These days with the constant use of air conditioning and heating, we may want to make sure we use the air con in an eco-friendly way. This not only helps to save our precious resources; it also saves on running costs and will preserve the life of your air conditioning unit. Most people consider keeping the filters clean sufficient, but there is much more you can do to help the planet that requires little effort.
Solar energy, including solar panels, has become a hot topic for good reasons. Not only is it a renewable energy source, but it also helps homeowners save money on their energy bills. With the rise of innovative technology and smart home automation, homeowners can use the solar energy they have saved from investing in a solar energy system from a professional solar panel company. In this blog post, we explore ten innovative uses of solar energy at home that can help save money and reduce your carbon footprint.
Solar Panels: This is the best-known and most popular choice for homeowners using solar energy to power their homes. They convert sunlight into electricity, which is then used to power your home. Solar panels are an excellent investment for homeowners who live in areas with plenty of sunlight, as they can help you save considerable money on your electricity bills over time.
Solar Water Heaters: Solar water heaters use the sun’s energy to heat water for your home. They are ideal for families that use a lot of hot water, as they can help reduce heating costs.
Solar-Powered Lights: Solar-powered lights are inexpensive and an excellent option for those who want to light up their outdoor spaces without using electricity from the grid. They work by absorbing sunlight during the day and then using that energy to power the lights at night.
One of the great things about having a concrete pool on your property is that you have an almost unlimited choice of how to design it and the surrounding area with your pool designers. Not only does it add value to your property but the way in which the aesthetics of your property can be enhanced by a concrete pool is incredible
An option for enhancing it further is with the use of outdoor lighting, which can turn what might look like a pleasant and attractive pool area during the day, into a stunningly beautiful location at night. To get the wheels turning in your mind in terms of ideas, here are 5 of our favourite options for outdoor lighting for pools.
Underwater Lights
This is one of our favourites as nothing makes a pool more appealing for a swim at night than the lights that are underwater. Not only can they make a pool look stunning, especially if they are coloured lights, but they perform a more practical function in terms of making the pool safer. With the water lit from underneath it is easier to see that someone is in the pool especially if the surrounding light is not particularly bright.
Spotlights
These are great when you want specific features in and around the outside of your property to be highlighted at night. You may have a tree, certain flowers, or it could be some items of the garden and poolside furniture that you want to shine a light on. If you install some adjustable spotlights they can be positioned to shine on the pool when it is being used, and again the use of coloured lighting will enhance the atmosphere.
We’re all guilty of making poor purchasing decisions because we’re short on time. We buy takeaways when there’s no time for dinner, and we take the car instead of walking to get where we need to be a little quicker. We also might choose a toxic oven cleaner over a green, sustainable cleaning product because we believe it will work in far less time than one we make ourselves.
No one’s perfect, but that doesn’t mean you can’t make a few subtle changes that can have surprising benefits. Read on to learn why green cleaning might be for you.
There are Fewer Chemicals in Your Home
According to Office Cleaning Services experts, welcoming more sustainable and eco-friendly cleaning products into your home ultimately means that you will have fewer chemicals in your home – and that has to be a good thing. You don’t have to worry about getting chemicals on your skin, breathing them in, or even touching them. You’ll be amazed at the peace of mind that can offer, which is one of many reasons why green cleaning might be for you.
Better for Your Health
Not breathing in chemicals while you clean your home is a pretty decent reason why green cleaning might be for you. Studies have shown that the asthma risk in your household can increase if you use a household cleaning spray a minimum of once per week. Green products can ultimately even out or decrease that risk.
In recent years, the world has done a complete 360-degree turn on plastic use. Instead of it being the most versatile and convenient option around according to its users – it has become the most burdensome for the planet and a thorn for sustainability.
Because most of this generation has grown up with plastic products, it can be hard to flick that switch off right away to focus on sustainable, eco-friendly materials. Some people may not even know what they can use instead. So, what can replace plastic in your everyday life? Read on to find out.
Single-Use Servingware
When you are playing host at a barbecue or community event, it can be hard to find serving ware that’s both convenient and safe for the environment. While you could encourage people to bring their own plates and cutlery, it’s just not practical. Sometimes, plastic seems like the only way. But it’s not.
Instead of plastic cutlery and plates, which will end up in the rubbish bin within minutes of its one-time use, you can use wood or bamboo. There is now a myriad of different eco-friendly serving ware options. While they, too, can be single-use, they break down in the environment and release nutrients into the soil. You can’t say the same about plastic.
If you’ve been thumbing through the pages of a home and landscape design magazine, you’ll quickly learn that there can be a lot more to the process than you might have first thought. While you can have a few ideas and designs in mind, the best landscape design is one with a theme. But what theme is going to work for you? Here are a few fun options to show your landscape expert before you begin.
An English Country Cottage
While many parts of Australia are far too hot to really pull off an English cottage look, some boast the perfect conditions. Talk to your local landscape expert about the best flowers to offer premium ground cover and colour.
It also helps if you have the basis for that cottage appeal, such as a country-style home, rolling lawns, and shady trees. Your landscaper can then work their magic with a pond or waterfall renovation and dozens of beautiful cottage flowers to complete the look.
Cool, Calm, and Collected
If you want your garden to be a reflection of your ‘cool, calm, and collected’ personality, then maybe a touch of European in your landscape design is the answer. Europeans love their hedges to be meticulously pruned and maintained with straight lines and dense bush.
European yards also have spacious courtyards with minimal hassle or fuss, a feature fountain, and resting areas. Talk to your local landscaper to see what they can do for you.
Most businesses understand that when they send freight, the more sustainable the packaging, the less it will cost them both for the transport company costs and the costs of purchasing the packaging. Many types of packaging have a reason for their use and existence. Companies try to keep their goods in top shape and packaging can help with this.
However, most people are aware that it is often a marketing ploy alone that dictates the type of packaging.
No matter whether you are a sole trader, a larger building company there are good reasons to add sustainability practices to your business strategies – and easy ways to do it. Being environmentally friendly has become fashionable and for good reason. It not only saves you on costs, but it can give your business an edge over the competition if you offer people sustainable building advice.
Here are 5 easy ways to implement sustainability –
These days, with just a little bit of effort, everything we do can be eco friendly to some extent, whether it is at home, or at a home or work office. You may have set up business as a digital marketing agency such as Slinky Digital and work on your computer all day long. If everyone does something to reduce their carbon footprint, the result will be incredible and our precious resources will last a lot longer.
If you have a computer, you will most likely also have a printer. Not all printers are efficient, but laser printers can be said to be better than inkjet printers because the ink will not smudge if it gets wet. So when you print out a sheet, you won’t have to reprint it due to any smudges, thus saving ink. And you can usually print more with one toner cartridge than one container of ink.
Another way to ensure your printer is eco friendly is to purchase one that spits out those pages quickly. All printers use power while they are printing; if a printer takes 30 or even 10 seconds to print one page of type, it will take a lot longer and so use more power than one that can print a page in 1 or 2 seconds. So it’s important to look at the specifications of a printer before you purchase it.
So look at the pages per minute the printer will do, but also look at what other features it has that you may need. Having a printer that can hold 250 pages is a lot more convenient than one which can only hold 10 pages.
According to villa booking experts Easy Bali Villas when you book one of the many villas in Bali for your holiday, you may not think about being environmentally friendly, but sustainable living should be done in every country, not just the one you live in. Many people don’t consider it necessary to practice sustainability when they go overseas, but it is still just as important and can save you money as well.
So just how can you be environmentally friendly while on holidays? There are plenty of opportunities.