Redecorating With Used Items Is Better For The Environment
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It’s redecorating time again. What is the special occasion? Is it Christmas? Thanksgiving? Halloween? Or is it just time to change up the living room that has become “blah” because it’s looked the same for the past five years? Whatever your reason is, redecorating a room or two or even your whole house is a fun and exciting project.
Before you whip out those Pottery Barn, IKEA, and Crate & Barrel catalogues, though, there is something important to consider. Aside from the fact that America is in the midst of the “green” movement, it is important that people, as stewards and stewardesses of this planet, take care of it any way they can. That means recycling, reducing the amount of garbage that is being dumped out, and just being more conscious about actions in general.
Redecorating and redesigning your home can be an environmentally wasteful project, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Renters and homeowners who redecorate their home are likely to throw out their belongings instead of donating them to the Goodwill or Salvation Army. And when painting is involved, harsh paints that are harmful to the environment – and particularly wildlife and plants – are used.
Thanks in part to consumer awareness and the eco-friendly movement, more alternatives are emerging out of the woodwork that allow renters and homeowners to change up their home as they see fit without doing as much or no damage to the planet.
There are two ways you can go about this. One is to buy used items. Used belongings have the unfortunate image of being not “as good” as their brand new counterparts and while this may be true for some used items, it is not true for all of them. Thrift stores, yard sales, and other people are all sources for some great used items. Craig’s List, for example, is a prime example of the saying: One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. People give away or put on sale many items that you could use to redecorate your home.
Then there is the more expensive method but one that is still eco-friendly. Many companies have gone “green” and are using recycled materials to make new materials with. The products are literally endless: lamps, tables, couches, decorations, vases. Virtually anything can be made from recycled materials these days, including hardwood floors. Plus, using bamboo flooring as opposed to other woods is more eco-friendly, too, because bamboo grows in a few short years as opposed to 20 or more years with other woods.
Need to paint? There are now VOC and solvent free paints that are mostly, if not completely, chemical free. Now, you can be environmentally friendly and still make your house look fabulous!
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