5 Ways to Start Going Green Clean and Healthy at Home

If for the past few months now, you’ve been saying to yourself “I really need to become more eco-friendly”, then you know how the saying goes: “There’s no time like the present.” Although initially, it might seem a bit overwhelming to try and figure out all of the things that you should do in order to become more “green”, the reality is that it’s a fairly easy transition to make. It’s all a matter of knowing what constitutes as being environmentally conscious and luckily for you, we’ve provided five of those very things below:

Purchase a low-flow showerhead and programmable thermostat. Two things that you can purchase that don’t cost a lot of money and will immediately cause your monthly energy bills to decrease are a low-flow showerhead and a programmable thermostat. The use of these two things together can result in as much as 40 percent off of your annual energy costs.

Make your own cleaning products. All of us like having a clean house. The thing is, a lot of the more commercial products tend to have many chemicals inside of them, which isn’t great for your furniture, floors or even your health. That’s why we recommend that you make some of your own cleaning products out of things that are already in your home such as baking soda, white vinegar and lemon juice. They’re just as effective and much safer. For a list of recipes, go to your favorite search engine and put “homemade cleaning recipes” in the search field.

Create a compost. When you put unwanted food into the trash can, over time, it can rot and turn into methane gas. One way to prevent this from happening is by creating your own compost. It’s a win/win on a lot of levels because it’s a smart way to recycle leftovers as you use the compost to fertilize your garden or flowerbed. (Composting101.com)

Buy organic foods. Going green is also about eating healthier. As you’re trying to find some commonground between what’s good for you and what you may have been used to eating, thankfully, there are organic sections in most grocery stores that can provide you with alternatives for just about anything your taste buds desire. Instead of ice cream, consider getting a frozen dairy treat made out of almond milk. Instead of soda, how about some ginger beer? They also usually have fresh produce near that section too. Oftentimes, eating organically is not about sacrificing what you like; it’s just about eating it in a way where it was prepared differently.

Cook, don’t microwave. There is a lot of controversy surrounding the potential health risks that come with microwaving food. Overall, this is our general consensus: If it requires an hour to bake something in the stove that only take a few minutes in the microwave, that’s definitely something to think about. Plus, a lot of microwavable foods are loaded with chemicals (so that they are actually able to cook in the microwave). Now, we’re not saying to throw your microwave out; just try to use it in moderation. Besides, relying on it all of the time means you’re using up quite a bit of energy. And you’re going greener, that’s definitely something to think about. Often.