Home & Garden

With fairly simple means, you can save energy and reduce your climate emissions from your home and garden. Below we have compiled some facts & advice for the conscious consumer.

Lighting

You can save a lot of energy by choosing the right lamp. The standard light bulb began to be phased out as early as 2012 and has been replaced by LED lamps that draw 80% less electricity. Lamps are now energy labeled just like fridge and freezer, look for lamps that have the label A ++. You can also use the Swedish Energy Agency’s app Lampguiden (in Swedish).

• Use low-energy lamps and LED lamps that consume the least energy.
• Do not choose an unnecessarily strong lamp.
• Always return used low energy lamps to the recycling center as they contain mercury. This also applies to all other types of lamps.
• Turn off all the lights in a room when you are not there.
• Guide (in Swedish) to how to proceed when a low energy lamp breaks.

Energy

• Choose a company that provides you with sustainable energy from renewable energy sources (wind, solar & water).
• Make sure that both windows and doors have new sealing strips so that the heat is kept inside. Seal further by tightening with thick curtains at night.
• If you live in an old house, you may need additional insulation. Today, all houses can be built or renovated so that they generate more energy than they use in one year.
• Make sure that no furniture stands in front of the elements and blocks the heat.
• Lower the heat by one degree, put on more clothes instead.
• Allow food to cool before setting it in the refrigerator.
• Read more about smart energy choices here.

Water

• Save hot water by installing a low-flush tap nozzle.
• Shorten the shower time.
• Do the dishes in a filled-up sink or tub instead of under running water. If a dishwasher is used, it is good as it saves energy in comparison with a hand dishwasher. But be sure to wash full machines.
• Wash clothes at 30 or 40 degrees instead of 60 degrees as much as possible. This almost halves energy use.
• Do not waste water in the garden. Take advantage of rainwater and water at the right time. For more water-saving tips, click here (in Swedish).

Furniture

• Shop second hand when you can, buy quality instead of quantity as it lasts longer.
• Read more advice and facts under interior design.

The Garden

• Rent or borrow garden tools. Today, there are many companies that offer rental services – use a search engine to see which one is closest to you.
• Use electric garden machines or manual tools.
• Buy locally produced: plants, stone, wood and gravel.
• Buy bare-rooted plants as far as possible.
• Propagate plants on their own by division, cuttings and seed sowing.
• Use recycled material to sow in, for example milk packages.
• Dig biochar into cultivation boxes and flower beds, and you will bind carbon dioxide in the soil. Read more about biochar here (in Swedish).
• Chip and compost, or leave at a recycling center instead of burning your garden waste.
• Grow your own organic vegetables instead of buying sprayed and long-distance transported goods.
• Find more facts and tips about the garden here.

Reduce Plastic

Through food and drink, we ingest five grams of plastic a week, which corresponds to the weight of a regular credit card. The plastic comes mainly from the drinking water but also the food we eat. It can therefore be a good idea to clean out all the unnecessary plastic we have in the home and in the garden.

• Look over what is in the kitchen. Avoid plastic that comes in contact with food during heating. For example, frying pans, teflon pans, plastic kettles and the plastic packaging that runs in the microwave. Read more about a non-toxic kitchen here.
• Look over what is in the bedroom. Avoid hot computers, music systems that are treated with flame retardants. If they cannot be avoided, make sure they are not in standby mode.
• Look over the children’s room. Recycle soft plastic toys that smell or feel sticky.
• Look over the garden. Make sure that no cigarette butt-ends or other things containing plastic end up in nature and down into our water system.

 

Page updated 2021