How to Make the Bedroom Greener

Your bedroom is one of the most frequently used rooms in your home. You spend upwards of 200 hours per month here, which poses an important question: Shouldn’t you be thinking about going green?

5 Tips for Going Green in the Bedroom

Comfortable, cozy, and relaxing are words we often associate with the bedroom, but maybe you should add “green” to the list. The more eco-friendly you make your bedroom, the healthier your family will be.

Here are a few practical ways you can get started:

1. Buy Green Bedding

Your bedding might be comfortable, but it’s probably not very green. Most of the sheets, pillows, and comforters sold in stores are made using inefficient, wasteful processes. They also contain a multitude of toxins and unhealthy chemicals.

If you want to encourage sustainable manufacturing and cut back on the presence of unhealthy compounds in your bedroom, try buying green bedding – like sheets made from bamboo.

“Thanks in part to its quick growing and sustainable nature, bamboo is a very environmentally friendly plant,” Mattress Clarity explains. “Bamboo fiber is hypoallergenic, moisture wicking and strong, making it great to weave into sleep products like sheets.”

If you’d prefer to stick with cotton sheets, try organic cotton bedding. Organic cotton sheets are free of toxins, pesticides, herbicides, and carcinogens, which keeps your skin from absorbing harsh chemicals.

Green bedding can also help you improve your circadian rhythms. You may want to look into purchasing some cozzy body pillows made from green materials. You can reach a deeper and more restorative sleep stage with them.

2. Use Natural Building Materials

The building materials used in the design and construction of your bedroom also matter. If you’re thinking about doing a renovation, be strategic with the materials you select.

For paint, try to purchase products that contain no VOCs. For flooring, an eco-friendly material like bamboo is better than traditional hardwood. You can also find area rugs and furniture made from organic materials.

3. Diffuse Essential Oils

In order to make the bedroom smell good, a lot of people burn candles. Candles might have a pleasant aroma, but they aren’t helping the air quality. Candles actually release a number of toxins into the air.

A much better solution is to diffuse essential oils, which smell good and have beneficial health properties. Lavender is the go-to essential oil for the bedroom. It has a natural calming effect and smells wonderful. For best results, start diffusing 30 minutes before your bedtime.

4. Integrate Greenery

If you don’t have plants in your house, you’re missing out on a chance to naturally purify the air and relieve stress. And while plants in the living room and kitchen are great, you should also integrate greenery into the bedroom. Jasmine is one of the better suggestions.

“This exotic plant has a gentle, soothing effect on the body and mind. It has been shown in one study to reduce anxiety levels, leading to a greater quality of sleep,” health blogger Jayne Leonard writes. “Not only that, but this research suggests that the positive effects of such a high quality sleep lead you enjoy increased alertness and productivity during the day.

5. Use Safer Cleaning Products

News flash: Most of the cleaning products you find on supermarket shelves are full of harmful toxins and chemicals. If you want to keep your bedroom safe and healthy, use natural cleaning products. Better yet, make your own cleaning products with household ingredients like baking soda, vinegar, and lemon juice.

Don’t Stop With the Bedroom

Once you figure out how to make your bedroom greener, you’ll discover that it’s just as easy to give your other rooms a green makeover. While each space is unique in what it requires, careful attention to detail will help you be successful.