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Creating an Environmentally Friendly Home

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It’s is 2019 and more and more people are finally grasping the idea that living sustainably and environmentally friendly as possible is the way forward! so, without further ado, our team at Incredible Bulk Storage Bradford have gathered a few tips that can facilitate in the pursuit of a more environmentally friendly home.

1. Sleep well

Did you know that the average person will sleep through one-third of their life? It, therefore, feels quite important to spend that time in as safe and environmentally friendly room as possible. 

So, it goes without saying that, the choice of mattress and bed is important.  The most common mattress is a spring mattress, which consists partly of foam rubber. 

Foam rubber is an oil product that can release hazardous chemicals. Instead, why not choose a mattress made of natural materials, or on an environmentally certified mattress such as any of the Avacado Green range.

Imagee Source: Avacado Green

2. Choose Your Plastic Carefully

Most household plastics are not environmentally friendly and take more than 100 years to break down with the material releasing chemicals – some endocrine disruptors. 

Items like plastic containers that are classed as ‘microwave safe’ should also be avoided if you are to follow the advice of Money Crashers;

When plastic is heated, says Scientific American, it leaches chemicals 55 times faster than normal. So, never ever heat food in a plastic container in the microwave, or pour hot food (especially liquid) into a plastic container. Even if it says “microwave safe” on it, it’s still going to leach chemicals.

3. Cleaning Products

Simple things like the cleaning of cabinets, wiping down a window sill or washing clothing can also have a negative impact on the environment. A lot of different cleaning agents contain environmentally hazardous chemicals which is something that can, fortunately, be avoided.

There are many natural soaps, detergents and cleaning products available that can help. 

Particular attention should be paid to window cleaning products that often contain difficult-to-break and toxic substances.

Fortunately, companies like Method Products have a great range of environmentally friendly cleaning agents available.

Image Source Method Products

4. Sustainable leather Leather

Low-maintenance furniture and furnishings are a big trend right now and for good reason! These products tend to have a longer the lifespan providing, require little to no maintenance and are FSC certified ensuring you have an ethical product.

There are some styles of furniture that can be a negative on the environment such as tanned leather. Most of this leather is tanned in chrome, which is a great burden on the environment. 

Chromium is a heavy metal that nature cannot break down. Therefore, try to use naturally tanned leather, which is instead tanned by degradable vegetable substances.

5. Choose the right fabric


Conventional cotton is grown with toxic pesticides and is a major hazard to the textile workers in the Third World.  Always, where possible, use organic fabrics. 

Using textiles that can be produced in our climate is also a good tip.  Flax, wool and hemp are good examples of such. They are durable materials that also do not need any long transportation.

6. Be gentle on the forest


Wood is a sustainable and renewable material that is constantly popular yet can come at the risk of needing a lot of maintenance. There are some amazing options available.

A popular option for creating a low-maintenance garden is to use WPC composite materials such as decking, cladding and screening.

If you are looking to create a low-maintenance garden we would advise that you ensure that the product is FSC certified as this guarantees that the forest is managed in a sustainable manner.

There are some amazing options on the market today with Ecoscape UK providing a range of FSC certified composite decking.

Image Source: Ecoscape UK

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