How To Reduce My Environmental Impact When Moving Home? 10 Top Sustainability Tips
Here are the best ways to green up your new house and reduce your carbon footprint.
Moving house can be a stressful time, to say the least - and it can also have a huge negative environmental impact. In fact, it's thought that every house move generates roughly 16.8kg of carbon dioxide emissions. We know that's a lot, but don’t worry - there are a number of things you can do to reduce your carbon footprint and make moving house less harsh on our beloved planet Earth.
If you're wondering how to reduce your environmental impact during your move, then keep reading. In this blog, we're going to explain some of the easy ways you can lower your carbon footprint. We'll also look at how you can make improvements to your new home without contributing to global warming.
So, without further ado: here are the best ways to green up your new house and reduce your environmental impact.
1. Declutter, but don't throw things away immediately
Either before or after your move, you’ll probably cull your belongings and have a few things to get rid of. But, rather than tossing unwanted items straight in the bin, try to sell, re-home or recycle them. If you can’t donate something to the charity shop, post free items online or leave a ‘help yourself’ box outside your front door.
Many electronic devices contain valuable materials that can be used again, like gold, copper and steel. Take them to your recycling centre where they can be dismantled and reused rather than putting them in the bin.
If you get a skip, check the supplier is registered as a legal operator with the Environment Agency to avoid your old belongings being fly-tipped somewhere down a country lane.
2. Minimise greenhouse gases by going green with your energy
Currently, over 40% of the energy produced in the UK comes from renewable energy sources like solar panels.
You will probably be moving to a new provider for all your utilities, so why not combine this with switching to a green energy provider? It’s one of the easiest ways to reduce the impact of your carbon footprint, minimise your greenhouse gas emissions, and can help save money on your energy bills, too.
Some providers are greener than others, so for more information on which renewable energy providers are the best, go to the Energy Saving Trust - or book a Home Setup Service with Just Move In, to ensure you get a great deal and the best customer service.
3. Reduce your greenhouse gas emissions with Energy Performance Certificates
A good place to start before you decide on any physical works is to look at the Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) of your new house. It’s the equivalent of an energy MOT, telling you how energy efficient your new home is.
Your home will be rated from A to G, with A being the most energy efficient and G being the least. From this, you can gauge what your average energy costs will be, and how you can go about reducing your energy consumption and saving money as a bonus.
The ‘recommended measures’ section of an EPC certificate will list suggested improvements, and it also includes potential savings and the costs of doing this, too.
4. Swap incandescent light bulbs for LEDs
Lighting accounts for up to 15% of a household’s electricity bill. The quickest and simplest way to make your new home more eco-friendly is to replace any old light bulbs with a low watt eco-version which lasts up to five years. Don’t forget to check outside in garages or garden floodlights, which are easily missed. If you want to take it to the next level, investigate sun tunnels or skylights, which add natural light to dark areas, costing from around £150–£300.
Small changes like turning lights off when they're not being used can make a big difference in reducing your electricity usage and ultimately helping you to reduce your carbon footprint.
5. Reduce your carbon footprint with loft insulation
According to the Energy Saving Trust, up to 25% of a home’s heat can be lost via the roof alone. Insulation will give you your best bang for carbon-saving buck: the most savings on your bills and a cosier home.
With so much energy potentially leaking through your roof, it’s a good idea to start there. You can fit insulation into your roof yourself, or get a contractor to do the work. The suggested depth of loft insulation is 270mm and it can be fitted to retain floorboards for storage. Expect it to cost about £100–£250 for the product, plus contractor fees.
Whilst there's an initial upfront cost, improving your home's insulation will help you with energy conservation which, in turn, will bring your bills down in the long run.
6. Decrease your environmental impact with cavity wall insulation
Did you know it is estimated that up to 35% of a home’s heat is lost through the walls? Fear not - you can do something about that, too. You’ll have different eco-options depending on the type of walls you have, so investigate your new home before you move in. Most properties from the 1920s onwards have cavity walls, but a free inspection from an installer will confirm this.
Cavity wall insulation foam is injected via multiple drilled holes into the wall from outside. Although this sounds quite dramatic, the holes are ‘made good’ afterwards. Depending on the size of your house, expect it to cost £300–£900.
7. Minimise energy use with solid wall insulation
If you have solid external walls, insulation work will be a bit more involved, hence why doing this pre-move is best. Sheets of insulation are added onto the inside or outside walls, then plastered over. It’s usually done by contractors, but in some cases can be done yourself. Expect it to cost £1,500–£10,000.
Like cavity wall insulation, you can reduce your energy use by adding wall insulation to better retain heat within the home. This is another example of a small step you can take to lessen your home's climate change impact, but that will also save you money in the long run, too.
8. Save money on your energy bill by excluding draughts
Another good value option for reducing your home’s overall carbon footprint is to reduce draughts. You can draught-proof your whole house for about £200, saving £25–£50 on annual bills by making your home more fuel efficient.
Choose your new curtains with thermal linings, use draught excluders on doors, letter boxes, loft hatches, and unused chimneys as a way of trapping heat. Add rugs or fill gaps in wooden floors with sawdust resin or flexible filler, or try self-adhesive brush strips which fit across the gaps between window frames.
It’s a pricier option, but you could consider replacing old single pane windows with double glazing - Low-E glass being the best. Expect to pay £200–£2,500 per double glazed window. Whilst the upfront cost is higher, double glazed windows are great for increasing energy efficiency in the home as they retain more heat, meaning you don't need to spend as much heating your house.
9. Reduce your carbon footprint with eco appliances
When it comes to appliances, longevity studies show they don’t make them like they used to. There are still practical things you can do to be eco-conscious, though, when updating home gadgets. Look to buy models with an AA+++ rating, which is the most energy-efficient. Consider paying more for quality products by checking reviews; the most eco-friendly option is to avoid taking a broken item to landfill after only a few years.
Dispose of the old ones, which often contain hazardous materials, at the recycling centre. Local councils make this easy as they usually do a collection service for larger household items.
10. Consider your water usage
Half the money we spend on fuel bills in the UK goes towards heating and hot water.
Adding pipe insulation foam to pipes and a heating cylinder tank jacket is a cheap and easy way to reduce heat waste. It may be a bit retro, but radiator reflective panels are a great way to redirect the heat back into a room. You can also add thermostatic controls to radiator valves, so you don’t heat up rooms you use less.
After you’re settled: Other ways to reduce your carbon dioxide output
The points listed above are great for cutting your greenhouse gas emissions and reducing your carbon footprint while moving, but it's important that you continue to take steps to cut your environmental impact when you're settled in your house, too. Here are a few ways you can do that:
Did you know that food waste is responsible for 10% of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide? Rotting food is a major source of air pollution and is one of the biggest factors that makes up your personal carbon footprint. Almost a third of all food produced for human consumption is wasted, with all of us being guilty of food waste from time to time.
To reduce the amount of food you throw away and do your part for climate change, try to plan meals more regularly and cook smaller portions. If you have leftovers, freeze them for another day, and try to compost things like vegetable skins. Compost is one of the best natural resources for your garden, so if you're green thumbed, this natural end to the food chain will help your garden thrive and cut down on your food waste at the same time.
Of all the foods, meat is one of the top contributors to greenhouse gases. This is for two reasons: firstly, cows produce methane which is a natural gas, but has one of the harshest environmental impacts. The higher the demand for meat, the more animals are bred and the more methane is produced.
The second reason is because forests are consistently culled to make way for grazing land for cows. This means there are fewer trees to absorb carbon dioxide and regulate air pollution, resulting in a higher concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere which contributes to global warming.
A good way to reduce your carbon footprint is to eat less meat. A vegetarian or vegan diet isn't for everyone, but even one vegetarian meal a week could make a significant difference.
Landfill waste is a huge problem and results in unsustainable land degradation. You can do your part by buying products with less packaging and avoiding things like plastic bags and plastic bottles. Buy loose fruit, take your own bags shopping, and use tap water instead of bottled water. If you can, try and buy locally grown food from a farmers market and always have a reusable bag and a reusable water bottle to hand.
Vehicles (except electric cars and trains) rely on fossil fuels for power. Air travel is rarely fuel efficient and has one of the biggest environmental footprints of all. With this in mind, another way you can try to be more eco-friendly is to rethink how you travel. If your new house has great public transportation links, make the most of them. If you can, consider switching to an electric car, and walk or cycle if it's feasible.
Sustainability at Just Move In
Sustainability is incredibly important to us here at Just Move In. Along with some big names like The Guardian and Patagonia, we’re proud to be a certified B Corp. That means we’re legally required to consider the wider impact of our decisions, and it helps make sure that the stuff we do is done right.
We’ve also teamed up with Worldview Impact Foundation, meaning that we plant a much-needed mangrove tree for each and every one of our customers. You can find out more about this initiative here.
To read up on our environmentally-conscious work and values, check out our sustainability resources, or get in touch to learn more about a specific query.