Green your living room
I almost never talk about one high traffic area of your home – the living room. Not sure why, I guess I tend to focus on higher energy and water areas like the bathroom and kitchen, but you can have a greener living room, here’s how…
- Always close the damper on your fireplace or woodstove (when not in use) or that air will rush right in.
- Take your shoes off before hanging in the living room. Really you should take your shoes off in all rooms. Various studies have shown that shoes drag in tons o’ pesticides – especially during the summer when lawn care runs rampant.
- Choose furniture made with sustainable wood, organic textiles, recycled materials, or buy used.
- Bring in some plants. Plants produce more fresh air than you might think and will go a long way towards improving your air quality.
- Don’t own a massive plasma television.
- Unplug your stereo, TV, and lamps when not in use.
- LED lighting is more efficient but not always the best choice for large areas. That said, you should use LED to light small reading spaces you may have in your living room.
- If you like candles, use organic soy candles instead of more toxic wax candles.
- Clean and dust your living room with natural, non-toxic cleaners.
- Open the windows to improve air flow and air quality.
[image via stock.xchng]
Great ideas, and would like to add that an even better alternative to organic soy candles may be beeswax. Since we’re all concerned about bees these days due to colony collapse disorder, purchasing pure beeswax candles hopefully can help bee keepers earn a bit of money which ultimately may benefit bees–and all of us. Plus, beeswax smells soooo good.