Cathaoirleach Ken Glynn invites everyone to think about alternative, more sustainable ways to garden and clean this spring.
Greener Gardening, Greener Cleaning and Greener Home Hints are informative guides that will help you work more environmentally friendly.
“It’s easy to buy well-known brands of pesticides and herbicides, but we forget that when it rains, they often wash off the floor and cause local pollution,” begins Cllr Ken Glynn.
“It’s the same with household cleaning products. We forget they contain chemicals, and some have a large amount of packaging, many of which are single-use, such as cleaning wipes.
“Many of these products have a negative impact on our environment. By making small changes to the way we do things in our daily lives, we can make a difference.”
The more environmentally friendly cleaning The guide provides easy-to-use instructions for making your own cleaning alternatives.
There are essentially five ingredients that are recommended to be as effective as commercial products. They are multifunctional and cheap compared to buying store-bought solutions.
The ingredients are baking soda, sodas, white vinegar, lemon juice, and salt.
The Greener Gardening Guide delves into the gardener’s rivals – the humble snail, insects, beetles, weeds, and much more.
“Gardening benefits the environment in a number of ways. Trees absorb carbon dioxide, plants provide food and habitats for wildlife, and growing vegetables reduces our carbon footprint. So if we can think about how we garden and make better, more natural product choices, we can maximize the benefits our gardens offer us and our environment, ”explained the Cathaoirleach.
The Greener Home Hints guide aims to inspire us to make more environmentally friendly choices when decorating our homes. It contains information on painting, upcycling, repairs, tool tips and much more.
More than ever, we are better informed about the impact our consumer choices have on the environment.
Consumerism is a real environmental problem. Natural resources are running out rapidly, so we must all embrace the circular economy. This means thinking and asking if we really need it before buying, if we can fix it, and what will become of the item after we have used it.
The guides are available from the Westmeath County Council Department of the Environment and can be requested by emailing Awareness@westmeathcoco.ie or by calling 044 933 2125.
