Sustainability Begins At Home - Going Green

I was inspired by IKEA with many bright ideas to encourage sustainability in the heart of our home. I hadn't noticed but there are many lightbulb moments as we shop, reminding us to switch to LED light bulbs to save electrical energy or saving water by adding a pressure compensating aerator inside the faucet. We did a major home rehaul to strength sustainable life at home.

1. Recycling Paper, Plastics, Glass and Tins - reducing wastes at the dump is one important way to curb global warming. It reduces the demand for raw products and energy.
2. Adding A Rug In The Dining Room - not only does it add aesthetic value to a room, it is an energy-savings solution by regulating indoor temperatures!
3. Switching To LED Lights - there are three ticks on the energy saving sticker on each LED bulb sold in IKEA. It does cost more with its initial cost but in the long-run, you save more.
4. Going Green and Growing Fresh Air - growing your own herbs means you need less from the market. Growing fresh indoor air means eliminating poisonous gases in your home and building a stress-free environment for all to live in.
5. Reuse Paper - we own a stack of scrap paper for the children to doodle on on the flip side, making sure every blank space is being occupied before going into the recycling bin.
6. Wind Car Windows Down - when the air is less polluted on the roads we travel, we switch the air-conditioning off and partake in a wind-in-hair activity with the kids. They love it!
7. Keep Air-conditioner at 25ºC - you can save the amount of energy consumed for each degree of cooling or heating that you do without.
8. Support Businesses With Eco-Conscious Production Processes - IKEA, Nike, Dell, CloverSoft, Organic Valley and more.

We will elaborate more on Going Green in this sustainable-inspiring post. More bright ideas here from the good folks at IKEA.

Did you know you can calculate your carbon footprint "contribution" to this World? Click here to do a short quiz. You will be asked a series of questions on How You Travel, How You Live, What Do You Eat, What Do You Use and What Do You Throw. I did the quiz and found out that it takes 3.1 EARTHs to support my lifestyle! I am ashamed!

Oh yes. We drive and when we enter Malaysia, we drive too. We have a clothes dryer at home as well which increases the electricity usage by quite a bit! With the realisation of negative changes in the environment, we got motivated and started tweaking our lifestyles to decrease our carbon footprint contributions. [Carbon Footprint Calculator]

One of the questions in the Carbon Footprint Quiz is, "Do You Have Plants At Home?" I am certain our indoor air quality is below average as we keep our doors and windows closed most of the time. Living next to a forested area, we do have some bug issues - millipedes, mosquitoes, ants and crickets. We have also encountered visits from tree snakes, squirrels and frog as well. My only way to keep them out is to keep ourselves in. My poor family is left to breathe in tainted indoor air laced with formaldehyde and other poisonous gases. Oh but we do spend considerable time outdoors in our patio as well. We just make sure our doors are closed lest pests make their way in unknowingly.

To work on better air quality in our home, the most natural air filtration system is to welcome indoor plants to the home. Not only are we growing fresh air, the plants cool the house down as well! That translates to less usage of air-conditioners on hot days. 

While choosing our plants at IKEA, we considered many factors about its benefit to our home. Orchids rid the air of xylene, a pollutant found in paints. They are aesthetically pretty and make a great indoor feature to a newly renovated space. Although we always end up killing our orchids from over-watering, I thought I should give this another shot.

We accompanied our pot of orchid with two other plants. Did you know that Money Plants are not only known for their feng shui properties, they rid the air of carbon monoxide and formaldehyde as well.

I placed the potted plants at the end of our home's corridor and not only did they cleanse our air, it is a natural decorating tool! With the help of the SATSUMAS Plant Stand  and SÄRDAL LED Lighting Chain, it is now turned into an unobtrusive night light for the children. [White plant pots were from extras in our previous purchase of SATSUMAS Ladder Plant Stand] A corridor night light for when they wake in the middle of the night to snuggle with us on our bed.

I decided to revamp the overall look and feel of the children's toilet as well. On the ledge, I put together a pot of Christmas Cactus on a VIKTIGT Chopping Board, together with the kids'  teeth-brushing essentials. The purchase of the Christmas Cactus was made primarily because my husband commented during our IKEA shopping trip, "Oh this is too cute!" I later found out that they remove twice as much chemicals in the air as compared to common flowering plants - ammonia included! One lonely Cactus is not going to help do the job in the toilet. I may consider a bunch after I get the hang of caring for plants.

Outdoor dining can get pretty uncomfortable with the unbearable heat and humidity level in Singapore. Yet, al fresco dining promotes an opportunity to come closer to nature. Furthermore, we do need some time outdoors, breathing in some fresh natural air. Cooling an entire space down can be encouraged by growing a green wall. It regulates air temperature, combats air pollution, up the aesthetic level of the room and definitely improves one's mental health by reducing stress. The Power Of Plants!

The dining table sits right before the green wall and I decided to embellish the area a little more by including two hanging pots as table centrepieces. Taking it out of the box, centrepieces need not be sitting on the table. I chose IKEA's latest indoor gardening collection - ANVÄNDBAR Nets - for the job. A skilfully hand-crafted piece, it hung from our trellis looking absolutely stunning and featuring  INGEFÄRA pots.

Alternatively, if hanging potted plants overhead are near impossible unless you drilled holes into the ceilings, the SOCKER Green House could do the job as well in provided a lush and natural look for the table while keeping air fresh when the plants respire and produce oxygen. I added some friendly animals to the table to excite the children. This comes in a set of 3 and they should never be kept apart. Available at the Gardening section in IKEA.

Last but not least, grow your own Herb Garden at home. We have Rosemarry, Chilli, Bittergourd [Oh wait! That's a vegetable] and Mint. One of the biggest benefit from growing a Herb Garden is, we get fresh herbs anytime! They are also expensive to purchase in the supermarkets. Having access to your backyard anytime can save you a lot of money in the long run. It takes a lot to produce and plant herbs for the entire world. A little effort on our part can reduce the world's carbon footprint little by little. Won't you consider it?

This is a sponsored post by IKEA. However, all ideas and creativity are my own.

Are you an IKEA member? They are holding a Family Sale Preview on August 3rd, 2016! Not only do you get to receive a S$10 gift card upon spending S$150, you will be treated to a free Chicken Mayo Croissant for breakfast [while stocks last]! For that day only, members also get to enjoy 25% off same day delivery. Read more here.

This is a sponsored post by IKEA. However, all ideas and creativity are my own.

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A stay at home mum, blogging to widen her social life. 

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