Living sustainably only just starts with your house design! Once you’ve chosen a sustainably designed Park Home, it’s time to practice more ways of sustainable living. There is so much you can do to reduce your impact on the environment—and it’ll save you money too! Here are 15 of our favourite sustainable living tips:
- Know your carbon footprint
You can’t start reducing if you don’t know where you’re over-consuming. Try the WWF calculator, it shows your impact and gives suggestions on how to reduce your energy use! - Put in a clothesline
Make use of those beautiful sunny days and hang your clothes on the line! If you do install a dryer, use it sparingly. Most of the time you don’t need what you’ve washed urgently and it’ll save your clothes from the damages dryers can cause too! - Run full washing loads
Don’t just wash one or two things. Wait until there’s enough for a full load to save water. Look at the settings on your washing machine; if you don’t have an eco-friendly option, try a short, cold cycle on single rinse only. - Buy energy-smart appliances
Take a good long look at the range of white goods and appliances that you need. Most of them will have an energy star rating. Better ratings mean lower environmental impact and smaller energy bills. - Choose energy efficient light globes
There’s really no benefit in choosing ones that aren’t! Less energy, less running costs. - Switch off your lights
Don’t just buy energy efficient globes, make sure they’re not switched on when they don’t need to be! It takes two seconds to turn a switch off when you leave the room. No excuses! - Use a water-saving showerhead
We all love a long hot strong shower, but we don’t need a perfect shower every day. You can reduce your water usage significantly without losing much comfort. Try one and see how it goes! Our newest favourite (and one that will feature in our upcoming show home) is the NEBIA system, which saves 98% of the water used in a regular shower. Incredible! - Fix leaks quickly
We all know how annoying a leaky tap can be. And they’re not just frustrating, they’re incredibly wasteful! If there’s a leak, don’t wait. Find the source and give your local plumber a call if you can’t fix it quickly. - Recycle following local guidelines
It can be easy to mistake what can and can’t be recycled. Look up your local councils recycling requirements to check you’re following the rules. New initiatives are often coming out, like in New Zealand where we can now recycle our soft plastics and foil packaging at local grocery stores. - Start a compost
Put all your food and yard scraps into one compost. You’ll reduce your landfill waste significantly! - Dispose of hazardous waste properly
If you’ve just moved to a new house you’re probably going to have plenty of hazardous materials like paint, varnish, solvents and household cleaners to dispose. Don’t just throw them in the trash. Look up your local guidelines to find the best disposal location (or better yet, use plant-based paints and varnishes like we do, from the Natural Paint Co.! - Grow your own produce
If you’ve got the space in your garden, why not plant a few herbs, veggies or fruit trees? The more local the produce is, the more environmentally sustainable—and you can’t get much more sustainable than growing your own food! Even a couple of small herb plants makes a huge difference - Go native!
Native gardens are the most sustainable type of garden. Get to know your local ecosystem. It’s easier, cheaper, and the wildlife will love it too! - Buy used furniture
New house doesn’t need to mean new furniture! There are so many sites to buy good quality pre-loved items like eBay, TradeMe and Craigslist. There are some real gems to be found and you’ll save so much money! - Switch to reusables
So many disposable items like coffee cups, food containers, shopping bags, baby nappies and batteries go to waste when there are perfectly good alternatives available. Invest in some good quality reusables to save unnecessary waste.
What top tips do you have to share with us?
