Eco-Living

Around Home

Reduce and Recycle

One of the first places you can begin to reduce your impact on the environment is around your home. Try to lower your consumption of things that can not be re-used, such as non-recyclable packaging. Here's how: First, a quick check of the amount of garbage that you toss out each week will give you an idea of how much you consume. Make a note of what takes up the most space in the garbage can and try to reduce it. Look for labels that indicate packages can be recycled. Second, make recycling a habit. Many cities and towns now have door to door recycling programs in place. If your town does not have the service, enquire why not. And finally, take a look at the cleaning products around your home. Replace them with biodegradable products. Next time you visit your local market, take note of the number of cleaning products on the shelves and imagine how many are sold each day. That will give you an idea of how much of these products enter our waterways each day. Oh, and before I go, try to do your bit but don't get too hard on yourself. 

Check out our Eco-Products page for useful and environmentally friendly products for the home and garden.

A Great link for the home environment:

earthDr! - An environmental web site devoted to educating the public about protecting their home environment from entry of surface and subsurface contaminants.  Transport and remediation of contaminants in the groundwater and the soil atmosphere is detailed.
 

Now that you have made a few changes in your home, let's take a look at the garden (if you are lucky enough to own one). There are three activities about gardening where you might make big changes. First, move toward a pesticide-free garden. It might take a little more work to pull weeds but you will have the satisfaction of a more natural environment in your garden. The numbers of insects and birds will likely grow, indicating the shift toward a natural environment. Next, reduce the area of lawn and replace with shrubs or trees. Less lawn means less watering, and less need for lawn mowing. Consider native species bought from suppliers who grow their own specimens. Native species are best suited to your local conditions. Finally, use natural fertilizers such as compost, or manure. Composts are copying what ecosystems have done from the beginning - they recycle dead plants into soil to be re-used by growing plants.