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The fight to save the planet starts, quite literally, at home. You don’t strictly have to make dramatic, sweeping changes, either. It’s often perfectly possible to complete many of your routine responsibilities, from sourcing food to cleaning around the house, in a more eco-friendly fashion.
So, let’s look at some of the ways you can do exactly that.
Grow your own vegetables
Growing vegetables at home bodes well for the environment, as it means this food won’t need to be transported from abroad – generating greenhouse gas emissions along the way – before it even reaches your plate.
Home-grown vegetables can also be easily kept free of pesticides that food companies often apply to their mass-produced creations in order to keep bugs at bay. Those pesticides are unhealthy not only for bugs, but also the humans who get their mouths around the food. If you are unsure where to start with growing your own vegetables, the Sustainability Matters website has posted a useful, informative guide to the subject.
Regularly sweep your chimney
If your home has an open fire or stove, then getting the chimney regularly swept is good not merely for your fire’s efficiency, but also for helping to tidy up your home and ward off air pollution. The UK’s Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs calls air pollution “the biggest environmental risk to public health” and warns that the fine particle matter present in smoke is potentially damaging to lungs and other organs.
Stock up on alternative, eco-friendly fuels
From May 2021, house coal and wet wood will be increasingly removed from sale in England, to encourage households to take up cleaner fuels.
If your fireplace relies on a standard fuel, you should aim to buy sustainably-sourced seasoned wood adorned with the ‘Ready to Burn’ logo.
However, if you instead need a manufactured solid fuel like briquettes or fire logs, you are advised to choose a brand labelled as ‘suitable for use in smoke-controlled areas’, as this fuel will produce less smoke.
Give your radiator a deep clean
Dirt, grime and dust particles can, as time passes, accumulate on a radiator – which, unfortunately, is a rather easy part of the home to overlook during a domestic cleaning regime. Leaving a dirty radiator untouched can, however, affect you particularly adversely if you have a dust-mite allergy, and even add to your heating costs.
To clean your radiator, just turn it off and then use a vacuum cleaner to suck all of the dust off it.
Clean under – and across the top of – your oven
If you haven’t looked under your oven recently, you could have easily underestimated how many pieces of dropped food have ended up there, potentially cultivating a hive of bacteria and germs.
Fortunately, it’s quick and easy to clean this area, as well as the space between your oven and any kitchen countertop that sits just above it.
Remember that anywhere in the home that can accumulate dirt and dust can contribute to air pollution. So, even something as seemingly minor as a simple regular cleaning routine can help to protect the planet and human health.
Wash curtains, blinds and windowsills
It’s mercifully easy to do so. Most curtains are machine washable, while you can clean blinds and windowsills just by wiping them down with a damp cloth.
This should all come as an immense relief, too – as curtains, blinds and windowsills are among those domestic surfaces most prone to attracting dust.
There you go – just six ways to make your home more sustainable, bringing benefits not just to the wider planet, but to you and your household, too.
Other source: https://www.housebeautiful.com/uk/lifestyle/cleaning/a35309912/missed-spring-cleaning-tasks/
