3rd Leg at home "Lean and Clean"

Our third leg does not lead us to the south, instead keeps us back in the region. The extreme stop, to which the actual extraordinary situation forces us, has as well a positive side. It offers time for relaxing, brings an intellectual and physical order into our day-to-day life. Let us make a discovery trip through our home. There is a cupboard whose content has to be sorted out and after cleaning be nicely put in again, as well as the library and the cupboard of the bath room. We will find lots of things which we do not need any more. There is now a chance to get rid of them. So we can start with a neat and cleaned up home into springtime. Let's be lean and clean!

 

Clean up at home

Working systematically will make things easier. It means, all these tasks have to be split up. This has the advantage that even with children doing home-schooling and adults home-office, you will find time to do the cleaning up. If you do the clean up of a cupboard then do it always completely and never stop half ways. Cleaning and correctly putting in things. For doing this, you need boxes, cardboard boxes and garbage bags and then you decide whether things go into one or the other in order to give them away or to keep them. Some times you will find as well pieces of luggage or trolleys. They are very useful for storing in the cellar or in the loft most important souvenirs from which we do not yet want to separate us. It is not necessary to clean up the whole at once, just start with small projects, for example the library or the wardrobe. Then you add some coloured pieces like a beauty case, or a leather bowle "svuota tasca". This will result in a pleasant day-to-day living.

Sustainable spring cleaning

The cleaning is the best chance to sort out all chemical cleaning products and replace them by natural products. All products which contain Tenside should be bio-degradable by law, but this concerns only the surfaces and not their final bio-degradability. The result is that these substances go into the environment. For water organism and amphibians these substances are toxic. For human beings they are critical as they dry out the skin and the mucous membranes. Tenside on the base of oil of palm are no alternatives, as they reduce the surface of the tropical forests in Asia and South America in order to install mono-cultures. Who wants to have the tropical forest in his cleaning products?

Efficient alternatives: Soft soap and methyl alcohol are sufficient against grease. Vinegar and citric acid are very efficient against scale. Try to clean once with these products. Add the economies and you will be surprised. This way you will take care of your household budget and at the same time you will do something for the environment.

360-degree-transparency for our windows

Did you know that professional window cleaners add some washing up liquid and methyl alcohol to clear water. Then the perfect transparency of a window is achieved by using a rubber scraper. Here the bird in the Pack Easy logo asks for your attention regarding birds and glass surfaces like windows!

The best period to clean windows would be after the mating season, because during this period birds are very agitating flying around and bump into windows. Bird stickers are of no use, as birds do not recognize non-moving subjects. In order to protect birds, you just spray designs with a sun protection product on the windows, so they do not anymore reflect the sky and clouds. Here we can really do something for the nature. The number of deaths of birds has gone up enormously. The estimation for Europe lies now at 95 million birds per year, for Switzerland at 1,3 million. Within 4 months, they found 700 killed birds near a 250 m long glass protection against noise along a highway. Among them widespread species of birds, as well as rare ones, which are endangered species.
 

At home the own SPA

Spring cleaning and putting in order your home means cleaning and making space for new projects and ideas. If every body is at home and we cannot find a rest, we should take a break and go for a walk. If this is not possible for you then take a bath, enjoy music or read an interesting book. I am sure that you have more than one book which waits for being read.

 

«Lean and Clean» applied to balconies and terraces

During winter you rather seldom use the balcony and/or the terrace, and when then only for depositing small things. But the first warm days in spring invite us to go outside. This means that garden furniture need again more space. It is the moment to clean them, best with a vinegar based product, except for wooden furniture. These will thanks to a polish find again their original shine. After having cleaned the floor and having set the furniture, one can start with the necessary gardening work. In order to be well-organised, it is useful to establish a shopping list and a to-do-list.

 

Plant in a sustainable manner - Low Waste

There are available a large choice of plants cultivated in an ecological way, which do not affect the environment.

Plants useful for insects and bees, as well as special information you can find in the internet. Otherwise you should prefer going to a local producer. Why buying new plants, if there are already different plants which grow well? Then you can as well exchange plants. There exist exchange sites online and offline. As we cannot go personally to the gardener's shop, a lot of them offer delivery services. The only condition is to post a group order together with your friends and neighbours. Look up in the internet what local gardeners and farmers offer. This is worthwhile.

Another remark to the actual situation: Why not cultivating plants yourself. They grow well in our earth. For getting good earth, sometimes you will find it from a new excavation or someone is collecting earth from mole's mounds. Then you look out on flee markets and other second hand providers for nice flower pots, buckets, jugs, baskets and porcelain plates. All these things are useful for plants and decorations. If you establish a list, which you carry the whole year with you, you have the possibility to buy things you need as opportunities come up. We are living in an affluent consumers' society where every thing is available. At some time, we will find everything: granite slabs, gardening tools, and a slightly battered marble top.

Regional and local food specialities

As it is not possible now to go to weekly markets which offer beautiful flowers and appetizing food, you will discover in the internet lots of sources to buy regional products. It is worthwhile to go on this digital trip. Here as well it is recommended to make a group order together with your friends and neighbours. This economises CO2 and helps local merchants to survive. And last but not least here we can move together - together we are powerful.