easy green home

You are currently browsing articles tagged easy green home.

If you’ve got the weekend, you’ve got enough time to green your home.

Small changes you can make in just one weekend include:

Eco-window care: Wash all curtains in eco-friendly detergent or wipe down blinds with an earth-friendly all-purpose cleaner. Wash windows with a non-toxic homemade cleaner – either mix 1/2 cup vinegar with one gallon water and spray and wipe or use straight up club soda and wipe down with recycled newspaper. After cleaning open up all the windows wide to let some fresh air in which cuts indoor air pollution more than any other tactic.

Clean your refrigerator coils: Your fridge coils may be costing you in both energy and money. Dirty coils have to work harder to cool your fridge which pumps up your electricity use, and in turn your bill. You can easily clean off the dust and grime with a long brush and your fridge will run better. Note; fridge coils are usually under or behind your fridge (check your fridge manual).

Hang a clothesline: With warm summer air here, you’ve got no excuse not to hang a clothesline. This will save energy and money plus is a super cheap fix to start with. It’ll only cost you about $10 for a decent clothesline and about 50 clothespins either online or at your local hardware store.

Clear out some plastics: Go through your kitchen cupboards and clear out some toxic plastic dishes and containers. Aim to ditch plastics #3, 6, or 7 first as these are the most toxic. Cleaning out toxic plastics leaves you space to stock up on some eco-friendly food storage options and less toxic dishes.

What are your green weekend plans?

[image via stock.xchng]

My general take on Earth Day never changes. It’s a nice holiday, it’s nice to celebrate the planet, but overall, I think it’s too little. To really celebrate Earth Day you need to commit to whole lifestyle, whole year changes. When it comes to your green home, there are plenty of ways you can make some green goodness happen. Following are some great ideas we’ve covered this year – ways you can commit to creating a greener and healthier home.

EASY GREEN HOME GOALS:

Save on all the resources you can. This means you should consider which resources are non-renewable first (oil for example) and then move on to endangered resources (like water). Turn off the lights, unplug your electronics, and use less water. Anyone can make these small changes – they’ll save you money and help the planet.

Totally easy green home ideas may include:

Read a green home book. Reading is fun and easy. You’ll learn something green and new and get to drool over beautiful eco-home images.

Green your coffee! This is such a tiny green step but one that packs a huge punch. If you’re overwhelmed by remodeling your kitchen green or building a sustainable home from scratch, then this goal is the perfect jumping off point.

Quit using bleach! Bleach is terrible for the planet and totally unnecessary for your home. If you’re feeling even more green goal oriented try tossing out all the icky toxic cleaners in your home and commit to green cleaning.

MID-LEVEL GREEN HOME GOALS: Read the rest of this entry »