It’s a place where you feel relaxed, it’s a place where you sleep, it’s a place where you take rest when you are tired. Your bedroom should be the most relaxing and peaceful and calming place in your home. It should not have chemicals filled into it, those invisible chemicals may cause broken sleep, many kind of allergies, and some extreme cases of cancers. An eco-friendly and environmentally safe and friendly bedroom will focus on lighting, fabrics and furniture to make your life comfortable.
Your bedroom furniture may be composed of pressed wood, particle board, or plywood panelling. It should use greener and environmentally friendly products. If left unsealed it can leak formaldehyde into your air, a gas that is classed as a probable human carcinogen by the EPA. Formaldehyde can cause difficulty in breathing, asthma attacks, watery eyes, skin rashes and allergies.
Another aspect of your love nest to consider is what is on your walls. Paints can be highly toxic. Look for low-odor, low VOC environmentally safe and friendly paints that won’t slowly kill you. Make sure your room is well ventilated and bring in a few houseplants. A Sydney University found that indoor plants can improve air quality by up to 87% in 24 hours.
Your mattress and linen can also be made environmentally friendly by switching to organic and natural materials. By using an organic mattress and natural linens for your bedding you and your bedtime buddy will sleep easier, breathe easier and suffer from fewer allergic reactions. Also, organic mattresses have been found to contain fewer dust mites, so the bed bugs won’t be biting.
Use heavy-backed curtains to keep in the heat in winter and keep it out in summer and consider tinting your bedroom windows to further help with insulation. Tints that are completely clear are widely available and save extraordinary amounts on energy bills. Remember that your bedroom is your sanctuary and where possible do your bit to save the planet. Instead of wasting energy watching the TV, why not take your sleeping partner and reacquaint yourself with your new green and clean bedroom, squeaking mattress optional?
The last and probably most important aspect of greening your bedroom is lighting. It sets the mood, provides basic illumination for your scary novel, and needs to be used wisely. Switch to CFLs if you haven’t already and use those with a dimmer switch, which are now available widely at all local hardware stores. Wherever possible use natural lighting and situate your mirrors and reading areas in places that receive the lightest during the day.
Help save water in the bathroom
A leaky faucet in your bathroom can sometimes waste lots of water. If your faucets drip, as early as possible try to get them fixed because by time this dripping increases. As a temporary solution, you can place some containers under this drip and you can use this saved water. There is an easy way to check your toilets, simply put a few drops of food colouring (choose a bright colour because this will be visible easily) in the water tank.
Wait for some time (around 5-10 minutes) and then check your bowls without flushing. If you see a dye in the toilet bowl, it means that there is a water leak. Repair your toilet in this case.
Keep the water turned off while you are away or not using it. Even turn off the water while brushing your teeth. It’s fine if you forget it sometimes, but this is not a good habit. Try to remember this little thing that helps save up to 3-4 gallons of water per minute. You can do the same while shaving or washing dishes. And even while taking a shower.
You can minimize the water usage in toilets by putting a brick in the water reservoir of the toilet. This will reduce the space available for water to be stored in the toilet reservoir. This will permit you to use less water, but keep using your toilet as usual with normal functioning. In some toilets, there is an option to adjust the water level. You can adjust it to a lower level for the purpose of saving water.
This will make your bathroom an environmentally friendly place and your great contribution to saving our lovely natural environment.