Its more important than ever that we take stock and stop taking everything for granted as though there is no tomorrow. We are all aware of the sort of tomorrow we will have if we don’t wake up and start being a little friendlier to the planet we live on.

Tips on How to Make your Home Eco-Friendly

We should all try to do something to make a difference and just some small tweaks and adjustments are sometimes all that’s needed. Here are some easy things you can do to make your home just that little bit more Eco-Friendly to make you feel that you have contributed. If everyone did the same it would have an enormous impact in our planet’s recovery.

How To Use LESS Water

With global warming, water is going to become a scarcer commodity and we will be forced to make reductions in our consumption. Without changes in the way we use water, this will become inevitable whether we like it or not. So, we all need to make some changes now to stall the inevitable.

On toilet flushing – When its clear, let it be, when it’s brown, flush it down! This alone will save on gallons of water and it really will not hurt anyone.

Don’t leave the tap running when brushing your teeth, instead fill a jug with water and only use this.

Shower instead of using the bath! It uses a fraction of the amount of water but keep it short. If you have to have the occasional bath, then instead of emptying the water down the drain, siphon it out into a barrel and use to water the garden. It only takes a few minutes once you have mastered how to siphon by sucking on a tube. If this puts you off having a bath, then that’s good!

Wash dishes by hand if you only have small amounts because dish washers are the worst offenders for water consumption.

If you have a washing machine outside in the garage, connect a long hose pipe to the outlet pipe and use the water for the garden. Don’t allow gallons of good water to go down the drain.

If possible buy organic produce because the growers and producers use methods that use less water and don’t use chemicals. Most supermarkets have a section of organic produce these days.

Use a bucket when washing the car and don’t use a hose pipe. This will also save gallons of water being wasted.

Don’t use a hose pipe or sprinklers to water the garden. Connect a drip feed irrigation system on a timer. It’s a very effective way to keep your plants happy and uses far less water and it will save you lots of time as well.

Reduce Your Energy Consumption

People affect the environment so little steps can make a big difference and will save you money and help save the environment.

Obviously the best solution to saving energy in the home is a complete solar system but if this is something that’s too expensive to install then maybe consider just one solar panel to heat your water. You will re-coop the outlay over a short period of time. Solar Energy Home

Look out for energy efficient appliances when you need replacements. They may be more expensive to buy initially but again, will lower your energy bills over time.

Use energy saving light bulbs, small item, big savings! More information on

energy saving  light bulbs that have been invented to last up to 60 years!!

Walk whenever possible instead of getting in the car, especially for short distances. Or why not get a bike and cycle to the stores or work? You will make huge savings in money and energy.

Buy produce that has been made or grown locally. This saves energy and money on transportation across the country and helps to support your local businesses, which in turn will help keep the local economy buoyant.

Make sure that TVs, VCRs, Stereos and other devices that have remotes, are switched off when not is use. Don’t have them on standby. You would be surprised at how much power they use just being idle. This also applies to things like chargers for cell phones. Unplug when not being used because they are still drawing power even if there is nothing attached.

Get your children involved with energy savings. Kids are very idealistic and are very aware of things like the environment and are keen to help protect the planet. Get them to be the energy police in your home, they will love this responsibility and it will give them a chance to be the boss for once.

How Does Recycling affect the Environment?

Reduce Reuse Recycle

We are such a wasteful society but we have never before been made to think about what we are doing and the impact it has on the environment. Many people think that their contribution to being more conscious about the environment won’t make a difference but if everyone thinks the same way, then it won’t but if we all make small changes it will make a massive difference.

We have looked at some of the ways to reduce so here are a few tips on re-using and recycling.

Plastic bags are one of the major pollution pests of our century and should be avoided at all costs. This in fact applies to anything plastic so if you do have items made of plastic, either re-use and try not to replace. Remember, recycling plastic bags is a must otherwise we will be swamped with the things before long and it takes hundreds of years for them to biodegrade. Put pressure on your local food store to ban plastic carrier bags and go back to the days when they used to leave the empty cardboard boxes available,  for people to take their shopping home in , after the shelves had been restocked.

Use empty yogurt pots to grow seedlings and grow your own herbs for the window sill. Will look attractive and great for adding to your cooking!

Re-use food jars and bottles. Use them for home made salad dressing and marinades etc. Some are attractive enough to use as flower vases but if you cannot think of other ways to re-use then make sure you dispose of them in your local bottle recycle bin for collection.

Perhaps some of the ideas here can inspire you?

Give unwanted items and clothes to local charities or if you need some extra money yourself, try selling them at a boot fair or free classified advert in the local paper or online. Many people scrap perfectly good items when they could be used again by someone else.

These are just a tiny fraction of the things you can do to help protect our environment and become a little more Eco-Friendly in and out of your home. Be creative!

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