7 Green Habits In My New Home

A Few Greener Habits I’m Incorporating At Home

While I did promise a catch-up post that would chat about my move, the beginning of the year had a rocky start. So I will still get to that soon. In the meantime though, I wanted to just chat about a few eco-friendly green habits I’m getting into.

1. Buckets

This one of the green habits I started getting into when the droughts hit Gauteng a few years ago. You can read that post over here. I have a bucket in my shower that I use to catch the water especially when it’s heating up. I then use that water to flush my toilet. It’s insane when you think about how much freshwater is used just to flush a toilet. You can change this by using a low flow model or even placing a brick in the tank.

I also have a pail in my kitchen sink. This helps me save water when washing my hands (10000 times a day with the pandemic) and rinsing dishes etc. I can then use this water in my little garden or even for my guest toilet.

2. Glass Jars

One thing I knew before I moved, was that I wanted to collect as many glass jars as possible. Mainly for my pantry to make it look aesthetically pleasing. Glass is 100% recyclable so it’s always the first choice.

I usually drink Douwe Egberts Instant Coffee (Mocha Kenya is my fav) and then I save those glass jars. To remove the sticky residue from the glue of the label, I use 2 household ingredients. Bi-carb and oil. Make a paste, rub it over the residue, and then it should dissolve off easily. You can read more on how I re-use glass over here and over here.

I’ve been stocking up on my pantry staples such as oats; pasta; sauces from Wellness Warehouse the past few weeks and then decanting them into the glass jars. ps: I’ve also been stocking up on products to boost my immunity and then some green cleaning products – let me know if you want to know more?

3. Recycle

Recycling has always been one of my green habits. It’s how The Glam Green Girl was born. I make sure to separate my rubbish and then I bring my recycling to my office where it’s picked up once a week.

You can click here to find a glass bank near you or find a drop off site for plastic recycling here.

ps: it’s also so helpful to keep a container in your bathroom to put your plastic recycling in straight away. You’ll be far less tempted to just chuck it into your bin.

4. Switch It Off

With the never-ending load shedding and power cuts here, I try to be as conscious of my electricity usage as possible. Very optimistically hoping it will help. Who even knows. Nevertheless, I switch off appliances at the wall when I can. Especially your phone charger as that is always draining power even if it’s not charging. At night while I watch tv, I only keep the lights on that I would need.

Small changes like that can make a difference, and even to your electricity bill!

5. Zero Waste Plant Food

If you follow me on Instagram, you’ll know how excited I get when one of my plants gets a new leaf. I’m slowly building up my collection but some of the plants I’ve had since my previous house. I saw this hack on a few sustainable profiles I follow and gave it a try – 100% works!

Banana Peel – Place banana peels in a glass jar and fill it with water. Wait a few days for the water to go brownish and then use that water to feed your plants. I’m always adding to the jar so it’s basically always ready for me to feed my plants once a week. This way your peels aren’t going to waste.

Egg Shells – Same for your eggshells. Crush them up, place them in a glass jar, add water and wait a few days. ps: if not, just add your eggshells to your garden as natural compost.

I alternate between the two with my plants. Some that haven’t had any new leaves in months are thriving because of it now.

6. Spekboom

There is a tiny section at the front of my house that you can tell was a bit neglected. It’s overgrown and actually just irritates me. My idea is to tidy it up and then plant some spekboom. You can read all about why I’m such a fan of the plant over here. It’s low maintenance and I know it’s good for the environment.

7. DIY & REUSE

I’m all about beautiful decor but watching Tik Tok has left me so inspired to try reuse what I already have. I posted this reel on my Instagram & Tik Tok where I took a wine bottle and some gin bottles and just spray painted them in matte black. It looks so cool plus I had the paint already in my art cupboard so it didn’t cost me anything to create these new pieces of decor.

So it’s just a reminder to look around at what you already have before heading out to buy something new.

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It feels great to be back into blogging and really hope you enjoyed this post. Let me know what green habits you’ve incorporated into your home?