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The world is changing, and you don’t even have to look too far since you can see the changes just inside your own home. People around the world produce around 1.3 billion tons of garbage, and that is every year. If we do the math, that is about as big as 3,000 Empire State Buildings.
This is the reason why there are Eco-friendly materials and furniture that are being sold in the market since experts have reported that we are all at a crisis level when it comes to waste generation and the safety of our environment, social ramifications, financial ramifications, health ramifications, and safety ramifications are at stake.
Home and Garden DIY Tips: Eco-Friendly Materials for Homes That You Can Use During Renovation
As a citizen, we don’t need to make drastic changes to help save our environment, the first thing that we just need to do is to make sure that we create less waste. We all have to keep in mind that just because a thing is outdated, it does not mean that it’s garbage. There are things that you can still use around your house or things that you can recycle.
Here are some of the Home and Garden DIY Tips for building Eco-friendly materials for homes.
1. Recycled Flooring and Cork Panels
If you are a wine lover, and if your family frequently drinks wine then you may have gone through multiple wine corks and thrown them all in the dumpster once they’ve worn out. But before you throw another wine cork, you can donate them to Jelinek Cork Group as they take old wine stoppers and they create different kinds of products out of them.
There is a program called Cork Reharvest™ and they take corks that are no longer used by the consumers, they get them from different locations and they then distribute those corks to companies like Jelinek Cork Group.
2. NewspaperWood
One of the most common Eco-friendly materials for homes is recycling newspapers. This is often done on households that have newspapers delivered to them. What we are all aware of is that these newspapers get recycled and they are used to have another go around.
But not all people know that they can be made into the wood. If you think about it, it can make the paper and wood process a full circle since wood is used to make paper, and now paper can be made into wood.
The Dutch founder of NewspaperWood found out that compressing used newspapers and gluing them together into very thin layers can create a wood grain texture that can work for different home applications.
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3. Bark Siding
Another way that you can apply Eco-friendly materials for homes is by re-purposing tree bark as a natural bark siding. Barkclad is a company that works with loggers in making furniture and plywood, they also distribute them to different wood industries so that every part of the tree can be used.
They do not cut a tree just for siding, they use the trees that are already cut to make them into other things. Barkclad has engineered and natural wood siding that is both funky and rustic. They also give off great-looking interiors and exteriors.
4. Ashcrete
Ashcrete is a product that is made by mixing coal combustion and cement. You can use coal fly ash as a substitute for cement in case you don’t have one or if you want to save on cement resources. It can help reduce the amount of fly ash that is going to the dumpster.
A company called Separation Technologies LLC introduced their ProAsh product and they say that it is the backbone of green building. These secrets can provide stronger and more durable concrete plus it can also help you earn more LEED credits.
5. Recycled Glass Tile
A company called Fireclay Tile can provide you with the most gorgeous glass tile that will help beautify your kitchen and your bathroom, or anywhere in your house while helping you keep sustainability the whole time.
They make tiles out of 100% locally recycled glass and they are mainly from the window and the solar industry. Many of the colors that they have available are reminiscent of sea glass and they are also created from a VOC-free pigmenting process.
6. Recycled Steel
You can build anything with 100% recyclable steel, it is Eco-friendly and it can also save you a lot of money. Recycled steels are pest-resistant and it is also toxic and chemical-free. If you want to use recycled steel you can get them from companies like EcoSteel as they provide recycled steel and you can use them in roofing, framing, or as a structural element for your home.
