Spring has sprung! For many people, this means appreciating the blooming plant-life, enjoying a deep breath of the warmer weather, or shedding our heavy coats (but keeping them nearby in case winter wants to hold on a bit longer). All of our appreciation of warmer weather comes with one typically unwelcome chore for everyone: spring cleaning. For most of us, we’re too grateful for the warm weather to be grumpy about needing to clean out old junk. Plus, it’s a great opportunity to try out that Marie Kondo method you heard about and give your space a new look. But before you begin, consult your local environmental steward promoters (hint: KPWB is one!) to make sure your spring cleaning standards also meet a few sustainability needs, as well! Here are some tips we gathered for you from all corners of the web:
Natural Cleaners
The use and disposal of commercialized, non-natural cleaning supplies can be tricky (for both the environment and you health) due to the long list of chemicals that we won’t even try to pronounce. You can incorporate homemade and natural cleaners into your cleaning regime that include common ingredients such as baking soda, vinegar, lemon juice, etc. In an article by EarthEasy, they give many examples of easy recipes for cleaners such as all-purpose soap, dish soap, and drain cleaner that you can make with typical household products! If you don’t fancy yourself the DIY type, Etee has a great selection of sustainable, plastic-free products, and bonus, they frequently have sales on their products.
Decluttering
A fresh start is always nice. But before you decide to throw away the piles of old clothes, broken furniture or other household products that have gone unused, we urge you to rethink! Instead, to lighten the load on landfills, you could donate materials to Goodwill and other thrift store in the area, repurpose old furniture or textiles into something new (some cool ideas here: https://www.signaturehardware.com/lc_ideas-sustainable-designing-upcycling), or fix broken items so that can be used again. All of these options reduce the amount of waste heading into landfills, ultimately reducing second-hand pollution and litter! If you’d rather not get rid of that old shirt you’ve loved for so long but is looking too ragged for every day use, KPWB is hosting a Fix-It Fair in June. You can find general info about Fix-It Fair, or Repair Fairs, here. We’re still looking for volunteers for ours, so if you’re the handy type, send an email to adaniels@kpwb.org and we’ll give you more info!
Make Goals for the New Season
A new season means more opportunities to be sustainable! Take the opportunity to work on introducing positive environmental practices in your life, even if it’s just a small improvement from your current habits. Whether it is starting a small (indoor or outdoor) garden, learning how to compost, or reducing the amount of single-use plastics in your every day life, there is always something more each of us can incorporate into our lives. And with spring being the season of new beginnings, what better time to start than now?
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