Achieving an eco-friendly home interior — top 5 sustainable interior design ideas
Sustainability is truly a prevalent topic these days and for a good reason. Trying to fix the earth has never been more important than now when it is seemingly dying. Deforestation, pollution, climate change, and the catastrophic loss of biodiversity are all our faults. We’ve managed to almost completely wipe out the ecosystems which are the very fabric of life on earth. On that note, many of us are starting to do our best on all fronts to remedy at least some of the damage we’ve done.
When it comes to interior design, being eco-friendly is easier than you may think. Creating a home that will help the planet ultimately comes down to avoiding things that can harm it. Sustainability in interior design basically aims to stop the negative impact overconsumption has on our planet.
If you’ve opted to start living a more environmentally conscious life and create a healthy eco-system in your own home but you’re not sure where to start, you’ve come to the right place. Here is a couple of major tips and tricks that will get you started on your road to an eco-friendly living space.
1. ENERGY-EFFICIENT BASICS
This one is for those among you that are starting from scratch, or, to put it in better terms — sketch. Just like any other home, an eco-friendly home starts from its construction. Designing your home to reduce the need for additional lighting, heating and electric energy for appliances is a step in the environmentally friendly direction. Minimizing energy consumption is one of the ways to live sustainably, but there are plenty of other approaches to consider. From the usage of renewable, non-carbon energy sources, to design innovation, there are plenty of things you can do from the very get-go to help the planet.
2. GO FOR LOCAL AND FAIR-TRADE PRODUCTS
Supporting local creators and small businesses is at the forefront of sustainable living. By choosing local you are reducing the requirements of long-distance shipping, not to mention that local products are often original and unique. By opting for fair trade products, you are opting for all of the values it fair trade stands for, including transparency, ethics, and equity.
3. RETROFIT, RECLAIM AND RECYCLE
Retrofitting basically means using or updating the existing structures in your living space. By doing so you will significantly cut waste and the overall process will result in both innovative and green solutions. The same goes for reclaiming and recycling old furnishings. Whether you decide to reupholster your old sofa or visit a garage sale and buy a bench to refinish, is of no importance. Renovating and reusing is the key component of sustainable living practice.
4. LOW-IMPACT MATERIALS
Avoiding non-renewable and harmful materials in your household is a must of sustainable day-to-day life. This sounds easy, but it’s actually a pretty tricky business. Anyone can tell you that you should steer clear of fossil fuels, nylon, plastic, polyester, etc. On the other hand, there are some materials that are allegedly all good and sustainable according to their deceiving marketing tactics. For example, rayon has a coveted natural tag and it truly is a biodegradable plant fiber. However, the process of manufacturing rayon involves energy, water, and chemical-intensive. In conclusion, educate yourself and be mindful of the things in your household.
5. DECORATE SUSTAINABLY — CHOOSE MOSAIC ART
Sustainable interior decor products are low-impact, timeless, and durable. Making this choice means that some decorative items you choose maybe more expensive, but they will also last much longer than their cheap counterparts. Cheap, lower quality products will create waste because they wear quicker and they are often created from unsustainable practices. However, you don’t have to spend bundles of hard-earned cash to have sustainable décor. The best décor option to fit and fulfill the narrative of sustainability is most definitely — mosaic art. Mosaic art in itself is made of natural materials, its maintenance doesn’t require any chemical compound and it will last for at least a couple of lifetimes.
Sustainability is slowly becoming an integral part of our everyday lives and manufacturers from various fields from all over the world are currently busy underlining and highlighting their environmental credentials. Our credentials have been underlined a long time ago. Join us on a quest of saving the planet and start living sustainably today!
This article was originally published on Mosaics Lab’s website.
