Top tips for an eco-friendly home

Here are a few easy ways to make your home a little more eco-friendly, which is not only good for the environment but for your family too.

I’m a big fan of living in a healthy, chemical-free world (as much as possible), and I like to go green and be as eco-friendly as much as possible at home. The good news is, there are a lot of small, daily habits and behaviours you can change to help prolong the life of our planet and live a more eco-friendly life:

Get off the grid 

With SA in the throes of an electricity crisis, it makes sense for your family (as well as for the country) to be as self-sufficient as possible when it comes to water and electricity. Consider installing solar panels, an inverter (to store and use your solar energy), as well as JoJo tanks to harness rainwater to use in the garden, for washing dishes and in the bath.

ALSO SEE: 5 tips to avoid food waste and save money

Plant more trees

A great way to appreciate nature and get your family out in the garden is to plant more trees and shrubs. Trees are essential to life. They create the oxygen we breathe and filter out pollution. Trees also help to remove carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases from the environment, so the more trees we plant, the better for us and the earth!
Native trees and plants also help to attract butterflies and birds to your region, which helps to create a perfect ecosystem in your backyard.

Wash your fruit and veggies

Believe it or not, studies have confirmed that pesticides might still be found on the fruits and veggies we eat, which is far from ideal. While pesticides are important to protect agricultural crops from various bacteria, insects and diseases, we should not be consuming them – especially as residue on our everyday fruits and veggies.

According to the Centre For Science And Environment (CSE), “High levels of pesticide residues can be toxic enough to cause long-term cancer, damage to the nervous and reproductive systems, birth defects and disruption of the immune system.”

To remove pesticides from your fruit and veggies, it’s important to use a good sterilising spray that’ll remove them naturally (you don’t want to be replacing one set of chemicals with another).

Remove pesticides from fruit and veggies 

I’ve been using the So Pure Naturally Fruit & Veg Sterilising Spray for a while now and love it. It’s simple to use and doesn’t leave any artificial taste on the fruit or veggies my family and I eat. It’s 100% natural and free from chemicals – yet it’s effective at eliminating pesticide contaminants, viruses, bacteria and yeast from the produce we buy.

The CSE also warns that we should be more careful of the following fruits and veggies as they may contain more pesticide residue in their crevices:

• Guavas
• Grapes
• Mangoes
• Apples
• Plums
• Peaches
• Pears
• Tomatoes
• Brinjals
• Baby marrows

Rinse your fruit and veggies with pure water first, before spraying them with the So Pure Naturally Sterilizing Spray.

Switch to eco-friendly products

One of the best ways to cut down on your household’s chemical consumption is to invest in a good eco-friendly product range. I absolutely love the So Pure range because every single product the wellness company has produced is 100% natural and free from artificial ingredients, preservatives and toxins our bodies simply can’t handle. In fact, I believe in their mission and values so much (and love just about every product in the range), I decided to stock most of their products on my e-store too.

Some additional products I’m loving right now include;

So Pure Naturally Concentrated Laundry Detergent

This laundry detergent is a gem because it really does remove tough stains from our clothes, especially my daughter’s – which are often full of stains from outdoor and messy play. I love that it’s suitable for sensitive skins and is mild enough to use on all her clothes, plus it’s free from petrochemicals, phosphates, parabens, dyes and optical brighteners.

So Pure Naturally Sensitive Skin Bubble Bath

This is one of my favourite products – and Bella loves it too! Not only does this bubble bath produce the biggest bubbles, but it’s also gentle enough to use in Bella’s bath every day without drying her skin out (it’s the same pH as our skin) or raising the risk of urinary tract infections (UTI’s).
The bubble bath is non-toxic and free from:

• Parabens
• Sulphates
• Phthalates
• Triclosan
• Petro-chemicals
• Synthetic colourants and synthetic fragrances.

For more information on this fantastic range, visit www.sopure.co.za