5 Ways you can help the Environment

Everyone is slowly becoming more aware of the impact we all have on the environment and on a good note. A lot of people are starting to take action by reducing their negative impact on the environment, be it by avoiding single-use plastics, recycling, or even driving less, whether the recent spike in fuel prices is to thank for that or not.

While it may seem that doing things to benefit the environment either consists of a lot of work or spending a lot of money there are ways that you can do it from the comfort of your own home. As Environment Month comes to an end, here are 5 easy ways to help the environment from home:

1. Leave a patch of wildflowers untouched

It is a recent trend to mow your lawn and trim the hedges as normal but leave a small patch of your lawn containing wildflowers untouched. This is hugely beneficial to the insects and bees that have made that patch of grass their home and work area as well as insects that are looking for a new place to call home. At first, it might look a little odd having a patch of tall grass and wildflowers in your yard, but it can be strategically placed. Eventually, you will have a beautiful ecosystem and conversation starter right there in your yard!

2. Build a “Gogga” Hotel

Insect hotels are one of the best projects when it comes to effectiveness as well as looks. Just look at our Gogga Hotel, not only is it aesthetically pleasing but it is also a lovely home for all different kinds of insects. You can plant a beautiful flower in the flowerpot on top of the Gogga hotel. You can fasten the Gogga hotel to your wall or place it in your garden and it will fit right in. Our Gogga hotel also offers an opportunity for educating the little ones about how balanced ecosystems work, very important if we hope to maintain our nature for future generations.

3. Reuse

The second step of Reduce, Reuse, Recycle is often overlooked as a way of helping the environment due to how easy items are to get a hold of nowadays. Reuse is the act of taking older items, that you might consider throwing away, and finding a new use for them. It could be something as simple as using a jar that used to contain food as a drinking glass, a container for leftovers or even using old clothes as a washing cloth. It could also be something more challenging such as using old tires as garden beds or using old single-use plastic bags as material and weaving them into bags, the possibilities are endless. There are very few things around the house that can only be used for their intended purpose and then must be thrown away, so take some time to look at what you are about to throw away and think of another way to use it, the impact this will have on protecting our environment cannot be overlooked

4. Recycle your aluminium drink cans

There are billions of Aluminium cans sold every year worldwide and recycling them instead of throwing them away is one of the most beneficial ways of helping the environment. On average, it takes 60 days for an aluminium can to be recycled and back on the shelf containing your favourite beverage, as opposed to the 500 years it would spend in a landfill
before it starts to oxidize and decompose. Recycling aluminium takes 95% less energy than producing it from its raw materials, recycling also only generates 5% of the greenhouse gas emissions! Sometimes space can be a problem when collecting all your drinks cans and getting them ready for recycling, our DIY Can Crusher Kit takes care of that! Our Can Crusher turns the process of recycling cans into a fun and exciting event, everyone can join
in!

5. Composting

This is another fun activity that the whole family can get involved with. Sometimes composting at home gets a bad rap, “it’s complicated”, “it’s too messy” among other issues. These can be avoided when composting correctly. Cold Composting is the simplest way of composting, it does take longer to yield results, but it requires the least amount of effort
to be invested, and in our busy lives it is not always so easy to spend time tending to our compost bin. Cold Composting is as simple as collecting yard waste or organic materials such as fruit peels, coffee grounds and filters, old vegetables and eggshells and putting them in a pile or bin, Over the course of a year or so the material will decompose. Keeping a container in your kitchen is an easy way to accumulate composting materials which can
later be added to your outdoor pile, for kitchen scraps that could start spoiling quickly, another option is to store them in the freezer until you are ready to add them to the pile.