Improve Indoor Air Quality to Promote Health

We all know pollutants, dust, and allergens have a severely negative impact on people’s health. Yet, while most of us are worried about the rising pollution levels outdoors, we tend to forget that most of our time is spent indoors. As a result, we end up breathing in a lot of unwanted substances every time we draw a breath!

Improving Indoor Air Quality

Improving the quality of air inside your home or office is much easier than you might think. There are basically four simple steps that can help you improve Indoor Air Quality:

Control Pollutant Sources

Remove or relocate sources of pollutants or taking steps to reduce emissions can significantly improve air quality in any indoor space.

Improve Ventilation

Concentrations of indoor air pollutants can be reduced by increasing the flow of outdoor air, which allows fresh air to replace the stale air that has accumulated indoors.

Remove or Clean Pollutants

Air filters and mechanical cleaners can be used to filter pollutants and mold from indoor air while improving circulation, too.

Control Humidity

This doesn’t always mean reducing humidity. When the weather is dry or if you use air conditioners indoors all the time, you may need to increase humidity. Overly dry air can irritate sinuses, cause congestion, and increase the risk of colds, flu, and other infections.

Basic Solutions and DIYs

There are a number of methods that can be employed to improve the indoor air quality in homes and office buildings. Some of the best methods are extremely easy to employ and inexpensive, if not free.

Here are some basic changes you could make to improve indoor air quality without the investment of extensive effort or time:

Use Non-Toxic Cleaning Products

Many commercially-available conventional cleaning products contain powerful chemicals that can be as harsh on your health as they are on stains.

Get Rid of Polluting Household Chemicals and Products

Household products like paints, solvents, and pesticides contain poisonous chemicals and pollutants like Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC).

Avoid Conventional Dry-Cleaning

Perchloroethylene (PERC) and Mineral Turpentine Oil (MTO) are commonly used in the dry cleaning industry. Both are known to cause serious health issues, and PERC is a known carcinogen.

Use Natural Ventilation

You can increase ventilation in cooler months by opening the top and bottom of double-hung windows or opening windows on opposite sides to permit cross-ventilation. Aside from reducing pollutant concentrations, you could save a lot on energy and the cost of forced-air cooling devices.

Use an Exhaust Fan or Hob-Chimney

Cooking on a gas range produces carbon dioxide and even more harmful gases like carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide. Install hood fans above gas ranges to push exhausts outdoors.

Keep the Indoors Dry

Mold loves damp places, so fix any leaks or drips and clean up spills as soon as possible. Standing water and puddles are a haven for disease-causing microbes and mosquitos. Check for them regularly and deal with them immediately.

Replace Air Filters on Time

Filters on furnaces and air-conditioners can become clogged and ineffective. Additionally, they can be a breeding ground for microbes if they haven’t been used in a while. Clean them regularly and replace them as per the manufacturer’s recommendations.

Don’t Smoke or Let Others Smoke Indoors

While this seems obvious, most people tend to neglect it. Cigarette smoke isn’t just a health hazard for smokers. Second hand smoke is just as dangerous for others.

Design for Better Air Quality

While the tips listed above can be followed as a regular practice, some design cues can also help improve the indoor air quality in your home or office.

Plan your Remodel

Remodeling means building materials, and that means dust. Toxins and pollutants get suspended in the air easily. Plan to renovate and remodel in cooler months, when you can maximize ventilation from outdoors.

Use “Greener” Materials

Air quality can be improved throughout the year if you use products and materials that have lower emissions of pollutants, like zero-VOC paint or formaldehyde-free insulation. Look for materials certified by Greenguard, Greenfield, and similar organizations.

Reduce and Maintain Carpeting

Carpets absorb moisture and trap contaminants. Never use them in areas where they are likely to be exposed to water or dirt. They should be vacuumed regularly, preferably using a High-Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filtering system.

Increase Ventilation Through Forced-Air Conditioning

Add external ducts to heating and cooling systems that use heat-exchanging or forced-air heating or cooling. This allows a portion of fresh air from outside to be mixed in.

Keep Your Garage Air Separate

Vehicles’ exhausts are basically just pollutants and nothing more. Design the garage so the amount of air exchanged between it and the conditioned space is minimized, if not eliminated. If you’re keen on monitoring the levels, consider a carbon-monoxide detector or automatic garage door opener.

Mechanical Air-Cleaning and Conditioning

In addition to the other options, there is a wide range of products and equipment that is specifically designed to improve indoor air quality. These products are particularly useful for people who live in high-pollution cities and those who have respiratory issues as well as for commercial establishments like schools, offices, hospitals, and the like.

Common devices used to improve indoor air quality

Energy Recovery Ventilators

These systems connect to existing heating/cooling systems to exchange stale indoor air with fresh air from the outside.

Heat Pump Water Heaters

Apart from being up to 50% cheaper to run, the amount of ventilation provided by these systems is matched to the level of human occupancy and water consumption, which provides excellent moisture control.

Radiant Hydronic Heating Systems

As opposed to forced-air heating systems, these use hot-water flow for indoor heating. The advantage is a reduction of dust and allergens stirred up by blowing hot air. Also, since floors are warmed directly, condensation and water pooling are reduced.

UV Biocide Chambers

One of the most effective ways of dealing with microbes is with ultra-violet light. Biocide chambers use a UV lamp below and above the cooling coils to kill germs, pathogens, and allergens at an enhanced rate.

Polarized Filters

These are electric air cleaners that use a polarized charge to capture and remove airborne particles. They have zero ozone emissions remove upwards of 95% of particles that aggravate allergies.

HEPA Air Filters

HEPA filters are considered by many as the ultimate in air filtration systems available today. They can filter out 99.97% of microscopic particles as small as 0.3 microns, as well as 90% of bioaerosols and microorganisms as small as 0.01 micron.

Air Humidifiers

Dry air can cause just as many problems as moisture, and studies have linked it to increased nasal congestion, especially when it’s cold. Another worrying study found that flu viruses survive much longer in dry air, so humidifiers are essential for places that have very low humidity.

Conclusion

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), indoor air can be up to 100 times more polluted and can even contain carcinogens like Radon. Now there’s a fact that could literally take your breath away!

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Three Quick, Easy, and Green Household Tricks

Cleaning surfaces and unblocking drains is usually perceived as a rather unwelcome chore. This is especially true if you’re proud to live a sustainable lifestyle and do not want to use store-bought conventional cleaners. But fans of green living (and cleaning) don’t need to despair. There are plenty of easy and very useful sustainable cleaning hacks that you can draw on when you cannot or do not want to buy an expensive eco-friendly cleaner, but want to keep it green at the same time.

How to Treat Stains Naturally

Even unusually stubborn stains can be treated using all-natural remedies. Hydrogen peroxide is an eco-friendly alternative to chlorine bleach and, diluted, a great cleaning solution that will work wonders on most stains. For food stains, sprinkle some baking soda on the area and then spray a water and hydrogen peroxide solution on the stain. Let it soak for a while, and then wash as usual. This green solution will even get rid of wine stains if you let it soak for long enough.

White vinegar can also act as an effective stain remover pre-wash. But keep in mind to always test any cleaning solutions on a small area first to make sure you won’t damage the fabric.

How to Unblock Your Sink

As an outdoorsy person who puts a lot of emphasis on a sustainable and environmentally friendly lifestyle – but at the same time likes creature comforts – glamping is the perfect choice of holiday for me. It’s low maintenance and close to nature, but with many of the perks that usually only hotel accommodation offers.

Last time I embarked on a glamping trip, I stayed in a cabin close to the woods. It was lovely to have a bathroom and small kitchen area at my disposal whilst still being as close to nature as you can get, but unfortunately, that luxury was short-lived when the sink clogged up on my second day. I had to choose between getting in touch with the owners to have them take action, and figuring out how to unblock a sink myself.

As a firm believer in green cleaning, I remembered a homemade remedy to clear the drains. All I needed was baking soda, boiling water, and a cup of vinegar. Luckily, the cabin had all of these things in stock. If you want to try this green unblocking remedy, pour the baking soda down the drain, then follow this with a few cups of boiling water. The baking soda will react with the water and dissolve any gunk. If the sink is still blocked after that, repeat the process with baking soda and vinegar, and carefully plug the drain. Then clear the drain by pouring down more boiling water.

Taking matters into my own hand rather than contacting the cabin’s owner saved me a lot of trouble – and time – so it’s always good to be prepared and have some cleaning hacks like this one at the ready.

How to Clean Surfaces the Green Way

Grease stains on kitchen surfaces are ugly. They seem to cling to kitchen surfaces like a magnet, and after you let them sit for a couple of hours, they can be tricky to remove. But if you’ve got vinegar and vegetable oil in your kitchen cupboard, you’ve already got yourself a highly effective surface cleaner to leave your kitchen sparkling. Spray vinegar onto the surface; let it sit for 15 minutes, then wipe off the surface with a cloth.

If there are still some greasy remains left after this first stain, it’s time to treat grease with grease. Soak a paper towel in natural vegetable oil to scrub away especially stubborn stains. This should remove even the most persistent stains.

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Eco-Friendly Toys: Tips for Keeping Kids and the Planet Safe

As parents, we always have our kids’ safety in mind. We rarely hand something over to our children without thinking of how it could potentially harm them. Will he be able to pull parts off that car, put them in his mouth, and choke? What happens if she eats that Playdough?

While we do take the time to analyze various aspects of a toy, we probably don’t put enough thought into it. Does the toy have hidden chemicals and toxins? Did its production harm the environment?

Let’s look at several factors parents should take into consideration before hitting the toy store.

1. Repurpose First

Before buying anything new, take a good look at what you have at home. Has your son been begging for a drum set? Maybe the pots and pans would be a satisfactory alternative. Is your daughter determined to have that hot pink playhouse? A refrigerator box with a custom paint job might do the trick.

Here are some great ideas. Otherwise, google phrases like “toys from trash.”

2. Broaden the Age Range

See if you can adapt toys to fit different age ranges. The longer you can use a toy, the longer it will stay out of the landfill.

For example, all you need to do to make “old kid” toys more age appropriate for a younger crowd is bend the rules a little. For example:

Move the foul line closer when playing cornhole and tossers so little arms can play, too.
Don’t worry about forming words with the Scrabble tiles; use them with preschoolers who want to learn their letters.
Use the Twister game board to help kids sort toys by color.
Rather than use a big, heavy soccer ball, let younger kids play with a balloon (by the way, this makes it a great inside game for rainy days).

3. Phase Out Dangerous Things

Sort through your kids’ toy box. Take a look at what is already in there. You probably have several things that are no longer safe—toys with broken or missing parts.

You might also have toys that are unsafe because of the products used for their construction.

Rather than throw these toys out and contribute to landfill waste, repurpose them. There are lots of creative ways to make use of discarded toys (you can find examples here and here).

4. Buy Natural When Possible

The best toy construction materials are all-natural. Look for toys made out of sustainably logged, solid wood. Toys sans finish are best; otherwise, look for options with a non-toxic finish (vegetable, water-based, or beeswax).

Avoid any toys made of pressed woods (plywood or particle board). These woods often have toxic chemicals in the glue.

Other natural materials that make great toys include felt, wool, silk, hemp, organic cotton, and bamboo.

5. Buy High Quality Items

You might have to spend a little more, but high quality toys are worth the investment. These toys are preferable for several reasons:

Quality toys are less likely to break, meaning sharp or dangerous parts won’t be an issue.
The better the toy, the longer it will last. Several children—sometimes multiple generations—can play with a single quality toy.
It is much easier to sell used toys if they are quality. Other parents won’t be interested in purchasing (repurposing) your second-hand toys if they aren’t in great shape. That means they could potentially end up in the landfill.
Higher quality toys are more likely to be made with safe products—sans unwanted chemicals.

6. Buy Local

Reduce greenhouse gas emissions by buying local. The shorter the distance the item needs to travel between manufacturer and consumer the better.

If there aren’t eco-friendly toy makers in your area, see if you can convince someone to give it a try. Ask a local carpenter to make wooden blocks. Ask someone crafty to make eco-friendly dolls and stuffed animals.

7. Be Smart about Imports

If you do buy an imported toy, make smart decisions. Not all countries abide by the same regulations when it comes to making consumer products. Therefore, the country of origin can greatly influence the chemicals included in the toy.

Buy safer toys from Japan, Canada, or European countries.

8. Encourage Creativity

Open-ended toys (ones that can be used in a variety of different settings) inspire the most creativity. Not only is this good for your child’s cognitive development, it also means a single toy can have more uses—meaning fewer toys will need to be purchased.

Great examples of open-ended toys include

A sand box (or sand and water table for inside play)
Art supplies
Wooden blocks
Dress up clothes

9. Avoid High Risk Toys

While many toys pose a low-level threat, other toys are extremely dangerous because of the chemicals they contain.

Cheap plastic jewelry and cosmetics specifically designed for kids are especially dangerous. These often have lead and known carcinogens. Avoid these at all costs!

While it is impossible to avoid plastic altogether, you can make smart decisions about which plastics make it into the shopping cart. A good way to tell if a plastic product is safe is to check the recycling label on the bottom. If it is safe (free of the most dangerous chemicals), the item will have a number 1, 2, 4, or 5 inside the arrow logo.

10. Get Recall Notifications

Subscribe to recall notifications and find out as soon as possible if a toy you purchased is labeled unsafe. The email alerts from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission would be the best resource for toys.

You can also sign up for recalls from the Food and Drug Administration, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Authority (for safety information related to tires, child restraints, vehicles, and school buses).

11. Don’t Buy Anything!

In the end, your child probably doesn’t really need a new toy. Simplify your child’s toy box. Your youngster’s creativity, your wallet, and the environment will thank you!

What are your favorite eco-friendly toys?

Editor’s Note

We don’t really buy toys for our two year old son. Most of the time when people have given us toys for him, he was not interested. He likes to play with what we use. For instance, we prepare virtually all of our own food, so he loves to mimic us and pretend to cook. We give him pots and pans to play with. Add a few spatulas and a some water and he’s set for at least 30 minutes. Big cardboard boxes are always awesome, we cut them out and make forts. I am convinced that letting him play in this way helps boost his creativity, and it certainly saves us a lot of money!

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How to Make Your Home More Energy Efficient and Save Money

What is the largest, most comfortable, yet most wasteful thing in your possession? If you answered “my home,” you’re probably correct. Every year, countless people waste tons of cash paying for staggeringly high energy bills. It’s not only financially, wasteful, it’s also a big ecological problem. All the unneeded power your house draws means higher bills for you and a greater carbon footprint for your home. If you can find ways to make your home more energy efficient, you save money and help to save the planet as well! Today we’ll help you fight wasteful spending with five ways to make your home more energy efficient.

Programmable Thermostats

Installing a programmable thermostat is a great way to see some fast reductions in your energy bills, helping to ensure your home is the most comfortable when you’re there to enjoy it. Relatively inexpensive and easy to install, you can program your thermostat to keep your home the coolest overnight as you sleep and allow the AC a break while you’re away from home at work. It’s a fantastic, simple change that can help you save 5-15% a year on heating. While you could also simply reset your thermostat manually, a programmable thermostat saves you the trouble of remembering to constantly adjust it!

Insulation

Insulating your home to retain heat in the winter may seem like a no-brainer, but that same insulation can help to contain your home’s cool air during the summer as well. It’s important to make sure that your ceilings, attic, and walls have proper insulation for all seasons, not just one. Your windows are another important spot to check, as an older window with damage to the frame can become an energy vampire as the temperature controlled air escapes outside. Provided you can fill the gaps and cracks of your home, you can be sure that your inside temperature will stay stable no matter what it’s like outside.

Energy Efficient Lights

Check the lighting in your home. If you still have traditional incandescent bulbs, it’s probably time to go shopping. Replacing your bulbs with light-emitting diode (LED) bulbs will cost more upfront, but the energy savings more than cover the initial price difference. They are that a great way to reduce your energy consumption while producing fewer burned out bulbs as trash. While LED bulbs do not contain mercury, many do contain lead and other contaminants. Check to see if your local hardware stores like Lowe’s or Home Depot will recycle them for free.

Low-Flow Fixtures

Cutting back on your water consumption is a great way to lower your bills, but nobody wants to stop showering. Fortunately, if you install low-flow fixtures throughout your house, you can save water without sacrificing your hygiene. The EPA states that a family of four can roughly save 20,000 gallons of water annually by simply swapping standard 4.5-gallon-per-minute showerheads with 2.5-gallon-per-minute ones. The lower volumes of low-flow fixtures allow will help guarantee that you’re able to increase your home’s water efficiency while seeing significant reductions in your water bill.

Solar Panels

Arguably the best way to combine energy efficiency with financial savings, installing solar panels can help protect both your pocketbook and the environment. Homes with solar panels can reduce or eliminate their reliance on traditional coal-burning power plants, the nation’s top carbon dioxide emitters, while also lowering their energy costs with cheap, clean, and renewable energy. You might also be pleasantly surprised by the price of residential solar panels, with great financing options and tax breaks available. Out of everything we’ve covered, solar power can have the greatest positive impact on both your personal finances and the health of our planet.

Revamping your home’s energy efficiency is one of the quickest and easiest ways to save money. Best of all, the improvements that you make will actively help to minimize your homes contribution to greenhouse gasses. It’s always a good feeling to save money, but recognizing that you’re also saving the Earth is an even better reward. Whether you look for small, simple changes like programmable thermostats, or large, impactful changes such as solar power, there are tons of ways to make your home more energy and financially efficient. With so many options, we hope this list has given you an idea of where to start on your energy-saving adventure!

Four Simple Steps Towards a More Sustainable Lifestyle

If you’d like to do something for the environment, but don’t really know where to start, don’t worry – you don’t have to change your entire lifestyle to make a change. It’s often the little things that add up and can make a real difference. If you’re scared of committing to a lifetime of organic and sustainable living, then why not start small and see what happens? We’ve compiled a few easy tips for beginners who want to work towards a more sustainable future and a healthier and happier lifestyle.

Eat Green(er)

You don’t have to become a vegan or vegetarian overnight, but why not skip meat once in a while and try and cut down on your chicken and beef intake? If you cut down on meat, you will also save quite a bit of money, which means that you could go to the butcher or farmers market more often to treat yourself to some grass-fed organic beef. After all, it’s quality over quantity. Plenty of people around the UK are doing meatless Mondays – and there’s no reason why you couldn’t be one of them. So look for some vegetarian recipes online and get cooking.

Choose Sustainable Cleaners

It’s easy to buy strong, harsh household cleaners from the supermarket, but did you know that you could simply use basic household items instead of harsh chemical cleaners and get the same effect? A mixture of vinegar and baking soda, with some lemon juice added in, makes for a great cleaner for household cleaning emergencies in the kitchen and bathroom. Cleaning has never been so simple and cheap – and sustainable.

Turn Off the Lights

We all know we shouldn’t waste energy, but how often do you actually find yourself leaving on the lights, simply because it’s easier? Try to make it a habit to turn off any lights and lamps that you don’t need, even if you’re just popping to the shop across the road. And remember to swap your light bulbs for energy-efficient ones to save energy and money. You won’t have to feel so bad if you do end up forgetting the lights once in a while.

Avoid Plastic

It’s generally a good rule of thumb to avoid plastic whenever possible. Take your own bag for shopping instead of getting a new plastic bag every time you buy something. Not only are tote bags sturdier than plastic, they will last you a long time, while being a lot better for the environment. What’s not to love? Try and avoid bottled water, too, as plastic generates massive amounts of container waste. Get yourself a reusable water bottle that you can refill, and save some money while you’re at it too.

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How To Clean Your Bathroom In a Green and Organic Way

Of all the rooms in a house, it’s probably bathrooms that need the most attention – and a regular, ideally weekly, scrub in order to get rid of any dirt and prevent mould and unpleasant smells. But while you want to get rid of all the germs and soap scum, luckily, there’s no need to turn to harsh chemicals and toxic bleaches to keep your bathroom clean. Natural cleaning products are better for your skin, lungs, and the environment – and surprisingly, there’s nothing in the bathroom that you can’t clean the green way. Take a look at these simple tips for how to get your bathroom sparkling using only sustainable and organic cleaners.

Green Clean Your Toilet

To get rid of nasty stains, calcium residue, and germs, mix together half a cup of vinegar and a spoon of baking soda, and let the mixture sit in the toilet bowl for an hour before you start scrubbing the toilet with a brush or sponge. If you do this regularly, you won’t need abrasive chemicals to keep your toilet spotless.

Using Homemade Cleaners in The Shower

No-one likes a shower full of soap scum – and all you need to get rid of soapy residue is some baking soda and biological dish soap. Mix those two together, apply to a sponge, and you’ve got yourself a powerful cleaner for shower doors and ceramic surfaces. If the stains are slightly more stubborn, use an old toothbrush for extra powerful scrubbing. For your shower curtain, mix some vinegar and water, spray the mixture onto the curtain, and clean it with warm water. If you’ve got mould on the curtain, apply some baking soda mixed with water and rub the stain. Did you know that you can also wash most shower curtains in the washing machine? Use an organic detergent to get rid of stubborn dirt and give your curtain an overhaul.

Unclogging Drains the Natural Way

Clogged drains in the bathroom can be a nightmare, but there’s no need to pour toxic chemicals down your drain – think of the environment, and opt for a natural de-clogger instead. Simply mix baking soda with vinegar and let the mixture sit for a while – it will break down any gunky residue and allow the water to flow again after. But keep in mind that this is no substitute for a plumber – sometimes, you just have to make that call.

Use Natural Scents

You don’t need to buy air freshener to have a constant lovely scent lingering in your bathroom – use lavender oil or peppermint oil to keep it fresh, or place dried herbs and flowers in small bowls around your bathroom. You can also add some lemon and cinnamon to a small few spoons of baking soda for a nice and cosy winter smell.

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Organic Cleaning Tips with Just 3 Natural Ingredients

We know how unhealthy chemical cleaning products like bleach can be, and the environmental damage they can cause when disposed of improperly. Do we really want to clean our own home with these chemicals, where they can get into the air we breathe, the food we eat, even the clothes we wear? Of course not. Believe it or not, it’s just as easy to clean our homes using three simple natural products: lemons, baking soda, and white distilled vinegar.

Not only are these three items a lot cheaper to buy and healthier to use, we can also avoid buying into the excessive packaging of chemical cleaning agents. Without consuming this stream of cardboard boxes, plastic bottles, and plastic-wrap, you’ll reduce your household’s carbon footprint in an instant. While the Internet is awash with cleaning tips, read on to learn just some of the many ways we can clean our homes with lemons, vinegar, and baking soda.

Removing stains on fabric – Amazingly, these three ingredients can help us remove most of the stains on fabrics. If you have a stubborn stain on white cotton or linen, soak the stain in lemon juice, lay it under direct sunlight, and the stain should disappear. For other fabrics, soak the stained area in a water and vinegar solution, or mix a thick paste of baking soda, vinegar, and warm water and spread it on the stain. Let it sit for at least 20 minutes or even hours for maximum effectiveness. Afterwards, scrub and rinse. The stain or residue should be gone! Some synthetic fabrics like acetone can be damaged by vinegar, so use a paste of just baking soda and water in these cases.

Removing stuck-on residue from hard surfaces – That same paste of baking soda, vinegar, and warm water also treats stains and difficult residue on hard surfaces. Spread it on, let it sit for 20-30 minutes, and the stain or residue can be scrubbed away. Remember, vinegar should not be used on aluminium, cast iron, or waxed surfaces.

Getting rid of limescale – Similarly, the natural acids in vinegar are a great at dissolving limescale on surfaces which come into regular contact with water. Instead of using a chemical descaler, spray a solution of equal parts vinegar and water on your tiles and pipes. Let it soak, and scrub away the limescale. Boil the same solution in a kettle, and after soaking overnight and scrubbing with a clean toothbrush, your limescale should be gone. Or unscrew a clogged showerhead, and soak it overnight in a bowl or bag of the solution for the same results.

Disinfecting ovens, refrigerators, and hobs – Avoid commercial oven cleaners by mixing a solution of warm water, vinegar, and baking soda, with a few drops of lemon juice. Use this to scrub and wipe down your ovens, fridge and freezer interiors, and hobs. It’ll cut through the grease, disinfect the surface, and leave your kitchen smelling lemony-fresh. Again, for burnt-on residue, use the baking soda paste.

Cleaning drains and waste disposals – To clean out your sink, shower, and bathtub drains, pour down half a cup of baking soda, then follow with a cup of vinegar and plug the drain. Leave it for an hour, then pour a kettle of boiling water down the drain, and it should be clear! For your kitchen’s waste disposal, do the same, and then cut a lemon in half and send the two halves down the disposal for a final cleanse.

A natural air freshener – Baking soda easily combats odours, so to keep your fridge smelling fresh, leave an open dish of baking soda on the bottom shelf. You can do the same with microwave and conventional ovens, or microwave lemon wedges for 30 seconds to zap odours. If any garments or fabrics have developed a mildewy smell, soak them in a solution of water and vinegar. And to freshen your house in general, boil a pan of water with shaved pieces of lemon peel. Leave bowls of the lemony water in your rooms, and the air will smell a lot fresher!

These are just some of the countless ways we can do our household cleaning with these three easy ingredients. Say good-bye to buying chemical cleaners, and say hello to an organic, eco-friendly cleaning regime for your home.