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"Living a greener life" seems like a tall order, especially if you're renting or can't afford to renovate your home using eco-friendly materials and methods. Sure, we'd all love to install low-flow toilets and create an elaborate composting system, but time, room, and money conspire against us. Beyond replacing all your bulbs with CFLs and LEDs (which, yes, you should do!), most of us are at a loss for easy ways to be more eco-friendly. Don't despair: Here are seven DIY solutions to make your home a greener, happier place.

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Kirtsy

1. Make your own table napkins

Whether you're eating family dinner or guests are visiting for tea, paper napkins are a wasteful way to keep your fingers clean and your table mess-free. Instead of working your way through reams of paper, make enough reusable napkins to get you from one laundry day to another. You could purchase a napkin set—if that's more your speed, we love West Elm's cotton embroidered dot napkins ($24 for 4)—but if you have spare fabric lying around and a sewing machine at hand, doing it yourself is so easy. Just follow Kirtsy's simple tutorial.

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Chris Stein / Getty

2. Insulate your pipes
Insulating your pipes can have a huge economic benefit for your household—not to mention being a major energy-saver. Pablo at Treehugger estimates insulating his pipes saves him $10 per year in water heating costs—less than the cost to install the installation. It's not the flashiest DIY project, but keeping your pipes covered provides a huge bang for your environmental buck.
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ManMade DIY

3. Build a recycling center

"Believe it or not, the kitchen produces the most waste out of any room in your home," says Lori Apler, green living expert and the blogger behind Groovy Green Livin. Don't believe her? Check out her green kitchen makeover. One tip of hers we love: Set up a recycling center. Even if you already recycle (and we hope you do!), remembering to do so consistently and properly can be difficult. That's why we adore this project from ManMade DIY. Having one centralized space for all of your recycling needs is the best kick in the butt to remember to actually recycle.

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Rooted Blessings

4. Create your own all-purpose cleaner

While chances are good you'll still want chemical cleaners around for tough messes, making your own all-purpose cleaner is an easy, eco-friendly solution. Water combined with vinegar can handle most anything, from cleaning windows to scrubbing bathrooms to wiping down kitchen counters. But vinegar smells… well, like vinegar, which can certainly be an overpowering stench. At Rooted Blessings, blogger Becky recommends adding essential oils to your vinegar cleaners for a fresher scent.

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Corner Blog

5. Take advantage of the rain

Rainwater is one of nature's most underused resources—if homeowners store the rainwater that falls on their property and use it for watering their plants, flushing their toilets, and bathing, they'll see a significant decrease in their water bills. But even if you don't have the means to install an elaborate rainwater collection system, you can still harvest the goods to grow plants and feed your family. Check out Corner Blog's clever gutter garden for one fantastic way to take advantage of the rain.

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Brit+Co

6. Sew your own snack baggies

There's no reason to use box after box of the incredibly eco-unfriendly plastic snack bags when you can make your own reusable baggies. A quick search will turn up a dozen snack bag DIYs, but we're partial to this cute and simple oil cloth solution from Brit + Co. Refill these every day with you (or your kid's) favorite snacks and you'll never go hungry—plus, you're helping reduce landfill waste.

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Design*Sponge7. Set up a plant stand

"Looking for a simple way to improve your indoor air quality? House plants are the answer," Alper says. "Many common houseplants act as an air filter, removing toxins from the air we breathe." She recommends filling your home with clean air plants like bamboo palm, Chinese evergreen, and English ivy—but finding a place to fit your new green buddies can be difficult, especially if you've got a smaller space. A multi-tiered plant stand is the best solution: Despite its small footprint, it can hold several plants for maximum clean-air impact. We love Design*Sponge's tiered hanging pots, a simple, attractive way to incorporate more greenery into your home.

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