To be eco-friendly doesn’t necessarily mean buying greener alternatives or converting your house to use renewable energy sources. Sometimes, it can be all about changing the way of using things that you may already have in your daily routine. From changing your showering habits to making your smartphone battery last longer, here are the top 15 eco-friendly life hacks that are sure to inspire you to change to a healthier, greener lifestyle.
Compost your organic waste
Throwing away stuff just because you don’t need it might not be the best thing to do. Instead, why not compost your organic waste and use it as a fertilizer for your garden? It reduces waste and helps you save money!
Re-use your jam jars
Every year, millions of jars of jam, peanut butter and other delicious goodies are purchased across the US, and when they’re used up, down they go to the trash can. Glass doesn’t decompose, which means more waste in the landfills. But what if we reuse these jars for other things such as a container for your spices, growing small plants and even as a fancy jar for your smoothies!
Wash clothes using tap water
Try to wash your clothes using cold or tap water. Heating water consumes energy, which could be used for other things such as making hot drinks and showering. Cold water doesn’t affect clothes, and it will give you the same great wash every time.
Buy from the local market
No need to take your car out to travel all the way across the city to go to the supermarket. Your nearest local market probably has most of the things you need, helps the local economy and gets you a cheaper deal for your things. You’re saving money, economy and the environment, nice!
Vegetable stew from peels
Even if you don’t have a garden and you don’t want to compost your organic waste, you can still use the peels of some vegetables to make stew or base for dishes that you may make in the future. Simply prepare the base and freeze for later use (Now that’s what we call a “green” hack, get it?).
Save water while showering
We all waste water when we’re in the shower, and most of us can shower even within 5 minutes but we prefer to spend at least 20 mins under the flowing water. Next time you’re in the shower, you could save some water by turning off the tap while you’re shampooing your hair or using soap. It could potentially save litres of water!
Use napkins and handkerchiefs
Napkins and handkerchiefs are reusable compared to single tissues and wrapping paper. They are also able to absorb much more than your average paper, and can be reused over and over again, simply wash them in the kitchen sink and let them dry overnight, and you have a good as new napkin the next day, which also saves you from buying extra paper for your kitchen.
Liquid soap for washing hands
Although bar soaps are great when in the shower, it is always a better idea to keep a bottle of liquid soap for whenever you need to wash just your hands. Using bar soap over and over again dilutes it because of the excess water it absorbs making it run out faster. A liquid soap dispenser will help you get just the right amount of soap every time and will last longer too.
Make your own natural cleaners
Turns out baking soda and vinegar do much more than just create volcanoes for the science fair. Both of them have cleaning capabilities and are able to create a powerful cleaning agent when combined and cost a fraction of the “all purpose cleaners” you find at the supermarket.
There are several ways you can combine them with water or lemon to create environment friendly, natural cleaners with no harmful chemicals.
Don’t fill the kettle with excess water
If you’re making some tea for yourself, you don’t have to pour the water all the way to the top. More water means the kettle needs more time to heat it, and besides most of us would dump the excess water in the kitchen sink anyway. Most of the electricity we use comes from fossil fuels, and even taking care of the little things such as pouring less water in the kettle could help burn them lesser amounts.
Recycle what you don’t need
No matter how many eco friendly life hacks you try to make out of your everyday items, sometimes you just can’t get any more out of them, and ultimately you would have to throw them away.
However, you can still minimize your waste by dumping them in the proper recycling bins instead of your trash can so it can be reused in other ways in the future. The more you recycle, the less cities are polluted with overwhelming piles of garbage.
Turn on airplane mode more often
Turning on airplane mode doesn’t just cut your cellular connection, but also conserve your battery, allowing you to use it much longer. Keep your phone in airplane mode whenever you’re busy or away from your phone. Bonus hack: keep your phone in airplane mode while charging, you’ll get more battery charged in less time!
Sell things that you don’t use anymore
Another eco friendly life hack for your waste would be to sell all the stuff that you don’t need but is still usable. It could be those old pairs of jeans that are still in good condition, or perhaps a piece of furniture that you have lying in the garage. You’ll help someone get a good deal for their new coffee table and you’ll earn money from it too.
Hang-dry instead of using a dryer
Dryers use almost as much as energy as a washing machine, and though they are able to dry your clothes faster, you’re probably not going to wear them at once. Why not hang-dry your clothes instead? It doesn’t use any electricity and dries them just as well. Bonus hack: If you must use a dryer, add a towel along with your clothes to dry them even faster.
Make cleaning rags from old clothes
There are so many eco friendly hacks for your old clothes. You could sell them, restitch them to make decor for your house, and in this case, cut them out to make cleaning rags. You can then use these rags to mop the floor, clean the tabletops, windows or anything you would with a regular rag! Pro tip: Try to use clothes that are cotton, they absorb better and clean out much easier.