Fall cleaning is just as vital for a clean home as the more renowned spring cleaning. During the winter, you’ll likely be spending more time at home.
Fall clean-up readies your living space for holiday parties as well as quiet evenings on the couch with your favorite novel. Some tasks, like furnace regulation, need to be handled by a professional. Several other tasks are solely up to you. Here are 4 eco friendly tips to keep your fall cleaning project green!
Choose Greener Products
A deep clean for fall starts indoors. Summer’s myriad of activities might have had you away at the beach or in the backyard more often than inside. Even if your home has seen little use during the warm months, dust and dirt accumulate. Eco friendly tips for fall involve the cleaners you use to eradicate summer’s dirt. Choose greener cleaning products for the whole home. These solutions have several environmental benefits. Pure and Gentle’s line of cleaning supplies comes in concentrated forms to reduce packaging waste. The ingredients are naturally derived to make them safer for the environment. They also simplify your cleaning process. An all purpose cleaner works wonderfully for everything from dusting to floor cleaning.
Water Conservation
Water conservation is an important point on any list of eco friendly tips for cleaning. You need water for most cleaning projects – indoors and out. A bucket provides the best green solution for almost any job. One pail of water negates the need to run the tap every time you need to rinse off a mop or wring out a sponge. For dirtier jobs like outdoor window cleaning, two buckets might be necessary. Use one bucket for cleaning solution, and the other for rinsing when your cleaning tool becomes dirty. Check your plumbing fixtures indoors and out for leaks. Water leaks are more difficult to correct during cold months.
Yard Work
There are a few eco friendly tips for preparing your yard for winter. Create a mulch pile somewhere in your yard for your grass clippings and leaves. Come spring, you will have eco friendly starter for the garden at no cost. When it comes to falling leaves, use a rake instead of an electric blower to cut down on energy use. Some climates see a lot of rain during the fall season, so turn off that sprinkler if the forecast calls for a downpour. If you end up with too much yard waste for a mulch pile, look for a disposal company that utilizes green practices.
Use less Energy
Early fall might still be warm enough to warrant the use of your air conditioner, but as nights cool off, your furnace becomes king. Using less electricity and gas during a season of changing temperatures requires a few eco friendly tips. Window fans often use less electricity than an air conditioner. They have the added benefit of airing your house out one last time before you batten down the hatches against the cold. If you use window-installed air conditioners, be sure to stow them away before you switch on the heat. This practice prevents heat from escaping your home. Lastly, get your furnace checked out by a professional before cold weather forces you to turn up the thermostat. A clean furnace uses fewer resources than a dirty one, so change your filter as soon as possible. Keep a spare filter on hand just in case.
Sealing your windows is the final step in fall preparedness. Check the seals on your doors and windows. If you live in a draftier home, you may require plastic seals for windows. These seals keep your home warm without turning up the thermostat by keeping warm air from escaping. Heavy curtains also help keep heat indoors.
Fall provides one last opportunity to air out your home and get things in order for a season spent mostly indoors. Make your home a place you want to be, not just where you have to be because of unpleasant weather. Fall cleaning also readies your yard for the coming spring. Use these eco friendly tips to prepare your home for a cleaner, greener winter!
