5 Eco-Friendly New Year’s Resolutions to Practice at Home in 2024

Practicing a sustainable lifestyle is one of the best ways you can help care for the environment on an individual scale. With January quickly approaching, the new year can be a great time to add new eco-friendly practices to your home routine. Although, changing your daily habits to more sustainable practices — or, just changing your habits in general — can be easier said than done. 

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Many U.S. citizens express a desire to live a more clean, eco-friendly lifestyle, yet many Americans are unaware of how to get started. While 95% of U.S. respondents in a survey said they recycle, fewer than half understand the basics of what materials are recyclable (Paper and Packaging Board, 2021).

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If one of your New Year’s resolutions is to be more sustainable in the new year, you're in luck! Here are 5 sustainable practices you can add to your home life in 2024:

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1. Switch to sustainable products at home: The products we choose to bring into our home are not always the most sustainable option. Items that can be found in most homes including cleaning products, laundry products, and beauty products can all be switched to more eco-friendly products. Nowadays, many brands produce product alternatives that are better for the environment, so there is no shortage of options when seeking sustainable products. 

With a little research, there are many switches we can make in the home to consume materials that are better for the environment and have a lower carbon footprint. It may take some extra time to adjust from no longer just picking out your favorite scent or a well-known brand, but opting for products that are better for the environment will be worth it in the long run. Plus, once you find your new favorites, choosing eco-friendly products will become second nature!

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2. Practice habits that are more eco-conscious: Oftentimes it’s our daily habits that contribute the most to our individual overconsumption of resources. By cutting back in little ways, you can make a big difference in your carbon footprint. Some habits you can focus on being more eco-conscious of include water and energy conservation. In the new year, take note of how often you leave the lights and certain appliances on when they are not in use and adjust where necessary. You can also unplug electronics when they are not in use, reduce your shower time, and run larger loads in the dishwasher and laundry machines. These habits may not seem like a lot initially, but considering “the average shower uses about 8 liters of water per minute,” it can all add up quickly (LoadUp, n.d.). 

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You can also save a little money every month while decreasing your carbon emissions by reducing your thermostat in the winter, and increasing it in the summer — or even turning it off altogether when possible. This can greatly reduce your carbon emissions by about 2,000 pounds a year. Adjusting your water heater’s temperature can also have a similar effect. Most water heaters are set to 140° as the standard, but most households can reduce this to 120°. In doing so, you can “reduce your carbon emissions by 500 lbs per year,” (LoadUp, n.d.).

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3. Reuse what you have and lessen your material consumption where possible: Upcycling, or reusing what you already own is a great eco-friendly habit to form. The consumption of materials almost always produces a carbon footprint of some level, so removing the steps that go into producing a new product by using an existing one you already own instead is a great way to limit waste. 

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4. Learn about recycling: Many of us know recycling is important and understand the concept, however, not everyone knows what is recyclable. If recycling is something you don’t fully grasp the basics of, let’s review! 

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• When producing an item, there are five major steps in the process which include: “raw material extraction and processing, raw material transport, production process, transport of finished goods, and end-of-life management,” (LoadUp, n.d.). When choosing to recycle, you eliminate the need for raw material extraction and transportation; the production steps that can cause the most damage (LoadUp, n.d.). Extracting raw materials alone contributes to half of the collective’s global emissions (LoadUp, n.d.).

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• Many people are aware that plastic can be recycled, but so can other materials such as paper, cardboard, glass, milk cartons, magazines, clean food packaging, and even aerosol cans. However, not all recycling facilities accept certain types of materials so it is important to do your research before putting these materials in just any recycling bin. Start with your local recycling facility to learn what materials you can recycle; then, you can expand to other recycling facilities to recycle items that are not accepted by your local facility.

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• Ever wondered what those numbers mean on your plastic materials? These are numbers that indicate the type of plastic the item is made of. Most recycling facilities accept plastics 1 and 2, but you may have a harder time with some other types of plastics.

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• Did you know that recyclable material can be recycled more than once in its lifespan? For example, paper and cardboard products can be recycled a total of 5 to 7 times before the material becomes unusable (Paper and Packaging Board, 2021).

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5. Upgrade your appliances: If you have the means this new year, upgrading your appliances can be a great way to make your home more sustainable and save a little extra money! By upgrading appliances such as your dishwasher, laundry machines, refrigerator, or microwave to energy-efficient appliances, you can save up to 5,500 pounds on your carbon footprint depending on what appliances you choose to upgrade (LoadUp, n.d.).

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TIP: If upgrading your appliances is not an option this new year, consider switching smaller items in your house to energy-efficient options, such as LED lights or rechargeable batteries. A disposable battery uses about 50 times more energy just to create it than the battery will even produce in its lifetime, whereas a rechargeable battery can supply “more than 50 times the energy used to make them,” (LoadUp, n.d.).

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Choosing the more sustainable option can be daunting at first, but taking the first step and learning along the way is the best way to get started. Select a couple of habits to work on and soon enough you will be on your way to having a more eco-friendly home!

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At Bridge Homes, we value sustainability and aim to provide our residents with the knowledge to live a healthy and sustainable lifestyle at home. Visit our blog for more information on sustainability, home and garden care, and tips to help plan your next move! 

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If you’re searching for your next rental to make a home, don’t forget to check out our listings! Bridge Homes proudly provides quality rental properties all across the country.

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Resources:

Eco-Friendly New Year’s Resolutions: 21 Ways to Go Green in 2023 

New Survey Reveals Gaps in Consumer Recycling Behavior and Knowledge

Photo by SHVETS production: https://www.pexels.com/photo/smiling-woman-stacking-paper-litter-for-reuse-7512807/