My carbon footprint

How hard can a zero-waste renovation really be?

Carpet conundrums and lino legacies: will style over substance thwart our doer-upper dreams before they even begin, wonders Kate Hughes

Wednesday 16 March 2022 15:13 GMT
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<p>How the hell do you renovate a home without producing any waste? </p>

How the hell do you renovate a home without producing any waste?

So. We’re now five years into this zero-waste, eco, greener malarky – the one with no single use plastic, no bin, second-hand everything, a flying ban, plant-based diet, yada yada yada.

But it’s only now that we’re hitting the biggest challenge. My mother-in-law’s carpet. Or more specifically, renovating the in-laws old house. You see, we’ve just taken on their farm up on Exmoor and have set about converting what has been a fairly conventional set-up into a large agroforestry site and a big chunk of new broadleaf woodland.

My husband’s family has been here since the 1740s, at least. So no pressure – at all – for this townie to make it work. But that’s maybe the subject for another column on another day. It’s the next big step on the eco ride for us, without doubt, but we’ve already hit a snag.

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