Eco-friendly Decorating

If you’ve moved to Berkshire and are on the verge of decorating or redecorating a new home, then doing it the eco-friendly way is a fitting choice. This is especially poignant if you’ve moved from city to countryside. You can alter how you approach life by creating a sustainable and environmentally sound property from day one.

Making your Berkshire home a lovely place to be while simultaneously being kind to Mother Nature is the way more and more people are going. Joining them doesn’t have to be a slog. Even if your home is partially eco-friendly, that’s going to be better than not at all. We’ll go through some of Camp Hopson’s best practical ways you can achieve this without it costing too much money upfront.

Tips on Decorating with the Environment in Mind –

The best way to set yourself on the right course to achieve a goal is to think first, then act. If you plan to decorate, but there are concerns regarding how green it is, it’s time to do some research. A lot of paint and decorating materials indeed contain toxic elements. Luckily, we now have alternatives that don’t have the same negative impact.

Previously, there was a disconnect between our actions and the consequences of them. More than ever, people are now waking up to the fact that everything we do has repercussions. Even doing something seemingly insignificant like decorating can be detrimental to the environment. And it accumulates into what’s known as our carbon footprint.

The likelihood is that all paint will soon have less or no VOCs (volatile organic compounds) in them. For now, it’s up to the consumer to make better choices and do our homework before we buy products. That said, it’s not always straightforward to find the right information. We’ll use this blog to provide you with some practical steps on how you can approach decorating in an eco-friendlier way.

Re-Everything – Lead with Sustainable Choices –

Re-everything. From reclaiming to recycling, reusing, and repurposing, if you can get the prefix ‘re’ on to it, then so much the better. A bit of DIY know-how here and there means you can create new items out of old ones. You can spruce up previously owned furniture from second-hand shops and find hidden treasure in skips and scrapyards.

At the same time, you’ll be bringing real personality into your home instead of tepid, identikit auras. Whether it’s a coffee table or a headboard, if it’s reclaimed and restored, you’re being planet conscious. And by leading with this ethos, it won’t be too difficult to find furniture that works in each room in your home and outdoor areas.

Like our earlier point, the reality of doing this can be trickier than it should be, and this sometimes puts people off. We’re hoping that you’ll take a leap of faith and see the numerous opportunities the internet offers us. You can read some sterling ideas from Stylist on sustainable interior design and eco-friendly products. The rest takes a bit of imagination and evaluation on whether the materials are sound.

Ethical Wood Choice when Replacing –

Try to determine whether you can source any new wood you might need ethically. Bodies such as the FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) give approval to some products and not to others. As long as you’re not contributing to deforestation, you’re on the right track, and it’s possible to work this out as you go along.

We wouldn’t be doing much good without pointing you in the right direction for sourcing sustainable wood. Eco Choice provides us with many resources on their website and works on a household and commercial scale. This is for your new wood provisions so that you’re purchasing materials that aren’t cut from protected forests. However, there’s another option that will keep you within the greener guidelines.

When it comes to production, you should remember that everything you use has a carbon value. Whatever resources went into producing something like a table expended x-amount of carbon. Therefore, if you buy a second-hand piece of furniture, it’s more environmentally positive than purchasing a new item. This is also true for repurposing things like wooden crates for outdoor chairs and decking.

Indoor Nature – Simple and Affordable Additions –

Now we’ll consider the benefits of freshening up your home with indoor plants as much as you can. The air in every room will benefit, and the sight is relaxing, homely, and sensual. Plants combat the bad effects of air conditioning as well as diminishing pollutants and releasing oxygen. There’ll be less carbon dioxide in your home, and everyone wins by having better indoor air provisions.

By choosing the right plant for your house or apartment, you can effectively filter the air. However, be cautious before buying the one that’s the most pleasing to look at. Some houseplants harm the environment and don’t have the sustainable provision we’re aiming for. You can read more about this here, but our focus is on all things positive in this blog.

Fortunately, there’s plenty of plants that provide the good results we’re hoping for. Whether it’s the toxin filtration properties of the Arcea Plant or the mould absorbing quality of a Peace Lily, you’ll be blown away at how effective our green friends are. If you put some thought into it, you can line up a specific plant to counteract the potential issues of each room in your home.

The 3 Rs – Reuse, Repurpose, Recycle –

Stay aware of what the people you know are doing so that when they throw things away, you can retrieve them. Most people prefer to pass items on rather than consign them to landfills and dumps. And if you’re about to get rid of a lot of stuff, discuss it with your friends, neighbours, donate to charity shops or sell via online auctions. Anything rather than putting more things into the rubbish bin.

The aim here is to avoid the landfill at all costs, and that begins and ends with our dustbin and what we’re throwing away without a second thought. We’re all guilty of chucking away things rather than choosing alternative ways of disposal. However, it’s time to put in a bit more effort before using the wastebin. Especially when West Berkshire Councilx has initiatives in place, and there are other options.

There’s plenty of recycling points around Berkshire you can read up about here with instructions on accessing the sites. You can also look at what’s possible in your home to see what items can serve other purposes. Things like food containers make excellent storage pots rather than buying new Tupperware. And if you’re not using a suitcase, they make savvy storage containers with superb damage resistance.

Go Local and Improve Your Carbon Footprint –

Using suppliers and companies nearby has a positive impact on the community. There’ll be a smaller carbon footprint in your wake because the goods won’t have to travel as far to reach you. And you’ll also be spreading money around in the immediate business community. That’s a double win for the local economy and a reduction in carbon emissions.

The ethos of buying local is often associated with things like produce, but it extends to other things as well. Are you looking for a smart flooring option? Recycling cork makes for excellent flooring material, and you can source it locally. The same goes for metal and wood – it’s possible to get them both from local suppliers for new and second-hand pieces. You need to do a bit of ringing around and online searching though.

One excellent resource to use is Green Choices – see their list of the best DIY eco-products here. Larger chains like B&Q also commit to sustainability, and we think this will become more mainstream soon. Supermarkets are already shifting their emphasis on packaging and the carbon impact of their produce and transport.

Camp Hopson – The Greener Removals and Storage Company –

You might be asking yourself, what are companies like Camp Hopson doing to change their impact? That’s an important question, and we encourage our followers to ask their service providers more like it. For us, there are opportunities to reuse and repurpose daily. We do this by reusing moving boxes and materials when they’re in good condition. When they’re not, we’ll repurpose for padding or recycle – very little goes to waste.

More importantly, we assess and evaluate every job we sign up for thoroughly. This makes us extremely conscious of carbon emissions and how to reduce them before we perform a relocation. Every removals booking that we serve has the lowest carbon impact possible because we strive for efficiency. And we’re always looking at new ways to improve our environmental impact.

If you want to know more about our efficient range of services, click here, and we’ll begin your assessment. We can also provide you with more pointers to improve your carbon footprint.