Contributed by Claudia Beck.

Making your home more sustainable may seem an expensive and disruptive task. It doesn’t have to be. As Vincent Van Gogh said, “Great things are done by a series of small things brought together”.

And so it is with starting a sustainable home. Take what you have right now, and just . . . start.

It needn’t be complicated, as these five simple ideas will show you:

1. Make compost

Recycle organic waste and enrich your garden’s soil at the same time by making compost in an old garbage bin, wooden box, or a simple heap. Some of the benefits of making your own compost are to:

• Improve soil quality.
• Reduce or decrease chemical fertilisers and manures.
• Reduce earth pollution.
• Retain soil moisture so you don’t need to water as often.

You need only four components to make effective compost:

1. Brown stuff (twigs, wood, dead leaves, straw and so on).
2. Green stuff (grass, kitchen scraps––but not meat or dairy, weeds).
3. Oxygen (give the heap oxygen by turning it often).
4. Water (cut ingredients small and add some soil in order to add moisture to the heap).

2. Use non-toxic cleaners

Few mass-produced cleaning products are good for your health or the environment. Toxic cleaners, such as those containing chlorine bleach, can lead to respiratory problems and even cancer.

Using non-toxic products for some household chores can greatly benefit your health; leave the heavy-duty ones for tasks that can’t easily be accomplished with natural stuff.

Examples of homemade recipes for daily tasks, and which you can make yourself, by Sustainable Living Guide are:

To wash dishes:

Mix in a plastic squirt bottle and shake before each use:

• 1 litre liquid Castile soap
• 24 drops lemon essential oil
• 10 drops mandarin essential oil
• 8 drops citrus seed extract

Try different essential oils (and seed extract) blends to suit.

When washing greasy dishes, just add half a cup of vinegar or lemon juice to the dish water.

As a degreaser:

Use the dishwashing recipe, then also add hot water plus a few drops of rosemary, lavender, or citrus essential oil.

To clean floors:

• 3 or 4 litres hot water
• 2 tbs pure liquid soap
• 15 drops sweet orange essential oil
• 8 drops lemon essential oil or 1/2 cup lemon juice

Combine in a bucket and mop. It requires no rinsing.

It is easy to find more recipes online.

3. Store rainwater from the roof

All it takes is one rain barrel placed under the downspout of the roof to collect rainwater. in It can incorporate sustainable design in your garden. This water can be used for garden irrigation.

Using rainwater reduces your water bill, provides another source of water during restrictions, and can keep your garden healthy and happy. In addition, it saves the earth’s water supply.

The more sophisticated your water collection system, the more the water can be used for other purposes. Using a barrel will only allow you to use it for your garden, but it’s a good start to a sustainable home.

4. Start a veggie and herb patch

There is just about nothing more fulfilling than growing your own food. While you may not have the resources to build a veggie garden that will produce enough food for your everyday needs, even planting a few herbs will reduce your grocery bill.

The greener your fingers, and the more space you have, the more you can plant.

At its most basic, all you need to do is:

1. Plan where you will put your veg and herb patch. Make sure the spot gets enough sunlight.
2. Clear the ground if you’re not using containers.
3. Plan what types of foods to plant – you may want to start with plants that yield a few crops and produce a lot, which grow fast and are not resource-intensive, and those that cost the most in shops. Also consider how much sun the specific plant requires.

All you need to start is:

1. A place to plant, or the right containers in which to plant.
2. Soil.
3. Compost.
4. Water.

Editor’s note: If you have no place for a garden, a hydroponic system may work for you.

5. Strategize oven times

Save electricity by strategizing oven times and cooking several foods at the same time. It’s expensive and wasteful to cook one thing at a time and switch the oven on multiple times.

For example, instead of only grilling tonight’s chicken, chop tomorrow’s lunch veggies and include them while the chicken cooks, instead of switching on the oven a second time, later.

Plan which foods need to be grilled as opposed to baked, then start with the foods that take the longest to cook, adding the others to the oven over staggered periods according to how long each one needs.

Take into account that the oven requires enough circulation to cook as intended. Otherwise, it may just steam the foods, so avoid cramming all the racks.

Don’t cook strongly flavoured foods together – for instance; a sweet dish may take on the flavours of a strong garlic and onion one.

Claudia Beck is an interior designer and writer with a passion for health and food currently living in Perth, Australia.

Photo credits:
Green leaf. Some rights reserved by NSiddhu
Washing dishes. Public domain from Wikimedia Commons
Garden. Some rights reserved by Cheryl