You don’t realize how big of a carbon footprint you have until you take a close look at your home. And most of it is unnecessary.
Being an environmentally-conscious homeowner is a balancing act. You want to do right by the planet but you also have a budget and a schedule to maintain. Sadly, many eco-friendly practices take a lot of money, time, or both.
But here’s the good news: finding manageable green living options just takes some research, and we’ve done that for you! We’ve found a few eco friendly projects to revolutionize one common source of waste: the laundry room.
Eco Friendly Projects for the Laundry Room
Looking for ways to make your laundry process more sustainable? Energy-efficient appliances are the most obvious choice, but here are some other (less expensive) ideas:
1 – Make Your Own Detergent
If you’ve never read the ingredients list on a standard bottle of laundry detergent, it reads like a horror novel. They’re packed with chemicals that don’t get along with Mother Nature.
Making your own laundry detergent is an incredibly simple way to help the environment while saving money hand over fist. A simple search online will pull up dozens if not hundreds of laundry detergent recipes.
2 – Clean Your Dryer Ducts
Add this to the list of overlooked eco friendly projects.
Dryer duct cleaning is mostly done to prevent the fire hazard of flammable lint buildup. But few people think about how that lint pollutes the air, too.
A word of advice, though: strongly consider hiring a professional. Cleaning your dryer ducts thoroughly isn’t just a matter of sticking a rag into the dryer vent. Hire someone who knows how to do it correctly.
3 – Build a Sorting Station
One way to have a more eco friendly home is to only wash full laundry loads. This leads to fewer overall loads of laundry.
But this is challenging if your hamper gets full quickly. For a DIY solution, make a space for each load – darks, lights, towels, etc. For each one, have a laundry basket that holds exactly a full load of laundry.
This lets you know when you’ve actually reached a full load and it’s time to wash.
4 – Make Your Own Dryer Sheets
Dryer sheets are more of a nicety than a necessity, but if you still want that fresh feeling they offer, there’s a solution.
As with laundry detergent, making your own DIY dryer sheets lets you choose only eco-friendly products. Plus, it’s a great way to recycle old cloths.
5 – Make a Drying Rack/Clothesline
It’s no secret that air-drying is a more eco-friendly way to dry clothing than an electric dryer. It’s also gentler on your clothes so they’ll last longer.
A DIY clothesline is surprisingly easy to install. But not all homeowners are allowed to have clotheslines. Even if your homeowner’s association permits it, sometimes the weather doesn’t.
That’s why making an indoor drying rack is also a good idea. It’s one of the more complex eco friendly projects (compared to making detergent), but it’s still very doable. A simple structure of spaced dowel rods will suffice.
More Eco Friendly Projects
You can turn your laundry room into a place that serves the environment rather than hurting it. For ways you can “green up” other areas of your life, check out our eco friendly tips.
