The spring season is a time of growth and renewal. It’s also a great time to set up greener practices within your home! Choosing eco friendly living practices doesn’t have to require a complete overhaul of your lifestyle. Eco friendly living should feel right and natural. Think of going green as a soft spring shower that nurtures little seeds to grow strong in place of a windstorm that sweeps the scenery clean. Small steps in the right direction can make your home a haven for eco friendly living – indoors and out!
Start composting as soon as possible! Spring’s bounty is loaded with fresh, healthy vegetables whose absence has likely caused a few cravings at your dinner table. The kitchen scraps from these types of meals should not be allowed to go to waste. Onion ends, carrot peels, and stems from leafy greens are all great candidates for the compost pile. Re-usable buckets made of ceramic or glass look attractive on your countertops while providing convenience during meal preparation. The mulch from your home compost spot is ideal fertilizer for any type of garden.
If you don’t already have a spot for homegrown herbs and veggies, start one! Homegrown veggies taste better than those at the grocery store for a fraction of the price and have a positive effect on the environment at large. Homegrown veggies need not travel all the way from far-flung reaches of the globe to your table. This reduces packaging waste, fuel consumption, and your own reliance on a vehicle to collect fresh produce. Herbs are easier for beginners. Basil, thyme, and some strains of tomatoes are hardy plants that are forgiving for those unsure of their prowess with the trowel. Once you get the hang of it, even a tiny potted garden is sure to become a staple of every day life. If a little windowsill of soil and plants just isn’t possible, seek out a local farmer’s market in place of a super center for your produce.
Green cleaning products are a staple of eco friendly living. In the past, people often needed to devote hours of energy for a greener clean in the homestead by producing their own. These days, green cleaners are easy to come by. Eco friendly and concentrated cleaners help you get your home sparkling without the multitude of chemicals found in conventional varieties. Eco friendly cleaners out perform their more mysterious counterparts in every way that counts. Reduced and recycled packaging helps you maintain an eco-friendly home without the clutter.
Use less water for all these spring tasks. Homes rely on water for just about everything. Cleaning, drinking, cooking, gardening, and hygiene each call for their own share of this precious resource. On the small scale of water conservation, you can monitor how much you need for every task. Does the faucet have to run while you brush your teeth or shave your legs? Do all dishes require rinsing before their trip to the dishwasher? Would a rain barrel lessen your reliance on the hose for plants? Could the same water pot used to steam veggies also function to boil the pasta? Every household has different needs that make water conservation a household-based aspect of eco-friendly living. The trick here is found in mindfulness of your home’s requirements, and a little bit of readjustment can make all the difference.
Going green doesn’t mean you have to overhaul every aspect of your life. Eco friendly living shouldn’t require massive sums of cash for a fresh start. Taking small steps has a better chance of re-tooling your daily habits than one huge storm of change taken all at once. Pure & Gentle’s soaps, shampoos, and cleaners seek to help you re-tool one aspect of your lifestyle, but the rest is up to you! Take it slow, like a lazy spring day, and eventually eco friendly living is sure to become second nature.
