Green Living

12 Tips For Eco-Friendly Living

Follow these simple and easy to implement tips for eco-friendly living without having to cost a lot of money:

1. Drink from cans, not plastic

If you can’t break your daily diet soda habit, skip the plastic bottles for aluminum cans.

It truly is the greenest way to quench your thirst! Especially since aluminum can easily be recycled into brand-new cans!

Plastic bottles, on the other hand, are hard to recycle and can’t be recycled into new plastic bottles.

There you have it!

2. Eliminate phantom load

In the average home, even when major appliances like TVs, DVD players and VCRs are turned off, they are using electricity if they’re still plugged in.

Standby power must ring a bell?

According to Wikipedia, “Standby power, also called vampire power, vampire draw, phantom load, ghost load or leaking electricity (“phantom load” and “leaking electricity” are defined technical terms with other meanings, adopted for this different purpose), refers to the way electric power is consumed by electronic and electrical appliances while they are switched off (but are designed to draw some power) or in a standby mode.”

So, instead of plugging and unplugging your appliances, just plug them all into a surge protector and just turn off the strip.

No more wasted electricity!

3. Hang laundry to dry

On a warm, sunny day, try hanging your laundry outside on a clothesline to dry instead of using the energy-hogging dryer!

Did you know that your dryer is the second biggest use of energy in your home?

In other words, your line-drying can be a huge energy- and money-saving idea.

Plus, if you’ll capture the true scent of summer by mowing the lawn right before you hang laundry, the sheets will take on the smell of freshly cut grass!

4. Friendlier drain cleaners

To unclog a shower drain, try some home remedies before pouring down the caustic drain cleaner.

First, use a toilet plunger to force the clog away. If that doesn’t do the trick, pour a box of baking soda and white vinegar down the drain; the combination of the two causes a fizzing chemical reaction.

Follow that mixture with boiling hot water to flush away the clog and use the plunger — again — to blast the clog down the drain.

5. Peroxide whitens

When whitening whites, skip the harmful chlorine bleach.

When bleach goes down the drain and eventually interacts with sewage water, a poisonous combination is created.

Why take risks?

Use hydrogen peroxide instead of bleach in your washing machine. It’ll whiten whites and be kinder to Mother Earth!

6. Avoid plastic pots

While it’s tempting to use lightweight, plastic faux terra cotta pots for your outdoor garden, it’s best to avoid them.

Most plastic pots are made from polyvinyl chloride, or PVC, which is made from a nonrenewable resource that is not biodegradable.

Instead, go for the real deal, terracotta: it literally means “baked earth,” which means it’s fired-up clay.

While terracotta may chip or break, nothing can compete with the organic texture and feel of clay.

And terracotta is good for the earth too. If terra cotta should ever break, use the chips as a ground cover on an indoor plant.

7. Lavender repels moths

Once spring arrives, be sure to securely and naturally store your woollens and winter clothes away.

Instead of using smelly mothballs, which are made from naphthalene — a toxic substance that, in large levels, can cause numerous health problems — choose natural lavender.

Dried lavender repels moths and keeps your clothes smelling lovely and fragrant.

8. Use a steam mop

If you have hardwood, ceramic or laminate floors, ditch your old mop and bucket or disposable wet-mop devices and think of the power of steam instead.

A steam mop heats up regular tap water and bursts disinfecting steam through the head of the mop.

As it loosens dirt, it also kills germs and bacteria — all without harmful chemicals — and leaves a streak-free finish behind. Lots of steam mop brands are available at your local home improvement store.

9. Lint is for the birds

When cleaning the lint trap from your dryer, don’t throw it away.

Instead, place it outside where birds can easily find it, near a bird feeder or bird bath. Break up the dryer lint into small, manageable pieces. They’ll pick up the soft mass and use it to feather their nests.

10. Sign up for shopper’s club cards

When shopping for organic groceries at your supermarket, consider signing up for a shopper’s club card. Most chains offer free discount cards to reward loyal shoppers with special deals and sales on a variety of items.

When you see packaged eco-friendly items for sale, such as soy milk, frozen organic peas or recycled paper towels, stock up and save!

11. Alcohol – not bleach

Germs be gone!

When you need to disinfect a kitchen or bathroom countertop of germs and bacteria, don’t reach for toxic chlorine bleach. Instead, grab some cotton balls and douse them in rubbing alcohol and rub away.

The alcohol will kill the germs and bacteria on contact and will evaporate quickly.

We hope that the above list of simple and easy to use tips will come in handy – plus, you’re helping out Mother Earth by living a more eco-friendly life!

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