GREEN OPTIONS FOR YOUR HOME
Environmentally friendly options for your home may seem too expensive. However, there are a lot of little things you can change that are not only better for the environment, but they are better for your family's health as well. Use these tips to inexpensively make small changes around your home that will eventually make a big difference for the environment, your family's health, and your wallet.
1. Recycle, reuse, and repurpose old items around your home. Use that old toy box into storage for blankets, pillows and more. Turn old chairs into planters for your yard. Before you throw something away, figure out how you can repurpose the item for something else.
2. When you do buy new items, opt for ones that don't have to be thrown away. Disposable items add so much bulk to landfills and they cost you more and more every time you have to buy more. Start small by using a cloth napkin instead of paper napkins or paper towels. Use reusable containers that can be washed instead of plastic bags. Small changes like this will add up to huge savings over time.
3. Plant your own garden and can your vegetables. Not only is gardening rewarding, but you can add nutrients to your soil. You can control which, if any, chemicals go into your family's bodies. You could even grow enough to sell at local farmers' markets to make back the money that your spent on your garden. Grow the items that you use the most often that are likely to save you the most money. Tomatoes, potatoes, lettuce, strawberries, watermelon and zucchini top the list of the most money saving fruits and veggies to plant.
4. Look up natural cleaner recipes online. Replacing chemical cleaners with ones that have vinegar or baking soda bases is a great way to save money and reduce the amount of chemicals in your home. Vinegar works for almost everything around the house. Don't worry about the smell, it goes completely away when dry. You can add drops of essential oils to mask the scent and leave your home smelling fresh and clean, without using chemical air fresheners or candles.
5. When buying new furniture, flooring, and clothes hangers for your home, choose bamboo over wood. Earth friendly bamboo clothing hangers and furniture are not stained or varnished with harsh chemicals, they are usually heat treated to achieve their color. For example, this dark finished bamboo coat hanger achieves it's color using this heating process rather than chemical stains. Bamboo is cheap, completely renewable, and has the tensile strength of steel.
About the Author: Jo Granville is on the staff of Only Hangers, a leading online resource for high-end clothing hangers. For more information on bamboo hangers or any other type of clothing hangers.