The bedroom is a safe space where we rest our bodies and calm our minds. Creating a healthy and relaxing place to recuperate at the end of a busy and stressful day is critical to maintaining balance. 

This article will serve as a guide to making your bedroom a greener, healthier, and more relaxing place. It’s nothing too complicated - most of the steps here are fairly easy to achieve and, in some cases, a cheaper choice than going down the traditional route. Let’s dive in! 

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Nine Best Ways to Make Your Bedroom More Eco-Friendly

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LED Lighting 

Lighting up a home properly is a major goal for most homeowners. It needs to be unobtrusive and gentle while also providing enough light to keep the place fully illuminated. 

One of the best ways to green your bedroom is by swapping out your old light bulbs for more efficient versions. 

LED lights use a lot less energy for illumination and last significantly longer than traditional bulbs. LED lights come in all shapes, sizes and colors. LED lighting is cheaper over the long-term, better for the environment, and offers more visual flexibility. 

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An Eco-Friendly Mattress and Bedding

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The importance of a good mattress cannot be stressed enough. When mattress shopping, there is more to consider than levels of firmness. The most recent trends in mattresses favor memory foam, though memory foam is made from derivatives of fossil fuels that are harmful to the environment when produced and discarded. 

To green your bedroom, you’ll want to look into an eco-friendly mattress and bedding. Eco-friendly mattresses are made of plant-based synthetics (rather than petroleum-based!) and organic materials perfectly suited for our bodies. 

Don’t forget the bedding! Organic sheets create a non-toxic environment for your sleep and keeps our cotton fields pesticide-free. 

Some of our favorite companies for sustainable mattresses and bedding: Avocado  

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Use Eco-Friendly Paints

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Traditional paints contain many chemicals - Volatile Organic Compounds (or VOCs for short) - that are dangerous and harmful to human health and negatively impact the ozone layer. These chemicals evaporate once you start applying them to walls or ceilings in a process known as off-gassing and continue to evaporate subtly for weeks, months or even years. Inhaling these compounds can make the whole painting process rather dangerous.

In recent years, many new companies have emerged that specialize in creating eco-friendly paint that has little or no VOCs. They might be slightly more expensive than conventional paint, but at least your lungs and surroundings will stay healthy for the years to come!

Some of our favorite eco-friendly paints: Backdrop 

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Use Natural Detergents for Washing your Bedding

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Bedding needs to be washed and cleaned relatively regularly, right? Conventional detergents aren’t recommended due to the abundance of various harmful chemicals that linger on the fabrics and get washed into our oceans. 

Natural detergents can be found in many shops and stores or even online. With them, you’ll be helping the environment while also helping yourself reduce the risk to your health.

Some of our favorite natural detergents and soaps: Seventh Generation, Soapply, Dr. Bronner

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Get Some Plants and/or an Air Purifier

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Plants are awesome. This is common knowledge. They’re incredible as pieces of decoration and they help filter the air making it cleaner and healthier to breathe (some plants more than others). This is especially true for people living in highly polluted areas where even a couple of plants can make a huge difference. 

There are also mental health improvements associated with connecting with nature. So the natural choice following these facts is to purchase a couple of plants. Just remember to water them according to their hydro needs!

If nature’s best isn’t quite strong enough, check out an air purifier to help filter out harmful pollutants. There are lots of air purifiers on the market, and if you live with the potential of nearby wildfire, you’ll want to be sure to go this route to give your lungs the extra needed protection.

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Use Recycled or FSC-Certified Materials to Decorate

Purchasing a ready-made piece of furniture is great but it’s even better when the furniture is made from recycled materials! And furniture isn’t the only way to decorate your home with recycled materials. Your best bet here would be to create the decorations yourself (either alone or with the help of friends and family). This way, you’ll know exactly what material was used for the creation of said decorations. 

If for any reason this isn’t for you, then make sure to purchase decorations that were created from recycled, sustainable or FSC-certified materials. Eco-friendly furniture is a must-have. Whether we’re talking about beds, cupboards, nightstands or any other piece of furniture you can find in the bedroom, getting eco-friendly alternatives is easy and won’t break the bank.

Bamboo grows incredibly quickly and is considered one of the most sustainable furniture (and even clothing!) materials. Furniture made from bamboo is durable and strong while also being affordable to most homeowners. 

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Reduce the Room Temperature and Optimize Energy Efficiency

Many homeowners keep their homes at relatively high temperatures (upwards of 68 degrees Fahrenheit or 20 degrees Celsius). Although it feels nice, the optimum room temperature according to numerous scientific studies is between 60 and 64 degrees Fahrenheit (or 16 and 18 degrees Celsius). 

Keeping your room at a higher temperature than the optimal one impacts the environment as more energy is needed for heating. You might not feel the difference that 4 degrees Fahrenheit can make in your waking hours, but your electricity bill will! Plus, you get better quality sleep at slightly lower temperatures.

Some of our favorite products encouraging energy efficiency: OhmConnect 

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Eco-Friendly Carpets or Rugs

If you’re a person who doesn’t like carpets or a rug then you can skip this step. If not, then consider replacing your existing carpets with eco-friendly alternatives or a nice cozy rug. 

Using a natural and sustainably sourced material like organic cotton or wool is both sustainable and fairly cheap. Natural materials are also soft and can aerate properly when washed, not keeping bacteria and grime in them as synthetic ones do. Just make sure to get your cotton carpets from certified fair labor companies and opt for those sustainable materials. 

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Final Words

We understand that changing lifestyle can be time-consuming and a little daunting. After all, it isn’t easy getting rid of old habits and conveniences in our lives. But, if we are to have a healthy planet tomorrow, we need to start making changes today. 

Beyond the bedroom, one of the most impactful things you can do to green your life is to opt-in to sustainable banking. Atmos provides climate-positive bank accounts, fully liquid. Every dollar deposited supports renewable energy in the U.S., reducing emissions to meet science-based targets. Atmos measures the carbon impact of every dollar, offers nationally leading savings rates and cash-back rewards (including on all companies highlighted in this article and hundreds more!), and makes it easier to support a wide range of environmental organizations. As your primary banking service or simply a better savings account, start making measurable climate impact today by opening an account with Atmos. Apply in just two minutes. 

There are so many ways to make the world a greener, healthier place. Making your home greener and more eco-friendly is a great start. Good luck!