Eco-friendly methods to control pests

Pest problems in one apartment,if left unchecked, can spread to neighboring apartments.Like any other living being, pests tend to move to a place where they can survive and their needs are met.Here are some tips for Eco-friendly pest control.

Tips for Eco-friendly pest control

Clean your apartment at regular interval and avoid storing newspapers, paper bags, and boxes for long periods. Also, check for pests in packages or boxes when you carry them to your home.

Don’t let garbage stack up or pile up in your home. Make sure that you don’t have bowls of water, discarded tires, and other receptacles that can contain rain water.

Baking soda and powdered sugar mixed in equal parts is a good Cockroach killer.

Cucumber is natural and non-toxic pesticide to get rid of bugs such as ants, wasps, mites etc.

Soak a cotton ball in the oil of peppermint and place it at a suspected entryway. Mice cannot stand the scent of peppermint or peppermint oil.

Caulking crack in your kitchen or bathroom doors and windows help to minimize the shelter of pests in your home.

More tips and preventive methods are at www.commonfloor.com/articles/pest-control-home-apartment

Green Tips-Simple Things We Can Do

• If you are buying charcoal, make sure it's made from a sustainable source. Enormous areas of tropical rain forest are destroyed every year to produce the 400,000 tons of charcoal burned annually in the U.S.
  

• Create a workable system to always have your cloth bags with you for purchases. Re-use paper and plastic bags, and when they wear out, recycle them.

• Place your air conditioner or thermostat away from lamps, TVs, or any heat-generating appliance. Outdoors, if you shade your air conditioning unit, you could save 10%-15% a year on energy use and costs.

• Cover pans with lids to save 2/3 of the energy used in cooking. Use your microwave rather than the stove and save as much as $50 a year

• CD cases are often made with polyvinyl chloride, which doesn’t recycle easily. By downloading new music you reduce production costs, packaging and CDs that eventually end up in the landfill.

• By watering less, you can make your grass grow roots that are deeper and healthier.Daily watering produces shallow roots.

Reduce waste and Save environment

The majority of the waste ends up in landfill or as litter. Either way, household waste is an environmental problem. Here are tips for you to reduce waste and promote green living.

• Food scraps and garden waste can be composted:The easiest way to deal with food waste is to set up a worm farm and/or a compost heap at your home. And you don't necessarily need a big garden to do this. Apartment dwellers can set up small worm farms on a balcony or a communal compost heap on the ground somewhere.Most food scraps (but not meat or dairy) and garden waste can be composted.

• Reusable products or packaging: Try to only buy products that are reusable or come in reusable packaging - and actually reuse them. Take your own cup when buying a coffee or drink.The best solution to waste is to avoid it in the first place.Avoid altogether items that are designed to be used once only

• Avoid an air-based holiday: Aeroplanes are one of the fastest-growing sources of greenhouse pollution. In particular, they emit high levels of carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx) and water vapor. For your next vacation discover the secrets of your own state rather than taking an air-based holiday, or travel overland by train or bus.

• Think about what you need: Throwing food away costs more than just the money you paid for it, you're also wasting all the water, energy and other resources that went in to producing the food in the first place.Think about what you need and use what's in the fridge, freezer or pantry before you eat out or get take away.

• Switching to Green Power: Switching to Green Power is the best way to cut your greenhouse pollution in the home. When you switch, you'll see no change in the way electricity comes to your house and there is no supply disruption. The only difference is that for a small extra charge, some or all of the electricity that you use will come from a renewable energy source and directly reduce greenhouse pollution.

Support green living and teach your kids to support green living

Supporting green living is not just healthier for the environment - it's healthier for people, too.

• Stop using Lysol or air fresheners of any kind - Whether it's diaper duty or stinky gym shoes, moms use a lot of air freshening sprays to make their homes livable. Think about the harsh chemicals and the aerosol cans used for conventional air fresheners.

• Use biodegradable, concentrated, plant-based cleaners - You have probably seen some concentrated cleaning products and detergents, in grocery stores, but very few of them are made from plant derived products or are biodegradable. So, concentrated versions of harmful or harsh solvents are still not truly green, although they are a bit better because you use less of them.

• Dress appropriately for the weather:The bulk of your energy bill is NOT going to lighting, but to heating and cooling.You use less heating power in the winter and less cooling power in the summer if you simply teach your children to dress appropriately for the weather.

• Spend more time at home - The less gas you burn driving around town when you spend more time in home.spending more time at home is healthier for mind, body, soul, and planet. It gives you more control over what influences your children, and it saves you money.

• Say no to plastic bag: Say "No bag, thank you." Whether you're buying toys, snacks, or clothes, tell the checkout person you don't need a bag.

• Eat more raw foods - Simply put, if you cook less, you'll use less energy. You will also retain more vitamins and nutrients in the food you and your children eat.

Eco-friendly lifestyle for safe environment

Environment and living beings depends each other for its existence. Eco-friendly lifestyle enables you to reduce carbon foot print and minimize damage caused to environment. Here are some tips for you.

• Avoid transportation that uses air-polluting fuel whenever possible. Walking to the store can provide exercise while saving money and being better for the environment.

• Check out manufacturers that use rapidly renewable resources when building furniture, mattresses, flooring and more.

• When it's time to add a little color to your walls, know that some companies produce low-VOC (volatile organic compound) paint

• Work with your local waste management company to properly dispose of these materials.

• Avoid the waste of materials and fuel involved in shipping by purchasing locally.

• The use of compact-fluorescent lamps (CFL) is encouraged as they reduce power consumption by as much as 70 per cent.

• Depend less on your electricity company and use self-generated electricity using biogas as fuel.

• Use no geysers and air-conditioners. Use solar water heater water heater.

• Harvest rain water for recharging ground water and storing rainwater for future use.

Make green living a part of your daily life

Green Living helps to minimize wastage and reduce carbon foot print. Green living must be part of your daily life and educate others on need of green living or support green living.

Quiet the photocopier: Instead of leaving the photocopier on all day, keep it on during a specified time, maybe three hours during which you and your colleagues can copy what you need.

Make it a habit: Make it a habit to turn off the lights when you're leaving any room for 15 minutes or more and utilize natural light when you can.

Carpeting from natural fibers: Choose carpeting, rugs, window treatments and other textiles made from natural fibers, such as cotton or wool, which are untreated and free of toxins, such as pesticides or chemical cleaners.

Dinner together: have food - breakfast ,lunch , dinner together all at the same time to reduce reheating / cooking time , saves fuel and u also invest quality time together, and remember to switch off the TV.

Make your business environmental friendly

Reduce, Reuse and Recycle is secret of green living and conserving resource. Adopting green living in your business or office helps you to save energy and cutting down waste. Here are some tips for you to adopt in your office or business to make your business environmental friendly.

• Encourage communications by email, and read email messages onscreen to determine whether it's necessary to print them.

• Save Paper:Reduce fax-related paper waste by using a fax-modem and by using a fax cover sheet only when necessary.

• Switch off monitors:Save power by switching off computer/laptop monitors whenever you are away from your desk.

• Turn off lights and fans: Turn off lights and fans when not in use or you leave your office.

• Use natural light to save on electricity bill: In daytime, don't make the room dark.Instead, use the Sunlight in the daytime. One can reduce the electricity bill to a great extent.

Spread the Word to Save Environment

Your word has power of saving the environment. We all know that our country is one of the nations that are facing the problem of global warming. You can share your tips with your friends, teachers, neighbors or relatives. You can ask more tips from them. This enables you to spread green living or ideas among your friends and neighbors. Here are some tips for you to share with your friends, relatives or neighbors.

• Don’t place your fridge in a warm spot-near a heater or in direct sunlight.

• For efficient operation clean the condenser coils on the back or bottom of your fridge at least once a year.

• Unlike refrigerators, with freezers size does matter. Larger freezers do need more electricity.

• Don’t waste energy preheating your oven, most ovens don’t need it.

• Replace incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescents (CFLs). Compact fluorescents use four times less energy, and last eight times longer than incandescent light bulbs.

• Wish your friends and relatives on special occasion with e-card. This is cheapest and easiest way to wish them. Save paper by sending e-card.

You can share your tips with your friends, teachers, neighbors or relatives. Learn one green tip each day and adopt green living in your life. Reduce wastage and reduce your carbon footprint in the world. Your word has power to change the world. Help friends and seek help from your friends to save environment.

"R" factor for saving Energy

Replace old drafty windows with new ones that have insulated glass. Check all of your doors and windows to see that they are properly fitted and that there is no missing stripping. If there is something wrong, fix it now instead of later.

Replace older water heaters with a newer energy efficient model and be sure to wrap it with a special water heater wrap. Conserving water is another way to conserve electricity.

Replace old showerheads with new ones or use flow restrictors. Check your plumbing for signs of leaks and if there are any leaks fix them immediately.

Replace old appliances with new energy efficient models and be sure to look for the Energy Star rating. Cover all foods and liquids in your refrigerator and freezer to help avoid compressor overload.

Replace all of the old light bulbs in your home or office with new energy efficient ones. Electricity conservation can be easy when you stop to think about it. Unplugging small appliances when they are not in use, turning off phantom power by unplugging electronics such as television sets when they are not in use and shutting down your computer when it is not in use are all great ways