The Conscious Consumer Shops for Home Goods
Home is where the heart is, and for an environmentally friendly heart, home is where the best daily opportunities for conscious consumerism lie. What we buy, how we clean, what we use, how we live… these are all choices we make, and they have a big impact on our personal carbon footprints.
Cleanliness is close to toxic-ness, if you use chemicals.
When it comes to our homes, it seems we simply cannot get things clean enough these days. Every market has aisle after aisle of cleaning products, and the fact is that most of them are completely unnecessary and are actually even bad for you. There are plenty of organic-based, eco-friendly cleaning products on the market, but even these are overused, as there are some very simple ways we can clean without most of them.
Top on my list of conscious consumer purchases for the home: a steamer. Having a steam cleaner with flooring and handheld attachments is a money-saving, environmentally conscious option. I have a multi-purpose steam cleaner made by Haan, and it has paid for itself many times over by eliminating my need to purchase costly, unhealthy chemicals for many of my home's cleaning needs.
Instead of slathering my floors in Pine-Sol, I steam clean them with nothing but water. Even better than chemical cleaners, high-quality steamers heat to well over boiling temperature, so they disinfect as they clean, all without redistributing chemicals and dirt all over the floor as a mop would. Additionally, using a steam cleaner means buying fewer bottles of chemicals (fewer plastic bottles to dispose of, lessened manufacturing impact) and reducing your family's daily chemical exposure, all while saving you money.
Beyond cleaning, there are plenty of other things we do around the house that provide opportunities for environmentally conscious living. Start with something simple such as doing away with paper plates or napkins. You'll save money and benefit the environment by reducing your waste, and honestly, even the simplest organic macaroni and cheese lunch just seems like more of a proper meal when it's served on a pretty plate.
One area to look at: your energy consumption. Using energy responsibly has a positive ripple effect on the environment, and it's really not hard to do. Start by swapping your old light bulbs for CFLs (compact fluorescent lamps), which use about 75% less energy than incandescent bulbs. Move on to your air conditioning and heating habits by learning to use your programmable thermostat more effectively and by installing a reusable filter as opposed to the disposable ones. Walk around your house and take note of drafty areas so you can replace weather stripping and repair window caulking, keeping your home's temperature more consistent, and thereby keeping your energy consumption down. Other great ideas: consider a tankless water heater, adopt energy-saving practices for doing your laundry, and reuse/repurpose/recycle as much as possible.
There are lots of resources available to help you become a more conscious consumer at home, and they're at your fingertips! My top pick for your first stop: the Organic Consumers Association (OCA), a terrific place to find all sorts of great information on being a conscious consumer, particularly when it comes to hiring eco-friendly service providers to tend to your home.
About the Author
Fashion & Earth provides consumers with eco friendly clothing at affordable prices. With their hassle free returns policy and, extremely generous Rewards Program you really have nothing to lose! Go ahead - check them out and experience the feeling of wearing organic, fair trade clothing. The feeling of empowerment and pride that comes with wearing your values!
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