3 Ways to Create a Sustainable Home

This post featuring tips on ways to create a sustainable home is sponsored by Pure Energies. 

Once we moved into our new home the one thing I wanted to get up and going was my garden – including a compost bin and rain barrels for water. Then I realized that our home didn’t even have gutters on the house!

Before moving forward with my garden I had to figure out what we needed to do to create a sustainable home now that we’ve moved. And while it all won’t happen overnight, we now have an idea of what needs to get done over the next few months or years.

After we tackle these we’ll be looking at if we’re ready for chickens! Now that will be an adventure. 

3 Ways to Create a Sustainable Home

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1. Renewable Energy

Number one on our list for a while has been to put solar panels on our roof. By having an independent, clean renewable source for energy we can step away from having to rely on the grid for our power.

Since the solar panels create electricity not only for our home but an excess that can go back to the power company, we can even make a little money each month to put towards what we payed for the solar panels.

While solar panels were our best option here in Sunny So Cal, other options may be better for other parts of the country. I love driving out to the desert and not only seeing solar panels but wind turbines as well.

2. Composting and Recycling

In addition to recycling our glass, plastic, and paper products, we’ve also wanted to start a compost bin at our new home. Because we are trying to reduce the waste we put out into our landfills, a compost bin is a great way to take care of this. Plus it makes great fertilizer for our yards and garden beds.

Starting a compost bin is easy. There are quite a few options and may even be some rebates in your city to make the cost of a pre-made compost bin very minimal. Or you can build your own compost bin at very little cost like we did at our community garden with pallets (shown above).

3. Rain Barrels

One thing we’ve started doing is looking at our landscaping and deciding what part of our yard requires more water than the rest and how we can limit it. Since we’re in a drought and limited to certain times a day to use water for our lawns, finding more drought friendly plants is the way to go.

But when it comes to sustainability, our garden that feeds us still needs to be watered. So what do we do? Grab some rain barrels! Through a rain barrel rebate program in San Diego we were able to snag 2 60 gallon rain barrels for the front and back of our home for a very minimal amount.

Now that we’re in our new home we need to install rain gutters so that we can get our rain barrels up and running for the next rain. Then we can water our garden without stressing about how much water we’re using.

How do you create a sustainable home?

Pure Energies embarked on a life changing adventure to live alongside, learn and discover one of the most powerful indigenous tribes in the Amazon: The Kayapo. The PURE Energies team is one of six privileged groups to have visited this remote location.

Follow their journey to discover independence, courage and leadership in the largest protected area of rainforest in the world and take a look at this video of their journey.