Sweet Greens

Maintaining sustainability is much harder when the temperatures get colder. The colder you are, the more demand there is for your home heating system. In summer, you can keep your heating turned off for months on end. But, when the temperature dips close to freezing, your house can get very cold. Some people are forced to keep their heating on all day long, ramping up the energy costs. 

This isn’t a very sustainable way to live as you use up far too much energy. You don’t need me to remind you of the impact this has on the environment. In that case, what can you do to maintain sustainability was the days get colder?

Insulate your home

Begin by insulating your home and making it cold-proof. Check the insulation in your attic to see if it needs to be renewed – or possibly add some more layers of protection. Look at every single window in your house to be sure there are no gaps in the seals. Similarly, buy some thick curtains to cover your windows, adding further insulation. You want to create a house that leaks as little heat as possible. It’s impossible to trap all of the heat inside your home. Still, some good insulation tactics will undoubtedly reduce the amount you lose. As a result, your house will feel warmer without the heating on. If you do still need it on, you can keep it on for fewer hours and at a lower temperature. 

Protect your home from snow

Snowy weather is super bad for sustainable families. If snow falls on your home, it will instantly make it colder. The longer it lingers, the colder your house will be. So, protect your home from snow as best as you can. One idea is to sprinkle salt and grit on your roof, stopping snow from settling on the tiles. Find a good snow removal service in your local area to call upon if there’s any snow. They’ll get rid of it from around your house, stopping your home from becoming too cold. Again, this decreases the demand for your home heating system, allowing it to run more efficiently. 

Take advantage of your oven

This last tip is one of my favorites as it works brilliantly. Leave your oven open after cooking. Why? Because it will release heat out into your home, warming it up. It basically acts as a mini heating system, without the need to turn your actual system on. All ovens will emit some heat for a few minutes after cooking. This is all it takes to heat up a few rooms in your house – especially when it’s correctly insulated. As your oven is already turned on, it makes sense to take advantage of this to heat up your home. 

These three tips will help you maintain sustainability and efficiency in the cold months. It stops you from keeping your heating on for too long, lowering the energy usage in your home. The best thing is, none of these tips is that extreme. You don’t have to make any crazy changes to your life throughout fall or winter – it’s just about being a bit smarter!

If you love to garden, chances are you also love the environment, and you want to do everything in your power to keep it safe and protected. The fact is that there are ways of gardening which are not quite so good for the planet, and there are ways which are much more eco-friendly. In this post, we are going to take a look at how you can design and keep a garden that is much more eco-friendly, and so feel safe knowing that you have done your part in looking after the planet a little better.

Safe Pest Control

It’s perfectly okay to want to manage what animals and insects come into your garden. This can be important for keeping your plants alive, keeping your family safe and ensuring that your pets don’t get into any trouble. But you should make sure that any methods you are using are perfectly ecological and safe, and this is not always the case when it comes to pest control. One of the simplest and most elegant solutions is to ensure you have a well-manicured hedge around your garden, as this will stop most animals from getting into your garden in the first place. With good hedge maintenance, you can keep this barrier up and safely keep pests out without disturbing nature.

Native Plants

There is much talk of native plants in gardening, and with good reason. When you are deciding what plants you should have in your garden, it is often going to be necessary to include native ones wherever possible, as these are so much better for the ecology of the local area. Native plants are simply those that would grow naturally wherever you are in the world. Including only these in your garden will mean that you are helping to boost the ecosystem so much more, and not doing anything to harm it. It’s a simple yet powerful step that every keen gardener can take, and one which you can do today.

Water Conservation

One of the main resources that you use in gardening is water – if not the number one resource of all. If you are keen to ensure that your garden is not harming the planet, you should be careful about how you use water. You don’t want to be using any more than necessary, after all. With that in mind, make sure you know exactly how much or how little water each plant in your garden needs. Overwatering is often going to be simply a waste, and could mean that your plants die out anyway. You should also consider collecting rainwater in a butt and using that rather than tap water wherever possible. This is also going to be healthier for the plants, so it’s a win-win. Conserve water wherever possible if you really want to be eco-friendly in the garden.

These simple changes are going to add up to make a huge difference over time, so make sure that you are taking them on board as soon as possible.

Buying an eco-friendly, plant-based laundry detergent is definitely the way to go. To make your money go further, buy detergent in the largest container possible, and only use 1/2 of the recommended amount. I have found that using 1/2 the amount gets clothes just as clean and if I am dealing with stains, I pre-treat the stain with a diluted eco-friendly detergent or if it is a greasy stain, an eco-friendly dish soap then I wash it with my favorite detergent, Biokleen! 

Is it 5 o’clock yet?

Summer is over! Say it isn’t so, I am NOT ready. It is, however, the perfect time to throw an outdoor cocktail party is fall! Invite your friends, mix a few great drinks with fab garnishes, set a simple spread, and enjoy. If you aren’t a fan of alcohol, you can make great mocktails. Need some mocktail recipes? Leave me a comment.

Choose the drinks: Grab your favorite cocktail book or borrow one for the library and choose 2-4 different cocktails that are fun and out of the ordinary. My favorite cocktail book is Margaritas, Mojitos, and More because it has delicious recipes with beautiful pictures and well, those are my favorite drinks. I highly suggest the Cantaloupe Mojito and Mango Margarita.

Set the Mood: Any outdoor area will do, if you are working with a patio or deck, remove everything and lay down a simple area rug, and place all of your chairs and end tables in great conversation sets. You can also use large pillows and cushions for seating. Arrange potted plants around the seating areas and create an ambiance with great Eco-friendly candles or solar-powered lanterns. Don’t forget to turn on the sound dock with some light and fun music.

Set the Table: Fab your patio table with a beautiful reusable tablecloth, then set up the cocktail station. Use an assortment of bowls to house lemon, orange, and lime slices, cocktail onions, cherries, olives {my fav are blue cheese stuffed green olives} and don’t forget sugar and salt to rim the glasses. A small vase full of colorful licorice sticks makes fun stir sticks and straws. Make your guests feel welcome with lots of munchies to nosh on. Try fresh breadsticks, (standing vertically in a vase), hummus with assorted colorful veggies (straight from the garden), fancy nuts, and chocolate pieces.

This is a simple party to put together but is a lot of fun.

What is your favorite cocktail or mocktail?