Home & Shelter

Your home is where most of your energy is used, where your cleaning and water habits play out every day, and where you spend the majority of your time. Getting it right doesn't have to mean a renovation — many of the most effective changes cost little or nothing.

Make your home hold heat

Heating is the biggest energy use in most homes, and keeping that heat inside the building is almost always more cost-effective than generating more of it. Two things make the biggest difference: insulation and draught-proofing.

Draughts — gaps around doors, windows, letterboxes, floorboards and pipes — let warm air escape continuously. Sealing them with weatherstripping, draught excluders and gap-filling filler is inexpensive, takes an afternoon and pays back in a matter of weeks or months. It's one of the highest-return home improvements you can make, and renters can do most of it with removable products.

Insulation — in the loft, walls and floor — keeps heat in the building longer so you need to run the heating less and for shorter periods. Loft insulation in particular is often the most cost-effective upgrade a homeowner can make. Many countries and regions offer grants or subsidised schemes, so it's worth checking what's available locally before assuming the cost is out of reach.

For a full, room-by-room breakdown, see our guide to saving energy at home, which covers thermostats, hot water, standby power and more.

• Add a draught excluder to your coldest door this week — it costs a few pounds or dollars and you'll feel it immediately.
• Close curtains at dusk in winter to keep warmth in; open them on sunny days to let warmth in for free.
• Check that radiators are bled and not blocked by furniture or curtains.
• Turn the thermostat down one degree — the heating saving is real and the comfort loss is barely noticeable with a layer of clothing.

Furnish sustainably

The most sustainable piece of furniture is one that already exists. Buying secondhand — from charity shops, online marketplaces, auctions and antique dealers — avoids the energy and materials used to make something new, usually saves money, and often yields more interesting, better-made pieces than flat-pack alternatives.

When you do buy new, a few principles help:

• Buy durable. Well-made furniture that lasts decades is nearly always the lower-impact choice over cheap items that need replacing every few years. Solid wood, metal and quality upholstery outlast particleboard and synthetic foam.
• Look for low-tox materials. Some new furniture, particularly particleboard products and synthetic foam, can off-gas formaldehyde and other VOCs for months or years. Solid wood, untreated natural textiles and water-based finishes are generally better choices for indoor air quality.
• Repair before replacing. A reglued joint, a recovered chair or a refinished surface extends a piece's life and is usually far cheaper than buying new.
• Avoid fast furniture. Just as fast fashion is designed to be disposable, cheap furniture has a short usable life. The real cost — financial and environmental — becomes clear when you add up how often you replace it.

Greener cleaning

Most homes have more cleaning products than they need, many of them doing overlapping jobs. Simplifying is the most effective greener cleaning strategy: fewer products, bought in larger or refillable containers, chosen for what they actually do rather than their marketing.

A short list of genuinely versatile products handles almost everything in most homes:

• A good washing-up liquid works for hand-washing dishes, many surfaces and basic general cleaning.
• White vinegar cuts limescale, works as a fabric softener alternative and cleans glass streak-free.
• Bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) is a mild abrasive and deodoriser for sinks, ovens and drains.
• A concentrated all-purpose cleaner in a refillable bottle covers most surface cleaning jobs.

A note on microfibre cloths: they clean well and last for years, but they shed tiny plastic fibres in the wash that pass through water treatment systems. If you use them, wash them in a bag designed to catch microplastics, or switch to natural-fibre cloths for everyday use.

If you prefer branded eco products, look for plant-based formulas, fragrance-free options, recyclable or refillable packaging, and credible third-party certifications rather than vague "natural" or "green" labels.

Water at home

Clean water takes energy to treat and pump to your home, and heating it uses more energy still — so saving water and saving energy often go together. The bathroom and kitchen are where most household water is used.

Showers use far less water than baths if kept to a reasonable length. A simple shower timer helps. Fitting a low-flow showerhead (which is removable and renter-friendly) cuts water use without reducing perceived pressure. Fixing a dripping tap or running toilet promptly can prevent surprisingly large amounts of waste.

In the kitchen, rinse vegetables in a bowl instead of under a running tap, and reuse that water on houseplants. Run the dishwasher and washing machine with full loads only — modern dishwashers generally use less water than hand-washing the same amount.

For a full room-by-room guide to bathroom, kitchen, laundry and garden water savings, see our guide to saving water at home.

Small spaces and renters

Renting doesn't mean being stuck. Many of the most effective sustainability changes are entirely within a renter's control and don't require the landlord's permission.

• Draught-proof with removable products. Door draught excluders, self-adhesive foam tape around window frames and removable gap filler can all be taken with you when you leave.
• Switch bulbs to LEDs and store the originals to reinstall before you move out.
• Use a switched power strip for the TV and electronics — you own it, you take it with you.
• Shop secondhand for furniture and décor — ideal for renters who might move again.
• In a small space, every purchase decision matters more. A smaller home is easier and cheaper to heat, and buying less is straightforward when storage is limited.
• Talk to your landlord. A politely worded request for insulation, LED lighting or an efficient showerhead — with a clear note about energy cost savings — is sometimes agreed to, especially if you've been a reliable tenant.

Houseplants and indoor air

Houseplants genuinely do absorb some carbon dioxide and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from indoor air. The effect is real but modest — the famous NASA research was conducted in sealed chambers, not the ventilated rooms we actually live in. You'd need an impractical number of plants to meaningfully clean the air in a typical home.

That doesn't mean plants are pointless. They improve mood, reduce stress, connect us to living things and make a space feel welcoming. Those are good reasons to have them. For actual indoor air quality, the more effective approaches are: ventilating rooms regularly, avoiding cleaning products and paints with harsh solvents, choosing low-VOC paints and finishes when decorating, and ensuring gas appliances are properly maintained and vented.

If you want plants that are genuinely low-maintenance and robust, spider plants, pothos, snake plants and peace lilies all tolerate variable light and irregular watering — a realistic choice for busy households.

Your easy wins checklist

• Add a draught excluder to your front or back door this week.
• Close curtains at dusk in cold weather; open them on sunny mornings.
• Replace the cleaning products you're running low on with one refillable all-purpose option.
• Run only full loads in the dishwasher and washing machine.
• Fix or report any dripping taps or running toilets.
• Next time you need furniture, check secondhand sources first.
• Open windows for 10 minutes a day in rooms that feel stuffy — ventilation does more for air quality than plants alone.