Having a cabin near the woods or a house on the lake are both great ways to relax, live more “off the grid,” and enjoy the beauty of nature. However, to keep that beauty alive, it’s important to practice sustainability.

Sustainable living involves making changes and upgrades to your lodging, and some of your habits, to fit a more eco-friendly lifestyle. Thankfully, more people than ever are turning toward a sustainable way of life. One 2019 survey found that 77% of people want to live more sustainably. 

So what can you do to maintain the natural beauty surrounding your lodging? How can you make positive changes to your lake home or cabin that will be good for the planet? Let’s look at a few things you can do now, as well as what the future holds for sustainable construction and home improvement. 

Why Should You Go Green?

If you enjoy living out in nature, whether it’s appreciating beautiful sunsets dipping into the lake or the quiet surroundings of a small forest, it’s important to do what you can to protect it. There are more benefits to keeping your cabin eco-friendly than you might think. Some of the greatest perks include:

  • Lower energy costs;
  • Less cabin maintenance;
  • A healthier indoor environment;
  • Reduced carbon footprint.

You’ll also boost your property value with a few eco-friendly changes. Investments like solar panels and energy-efficient appliances might cost some money upfront, but you’ll cut back on your energy bills and end up being able to sell your home for more. 

In addition to the personal benefits that come with going green, you can take pride in knowing you’re doing something good for the environment. If you have children, making these changes will show them the importance of sustainability and allow them to go into their adult lives knowing how to keep their homes running as naturally as possible. 

Making Changes to Your Home

If you’re already enjoying the benefits of having a home in nature, consider what you can do to give back to the environment and make your cabin even more eco-friendly. 

Home upgrades don’t have to take a lot of time, money, or effort, and they can help you to appreciate your surroundings that much more. 

Not sure where to get started when it comes to eco-conscious updates or renovations? Try things like energy-efficient lighting or smart devices that you can control from your phone so you won’t waste energy when you’re not home. On a smaller scale, try installing things like low-flow toilets or updating the look of a room with eco-friendly paint that doesn’t contain volatile compounds. 

Even if you don’t consider yourself to be “handy” or you’re not trying to make major renovations, you can change the look and feel of your space by going green with your design and decor. Use recycled materials in your decorating or repurpose some of your existing items to give them new life. It will help you reduce waste and create one-of-a-kind items that show off your personality and sense of style. 

What To Expect in the Future

We’re already on the right track toward a more sustainable future. Remodeling or upgrading your home is just the beginning. Long-term solutions require habitual changes and a desire to do things “better” in the coming years. 

Some of those changes can be made right away. You can save energy by turning off lights when you leave a room. You can cut back on water use by taking shorter showers. It’s even easier to reduce your waste production than you might think by eliminating single-use products and buying local foods.

However, the future of construction will help to make a significant difference in people’s sustainability efforts. So what can you expect? Look for construction materials that are more eco-friendly and leave less of a carbon footprint. The worst offenders to sustainable construction are currently aluminum, concrete, and steel. Unfortunately, they’re also some of the most commonly used materials for new building construction. 

Changes to Building Materials

Already, we’re seeing some changes when it comes to the popularity of sustainable building materials. Some of the most popular include:

  • Bamboo;
  • Precast concrete;
  • Recycled steel;
  • Straw bales.

The future will undoubtedly offer more solutions for eco-friendly construction materials — including things that might currently seem impossible, like using smart mushrooms to detect things like light and temperature in a building, so they can contribute to smart-home technology. By focusing on renewable resources, cabins, lake houses, and even suburban construction can all become more sustainable in the future. 

You can do your part today to make sustainable changes in the way you live and keep yourself educated on what’s coming in the future. The more aware you are of these efforts, the more you can enjoy the natural beauty surrounding you with the hope that it will remain that way forever.