Living in a hot and humid environment here in the UAE has always popped the question in my mind on how I could take the advantage of the weather and the environment to be eco-friendly. As an environmental activist, I have been in constant search of finding fascinating new ways and techniques to adapt tips or ideas to adjust them at home, school or simply anywhere.
The simplicity of being eco-friendly to the environment and live intentionally to your means without wasting more than you need is all what it takes to protect the environment, be healthy and even save a fortune! All what you need is also to embrace the green theme of using the 3R’s (reduce, reuse & recycle) to turn your home into a clean healthy heaven for the sake of your family.
Here are 10 best tips you can adapt to be green at HOME:
- Shift to use eco-friendly safe machinery equipment. For example, you can buy appliances that are far harmless yet use less energy to generate like LED light bulbs, smart plugs, water filters and heaters. All what you need is to be energy efficient for a sustainable environment at home.
- Change all your toxic abrasive chemical cleaning products with more eco-friendly biodegradable household products that are safe. This range of products eliminates pollution inside the house which is risk-free for the children health.
- Keep an eye on your home temperature. As we live here in the UAE, we can take the advantage of the weather as we have the best of the worlds, the winter and the summer seasons. In winter, you can minimize the usage on the AC by opening your windows and doors for fresh air and also you can minimize the washing usage to dry your clothes outdoors. In summer, you can take the option of buying eco-friendly AC’s that reduces the waste yet the energy required to generate.
- Save your environment by gardening and composting. For example, start using compost soil made by your own leftovers collection to grow home grown healthy food like tomatoes, potatoes and much more. Embracing this action will help you not just to save money but also to eat healthy organic food grown at your garden. Likewise, growing plants indoors and outdoors will help you to get clean oxygen for a better healthy environment at home.
- Turn off the lights. This is the simplest way you can reduce energy and save you extra cash to pay for other necessities. In morning times, take the good advantage of sun light instead of turning on the lights. If you live in an apartment or on the process of building your very own dream house then shift to include glass walls due to its cooling benefits.
- Make recycling your habit. Always take recycling as an opportunity to take advantage to make something creative or shift to adapt the easiest way which is to sell them. For example, keep separate boxes for different items for recycling like glasses, cans, bottles, plastics, papers and much more! After each month or so, you can be creative to work on something extraordinary with your family and the kids or simply sell them to recycling companies in your community and make money out of it.
- Be an active member in the society and donate your used stuff to avoid overlapping. For example, donate your clothes, electronic and computer equipments to charity organizations that are responsible for supporting the community. By this action you will not just feel good about yourself but also you will draw a smile on somebody else’s face as well. This will help you also to avoid bacteria growing on your stuff which can be risky for your health.
- Be a smart shopper and find alternatives. This act will support you to find sustainable products that are safe to use at home. Always read and learn about the products you buy like what it is made from and what is included. Read the tags and ask for possible help from the staff about recommendations on green products that you can reuse them again in future.
- Make a difference starting from your home. Be an active member and collaborate with your family to organize projects and green campaigns and ask your community members to join in for a chance for a remarkable change. There are several worldwide events that you can participate in the upcoming events like the World Water Day, Earth Hour, Earth Day and much more!
- Be an inspiring role model for you family, kids and the whole society. For example, share and teach your ideas and experiments you have done at home with your kids and neighbors and encourage them to be green hero’s to protect their environment.