This first Saturday of April you may have participated with millions of other Canadians in Earth Hour and sat in the dark from 8:30 to 9:30 to do your part in helping the Earth by saving energy. Each year more and more people worldwide participate in this enlightening event sponsored by the World Wildlife Federation.

Earth Hour does a lot to raise awareness about climate change and aims to help each of us reduce our carbon footprint on our planet. Another way we can do this is to start with our homes; by making small changes to the way we run our households, we can make a big difference for the environment

Here are a few things to think about when it comes to running a green home:

Cleaning Supplies – Chemical cleaning supplies are not only nasty to the environment, but they’re not so good for you either. We tend to fear a little dirt and grime more than harsh unnatural chemicals, but with environmentally friendly products we can do away with both.

Try to use biological ingredients, these have enzymes and break down easier. Also purchase concentrated detergents when you can so you use less of them and always use the lowest temperature possible when running water to save loads of energy. Take notice of the packaging these products come in too and choose those made from recycled materials and are recyclable themselves.

Appliances – Energy efficient appliances are now widely available, but many of us are still using old appliances that suck up a lot of extra energy. If you’re using a dryer that you have to run twice, a dishwasher that runs for hours on hot water or a shower head that spurts out three times more water than you actually need, it’s time for a change.

Click here to learn about all different appliances and which ones are ENERGY STAR certified, and what that means.