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10 Effective Ways to Make Your Home Eco Friendly
We hear the term ‘eco-friendly’ a lot. What does it actually mean?
In simple terms, ‘eco-friendly’ means ‘not harmful to the environment’. There are steps you can take to make your home more eco-friendly.
This doesn’t mean you have to purchase solar panels or invest in a full range of Energy Star Appliances. There are actually a lot of smaller changes you can implement.
Here are some of our favourite ideas to try:
1. Add more houseplants to your home
Air pollution in urban areas can be particularly troublesome. Houseplants, however, can serve as natural air purifiers. Research suggests that indoor potted-plants help remove air-borne contaminants. Indoor gardens also make it easy to grow plants indoors.
2. Grow herbs at home
Herbs you find in stores have often travelled thousands of miles before reaching the shelves. Imported produce requires more lorries on roads, leading to more pollution. By growing herbs in a smart garden, you’re lowering the demand for produce to be transported. Less vehicles on roads means less emissions.
3. Use recycling bins
Recycling helps reduce the need for extracting, refining and processing raw materials. These processes contribute towards polluted air and water. By recycling, you’re also fighting climate change by saving energy and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
4. Make efficient use of your dishwasher
Select the ‘eco’ programme when using your dishwasher because this uses less power to heat the water. It’s also worth waiting until your dishwasher is completely full before turning it on. Washing a half empty load is a waste of the machine’s energy. Also, avoid pre-washing your dishes as it's not necessary in most cases. Do make sure, however, to scrape off any food into the appropriate bin.
5. Unplug electronics that aren’t being used
Some electronic appliances, such as computers and televisions, may be consuming energy when in standby mode. If you have small appliances which aren’t being used, unplugging them can save energy and also lead to a slightly smaller electricity bill.
6. Line dry your clothes
Clothes dryers can be very energy-consuming. By drying clothes on a line, you’re saving energy as well as your clothes. Line drying is more gentle on clothes as they won’t be tumbling around in high levels of heat for extended periods of time. When you hang your clothes out to dry, you’re getting fresh air while saving money on your energy bill.
7. Replace paper towels
It’s very easy to use countless paper towels without a second thought. Whenever possible, use cloths and rags instead. By doing so, you’re reducing the demand for trees to be cut down to make paper towels.
8. Use LED bulbs
LEDs are friendlier to the environment than incandescent bulbs. Many LED bulbs can last for over ten years while lowering your electricity bill. LED bulbs emit very little ultraviolet radiation (if any at all), making them more eco-friendly. Click & Grow smart gardens are fitted with LED bulbs.
9. Use a low-flow showerhead
Showering accounts for a great deal of water usage in the home. Installing a low-flow showerhead will help to reduce water consumption. Showers require energy to heat water so reducing your water usage means you’re also reducing your energy usage.
10. Start composting
If you’re fortunate enough to have a garden, why not start composting? It’s an inexpensive, organic process that converts your garden and kitchen waste into valuable food for your garden. By composting, you’re helping to prevent garden and kitchen waste from ending up in landfills where they release a greenhouse gas known as methane. Check out our beginner’s guide to composting here.
Why not try a few of these ideas in your home? An eco-friendly home could lead to a healthier, more energy efficient and more cost efficient lifestyle. Importantly, you’ll be having a positive effect on the planet - one of the most dignified things any of us could ever do.
To learn more about what we believe in, head over to www.clickandgrow.com. Discover how the Smart Garden 3 and Smart Garden 9 make growing fresh, organic food and flowers at home easier than ever.
Fully automated indoor gardens that grow plants for you while making sure they have enough water, light, oxygen and nutrients.
Check out our blog for valuable features such as green living tips, ways to create sustainable homes, the importance of food safety, how to grow plants indoors, amazing life lessons plants teach us, and much more.