Green Muze

Reasons Why You Need to Leave Pool Design to an Expert

Australia is full of DIYers people who love mucking in and giving anything a try. While that’s okay for painting fences and changing lightbulbs, it’s not for landscape and pool design. If you do not have the expertise, knowledge, and qualifications, then you should leave it to an expert. Here are a few reasons why you should steer clear of pool design.

They Take Your Ideas and Bring Them to Life

When you have a whole lot of ideas to introduce into your new landscaping plan, it can be a challenge to bring them to life on their own. The same problem arises with trying to plan out a pool. You may know where you want to put it and what you want it to look like, but how will it look in person and work practically?

That’s where a pool design expert comes in. They listen to your ideas, check out any imagery or photos you have, then bring them to life. They can draw out proper sketches of how your pool can look, which may make you decide you’re happy with that or would like to make changes.

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Eco Products, Office Sustainability, Sustainability

What Does it Mean to be a Green Cleaner?

Green cleaning is the process of using sustainable cleaning products and practices with minimal impact on the environment. According to GleamClean WA, such services are becoming more sought after and desirable, which is why many cleaners today are looking into what it takes to be a green cleaner and be a part of the curve. So, what does it really mean to be a green cleaner? Read on to find out.

You Buy or Make Eco-Friendly Cleaning Products

Forget harsh and caustic chemicals. To be a green cleaner means getting back to basics. You make more use of lemon, vinegar, and baking soda for cleaning products than you do in food preparation, and you see the value in using what nature gives you to promote a clean and tidy home.

Not only do you get to enjoy the peace of mind that your products contain no harmful chemicals or additives, but there are price savings to be made as well. If you choose to make your own products, the cost to do so is far less than the recommended retail price of many cleaning products.

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Landscapes & Gardens

Five of the Best Pot Plants for an Outdoor Oasis

To many people, the kitchen is the heart of the home. After all, it’s the place where the family gathers to raid the fridge and catch up in the morning for breakfast. However, the outdoor patio area or balcony, with garden pots, nature, and spectacular views, is coming in at a close second.

Many people are beginning to see the value in creating exceptional indoor-outdoor flow with their home. They want a property that’s as comfortable outside as it is indoors. Most importantly, they want an outdoor oasis with an emphasis on nature so that they can step out into a paradise on their doorstep. These plants might be able to help achieve that look.

Silver Lady Fern

When you start looking for plants to add to your garden pots gracing your balcony, a silver lady fern should be one of the first to consider. Even though it seems quite pretty and precious, it’s one of the more robust plants for an oasis environment. It can handle adverse weather conditions while standing out from the crowd with its lush fronds.

Imperial Bromeliad

If you have plenty of space and want to fill it with plants, garden pots, and nature for as far as the eye can see, then there are few better plants to start with than the imperial bromeliad. This plant is a real beauty and spans at least two metres wide.

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Design

Choosing Environmentally Friendly Pool Fencing

People throughout Australia and the world are more environmentally aware than they have been at any time in the past. If you’re building a new swimming pool, then Australian law dictates that you have to install pool fencing around it to secure it and reduce the risk to young children and pets. However, choosing the most sustainable fencing option can be challenging, especially if you’re not sure what your options are in the first place.

A lot of people would recommend glass pool fencing when it comes to eco-friendly options, but is this your best choice? Eco-friendly pool fences are essential for anyone who wants to maintain a clean, sustainable garden, and below, we’ll outline a few things that you can think about to help you choose the most environmentally friendly fence for your pool:

What Properties Should Eco-Friendly Pool Fences Have?

Eco-friendly pool fences are fences that don’t contribute to climate change, which don’t release toxic pollutants and which don’t negatively impact local plants and animals. Environmentally friendly fences should have the following properties:

They should be made from a material that is relatively easy to extract and turn into a usable form. Glass is the perfect example of this, as it can be made from three non-toxic natural ingredients – sand, limestone and soda ash.
They shouldn’t leach toxic chemicals into the environment as they break down. Plastics, paints and even some metals can leach toxins as they are weathered. These toxins can enter waterways and impact wildlife throughout the world. Glass breaks down into small, stable and non-toxic particles when it is weathered, making it a great choice!
They should be durable and easy to maintain. Fences that last long won’t need to be replaced as often. Fences that are easy to clean and support won’t require a lot of resources or chemicals to keep them looking good. Again, Glass is the perfect example of this.

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Eco Products, Office Sustainability

Chemical Free Commercial Cleaning – Is It Possible?

With increasing levels of awareness about the harmful effects of things like chemicals and cleaning products on both our physical and mental health, more and more people are choosing to eliminate as many chemicals from their life as possible. If you own or run a large building, you may employ commercial cleaners to keep it tidy, and you may be wondering if chemical free commercial cleaning is viable.

Well, the truth is that, in the modern world, technological advances and research have made chemical free commercial cleaning a reality. Although most commercial cleaners still use toxic cleaning solutions, they will usually be happy to go chemical free if you ask them to – especially if you tell them how to do so!

Why Would I Want To Eliminate Cleaning Chemicals?

Right now you might be thinking something along the lines of “Aren’t cleaning chemicals designed to keep things shiny and bacteria free?”. If you are, you wouldn’t be wrong. Most commercial cleaning products do their job just fine. They do keep things clean, and they do eliminate harmful bacteria and microbes. However, they can also have a lot of harmful side effects.

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Sustainability

Sustainable Fire Extinguisher Disposal

When it comes to fire protection, fire extinguishers are usually one of the first things businesses buy. Although you may not realise it, fire extinguishers actually contain an array of harmful substances that can cause significant environmental damage if not treated properly. They are also under pressure, and have the potential to cause severe injury. This means that it’s extremely important to dispose of used or unwanted fire extinguishers properly. Failing to do so can have significant environmental and legal consequences.

You Can’t Simply Throw Your Fire Extinguishers In The General Waste

Unfortunately, a lot of people don’t realise that fire extinguishers are classified as dangerous goods. They attempt to dispose of them in general waste or curbside collection. This simply isn’t possible, and you could find yourself in trouble if you try and do this.

Instead, you need to get in touch with a qualified, experienced fire extinguisher disposal service. Most fire safety companies will offer some sort of extinguisher disposal service, but you should be careful which ones you choose. Try and find a company who:

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Design, Eco Products, Landscapes & Gardens

Winterising Your Pool

You may think that once winter hits and no one wants to go swimming, you’ll have less pool maintenance to do and can give your automatic pool cleaner a rest. Preparing your pool for winter is not difficult, but it is something that must be done, not just once but regularly over the winter months to ensure your pool water does not turn green.

Fortunately, in areas where the water doesn’t freeze, winterising the pool is much easier. If you have a pool blanket installed it will be even easier, but it still needs to be done, so there’s no getting out of it.

The first thing to do before covering your pool is to make sure the water is still of good quality.
Add a long-lasting algaecide so your water doesn’t turn green over the winter months.
Remove all the sticks and leaves as they’ll stain the floor of the pool if left over the winter. This will need to be done regularly all winter if you don’t have a blanket.

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Sustainability

The Green Plumbing Solution to Sustainability

Whether you believe it or not, climate change has companies and manufacturers choosing more eco-friendly materials and products. The idea behind that is that it helps preserve natural resources for generations. Another result of this decision is reduced costs when using sustainable energy sources and materials.

Let’s talk about Green Plumbing.

What is green plumbing? It is an environmentally friendly and cost-efficient plumbing service. By adopting green plumbing in your renovations with Bathroom Renovations Perth, you will reduce waste water, recycle used water and use eco-friendly and sustainable materials. Another aspect of green plumbing is using solar and wind power as alternate energy sources to provide water.

By converting to a sustainable plumbing model, water can be conserved and reduced in cost. Your worries over the summer months of water shortages, or no water at all, are significantly reduced.

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Body, Green Your...

How A Financial Planner Can Reduce Your Stress Levels

Much has been written about how stress negatively impacts our well-being to the extent that it can lead to serious illness of both a physical and mental nature. In today’s world, one of the number causes of stress is worrying about money, so it seems logical to assume if we can alleviate our money worries we reduce our stress. For this reason, instead of rushing to their doctor for stress pills, many wise people are employing the services of a financial planner.

First things first…I am not suggesting that if you have a serious illness or the level of stress you are experiencing is extreme, that you should not seek medical advice. However, wouldn’t it be a wonderful feeling if you could ‘treat’ the cause of your stress (money worries) before it impacts negatively on your health? This is what a financial planner, such as Financial Planner Perth, would seek to do for you.

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Landscapes & Gardens, Sustainability

Sustainable Garden Design

The same as: ‘Location is everything’ when we talk real estate, it also holds true for sustainable landscape design. According to a leading landscape architect Space Designs, a successful looking garden is going to need some very different elements to a garden in coastal Sydney. It all depends on where you are, your location, that determines the sensible use of local materials.

Some Common Denominators

Every landscape is unique. But to create a sustainable garden there are a few common aspects that apply. Things like:

water usage
native plants
appropriate and well-designed irrigation
the management of storm-water run off
lawn reduction

are some of the elements to create a successful sustainable garden regardless of the customer or the climate.

The Right Plants

Whether the garden is built in Melbourne or Darwin, the main goal is to use plants that require small amounts of water. Just because you have drought tolerant plants doesn’t preclude you having a beautiful garden.

Less Lawn

The reduction of lawn is of paramount importance. Everybody loves the look of a beautifully manicured lawn, but they are high maintenance, requiring regular lawn mowing and high water usage. A better option is native grasses that require no watering at all. Sometimes to improve the aesthetics, some lawn is unavoidable, but it’s better used to break up different garden areas. Lawns are not yet on the way out, but as we develop smaller properties, they are becoming a luxury that homeowners can no longer afford.

Saving Water

Saving on water costs makes simple, economic sense, especially in drought prone Australia where most cities have summer time water bans and restrictions in place. In cities like Perth, constant sunshine results in a lot of expense to keep high-maintenance gardens in top condition.

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