NewIdea
  • Royals
  • Celebrity
  • News
  • Beauty & Style
  • Health & Wellbeing
  • Food
  • Win
  • Recipes
  • Video
NewIdea
  • Royals
  • Celebrity
  • News
  • Beauty & Style
  • Health & Wellbeing
  • Food
  • Win
  • Recipes
  • Video
Subscribe
  1. Home
  2. Homes and Lifestyle

5 easy ways to make your home more eco friendly

These simple tips will get you started on the road to a greener lifestyle - by Andrea Black
  • 11 Jun 2019
5 easy ways to make your home more eco friendly

Go paperless

Ditch the paper bills and bank statements, this will reduce your waste output and also help declutter your home. These days you can get most of your bills, invoices and bank statements online and can download them to your hard drive in PDF form. 

Getty Images
Getty Images

Natural Household Products

It’s time to stop the tide of chemicals and pesticides that flow into our environment from daily use around the home. There are plenty of ready or home-made cleaning and pest control solutions using natural ingredients that won’t harm the environment. Whilst you can buy environmentally friendly cleaning products in most supermarkets, creating your own home-made cleaning and pest-control products is really easy. It’s amazing what you can do with simple household items like lemons, baking soda and vinegar.

West Elm Australia
West Elm Australia

Blackout Curtains

Insulating your home is the best way to save on heating and cooling bills but if that’s a step too far for your budget at the moment, look at getting blackout curtains that will not only block out light but will help insulate a room and keep it warmer in winter and cooler in summer.

Getty Images
Getty Images

Indoor Plants

Green your home in two ways! Indoor plants not only look fantastic when used as a part of your home décor, but they can be beneficial to your home environment too. NASA even produced a report on indoor plants’ ability to filter the air around them. Whilst some scientists have questioned whether indoor plants can really be effective air purifiers in a large home with a lot of airflow it is true that in smaller spaces with less airflow (a bedroom or bathroom for example) they can help remove toxins and other nasties from the air.

Getty Images
Getty Images

Reuse and recycle

Be a good global citizen by reducing the amount of waste you send to overstretched recycling facilities. Don’t throw away the cardboard box an appliance came in, flatten it until you need a box for storage. Buy some reusable water bottles instead of buying bottled water. And beer drinkers, find a local brewery that will sell you their beer in reusable bottles. Buying locally made products is great for the environment too. If you’re travelling, take your own utensils and straw so you don’t have to rely on disposable plastic utensils.

Andrea Black
Andrea Black
Travel, design and interiors writer Andrea Black embraces maximalism in the home, prefers mid-century modern style furniture and likes to hunt down vintage pieces. She specialises in travel relating to design, history, architecture and music. When visiting a city she will track down vintage vinyl record stores and bring home a local release.

Subscribe to New Idea & save!-+ save!

Subscribe to New Idea today

Subscribe Now
Subscribe to New Idea & save!

Subscribe to New Idea & save!-+ save!

Subscribe to New Idea today

Subscribe Now
Subscribe to New Idea & save!

Recommended to you

Home and Away opening title
Watch 1:09

Home and Away opening title

{headline}

{headline}

Home Hacks: how to measure sticky ingredients

Home Hacks: how to measure sticky ingredients

Home Hacks: how to easily clean your silver

Home Hacks: how to easily clean your silver

Replace these items in your home right now

Replace these items in your home right now

Five ways to instantly make your home feel cleaner

Five ways to instantly make your home feel cleaner

{headline}

{headline}

Five unexpected uses for beer around the home

Five unexpected uses for beer around the home

EASY DIY Make a benchtop compost bin

EASY DIY Make a benchtop compost bin

Five great household apps

Five great household apps

{headline}

{headline}

Easy ways to make your home look instantly on trend

Easy ways to make your home look instantly on trend

How to perfectly arrange your shelves

How to perfectly arrange your shelves

BEFORE AND AFTER: Bedroom makeover – A stylist’s secrets revealed

BEFORE AND AFTER: Bedroom makeover – A stylist’s secrets revealed

No housework required! Make your home smarter

No housework required! Make your home smarter

NEW TREND ALERT This will instantly transform your home

NEW TREND ALERT This will instantly transform your home

5 unexpected ways with wallpaper

5 unexpected ways with wallpaper

The one outdoor room hack you need to try

The one outdoor room hack you need to try

NewIdea
  • About Us
  • Subscribe Today
  • Contact Us
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Competitions
NewIdea Magazine Subscribe
  • About Us
  • Subscribe Today
  • Contact Us
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Competitions

Brands

  • Girlfriend
  • New Idea food
  • Practical Parenting
  • That’s Life
  • Who

Our Network

  • Better Homes and Gardens
  • BHG Shop
  • marie claire
  • Beauty Crew
  • Women's Weekly Food
  • Bounty Parents
  • Home Beautiful
  • All Recipes
  • Perth Now
  • The West Australian
  • 7Plus
  • 7mate
  • 7NEWS
  • 7Sport
  • Sunrise
  • Starts at 60
  • Hard to Find
© 2022 Are Media PTY LTD
All products are independently selected, tested or recommended by our team of experts.If you buy something, we may earn an affiliate commission.
Get more from New Idea

Magazine Subscription Offer

Subscribe to New Idea & save!-+ save!

Shop This Offer
Subscribe to New Idea & save!