450 years! That is how long it will take many plastic items to degrade and disappear. A fact that demonstrates we have for too long now all been guilty of putting our interior design style wants above the impact that they have on the environment. However, we are steadily approaching a point where this can no longer be the case. In fact, there is a wealth of information that is becoming available on how the way we buy things and live is negatively impacting the environment, often in ways that are irreparable, which means we need to take action now. In fact, one of the most effective steps we can take is to make our own home as eco-friendly as possible. We don’t even have to sacrifice style to achieve this either, as you can see from the information in the post below.

Stylish Home: Kitchen

A stylish kitchen is something that most people want if they haven’t already got one that is. After all, it can seriously increase the value of your homes, as well as make them more pleasant for our families to live in as well.

Happily, there are some small changes that we can make in this room that can have a massive positive effect on the environment. One of these is to stop buying plastic storage boxes, canisters, and food bags. Yes, I know they are convenient, and can often look fantastic but as we already know many types of plastic take hundreds of years to degrade and so can be a real pollution risk to the environment. In fact, this plastic usually ends up in the sea, which is of course where, as science.nasa.gov discuss, our water, and much of our food comes from, so in reality, we are really only hurting ourselves!

That is whys is crucial to replace such item with glass instead, as not only is a lot of more environmentally friendly but can be easily melted down and recycled into other items as well. The bonus here is that glass nearly always looks better, and is at least as durable as plastic too, so be sure you stock this season’s open shelve trend with glass jars instead of plastic ones, and replace plastic sandwich boxes with glass when the time comes around.

Next, in the kitchen, we use a great many disposable products including antibacterial wipes and kitchen towel. Items that ultimately being made to be thrown away. Of course, such products fill up landfill and use vast amounts of energy in their creation, only to have a lifetime of a moment or two when they are actually useful. Not to mention that they don’t really do much for our kitchen in the style steaks either. After all, you never hear anyone say, oh that is a lovely packet of disposable kitchen wipes, do you?

With that in mind, why not invest in some bright and funky reusable kitchen wipes and towels, something that you can get quite easily from handmade sites such as Etsy.com? You can even choose the fabric that they are made from so it matches your kitchen exactly! Can’t get any more stylish than that!  

Stylish Home: Bedroom

We couldn’t survive without our comfortable and stylish bedrooms, and that’s for sure. They are somewhere we can go and relax, switch off from the world and just be. However, you may be surprised to discover that some of the items in your bedroom, even if they were pretty expensive aren’t eco-friendly at all.

In particular, you need to be mindful of the bedding, sheets, and duvet covers that you buy, because, many even if they are made from cotton can be unsustainably made. In fact, many cotton growers use huge amounts of chemical pesticides to maximize their crops, which as discussed at nature.com can have a very negative impact, not just on the wildlife in the surrounding areas, but in any humans that come into contact with it as well.

Additionally, even something as simple as the paint on your walls could be causing problems, because many have a high level of volatile organic compounds (VOC). These can leach out into the air and pollute not only your home but also find their way into the wider ecosystem as well!

Luckily it is entirely possible to find paint that only has a low amount of VOCs in now, as the post at theguardian.com shows, and you can even get them in fantastic and on-trend colors as well. Of course, you can always go the whole hog and make your own from chalk and other naturally occurring ingredients if you like? Something that can help guarantee an impact on the environment that is as low as possible.

Stylish Home: Bathroom

Life would grind to a halt without the modern conveniences that most of us have in our bathrooms such as hot and cold running water, showers, baths, and toilets. Sadly, this in another room in the home that as we currently use it,  has the tendency to cause damage to the environment.

In particular, the problem of waste is a great one here, and I’m not just talking about black water, something you can find out about at howstuffworks.com, either. In fact, if you look around your bathroom right now, how many plastic tubs and bottles would you find? Five, ten, thirty? Well, for many of us the figure is likely to be higher than lower, and as we use such products as a regular basis they generate a great deal of plastic waste!

Luckily, much of the plastic that is used in shampoo and shower gel bottles is recyclable, so if you are making sure it goes in the right bin, you will be reducing this waste. Although, there is an even better tactic that you can employ, and once again it’s more stylish too!

This tactic is to use products that minimize packaging such as batch made soaps, shampoos, and gels, that are supplied in paper packaging or tubs that are constructed from entirely of recycled plastic.  These look way more stylish in your bathroom than a mish-mash of bottles, some of which will start to go moldy if they have been there a while, and can provide you with a bespoke luxe feel as well!

However, that is not the only action you can take in the bathroom to make it a more sustainable and stylish space. In fact, the final tactic you can use here is to replace items such as toothbrushes, holders, and soap dishes with ones made from bamboo. Bamboo, of course, can add a supremely stylish touch to your bathroom, and as it comes from sustainable forests is much better for the environment than other materials as well!

Bamboo in the bathroom is stylish and sustainable as well.

Stylish Home: Office

Social media is choked full of office selfies, and they are all just oozing style. You know the ones with the minimalist look in white, marble, and with a hint of gold or copper. Of course, you can’t see from a photo whether such spaces are environmentally consciousness or not, but you do have the power to control this in your own office.  

One way that you can do this is to replace incandescent and fluorescent light with LED bulbs. These give off much more light for a lot less energy used, so they are smart not only for the environment but your pocket too.

You can even take things one step further and install a smart light control system, something that you will need a fast internet provider like Optimum.com to support. Then you can control your lights from whether you are in the house, ensuring that you can turn them off when not needed and so never waste energy by leaving unneeded lights on ever again!

Also, on the subject of energy be sure to invest in some extension strips that have a cutout switch. This will then allow you to turn off all of your devices such as your computer, lamps, printer and the like and stops power being leached out of them even when they aren’t in use.

Remember too that you will want these to be in easy reach so you can flick that switch at the end of the day, so invest in some cable ties to ensure you retain your stylish minimalist feel at the same time.

Try and make your office as paperless as possible. One way to do this is to work entirely on digital platforms, although some people do still like to write things down. If that is the case of you why not invest in a decorative whiteboard like the ones clarus.com supply, and some wipeable pens? Then you can brainstorm and write notes to your heart’s desire, on something that fits in with the style of your room, and is saving you from drowning in a mess of paper.

Lastly, Office furniture can be expensive, but that doesn’t mean you need to spend hundreds of dollars on a desk, chair, or filing cabinet. There are plenty of options that can help you get the most for your money like https://www.officemonster.co.uk/office-furniture. Whatever type of office furniture you choose, remember that it will become an integral part of your home office environment. Choose office furniture that complements your style and offers comfort for hours of work ahead.

Lastly, when it comes to creating a stylish and eco-friendly office set aside some money in your decorating budget to buy an attractive sorting bin. Yes, being able to sort waste from recycling at the source will help you been more eco-friendly because you will end up recycling much more! It certainly won’t hurt things style-wise either, especially if you pick a covered number that is bang on the interior design trends for 2019!