Sweet Greens

Right now, our planet is in crisis. Country by country, the world is locking down. Jobs are furloughed. Car numbers on the roads are slashed. The aviation industry is almost entirely grounded. We’re all safe inside our homes while we patiently wait for a virus to dissipate – and it’s not easy. It’s not easy to have to stay away from other people, and it’s certainly not easy to only go out of the house for the essentials. 

However, every cloud has a silver lining, and it’s not always rain. Being in the house, you have the chance to get all of the jobs done you’d put off for some time, and you also have the opportunity to plan your home to be more eco-friendly. After all, while you’re inside and doing nothing but waiting, it’s easy to fret over whether you’ll manage to get your job back or will senior citizens get a check once the stimulus kicks in. There is plenty to worry about, but the shining light here is that with all of those grounded planes came cleaner air. With fewer cars on the road, the air pollution rates have dropped. The job you’re waiting for will still wait for you when the world resumes. In the meantime, let’s check out some of the ways that you can enjoy an eco-friendly home.

#1: Start Thinking About Water

Do you really need to have the washer and the dishwasher running so often? Probably not! Take the time to sort your routine so that you are using less water in the house. Wait for your dishes to build up and stop running the sprinkler system so often. If you’re worried about the lawn, replace it with an artificial one: all the green and none of the waste!

#2: Smart Meters, Anyone?

Whether you are old or young, managing the pennies is a good idea. You can start with a smart meter. The heat in the home is the most significant way that people use their energy, but it doesn’t have to be massively expensive for you. If you waste your heat by having it click on and off, you’ll watch your energy go down with your smart meter. So, you need to use the timer on the smart meter to set the right times for the heat. This way, your home stays adequately warm without too much trouble.

#3: LED Bulbs

You bought them ages ago, and they’re living in the kitchen cupboard. You need to install those bulbs and enjoy far less money spent on your energy bills! LED bulbs are better for the environment, and they save you money: what’s not to love!

#4: Learn To Make Your Own

When it comes to being stuck inside during lockdown, you can start embracing your own natural cleaning products. Think about checking out recipes like this one and making your own stuff to clean with. You’ll see the difference right away, and your home will be free of chemicals.

Don’t let lockdown get you down. Keep busy and learn to be sustainable – it’ll make a difference!

For those of us trying to live greener lives, the home is a constant battleground. We’d like to believe that we’ve covered all our bases. But in truth, we probably haven’t. 

Here’s a sobering list of all the ways that you waste energy in your home.

Failing To Program Your Thermostat

Official figures suggest that heating and cooling consume around half of all the energy that our homes use. Programming your thermostat correctly, therefore, is critical. Even if it slightly out of whack, it could have massive ramifications for your energy consumption. 

Overall, smart thermostats tend to more efficient than their manual counterparts, but both are essential in the battle against waste. The more tightly you regulate the times when it comes on and off, the less CO2 you’ll emit. 

Replacing Appliances When They Can Be Repaired

We live in a “throwaway” culture. Contrary to the past, most people can now afford to replace things when they break. But buying a brand new appliance is wasteful when all you need to do is replace a single component. It doesn’t make sense, especially now that you can get parts to fix your dryer, washing machine, or dishwasher quickly. 

Running Your Dishwasher Half Full

Speaking of which, running your dishwasher half full is yet another eco faux-pas. Remember, your dishwasher just goes through the motions. It has no idea that it is half full or that it should try to use less water. It just does what it does. 

Browsing With The Fridge Door Open

A lot of modern refrigerator manufacturers now deck out their appliances with a door-mounted screen and an interior camera that allows people to see what’s inside. Opening the door is an energy conservation nightmare. When the cold air escapes – which it inevitably does – the compressor has to spring into action and cool it down again. And when that happens, it guzzles more energy – not what you want!

Using Old-Fashioned Lightbulbs

The incandescent lightbulb changed the world for the better. But it wasn’t energy-efficient. Around 90 percent of all of the electricity that goes into it gets converted into heat and is wasted. Only 10 percent becomes the photons that you actually see. 

Compare that to LED bulbs where 90 percent of electricity creates light, and just 10 percent is wasted heat, and you soon see why the world is going bonkers for them. 

Leaving Lights On When You’re Not Using Them

Some modern smart homes now have lights that automatically switch off when you leave the room – similar to those used in retail. This solution is actually a good idea. It takes away the hassle of having to interact with the switch. And it works, regardless of whether you remember to use it or not. Plus, it has the “cool factor.” You can just walk into a room, and it’ll illuminate as if by magic. 

Managing energy use in our homes is the primary way that we can live more eco-friendly lives. Even small changes can add up to make a big difference. 

We all need to recycle, yet we need to make sure we do so in a thoughtful and considered manner. There are a lot of problems with recycling today. This includes the fact that people aren’t recycling enough, as well as the fact that it is expensive and people are going about it in the wrong way. However, there are a number of different ways that you can make recycling easier. 

Firstly, you need to get into a routine. You need to understand the ins and outs of how recycling will operate in your household, and then make a routine to ensure it happens. This all depends on the products you use and your location. You also need to make sure you recycle properly. Some items need to be recycled by specialist companies, with electronic goods being a prime example of this. You should never simply throw a broken phone or laptop in the bin! The same goes for the batteries that power them as well. Education is power how. You not only need to know what to recycle, but how to go about it. 

To discover more about recycling – the good, the bad, and the stats – take a look at the infographic below. You will find out some great information regarding the smart way to recycle, as well as some advice on what you should recycle in 2020, as well as the items that cannot be placed in your curbside recycling bin. This information should help you to make recycling a lot more straightforward. 

The climate crisis is deepening and every day the clock ticks ever on. We cannot escape the fact that the way that we have been living as a society has damaged our world and that we need to do a lot more in order to change the tide. 

Many people may spend their time pointing the finger at big businesses and the world’s governments as being the people who are to blame for the lack of improvement in the health of the planet. But, while they need to change their ways, we all need to start making greener choices in our everyday lives. 

There are a lot of things that each and every one of us could be doing in order to make an impact on reducing the damage we are inflicting on the planet. Here are some ways that you could make your home greener. 

Look At Your Energy Sources

Who do you get your energy from? If you get your gas and electricity through one of the biggest energy providers, do you know how they produce this? There are many electricity companies that are still burning coal in order to fuel their power stations. This throws out a considerable amount of pollution into our atmosphere. So, every time you turn on the lights in your home, you are contributing to global warming. One option that you have at your disposal is to switch to a completely renewable energy provider. 

An option that is likely to save you money in the long run through is if you have your own solar power systems fitted to your property so that you can generate your own electricity. While it might be a big expense now, eventually you will see cost savings, as well as a reduction in emissions 

Regardless of your energy sources, you should ensure that you are not wasting valuable resources. Make sure that you turn lights off when you are not in the room, try not to leave the TV on, and don’t leave your computer on standby and plugged in. Use a smart meter to show you exactly how much energy you are using by doing simple things around the home. 

Eat Less Meat And Dairy 

The animal agriculture industry is responsible for a great deal of pollution on this planet. Meat consumption has risen dramatically over the last few decades. And, in order to produce more meat and dairy, we need more animal feed. That means more land to grow crops to produce feed. In order to obtain that land, forests are cut down. The rainforests are being destroyed to create farmland to feed our needs. 

By cutting down the amount of meat and dairy we all consume, the demand for this type of agriculture will drop.

Think about having days when you don’t eat any animal products. You can start to gradually increase these as you get used to cooking in new ways. You may even want to switch to a fully plant based vegan diet.