How to be green with your bedroom space

As the world becomes more and more aware of being environmentally friendly and socially responsible, people are often looking at ways to reduce their carbon footprint. If you’re starting a new decorating project, you can do your bit too – here are a few ways that you can transform your bedroom and be kind to the environment.

Use green fabrics

Creative types will love the world of possibilities that green fabrics bring, especially since so many can be found in ‘vintage’ bed linens. Try organic cotton, and do your homework on how the fabric was made – choose fabrics that are made without toxic chemicals and screened with water-based, non-toxic inks. You can learn more about choosing non-toxic ink here.

Organic cotton is slightly more expensive but the advantages of using it are far greater – it does not involve the use of pesticides and is the much-preferred option for farmers.

Choose the right paint

You may think you’re doing your bit for the rainforest by forgoing wallpaper, but you also need to be careful when choosing your paints. Conventional paints contain formaldehyde, heavy metals and volatile organic compounds, and these can last for up to five years after you’ve decorated.

While EU guidelines have made stricter limits on the amounts of VOCs paints can use, the general guideline by the Ethical Consumer states that you should use plant-based, water-borne paints. You can find a good selection of environmentally friendly paints at earthbornpaints.co.uk.

Recycle your old furniture

Starting afresh can mean throwing a lot of your things away – including environmentally unfriendly products such as your bed. Thankfully, Bedstar offers a mattress recycling service – when you purchase a new mattress from them they can take your old mattress away for just £39.

Recycling is hugely important, and studies have shown that using recycled materials can result in an 86% decrease in air pollution and 76% in water pollution. What’s more, the UK produces up to 420,000 tonnes of waste household wood every year, so by recycling your bed frame too, you’ll be doing even more for the environment.

You can also do your bit for your local community by logging on to The Furniture Re-Use Network. The organisation helps the most disadvantaged families by giving them recycled furniture, so if you don’t live within easy reach of a local recycling site, you can get in touch with them and go the extra mile to help both the environment and those around you.