We’re all aware of the importance of living sustainably and looking after the environment, where the “environment” means the wider planet and your immediate surroundings. It’s not just the preserve of a few kooks anymore like it was back in the 1970s and 1980s. Today, in the 2010s, everybody’s doing their bit to help the environment… and if they aren’t, they probably feel guilty about it.
One of the golden rules of sustainability and being environmentally friendly (usually called green) is to “think globally; act locally”. And you can’t get more local than in your own home.
Hallmarks Of A Clean, Green Home
A greenhouse (not a greenhouse!) is healthy for you and is good for the wider environment. It goes without saying that it should be clean. A filthy home may be low in toxins and not have much carbon footprint, but it’s pretty bad for you and the others in your home (including plants and animals). However, a greenhouse manages to be clean without adding to pollution. And this involves what we do with our waste, as well!
A green home should also be low in toxins. It comes as a surprise to many that often, our homes are the places where we are most exposed to toxins, especially in the air. Sometimes, these toxins in the air may come from the things we have and use in our homes; at other times, they have come in from outside and become trapped in your home.
Naturally, a clean, green home should be pleasant to live in and at a comfortable temperature. However, it should do this without putting too much stress on the environment.
So how do you do it?
Tip #1: Use Green Home Cleaning Products
Many of our homes’ toxins come from our cleaning products. These are bad news from start to finish. Artificial toxic chemicals used for cleaning are nasty to the environment to manufacture (and often use fossil fuels as a raw material). When you use them, they expose you and the others in your home to a barrage of harsh toxins that irritate your skin, eyes, throat and probably the rest of your body. Lastly, when you dispose of them (which includes anything that goes down your drain and gets rid of the container), even more, nasty stuff gets into the soil, air and water.
Switching to green home cleaning products is super easy. Many online and local library resources tell you what to use and how to use them. Describing and discussing all the different possibilities would make a post in itself, so I’m going to do no more there than to say that if you have baking soda, ordinary soap, vinegar and water, you can get most things around your home clean.
Tip #2: Start A Compost Heap
Even if you live in a tiny upstairs flat, you can cut down on what goes into the landfill by composting food scraps. Those in suburban homes with a garden can dedicate a small corner to compost to be used as fertiliser for your roses and petunias – or your vegetable garden! The other option in a typical garden is a worm farm. If you’re in that little upstairs flat in the middle of London, you can look into a bokashi bucket, which doesn’t take up much space and will turn your food scraps into plant food.
And if you don’t grow plants, then it’s high time you did (see the next tip).
Tip #3: Improve The Air Quality In Your Home
Having good air quality in our homes is important for our health as well as for the health of the world as a whole. Unfortunately, good air quality isn’t just a matter of eliminating pongs. The truth is that although those scented air fresheners smell a lot nicer (at least according to some people) than boiled cabbage and farts, it’s the cabbage and the farts that are less toxic. You don’t want to know what’s in those air fresheners! However, a clean, green home shouldn’t reek. Regular cleaning will eliminate a lot of general pongs (this includes cleaning the toilet and keeping the drains flowing freely). Other ways to improve the air quality in your home include:
- Open the windows to let the fresh air blow through the house. This also allows any toxic gases emitted by your furniture or other items in your home to escape.
- Grow house plants. Several plants can remove toxins from the air and improve air quality. Top of the list are chrysanthemums, peace lilies, spider plants, snake plants and aloe vera. The good news is that many clean-air plants are easy to grow. They also do their bit to slurp carbon dioxide out of the air – it’s not just big trees growing in the Amazon rainforest that help keep the carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere down and the oxygen up. If it’s a plant, it uses CO2. And they’ll love any compost you give them!
- Use natural air fresheners or air scents. Home baking, fresh coffee, potpourri and fresh flowers all add a gentle perfume to the air that’s good for you.
Tip #4: Think Before You Throw
All too often, we’ve got into the habit of throwing things into the rubbish without another thought. While it’s true that getting rid of old, broken things and stuff we don’t need is necessary to keep your home clean, orderly and clutter-free, we should think before we throw. Perhaps some things can be donated to charity (as long as it’s in good condition). Perhaps the item can be recycled – most councils have a scheme that takes way more than just paper, glass bottles and metal cans these days. Or perhaps you can find a new use for whatever you’re about to throw out (beware of the might-come-in-handy-one-day syndrome that leads to hoarding).
Tip #5: Be Smart With Your Energy
Much of the energy we use here in the UK comes from not-so-green sources. Sure, there are wind farms in Wales, and you’re not considered a weirdo for installing a solar panel or solar hot water heater these days, but we’ve still got a long way to go. So everything that you can do to cut down on your energy use will make your home greener. Again, listing the ways that you can do this would be a post in itself, so I’ll give three tips here: (1) make the most of the heat and light provided for free by the sun, (2) wash your laundry in cold water and (3) salads are healthy and don’t require energy to cook.
And don’t forget – every little change helps in the long run!