Ask most people to picture a sustainable home and they describe something from a magazine: solar panels across a brand-new roof, polished concrete floors, an architect’s name in the caption. That picture leaves most of us out. We live in ordinary houses and apartments, plenty of us rent, and the question “what is a sustainable home?” deserves an answer that fits the place you actually live.
I’m Katrina, a primary school teacher and mom of two boys, writing from our family home here in Australia. I’m not a sustainability consultant or a builder. What I bring is a teacher’s habit of making things plain, a lot of careful reading, and a refusal to repeat a claim that doesn’t hold up, along with years of working through this as renters first and owners later. We’re still learning as we go, so stay with me for what a sustainable home really is, where it uses the most, and where you can start this month.
🌎🌱🤝 Our Top Pick — Best Refillable Cleaning Kit
Blueland Clean Essentials Kit
I chose it because it covers the everyday cleaning jobs that need a properly formulated product, in bottles you keep, and it ships to more countries than any other pick in this article.
One kit replaces the hand soap, surface, bathroom and glass sprays most homes buy again and again in single-use plastic.
- Four refillable bottles with refill tablets
- Ships to the US, Canada, UK, Australia and NZ
- Free 100-day returns
What Is a Sustainable Home, Really?
A way of running a home, not a style of house: A sustainable home is one that's chosen, run and gradually improved to use less energy and water, bring in fewer short-lived things, and keep the air inside healthy, while staying comfortable and affordable to live in. It works across five connected areas: energy, water, materials, waste and indoor air. None of them needs a new roof or a renovation to get started.
Why homes carry so much weight: According to the UN Environment Programme (opens in a new tab), the buildings sector, which takes in our homes alongside offices, shops and schools, uses 32 percent of the world's energy and produces 34 percent of its CO2 emissions. The materials buildings depend on carry their own weight, too: cement and steel are responsible for 18 percent (opens in a new tab) of global emissions.
Built versus run: Building anything new carries a carbon cost before anyone moves in. The World Green Building Council projects that this upfront carbon will make up half the carbon footprint (opens in a new tab) of new construction between now and 2050. That's why a brand-new "eco" build isn't automatically greener than an existing home that's looked after well. Very often, the most sustainable home is the one already standing, run carefully.
A direction rather than a finish line: The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change found that demand-side changes across buildings, land transport and food could cut emissions by 40 to 70 percent (opens in a new tab) globally by 2050. The same chapter is honest that individual behavioral change (opens in a new tab) isn't enough on its own unless structural and cultural change comes with it. Your household can't fix this alone, and what it does still counts.
Renters are part of this, too: Most sustainable home advice quietly assumes you own the place. We did a lot of this while renting here in Australia, and reading that advice as a tenant was a fairly demoralizing experience. Because a sustainable home is about how a home is chosen and run, it's open to renters as well as owners, and the renting section further down covers how that works in practice.
If a sustainable home is mostly about how it's run, the obvious next question is where a home's energy and water actually go. The answer points to a short list of places worth looking at first.
Energy and Water: Where a Home Uses the Most
Heating and cooling come first: In the United States, space heating and air conditioning made up 52 percent (opens in a new tab) of household energy use in 2020, according to the Energy Information Administration. Here in Australia, the government's Energy Made Easy service puts heating and cooling at about 40 percent (opens in a new tab) of an average household's energy, with water heating at about 20 percent. The exact split depends on your climate and country, but in most homes the biggest single lever is how the rooms are kept warm or cool.
Drafts, then insulation, then equipment: The order that works in most climates is to stop drafts, insulate, and only then think about new equipment. ENERGY STAR estimates that air sealing and adding insulation save an average of 15 percent (opens in a new tab) on heating and cooling costs and 11 percent on total energy costs. Sealing the gaps around doors, windows and vents is the cheapest place to begin, and it's the first step in making a home more energy-efficient whether you rent or own.
How you run it matters as much as what's installed: Australia's Energy Made Easy suggests the simplest step of all: heat only the rooms (opens in a new tab) you're using. Closing doors to empty rooms costs nothing, works in any home, and doesn't need a landlord's permission.
When it's time to replace: When a heating system reaches the end of its life, the replacement matters. The US Department of Energy says a current air-source heat pump can cut electricity use for heating by up to 75 percent (opens in a new tab) compared with electric resistance heating such as baseboard heaters. Replacing something that still works is a different question, and the lesson we learned with furniture applies here, too: throwing out a working item to buy a greener one is easy to get wrong.
Lighting is the easy early win: Residential LEDs use at least 75 percent less (opens in a new tab) energy than incandescent bulbs and last up to 25 times longer, according to the Department of Energy. Lighting was where we started, because it's cheap, immediate, and you take it with you when you move.
Leaks are the quiet second lever: The US Environmental Protection Agency estimates that leaks in the average home waste more than 9,300 gallons (opens in a new tab) (about 35,000 liters) a year, adding up to 1 trillion gallons nationwide, and that fixing the easy ones saves homeowners about 10 percent on their water bills. The EPA's annual Fix a Leak Week falls in March (opens in a new tab), which makes early spring a natural time to check taps, toilets and outdoor hoses for most of our readers. Here in the southern hemisphere, March is autumn, and the same check works just as well before winter.
Showers count twice: Showering accounts for nearly 17 percent (opens in a new tab) of indoor water use in US homes. Standard showerheads run at 2.5 gallons (about 9.5 liters) a minute, while WaterSense-labeled models use no more than 2.0 gallons (about 7.6 liters), and the EPA estimates the average family could save 2,700 gallons (opens in a new tab) (about 10,200 liters) a year by fitting one. WaterSense products in general are certified to use at least 20 percent less (opens in a new tab) water than standard models. Most ways of cutting water use follow the same order: fix what leaks, fit efficient fixtures when they're due, then change the habits.
Hot water is an energy cost, too: Water heating takes about 90 percent (opens in a new tab) of the energy a clothes washer uses, according to ENERGY STAR, which is why switching everyday loads to cold makes such a difference. The same logic runs through shorter showers: less hot water means less water and less energy at once.
Energy and water mostly come down to how a home is run. The other three areas, materials, waste and the air inside, come down more to what you bring through the front door and how long you keep it.
Materials, Waste and the Air Inside
Buying less beats sorting better: Only 9 percent (opens in a new tab) of plastic waste is successfully recycled worldwide, according to the OECD. Recycling still matters, but the bigger change sits upstream, in what comes home in the first place, which is the heart of zero waste living.
Food is the biggest everyday stream: Households were responsible for 60 percent of the 1.05 billion metric tons (opens in a new tab) of food waste recorded worldwide in 2022, according to UNEP. With two growing boys, our problem is rarely leftovers and almost always things bought optimistically and never used. Planning has fixed more of it than any container ever did. Food storage, meanwhile, has moved away from plastic in our kitchen by attrition rather than by decision, as things wear out and get replaced with something better. We're still partway through it, and that's fine.
Furniture is where good intentions go wrong: In the United States, furniture and furnishings made up 12.1 million tons (opens in a new tab) of municipal solid waste in 2018, and 80.1 percent of it was landfilled, according to the EPA. We now buy furnishings slowly and mostly secondhand, rather than replacing things on principle. That's a lesson we learned by getting it wrong first: throwing out a working item to buy a sustainable version of it is one of the easiest mistakes to make, and we've made it. If you've done the same, you're in good company.
What our DIY phase taught us about cleaning: Cleaning is where we ran the full arc, from supermarket sprays to making our own and then to researched eco products. For a stretch we made everything: vinegar, bicarb (baking soda, to most of the world) and castile soap. I couldn't tell you now which recipes we settled on, but I remember exactly which jobs they handled. General surfaces, glass and light cleaning were genuinely fine, better than fine, and cheaper. Grease and anything that needed to actually disinfect were not, and we spent longer than we should have assuming we were doing it wrong. The savings were real but smaller than they looked. We had a lot of half-full bicarb.
Formulated products for the jobs that need them: What we do now is buy formulated eco products for the jobs that need them and keep the simple homemade solutions for the jobs they're good at. That split took years to arrive at, and it's the thing I'd hand a reader immediately.
🌿✨ Recommended
Blueland Clean Essentials Kit
I picked it as the formulated side of that split: four everyday cleaners in bottles you keep and refill with tablets, rather than a new plastic spray bottle each time.
- Hand soap, multi-surface, bathroom, glass
- Refills one-off or on Autoship
- Ships to five countries
Labels worth checking: In the US, the EPA's Safer Choice label means the agency has reviewed every chemical ingredient (opens in a new tab), regardless of its percentage, against criteria for human health and the environment. Other countries run their own schemes, so look for a certification you can check on the certifier's own register rather than a green-sounding word on the bottle. Choosing non-toxic cleaning products gets much easier once you know which jobs genuinely need them.
The air inside counts: The EPA notes that Americans spend about 90 percent (opens in a new tab) of their time indoors, where some pollutants are often 2 to 5 times higher than typical outdoor levels. Opening a window while you cook and clean, and bringing in fewer harsh products, are the everyday steps for most of us. Worldwide, the biggest indoor air problem is cooking fuel: around 2.1 billion people (opens in a new tab) still cook over open fires or inefficient stoves, and the WHO estimates household air pollution was responsible for 2.9 million deaths in 2021. A sustainable home looks different depending on where you live, and for many families, cleaner air starts with a cleaner stove.
Most of the biggest changes in a sustainable home aren't things you buy at all. For the everyday swaps that are, here's where to find the ones I'd start with.
Brands and Tools That Support the Planet — Our Recommendations
Each product below links straight to the seller's own page. None of them is something our household uses, and we never name our own products; I chose each one from the maker's published specifications and the retailer's own information. They cover the materials and waste side of a sustainable home, because the biggest energy and water levers mostly aren't things you can buy from an eco store. Prices are in US dollars unless marked otherwise and were checked on November 4, 2026.
For Adults
Blueland
About
Blueland sells refillable cleaning and personal care products: you keep the bottles and refill them with tablets dissolved in tap water. It ships to five countries (opens in a new tab): the US (not Hawaii or Alaska), Canada, the UK, Australia and New Zealand, with free 100-day returns.
Our recommendation
The Clean Essentials Kit (opens in a new tab) is $46 USD for four bottles with refill tablets: foaming hand soap, multi-surface, bathroom, and glass and mirror cleaners, or $36.80 USD for a first Autoship order. I chose it as the formulated side of our cleaning split; check each label for any job that needs a disinfectant.
Who Gives A Crap
About
Who Gives A Crap sells bamboo toilet paper, tissues and other household paper, with separate stores for different countries; this link is to its US store, which ships free over $25 USD in the contiguous US.
Our recommendation
The 100% Bamboo Toilet Paper (opens in a new tab) is $75 USD for 48 mega rolls of 370 three-ply sheets, wrapped in paper with no plastic, or $60 USD on subscription, and the company says it donates half its profits to sanitation organizations. Its UK store (opens in a new tab) sells the same 48-roll box for £48 GBP, and its Australian store (opens in a new tab) for AUD 69.50. I chose it because it's a simple swap for something every home buys; it's a big upfront spend and needs cupboard space.
EarthHero
About
EarthHero is an online marketplace of sustainable products that ships every order plastic-free and carbon-neutral (opens in a new tab). Ships within the US only.
Our recommendation
The ZWS Essentials Zero Waste Sponge Cloth (opens in a new tab) is $5.49 USD, a cellulose and cotton Swedish dishcloth, 6.75 by 8 inches (17 by 20 cm), that can go in the compost once it starts falling apart. I chose it as the cheapest swap here, for paper towels and plastic sponges; it's a cloth, so it needs rinsing and drying between uses.
Biome
About
Biome is an Australian eco store selling plastic-free household, kitchen and personal care products, with stores in Brisbane and Melbourne. It ships within Australia, and to the US and Canada through its US store, in plastic-free packaging.
Our recommendation
The Bamboo Dish Brush (opens in a new tab) is AUD 8.95 in Australia, or $6.13 USD on Biome's US store (opens in a new tab), a long-handled, plastic-free brush made from bamboo, sisal fibers and stainless steel, with a replaceable head. I chose it because you replace the head, not the whole brush; it isn't dishwasher-safe, and it ships to Australia, the US and Canada only.
For Kids and Families
Bee's Wrap
About
Bee's Wrap makes reusable food wraps from organic cotton, beeswax, organic plant oil and tree resin, with a vegan version made with plant-based wax. Ships within the US (opens in a new tab) only, free over $40 USD.
Our recommendation
The Lunch Pack (opens in a new tab) is $19.99 USD for one 13-inch sandwich wrap and two medium wraps, lasts up to a year with care, and can be composted when it's worn out. I picked it because school and work lunches are where a family's plastic wrap habit lives; the wraps can't go near heat, so they're not for hot food or the microwave.
Swaps such as these handle the materials side. The bigger question for most households is what's possible in the home itself, and that depends a lot on whether you rent or own.
A Sustainable Home When You Rent, and When You Own
What renting rules out: You can't insulate a house you don't own. You can't touch the hot water system, replace windows, or install anything that doesn't come off the wall when you leave. That was our reality for a long stretch here in Australia, and most sustainable home advice reads as though it isn't anyone's.
The biggest lever is the property you choose: The biggest energy decision we made as renters in Australia wasn't something we installed; it was what we looked for in a property. When we were house hunting, we specifically sought rentals with rooftop solar, reverse cycle air conditioning and decent insulation, and treated those as requirements rather than nice-to-haves. Over a lease, that's a far bigger lever than anything you screw to a wall. It's also invisible in listings unless you go looking, so you have to ask.
What travels with you: When you can't alter the building, the leverage sits in draft-proofing that peels off, LED bulbs you take with you, water fixtures that swap back, and how you run the heating and cooling. It's a smaller set of options than homeowners have, and it isn't nothing. If you fit a more efficient showerhead, keep the original in a drawer so it goes back on the day you leave.
Some rules now work in renters' favor: In England and Wales, landlords haven't been allowed to let, or keep letting, most private rentals rated below EPC band E (opens in a new tab) since April 1, 2020. In Victoria, Australia, rental agreements made from March 29, 2023, must include an energy efficient fixed heater (opens in a new tab) in the main living area, showers need a 3-star water efficiency rating where that's practical, and new minimum energy efficiency standards for rentals start on March 1, 2027. Rules elsewhere vary widely, so check your own state or country's tenancy standards before you sign a lease.
Owning opens the bigger options: Owning changed what was available to us but not the underlying lesson. The same order still applies, drafts first, then insulation, then equipment, and the bigger upgrades to insulation and windows come within reach. The behavioral changes we made as renters carried across, and they were the ones that stuck.
Still a work in progress: Heating and cooling turned out to be as much about how we run the house as what's installed in it, which is still where a lot of the difference comes from. We're not finished with this one. If your household is somewhere in the middle, too, you're exactly where most of us are.
None of this needs doing at once. The tips below are the small, specific versions, and most take an afternoon or less.
Practical Daily Tips You Can Action Today
Ten small steps, starting with the ones that cost nothing.
What to do
| Tip | How to implement | How it helps |
|---|---|---|
| Find your drafts | On a windy day, run a hand along doors, windows and vents and note where you feel air moving. | Sealing and insulating save an average of 11 percent (opens in a new tab) on total energy costs. |
| Use peel-off seals if you rent | Fit self-adhesive weatherstrip and a fabric door snake that come away cleanly. | You keep the warmth in without altering the building. |
| Heat and cool only the rooms in use | Close doors to empty rooms and heat or cool where people actually are. | It's the simplest step Australia's Energy Made Easy (opens in a new tab) suggests. |
| Swap your most-used bulbs first | Start with lights left on for hours, and pack the LEDs when you move. | LEDs use at least 75 percent less (opens in a new tab) energy than incandescent bulbs. |
| Check for leaks every March | Use the EPA's Fix a Leak Week as the reminder: dripping taps, running toilets, outdoor hoses. | Fixing easy leaks saves about 10 percent (opens in a new tab) on water bills. |
| Fit an efficient showerhead | Choose a WaterSense model in the US or a water-rated one elsewhere, and keep the old one if you rent. | It can save a family 2,700 gallons (opens in a new tab) a year. |
| Wash everyday loads in cold | Set the washer to cold unless a load genuinely needs heat. | Heating water takes about 90 percent (opens in a new tab) of a washer's energy. |
| Switch idle appliances off at the outlet | Turn TVs, chargers and consoles off at the power outlet at night. | Idle appliances can keep drawing electricity (opens in a new tab) until they're switched off. |
| Split your cleaning | Keep vinegar and baking soda for glass and light surfaces; buy formulated products for grease and disinfecting. | You spend less without asking a homemade mix to do a job it can't. |
| Buy furniture secondhand first | Look secondhand before buying new, and keep what still works. | In the US, 80.1 percent (opens in a new tab) of discarded furniture is landfilled. |
Small steps add up faster once you know where your home uses the most. A few questions come up every time this topic does, so here are the short answers.
FAQs
The questions people ask most about what makes a home sustainable.
Do you need to own your home to make it sustainable?
No. Renters can choose a better-performing property, use peel-off draft-proofing and LEDs, and run heating carefully, and some places now set minimums, such as the EPC band E (opens in a new tab) rule in England and Wales.
Is a new eco build greener than an older home?
Not automatically. Upfront carbon is projected to make up half the footprint (opens in a new tab) of new construction to 2050, so caring for an existing home often does more.
Where should a household start?
With heating and cooling, which made up 52 percent (opens in a new tab) of US household energy in 2020 and about 40 percent (opens in a new tab) in Australia. Stop drafts first.
Does a sustainable home cost more to run?
Usually less. Sealing and insulating save an average of 11 percent (opens in a new tab) on total energy costs, and fixing easy leaks saves about 10 percent (opens in a new tab) on water bills.
If you want to put money toward healthier homes beyond your own, these organizations work where the need is greatest.
Organizations to Support — Our Recommendations
Two charities working on safe, healthy homes for people who don't yet have one.
- Habitat for Humanity builds homes with families in the US and around the world, on the belief that "everyone, everywhere should have a healthy, affordable place to call home." It's the most direct way to put money toward the healthy, affordable half of a sustainable home, and you can donate to Habitat (opens in a new tab) once or monthly.
- Practical Action works with communities across Africa, Asia and Latin America on energy access and food, including more than two decades of work on clean cooking, from improved stoves to electric cooking. It's the global side of the indoor air section above, and you can support Practical Action (opens in a new tab) with a single or monthly gift.
Either one turns the figures in this article into safer homes and cleaner kitchens for real families.
Resources and Further Reading
Three places to go deeper, all free.
- The UN Environment Programme's Global Status Report (opens in a new tab) for Buildings and Construction 2024/2025 sets out how much energy the world's buildings use and what the sector needs to change.
- YourHome (opens in a new tab) is the Australian Government's free guide to choosing, building and renovating a home that's comfortable and cheap to run, covering passive design, materials, energy and water; most of its design principles work in any climate.
- The World Health Organization's fact sheet on household air pollution (opens in a new tab) explains why the air inside homes matters worldwide, especially where cooking still relies on open fires.
Any of the three will take you further than this article has room for.
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Conclusion
A sustainable home isn't a type of building. It's a way of choosing, running and gradually improving a home across five areas: energy, water, materials, waste and the air inside. Heating, cooling and hot water are where most homes use the most, so drafts, leaks and habits come first. After that, it's about bringing in less, keeping what still works, and being honest about which jobs need a proper product. Renters have more say in this than most advice admits, starting with the property they choose.
If you rent, what did you look for when you chose your current place, and what would you ask a landlord about next time?
