide to get started.
Construct Eco-Friendly Buildings
Finally, if you’re in need of a building outside your home, there is a way to get eco-friendly buildings. You may need something like a storage shed or a carport, but before you start making one, it’s a good idea to examine what type of materials you’ll be using. You want to find materials that are eco-friendly, and which won’t damage your property. Taking a few extra minutes to do some research is well worth it if you end up with an eco-friendlier yard.
Little Steps Go a Long Way
All of the above steps might not sound like a lot, but they can go a long way. If each of us does our part to make the outsides of our homes eco-friendlier, we make the world a little eco-friendlier. On top of that, making your home eco-friendlier can help you have a healthier lifestyle at home. Hopefully this list was able to give you some ideas, and you’ll be well on your way towards transforming the outer environs of your home very soon.
Article Submitted By Community Writer
