It can be difficult to keep up with trends, especially if you have kids and/or a job. As an adult, keeping up with the changing times can be a challenge. But luckily, modern life often has simpler solutions to difficult problems, and unanticipated benefits for people who take the time to catch up. The kind of things we’re talking about in this post have to do with housekeeping and the environment: the little things you can change to keep your house, community, and world a little greener.
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Dry Cleaning. Dry cleaning has been part of our lives for generations (at least a couple). And it’s a part of American Life that most of us don’t give a great deal of thought to. But like all industries, the dry cleaning industry is changing. And it’s doing so in a way that is much better for the environment. In the old days, dry cleaners used toxic chemicals as solvents to get rid of your clothes’ icky stains and filth. Of course, the people who ran dry cleaners’ didn’t think of these chemicals as toxic, as such. They were just the tools of the trade, and they did their job well. The problem is, these chemicals invariably found their way into the ground outside the facility, into city water, and into fresh waterways leading into rivers and oceans. Today, there are alternatives. Kitsilano Dry Cleaners is an example of a dry cleaner who has abandoned traditional toxic chemical solvents in favor of non-toxic (but equally effective) alternatives. Now as affordable as the old way, there is no excuse not to find one of these cleaners next time you need some dry cleaning done.
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Fireplaces. While wood is a charming thing to heat one’s home with, it simply isn’t the best way to accomplish the goal, while being conscious of your effect on the environment. Instead, invest in a fireplace heated by natural gas. In the end, this will prove much more efficient at heating than heating the same amount of space with wood. You won’t tax the landscape around your home, and you won’t pollute the environment either. You also won’t have to worry with those occasional chores like cleaning chimneys.
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Passive Solar. South-facing windows are a great way to get heat into your home without spending money. Passive solar is an option for new construction, but may be compatible with the way your home was designed when it was originally constructed. Read up about it to decide if this could save you on your next utility bill, and keep you warm all winter.
As you can see, there are great ways to heat and clean your home without spending extra money or polluting the environment. In many cases, old methods of accomplishing these goals had unintended effects on the ecosystems around our residences, and sometimes on our bodies themselves. Like the dry cleaning example above, consumers were just used to the chemical smell following a trip to the cleaners. It wasn’t good for anyone. We didn’t know better. Now there is a better way.
