Today, I would like to share about this website that I discovered recently. It covers a wide range of sustainability aspects from gardening to health to everyday living and this website is called Sustainable Baby Steps (SBS). It is managed by a lady named Tara together with her husband and they are based in Northwest Florida.
This article, Going Green At Home talks about some tips that are simple, cost efficient and at the same time able to make our surroundings more natural and sustainable at the same time and it starts at home! Honestly, most of us do not spend most of our time at home isn't it? We, in fact, spend more time at work/school as compared to at home. In this competitive and fast-paced world, we spend long hours working or studying. Thus, these practices are not only applicable to our homes but also can be adapted in our workplaces or bring along with us. I would like to highlight some of the tips mentioned like using baking soda to remove odours, placing English Ivy (Scientific name: Hedera helix) indoors to clean the air and making natural household cleaning liquid using water and vinegar.
Firstly, baking soda is a natural deodoriser which is able to absorb odours. It can be easily done by placing a bowl of it in the fridge to remove all the various smells from food, sprinkling it into your shoes or adding it into hot soapy water used for wiping your trash bin.
Secondly, English Ivy is well-known for purifying air. It can remove benzene, a carcinogen found in detergents, pesticides, cigarette smoke and the off-gasing of other synthetic materials. It is very beneficial for people with allergies and asthma as the air will be cleaner. It is also able to filter out and remove formaldehye (can be found in some household cleaning products). Although English Ivy can be invasive, at the same time, it is ideal to be put in a pot and be placed indoors. In addition, English Ivy can be easily found in Singapore making it a feasible idea! However, be careful not to ingest this plant as it is poisonous!
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| English Ivy |
Lastly, pour 9 parts of water together with 1 part of vinegar and mix well. You can add a few drops of dishwashing soap and essential oil if the vinegar smell is too strong. Your all purpose natural household cleaner is created!
One very interesting and creative idea in this website is the 7 Day Treehugger Kickstart where it provides a guide for 7 days that claims to make the "biggest, greenest, most affordable changes in the shortest amount of time" (SBS, n.d.). How true is it? Find out for yourself!
Hi Lorraine! I too totally agree that change should start with ourselves and our daily habits. It is one of the easiest ways we can contribute towards saving the environment, unfortunately it is often the most underestimated and overlooked. Hopefully, we can spread the notion and encourage others to make the change too! :) Also, that English Ivy room freshner looks like a really great idea, I feel like trying it out for my room already!
ReplyDeleteHey!
ReplyDeleteI agree too that before one 'changes the world', one has to first 'change himself'. If one talks the talk, can one walk the walk too?
I also found an article on 19 types of houseplants to clean indoor air from the 'Going Green At Home' link you posted. A literally greener method to maintain our rooms especially with all the poor air quality these days!