If you own or manage an office or other business space, you have a responsibility to run it sustainably. It doesn’t matter if you’re the office manager of a financial corporation or the owner of a small SEO agency – we all need to be doing what we can to reduce resource consumption and reduce our environmental impact.
Fortunately, it’s extremely easy to implement “green office” policies that deal with waste and resource consumption. In the rest of this article, I’ve covered a handful of my top tips for reducing office waste. They include:
- Print Less
Printing is a major contributor to office waste. Think about it, how often do you print a document or presentation, only to look through it once and then relegate it to the rubbish bin?
I bet it happens pretty often, right?
Rather than unconsciously printing everything, think about how you can move things online. Of course, there will still be some things that you have to print and file hard copies of, but it’s extremely easy to reduce your printer usage and therefore reduce office paper consumption.
If you’re thinking about re-developing your gardens and other outdoor areas, landscaping and garden pots are a great idea. However, it’s also worth thinking about adding a swimming pool. Although they might seem like a lot of work, pools are absolutely worth it in our opinion – especially if you live in one of Australia’s hotter cities.
However, it’s a great idea to speak with a professional swimming pool designer or landscaper, which you could find on Landscape Association before you commit to building a pool. There are numerous design considerations you have to work through before you come up with your final product, and it’s important to make sure you don’t neglect any of these.
Because of this, we’ve put together the following list of things to think about when you’re designing your new pool.
- Its Size
Although this might seem quite self-explanatory, it’s actually not. There is a wide range of things to keep in mind here, otherwise you will almost certainly run into problems.
- The size of your backyard. You obviously don’t want to build a pool that takes up your whole yard. Or maybe you do, whatever, but make sure this is at the front of your mind.
- What you’re planning on using it for? If you want to be able to swim laps in the morning before work, you will obviously need a much longer pool than if you just want somewhere to relax in the evening with a drink.
- Where you want to put it. Again, this is quite obvious, but you need to ensure your pool, along with any paths, fences and garden beds, fit where you want it to go.
Once you’ve decided how big your pool is going to be, you can move on to the next step.
According to bathroom and kitchen cabinet maker companies, in the middle of a routine, busy schedule, the time you spend relaxing, rejuvenating, and refreshing yourself in the bathroom is perhaps one of the few extended breaks you may get. This is true regardless of whether you are a professional who is working full-time, a work-from-home kind of person, or even a stay-at-home mom. Somehow, the stress manages to catch up with everyone.
Styling your bathroom in an aesthetically inviting manner will help you fight the blues away. These styling projects can either involve a professional bathroom renovation company or a DIY approach.
If you don’t want to involve a reasonable budget, endless hours, and a panel of experts, you can give the most beautiful finishing touches to your bathroom space by trying a few of these DIY techniques.
- Mirror on the wall – A mirror is a must in any bathroom. The important thing is to make sure the mirror adds to the décor instead of taking away from it. You can add a frame to your mirror to give it a more defining territory. All you have to do is use some moulding to create the frame, and then you’re free to paint it in whatever colours or patterns you choose. Another tip is to prevent your mirror from clouding up by wiping it with some shaving cream instead of a normal cloth or tissues. This leaves no stains on the mirror’s surface.
Growing research suggests that urbanisation is paving the way for stress, anxiety, and mental health conditions. On the other side of the coin, regular exposure to nature can offer hope and health in this respect. That’s why landscaping and welcoming nature into your Home & Garden can be an excellent way to improve your general feelings of wellness.
If you are grappling with social issues, mental illness, or stress, then it might be time to consider strategic landscaping. Here’s what you need.
Water Features
If you are looking at improving landscaping for your mental health, then start with a water feature. As you’ll know by now, designing a swimming pool, pond, fountain, or a similar water feature can elevate any section. The sight and sound of flowing water make any yard akin to one from a home and garden magazine. However, it’s also beneficial for your mental health.
Marine biologist Wallace Nichols called it the blue mind effect. Whenever you’re near water – be it a pond, pool, stream, or fountain, you get a “blue mind”. Your brain starts to respond to self-awareness, positivity, empathy, and a sense of general happiness. Water has similar effects to meditation. Your catecholamine neurotransmitters recalibrate themselves to turn feelings of stress into a zen-like state.
Having pot plants in your home is not a new phenomenon. The concept has been around since time began, with the Greeks livening up their palaces with garden pots and Victorians having a love affair with potted ferns.
There has never been a time when plants were not welcome inside. But within reason, of course. While the number of plants has lessened as we move from potted plant paradises to concrete jungles, there are still many reasons to keep the trend for indoor plants alive. They have too many benefits to leave behind. Here are a few of the many standout ones below.
They Help Us to Breathe
This benefit of buying garden pots for new plants is possibly one of the most important, for plants help us to breathe. When you inhale, you take oxygen into your body. When you exhale, you release carbon dioxide. Plants do the opposite. They will inhale your carbon dioxide during the photosynthesis process, and then release oxygen.
Some plants will release carbon dioxide during the night when their photosynthesis process stops, but plants such as orchids and succulents keep producing oxygen in your home for your benefit.
The popularity of glass pool fencing has grown immensely over the past decade or so. It has gained a reputation as one of the most stylish, modern pool fencing styles on the market, which has led to a lot of people using it to enclose their pools.
However, glass is expensive. This means that a lot of people who don’t really have the budget for a decent glass pool fence are forced to use poor quality materials and contractors. This can cause all sorts of problems – not least of which is a poor quality fence that is weak and not durable.
With this in mind, we’ve put together a list of the top 5 reasons why you should always use top of the range glass fencing materials and contractors – even if you can’t really afford them. These reasons include:
- Poor Quality Products May Not Be Legal
All glass products used for building purposes in Australia – including those used to build fences or balustrades – have to conform to the relevant Australian Standards. They have to be toughened, they have to be a certain thickness, and they have to be at least somewhat resistant to impacts and general wear and tear.
However, a lot of poor quality, cheap glass fencing materials simply don’t meet these standards, which means that they aren’t legal. To avoid fines and other penalties in the future, make sure you use top quality glass products that conform to Australian Standards.
The modern building and construction boom has seen a wide range of new and previously rare construction materials become commonplace. One of these materials is stone cladding. In the past, stone cladding was reserved for wealthy or upper class properties because it was expensive to buy, install, and maintain.
However, Stone Cladding Perth tell us that this has changed over the past decade or so as quarrying and building techniques have advanced. Stone cladding is now a relatively affordable option that is available to anyone. It’s attractive, durable and customisable. It can be used internally or externally, and it offers a touch of style and class that simply can’t be matched by other building materials.
What Exactly Is “Stone Cladding”?
In the past, if you wanted something to look like it had been made out of some sort of stone, you pretty much had to make it out of stone. This was done, but it was expensive and time consuming. Modern stone cladding technology allows you to make it appear like your walls or structures are made of real stone at a fraction of the cost.
Applying stone cladding is as simple as glueing/cementing your cladding to existing walls. If you’re building a new house or outbuilding, all you need to do is make sure that you’ve got a smooth, structurally sound wall to apply the cladding to.
With over 24 million people in Australia, it’s highly likely you will find yourself with neighbours. And that’s whether you want them there or not. If you’re a farmer, then you’ve got privacy galore. However, if you’re a city or suburb-dweller, then you don’t have that luxury. Instead, you have to look at your landscape design options to create a sense of it instead.
If moving to greener pastures is not an option, then consider these landscaping tips for creating your serene slice of paradise among the densely populated suburbs.
- Evergreen Hedges
If you don’t need a fence, or the price tag puts it out of your league, then consider an evergreen hedge. Use privet hedges or shrubs to offer a sense of privacy as well as shelter. A privet hedge can be quite high-maintenance with how much trimming it requires, so you may prefer shrubs. Visit your local landscaping expert for advice on the best plants to use for privacy hedges.
- Lattice Screens
Whether you want privacy on your porch or semi-private walls around your yard, lattice screens can help. You can either use them as a form of temporary fencing or as a foundation for climbing plants to grow on. If you add climbing plants, it won’t be long until the lattice screen is a beautiful mixture of greenery and wood.
When it comes to sustainable landscape design, there are three main things that you should think about – reducing energy use, reducing water consumption, and preventing the introduction of harmful chemicals into the environment. While many people choose to use experienced landscape designers to help them develop a sustainable garden and outdoor living space, there is no reason why you can’t do it yourself.
Keep in mind that you will need to dedicate a significant amount of time and effort to your garden design if you decide to do it yourself, but you will definitely find it rewarding and worth it if you enjoy spending time outside. The following guidelines should help you develop the perfect sustainable yard:
Reduce your water consumption:
Although it may seem difficult at first, it is actually extremely simple to reduce your garden’s water consumption. Just because you don’t want to water it anymore doesn’t mean that your garden has to be dead and dry looking – in fact, with a few informed choices, just the opposite is true.
The first thing that you should do is choose plants that are suited to your environment. As most of Australia is hot and dry, most of these will be native plants of some description. Things like eucalypts and bottlebrushes are very popular in home gardens and should definitely be at the top of your list.
At the same time, you want to eliminate any practices which waste water. This includes things like sprinklers that aren’t well positioned, and water features that encourage evaporation, and the watering of large lawns. If you find yourself wasting a lot of water on your lawn, then you have two options – you can either replace it with a synthetic lawn, or you can water it using greywater from your washing machine or shower.
It’s amazing what people will throw down their toilet. Ask any plumber for some great stories. Many people don’t seem to really care about where everything goes – if it goes. We all know that there is a mess of pipes below the seat, and then it’s a bit of a blur as to where all the pipes take the stuff. Probably a treatment plant somewhere, right? But once you press the button on the toilet or pull the plug in the sink, for us the problem is gone.
Just washing the car or spraying the garden for bugs can impact our environment as harmful chemicals get washed down into stormwater drains.
The summer season is the time when we like to be outdoors doing a few odd jobs, and it’s when a person should be paying attention to what you is really going down your drains.
The following list is not comprehensive, but there are a few items that you should avoid allowing into your sinks, toilets and drains.
Fertilisers
Using garden fertiliser is okay as it will be integrated into the soil and assisting plant growth. The fertiliser we are talking about is the old stuff you might have in your shed and you want to toss it. Don’t dump it into the drain system and ultimately into the waterways.