Are you trying to reduce your impact on the environment? While we’re all eager to change our diets or shop more sustainably, we often forget about our daily routine when trying for a more eco-friendly lifestyle. These seven eco-friendly cleaning tips can set you in the right direction.
In fact, there’s no reason why your cleaning routine cannot be earth-friendly. From using natural homemade products to correctly recycling your waste and reducing your energy usage, there are many ways you can green your cleaning routine.
Eco-Friendly Cleaning Tip #1 – Lemons are your friends
Lemons are powerful natural antibacterial forces when it comes to using eco-friendly cleaning products. Lemon juice can sanitize surfaces without the need for harsh chemicals and leaves your house smelling fresh.
Consider adding lemon juice to vinegar to make a more fragrant cleaning agent for walls, surfaces, and windows.
Eco-Friendly Cleaning Tip #2 – White vinegar
Although it might not leave a pleasant smell in your home, white vinegar diluted with water is an excellent replacement for bleach and is less toxic. You can use vinegar to clean sinks, floors, stoves, and all your pots and pans. It will even work on your fridge, freezer, and garbage bin.
Remember, you can add lemon to freshen the scent.
Eco-Friendly Cleaning Tip #3 – The miracle of baking soda
Like lemons, baking soda has powerful natural cleaning qualities. Use baking soda to remove grease, rust, or unpleasant odors effectively. You might even try using it as a laundry detergent.
Using natural homemade products reduces the demand on manufacturers to produce more toxic and damaging effects, helping to make a more significant impact on the climate crisis. From the comfort of your own home, you can help change the global attitude to living more sustainably.
Eco-Friendly Cleaning Tip #4 – Plastic packaging
Shop-bought cleaning products are often packaged in non-recyclable materials. You might consider buying slightly pricier eco-friendly products from the store. However, using lemon, vinegar, and baking soda is cheaper and still less impactful.
Creating your home-mixed cleaning solutions will skip the plastic packaging problem and significantly reduce your impact on the planet.
Eco-Friendly Cleaning Tip #5 – Don’t waste
Beyond the packaging of the products, you are using, cleaning your house can create large quantities of other waste. If you’re decluttering your home this spring, you want to ensure you are correctly recycling.
Pay attention to the recycling system to work out if you can properly dispose of the plastic packaging. If the item has a 1, 2, or 3 within a triangle, it should be recyclable. It is vital to ensure you correctly recycle as misusing the system can be more damaging and create more significant environmental problems.
Eco-Friendly Cleaning Tip #6 -What about non-plastics?
You might have clothing or possessions that you no longer use or need but aren’t sure how to get rid of them. You can either donate old clothes to a charity shop or sell them yourself.
Have you also thought about repurposing disused items? Think about the ways you can find new uses for broken or unused objects. Are your sofa cushions looking a little worn? Perhaps you could use those unwanted clothes to make new cushion covers.
Maybe a good cleaning will inspire you to shop more sustainably in the future. Only buy items you need and ensure that you source them from Earth-friendly manufacturers.
Eco-Friendly Cleaning Tip #7 – Turn off the appliances
Skip the fan, vacuum, and hoses. Air out your home naturally by opening windows to allow a fresh breeze to waft through the house. Also, using a broom is reportedly better at catching all the dust and dirt than a vacuum cleaner and is the more sustainable option. Similarly, use a bucket of water to wash external walls and windows rather than getting the hose out as it’s far less wasteful.
As you go around your house dusting and sprucing, check which other appliances are on. Can you unplug the microwave or television while it is unused? Turning items off at the wall rather than leaving them on standby will reduce your environmental impact and electricity bill.
The Takeaway on Making Your Home Kinder to Mother Earth
Taking small but significant steps to reduce your impact on the plant is a huge achievement. Whether you adopt all these steps at once or slowly add new elements into your cleaning regimen, you are sure to be more earth-friendly. Greening your cleaning routine is a great way to live a more sustainable life.
She has a B.S.Ed. in Secondary Education/English and a Spanish Minor. In addition, she holds a Certificate in Natural Health from a fully-accredited program and is a Certified Herbologist. She pursued these natural wellness certifications due to her love for herb gardening.
Despite freelancing to make a living, her love is "all things home."
Deborah grew up in a family that grew a large vegetable garden and a fruit orchard, helping her parents pull weeds and can home-grown foods as part of her childhood. In fact, she had no idea that she could purchase veggies and fruits in pre-packed steel cans until she went to college and made a food run.
Today, she lives in Bertie County, North Carolina, an agricultural rural area with more chickens than people. She lives with her husband and two rescue pets a sweet toy fox terrier and a cat who showed up one day and moved into the house. Together, they enjoy DIY projects, furniture refinishing, gardening, and canning.
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