People look for new ways to go green every day. They embrace things like solar energy panels that have become more affordable over the years and cars that operate on alternative fuels.
It’s easy to live an eco-friendly lifestyle when you make personal changes in your daily life, but what about construction? Those who dream about building a farmhouse might feel conflicted about using traditional construction materials that aren’t sustainable.
If you’re looking for a greener way to build your dream home, read about these biodegradable construction materials for farmhouse owners. Whether you’re building from scratch or adding onto your home, you can use these materials to make your farmhouse match your eco-friendly lifestyle.
1. Build With Bamboo
When it comes time to pick out your flooring, you’ll have plenty of options to choose from no matter where you go. Homeowners love everything from carpet to linoleum, but you might have your heart set on hardwood floors.
Hardwood flooring is a beautiful addition to any farmhouse, especially if it plays into your interior design. You might dream about rolling gorgeous rugs over your floors, but you don’t want to support hardwood flooring businesses that don’t think about their environmental impact.
That’s when you should consider building with bamboo. It’s wood that grows faster than any old-growth trees used in traditional hardwood flooring, so what you use is easily replaced in a few short years. If you ever decide you want something different, it’s naturally biodegradable. You could even chop it up and put it in a compost pile if you use composting to dispose of materials.
2. Try Pouring Grasscrete
After your farmhouse construction begins, your contractors will need to pour concrete and create the foundation for your home. Although it’s a reliable material, it isn’t biodegradable. Instead, you can use grasscrete to create effective water drainage around your farmhouse. The square voids in the concrete contain fiber pulp, so water runoff can escape your property and prevent flooding.
3. Install Wooden Shingles
Traditional asphalt roofing shingles are on many homes around the world, but they end up in landfills and break down into harmful chemicals. Wooden shingles are much more eco-friendly, saving homeowners up to 30% on their energy bills. When you need to replace them, shred your shingles and use them as wood chippings around your farm.
4. Order Mycelium Materials
Once your farmhouse construction finishes, you’ll need to fill it with decor and furniture. Have you thought about what’s inside that furniture? The materials in your couches and chairs eventually have to break down in a landfill, so make them eco-friendly by ordering mycelium materials.
Mycelium grows roots and fibers around organic waste to digest it, which then forms a tough material used for packaging. It’s also made into composite boards for furniture, saving people from buying boards made with formaldehyde which causes respiratory infections when inhaled.
5. Construct Rammed Earth Brick
Another option for building the foundation of your home is to construct rammed earth brick using sand, clay and water. It’s a material used in construction dating back to the Great Wall of China. After the rammed earth hardens, it has the same strength of concrete without producing the same emissions as concrete production. It’s also biodegradable, so you don’t have to worry about harming the earth if you ever move off your property or build a bigger farmhouse.
Start Planning Early
It’s nice to dream about your future farmhouse, but start planning the construction as soon as you can. Biodegradable materials will require a bit more planning to include in the construction process. Consider using wooden shingles, grasscrete and rammed earth to create a biodegradable property that will help you make a lifetime of memories in your farmhouse.
