{"id":1447,"date":"2024-01-29T14:47:08","date_gmt":"2024-01-29T14:47:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.firstport.co.uk\/7-eco-friendly-life-hacks\/"},"modified":"2025-05-21T15:10:39","modified_gmt":"2025-05-21T14:10:39","slug":"7-eco-friendly-life-hacks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.firstport.co.uk\/hints-tips\/7-eco-friendly-life-hacks\/","title":{"rendered":"Eco-friendly Life Hacks Worth Knowing"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last Updated on 29\/01\/2025<\/em><\/p>\n

[arve url=”https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=5o5WOjPJ2uo&ab_channel=FirstPort” title=”Eco-friendly Life Hacks Worth Knowing” loop=”no” muted=”no” \/]<\/p>\n

In this post, we\u2019re looking at how small changes can be made in your home to help save money and the environment.<\/span><\/p>\n

We\u2019ve asked FirstPort colleagues and residents to let us know their best eco-friendly life hacks.<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Banana skin fertilizer.<\/b> You can make great plant fertiliser with a banana skin. A FirstPort colleague explains that all you need to do is place the banana skin in a jar fully covered in water overnight and it\u2019s ready to be used on the plants the next morning. For even better results, leave the banana skin in the jar of water for 1-2 weeks before using it as fertiliser. And if you don\u2019t want to waste the banana skin afterwards, it can be added to compost.<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Water butts.<\/b> Collecting rainwater is a brilliant way to save water and money. Tembani Court in Devon said the delivery of two water butts to their retirement development was so successful that the development\u2019s gardening club purchased an additional two more. Using water butts to collect rainwater reduces your carbon footprint and is healthier for your plants than standard tap water.<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. Up-cycle and donate furniture<\/b>. FirstPort Development Manager Clay Godden makes sure any unwanted furniture at the development is appropriately recycled. This could involve donating the furniture to a local charity or art project or taking on his own development up-cycling project to improve and bring any unwanted furniture back to life.<\/span><\/li>\n
  4. Make your own cleaning products<\/b>. You can also try making your own cleaning products \u2013 from washing up liquid, to multi-purpose cleaner, there\u2019s plenty of products to experiment with. The most well-known ingredients for multi-purpose cleaner include a mix of baking soda, hot water, lemon, and distilled white vinegar. \"\"<\/span><\/li>\n
  5. Prevent food waste<\/b>. From storing your onions in nylon tights and placing in a cool, dry and dark cupboard or pantry, to wrapping your lettuce in a tea towel to prevent moisture and keep it fresh, there are plenty of simple tricks to help avoid food waste in your home. If you have the time and the space, why not try to regrow your kitchen scraps? Lettuce, celery, bean sprouts, and even tomatoes, are just some of the foods that you can replant with the scraps you\u2019d usually throw in the bin! Not only will this save you money, but it also minimises food waste. One of our FirstPort colleagues even managed to grow a watermelon from the seeds he got from the fruit he bought in the supermarket.<\/span><\/li>\n
  6. Ditch plastic<\/b>. Consider areas where you can replace single-use products with reusable products. For instance, replacing cling film with beeswax food wraps that can be washed and reused.<\/span><\/li>\n
  7. Recycle clothing.\u00a0<\/b>FirstPort resident Sue Baker suggests recycling and buying second-hand clothing. She said: \u201cApart from food and personal items, most stuff is purchased from charity shops and return stuff in kind when finished.\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    At FirstPort, we are dedicated to taking steps to protect our planet and make our living environments more sustainable. We\u2019re always open to finding out new ways to help and always encourage our residents and colleagues to come forward with ideas.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Last Updated on 29\/01\/2025 [arve url=”https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=5o5WOjPJ2uo&ab_channel=FirstPort” title=”Eco-friendly Life Hacks Worth Knowing” loop=”no” muted=”no” \/] In this post, we\u2019re looking at how small changes can be made in your home to help save money and the environment. We\u2019ve asked FirstPort colleagues and residents to let us know their best eco-friendly life hacks. Banana skin fertilizer. You […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1086,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[34,36],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1447","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hints-tips","category-sustainability"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.firstport.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1447","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.firstport.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.firstport.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.firstport.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.firstport.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1447"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.firstport.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1447\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1449,"href":"https:\/\/www.firstport.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1447\/revisions\/1449"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.firstport.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1086"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.firstport.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1447"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.firstport.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1447"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.firstport.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1447"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}