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Spring is in the air and its time to add a little sparkle to your home. Kitchens and bathrooms can always do with a thorough clean, but wouldn’t it be nice not to use all those harsh chemicals? Well our grandmothers didn’t and they were sticklers for a pristine house, so here are some good old fashioned ways to clean your kitchen and bathroom that won’t harm the planet and will save you money.

Fluorescent lights no longer provide just a dull flicker. Yes they are the environmental alternative to incandescent light bulbs, but they can also be funky and are a favourite of modern designers. So why are they a good environmental choice, and what’s so cool about them?

Any electrician will tell you that fluorescent lights tend to last four to ten times as long as incandescent (filament) light bulbs and use approximately 20% of the energy. The trouble with incandescent light bulbs is that 95% of the energy they use is lost through heat and only 5% is actually used to light up a room.

Want to hear some great news? It’s more environmentally friendly to use a dishwasher than wash dishes by hand! So throw out those marigolds, get the plumber in, install a dishwasher and get ready for more “me time”.

Recent research, approved by the University of Bonn in Germany claims that the average household does two to three hand washes a day. Including rinsing this uses around 60 litres of water daily. A good modern dishwasher uses only 12 litres per wash (some manufacturers claim their machines use only 9 or 10 litres), which takes care of a normal day’s dishwashing, so even if you have friends round to double the number of dirty dishes, technology still wins.

Life is easy. On chilly days we turn up the heating, boil the kettle and settle in front of the TV, feeling nice and cosy. But at the back of our minds we all know that our children and grandchildren may end up paying the price for our comforts. We need to start implementing alternative sources of energy in our homes, and we need to start now.

For the last 100 years or so we have been relying on fossil fuels to power our lifestyles, but this is now recognised as damaging to the environment and anyway, resources are limited. If we want to carry on enjoying our creature comforts then renewable energy is the way to do it.

We’ve all heard of slate roofs, tiled roofs even thatched roofs. But green roofs? They are more than just a trend. One of the first green roofs in Europe was created in Switzerland in 1914 and they are now recognised as being of great benefit to the environment. Thousands of square metres of otherwise redundant space can be planted up to absorb carbon dioxide, release oxygen, insulate our buildings and more.