Tera Warner

5 Easy Tips For Greener Living That Will Also Save You Money

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5 Little Things You Can Do to Save Money & Have a Healthier, Greener Home

5 Easy Tips For Greener Living That Will Also Save You Money

~ by Tera Warner and Tracy Neely

Greener living doesn’t have to be complicated! Often all it means is being a bit more conscious about our consumption and getting back to some simple, budget-friendly basics. It’s all stuff we already know. We’ve just been distracted by marketers who want to sell us a million pretty-colored solutions for problems we didn’t know we had!

Incorporate these tips and make your home and life a little healthier for both yourself and the environment. They can also save you some money!

These tips are proof that little changes can make a BIG difference!

 5 Easy Tips For Greener Living

1.  When loading a dishwasher, skip the pre-rinse – it can waste 20 gallons of water per load. Skip the dry cycle as well and allow dishes to dry by leaving the door open after washing.

2.  Fix toilet and faucet leaks immediately. A single slow leaky faucet, dripping 30 drops per minute, wastes 3 gallons per day, or the equivalent of 27 baths per year!

3.  Encourage friends, family, neighbors, and co-workers to support and buy from companies that promote and sell eco-friendly products. Support companies that are upfront with their ethics and their practices. Responsible eco-friendly companies go an extra step to minimize their use of resources and recycle, whenever possible, on the job.

4.  Use personal care products that contain the safest ingredients possible. Only 11 percent of the 10,500 ingredients the FDA has documented in personal care products like hair spray, deodorants, fragrances, and nail polish have been assessed for safety by the cosmetics industry. [tweet_dis]Many personal care products contain phthalates; chemicals that can damage the liver, kidneys, lungs, and the reproductive system.[/tweet_dis] Check out our Authentic Beauty product line!

5.  Install dimmer switches in rooms where it is practical for ambient lighting. Any light bulb dimmed by 25 percent (including incandescent) will use roughly 20 percent less energy. Dimming one 75 watt incandescent by 25 percent for only 4 hours a day will save you 30 pounds of carbon over the course of the year.

 Bonus Tip!

6.  Make Your Own Cleaning Products at Home. Using essential oils is brilliant because they’re naturally antibacterial, anti-fungal and pro-health! Here’s a quick, affordable recipe you can make and start using immediately in your kitchen!

Replacing conventional cleaners is easy. There are so many natural solutions available, and it’s fun to spice them up with a bit of zest and the natural anti-bacterial power of essential oils. Basil and Lime are wonderful for kitchen counters! Peppermint and a touch of Eucalyptus, with Lemon, is gorgeous on a dust cloth and spread throughout the home.

 Essential Oil Antibacterial Counter Top Spray

 Ingredients:

  • 4 drops of one of the following essential oils –
    Eucalyptus, Lavender, Grapefruit, Lemon, Orange, Rosemary, or Sage (4 drops is a minimum. If you can afford it, be generous and your whole home will smell like a burst of Nature!)

  • 1 Pint of distilled or spring water
  • Glass spray bottle

 Directions:

Add 4 drops of oil to each pint of water. Pour into a spray bottle and store in cool dark place. Use after cleaning kitchen surfaces. Enjoy!

Stock up on lemons, baking powder and essential oils! Eliminate the toxic cleaners from your home and you’ll be well on your way to healthier, greener living!

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We’d love to know: Do you have any natural home cleaning recipes or tricks that you can share with our community? If you do, just post them below! Thanks so much for sharing and helping us make the world just a little bit greener!