Want to create a happy, healthy home you love? Here are five easy tips to help you live a little more green and feel good in your home!

Green Tip #1: Keep it simple

You don’t always need to use a spray product to clean. A dry micro-fiber cloth can easily buff out water stains on glass, mirrors and chrome.

Green Tip #2: Save water

Instead of draining over the sink, drain water into a bowl. If you didn’t add salt, you can use the water for your plants. If you did add salt, you can reuse the water again to cook rice, pasta or other veggies.

Green Tip #3: Avoid clean-ups that require tough chemicals

Prevention is key! Vinegar is great at preventing and eliminating water stains, soap scum and mould on tiles. After every shower, spray a solution of 1 part vinegar/2parts water over your tiles, fixtures and glass – you don’t even need to rinse. If you don’t love the scent of vinegar, add a few drops of essential oil, just make sure to shake before every use to distribute the oils. Make a batch in a bottle, and keep it near your shower. Easy!

Green Tip #4: Plan your meals ahead

Food wastage is a big problem – one of the best ways to minimize food waste is to plan out your meals for the week. You’ll be able to make healthier choice, buy only what you need, save money and reduce waste!

Green Tip #5: reuse your bottles

They make great, multi-use storage containers and with glass you don’t need to worry about chemicals leaching. Here’s a trick to get rid of labels: First, peel off as much as you can. Soak a cloth in neat vinegar and place it over the glue. Let it sit for 10 minutes, then rub it off with a solution of baking soda and washing up liquid. It’ll come right off!

Hope these tips helped! I’d love to know – what green tips work for you in your home? Please share in the comments!

PS – are you in Singapore? Join me Sept 13th, 2014 – at the Natural Home Workshop, where you’ll learn and spend the day making natural homecare products! Don’t miss it! click here for the details

credits:
photography by: Jeff Samaniego for Little Green Dot