What is eco-friendly household cleaning and why is it not a very popular subject? Greenpeace and other environmental advocates do not waste any words on eco-friendly household cleaning.
This is partly because they believe that environmental problems can only be solved by pressurizing governments to take on big multinational corporations.
Although this is a comprehensible tactic, it denies the power consumers can exercise. And actually have to exercise.
Low-carbon transportation is not enough to curb climate change. There is no longer any debate about the fact that combustion engines are unsustainable. Climate change is every day in the news.
Countries flood. Forests burn. Oceans are full of plastic. Biodiversity declines at an unprecedented rate. The air we breathe, the water we drink, and the food we eat are full of toxins.
97% of the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, a major contributor to climate change, comes from the direct burning of fossil fuels. Black carbon, a component of the particulate matter discharged in exhaust fumes, causes respiratory and carcinogenic diseases and is also a major contributor to climate change.
Please don’t worry, I didn’t lose my sustainable dream or would promote the use of plastic. Yet, let’s be realistic: is there absolutely no plastic in our houses? We can’t avoid it, can we?
Is plastic really a problem, or is there something wrong that is way more fundamental? I think it’s the latter. As long as plastic equals the throwaway culture, not only plastic will stay a problem but all resources will become a problem.
The way materials are used makes it hard to comply with the sustainability quote “Refuse Reuse Recycle Repair Reduce Rot Rethink”. Part of the problems has to be solved by the industry and part of them can be solved by us, individuals.
It’s so easy that we have electricity in our homes. Just flip or press a button to turn on lights, run the computer or TV, or turn on the air conditioner.
We realize how convenient electricity is when the power goes out, which happens regularly here in Spain. And currently also in Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands because of the flooding, and in the US because of the heat.
Electricity saving tips for our home save money, but also save the environment. This is sorely needed with the escalation of climate change.
Sustainability at home is not just a major challenge. It is utterly impossible. Governments do not offer any serious support and the industry doesn’t care. This means that serious sustainability at home is our own responsibility and a daytime job when you take it very seriously, as we do.
To illustrate my point, I start from the 5 sustainability principles: refuse, reduce, reuse, recycle and rot. These 5 principles give us at least some guidance when deciding on what is sustainability at home and what is not. When we apply these principles consistently, they are supposed to support a more sustainable lifestyle.
If you fly to Schiphol Airport in the evenings, there is a good chance that you will pass over the horticultural area ‘t Westland. That is not to be missed because the greenhouses light up like a Christmas tree.
Horticultural greenhouses in the Netherlands consume 80% of agricultural energy consumption. So the conclusion can quickly be that a greenhouse is not eco-friendly. Certainly not, as the pesticides used in the monocultures in those greenhouses are often far from environmentally friendly either.
What is sustainable energy? The common, yet rather simple definition is that an energy source is sustainable when it does not jeopardize the energy sources of future generations. Fossil fuels are an example of an energy source that will not be available for future generations.
Since March 2020 we have 8 solar panels on the south side of the roof of our house. The computer of the system informs us that we saved 3,4 tonnes of CO2. Moreover, we saved almost 800 euros on our energy bill. The excess energy we produce with our solar panels is transferred to the national electricity grid, for which we get a fee.
There’s no doubt, a few bugs can ruin a great garden. Yet we don’t like the idea of consuming poisons with our fruits and vegetables, so there is no way we will spray our garden with chemical pesticides.
The good news is there are several natural steps we can take to eliminate garden pests, including making our own pesticides. Here are 8 natural pesticides for plants we can make at home.
I often hear people say they don’t want to use biological and organic pesticides because they don’t work. What they mean by that is, organic pesticides don’t work instantly and they don’t kill every living bug or weed in the garden. Sustainable living demands patience and knowledge.