Go paperless
Ditch the paper bills and bank statements, this will reduce your waste output and also help declutter your home. These days you can get most of your bills, invoices and bank statements online and can download them to your hard drive in PDF form.
Natural Household Products
It’s time to stop the tide of chemicals and pesticides that flow into our environment from daily use around the home. There are plenty of ready or home-made cleaning and pest control solutions using natural ingredients that won’t harm the environment. Whilst you can buy environmentally friendly cleaning products in most supermarkets, creating your own home-made cleaning and pest-control products is really easy. It’s amazing what you can do with simple household items like lemons, baking soda and vinegar.
Blackout Curtains
Insulating your home is the best way to save on heating and cooling bills but if that’s a step too far for your budget at the moment, look at getting blackout curtains that will not only block out light but will help insulate a room and keep it warmer in winter and cooler in summer.
Indoor Plants
Green your home in two ways! Indoor plants not only look fantastic when used as a part of your home décor, but they can be beneficial to your home environment too. NASA even produced a report on indoor plants’ ability to filter the air around them. Whilst some scientists have questioned whether indoor plants can really be effective air purifiers in a large home with a lot of airflow it is true that in smaller spaces with less airflow (a bedroom or bathroom for example) they can help remove toxins and other nasties from the air.
Reuse and recycle
Be a good global citizen by reducing the amount of waste you send to overstretched recycling facilities. Don’t throw away the cardboard box an appliance came in, flatten it until you need a box for storage. Buy some reusable water bottles instead of buying bottled water. And beer drinkers, find a local brewery that will sell you their beer in reusable bottles. Buying locally made products is great for the environment too. If you’re travelling, take your own utensils and straw so you don’t have to rely on disposable plastic utensils.