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One of life’s pleasures is certainly eating a freshly picked strawberry or picking a few fresh basil leaves for lunch from your own garden. There are only a few things that can compare to the sweet taste as a product from your own garden. But many today don’t live in houses or have gardens, but in buildings, where they often don’t even have a balcony. But that doesn’t mean they have to give up their own domestic production.

If you are a gardening enthusiast and enjoy growing fresh herbs, vegetables or fruits, your living space should not stop you from doing so. Even if you live in an apartment, in addition to typical houseplants, certain plants, fruits and vegetables can also thrive. When you decorate the rooms in your home with houseplants, you are not just adding greenery. These living organisms communicate with your body, mind and home in ways that improve your quality of life. We bring you tips on the perfect garden in your apartment and the benefits of plants within the living space for you, but also the environment that surrounds you.

The first important thing, when setting out to create your own oasis of homemade products, is to decide what your garden will look like; whether you choose to grow flowers that will bring you only aesthetic pleasure or you want to have some benefits as well, so your garden will turn into a small market. If you’ve decided that your garden will have spices or vegetables, write the names of the plants on the pots – this way you will always know where everything is.

Turn things you would otherwise throw away into a modern garden that everyone will love. What is practical, when it comes to gardening in a smaller living space, is that you can use anything you can think of – plastic bottles, cans, jars, etc. You can use plastic bottles in different ways: you can cut them in half and make a pot, and you can also plant in the upper part of the bottle, which you will then put in the lower part and save time on constant watering. This way, you recycle potential waste and contribute to a cleaner, healthier and more sustainable future for our cities and the planet.

Then, it is necessary to choose a place that has windows and where a lot of sunlight reaches because many plants won’t live long without light. Light entering your home will have a triple effect: it will “feed” your plants, and it will help you reduce energy bills because you will light up but also heat your home, which will, in parallel, contribute to reducing heating bills.

Smog is not the only concern when it comes to air quality in cities. Indoor air pollution is equally prevalent and increases the risk of many health problems. One of the benefits of a garden in the living space, especially a smaller one like an apartment, is cleaner air. When you breathe, your body takes in oxygen and releases carbon dioxide. During photosynthesis, plants absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen. This opposite pattern makes plants and humans natural partners. Plants that are recommended as the best air “purifier” are pygmy date palm (Phoenix Roebelenii), golden pothos (devil’s ivy, lat. Epipremnum aureum), sagebrush (Spatifilum), philodendron and spider plant (green lily, lat. Chlorophytum).

As part of the photosynthetic and respiratory process, plants also release approximately 97% of the water they ingest, which increases the humidity in the room. Place several herbs together, and this will increase the humidity of the room, which helps prevent respiratory problems such as colds, sore throats and dry coughs. Humid air in the room also helps protect the wood in your home, especially if your carpentry is wooden, as dry wood can shrink and crack, and you can have unnecessary cracks in windows or doors. In this way, your home will be more energy-efficient and the air much better.

The last thing, but also the question many may ask, is definitely – when to embark on this adventure and sow your first spice plant or flower? The best time to plant is right now! The end of winter is slowly approaching, and spring is looming, and the days are getting longer and warmer. So, visit a nearby market, find seedlings of your favorite fruit, vegetable or flower and enjoy the fruits of your labor.

Technology has evolved exponentially in recent decades. Products that innovators could not even imagine until just a few decades ago are now our everyday life – and the speed with which technology is evolving seems to be accelerating. While some claim that many technological innovations improve our lives, connecting us with information, entertainment, and each other, others claim the opposite. Yet, it is inevitable that various technological innovations have forever changed our lives and the world around us. Below we bring you some of the more significant shifts in the world of technology over the past decades and tips on how you can be energy efficient while using them.

Apple iPhone

Though it wasn’t the first smartphone on the market, Apple introduced the revolutionary iPhone in 2007. Social media, messaging, and the mobile internet wouldn’t be nearly as powerful if they hadn’t been freed from the shackles of the desktop computer and optimized for the iPhone and its dozens of competitors. Armed with powerful features and ability to run thousands of apps, Apple squeezed more functionality into one device than we’d ever seen before. Today, more than thirteen years after the iPhone’s introduction, almost 4 billion people around the world use a smartphone, nearly half the Earth’s population. By using a lot of apps during the day, cell phones wear out very quickly and need to be charged often. The charger, when plugged in without a mobile phone, also consumes energy. According to many studies, a charger, if it is plugged in without charging the cell phone, can consume as much electricity as it takes to heat a single boiler in a year. Therefore, the next time you charge your phone, unplug the charger.

Video streaming

More than twenty years ago, a new media storage format took over the entertainment world. DVDs had superior picture and sound quality to the VHS tape, and they took up less room on your shelves. Movie rental stores abandoned VHS for DVDs, and online rental services like Netflix popped up, offering the convenience of mailing rented discs directly to users. Then Netflix introduced its streaming service, allowing people to watch movies and TV shows across the internet. Consumers fell in love with the convenience of on-demand programming. As more streaming services, like YouTube, emerged, consumers started canceling cable and satellite subscriptions and rental services for streaming went belly up. Did you know that while watching your favorite series or movies on some of the streaming channels, you can also be energy efficient? If you have curtains and blinds in the room, open them up and use sunlight instead of artificial light while enjoying your favorite scenes with your favorite actors. In this way, you will, at the same time, contribute to the reduction of your energy bills in two ways, because you will light but also heat your home, which will, in parallel, also contribute to the reduction of heating bills.

Electric cars

Electric cars, whose popularity came to life when they first went public in the 19th century, have returned in the last decade with significantly advanced technology, which has driven 4-wheeled pet lovers crazy. What makes these cars especially attractive, in addition to aesthetics and engines, is that they contribute to cleaner air in cities, as they do not emit harmful substances into the environment, such as particles (soot), hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, lead, and various nitrogen oxides. The benefits of clean air are most often local because, depending on the source of electricity used to charge the battery, emissions of harmful substances into the air are shifted to the place of production of electricity. Electric motors are simply more efficient than internal combustion engines, so more battery power is used for the ride itself. Electric vehicles consume less energy, especially in city driving. Particles will still be present due to braking and tire wear, but there will be fewer of them overall than when using petrol and diesel cars.

Videoconferencing

As the coronavirus pandemic has changed the world we live in, forcing us to avoid contact with others, videoconferencing has exploded in popularity. Along with webcams, free internet services such as Skype popularized the tech in the 2000s, taking videoconferencing to all corners of the internet. The corporate world embraced the tool as a way to cut down on employee travel for meetings and as a marketing tool. As companies and schools implemented policies on work and study from home, videoconferencing apps grew in popularity as a way to get work done and communicate with friends and family, especially among people who had never used the tech before. If you use some form of video communication with co-workers, friends, or family, don’t forget to unplug your computer after using it so that you do not waste electricity unnecessarily.

Connected devices

This type of technology will become more and more sophisticated over time, but it will also be more accessible in economic terms. In recent years, the ability to connect multiple devices has increased. You can already connect your smartphone to your TV, car, and even your refrigerator and stove. In this way, we are not only making our everyday life easier but also saving energy. For example, with this innovation, we do not need to open the fridge unnecessarily and write down everything we need to go shopping; if anything is missing, we can see it by entering the app on our phone. In this way, you save time and electricity and thus reduce electricity bills.

LED revolution

LED bulbs have become increasingly popular in the last decade and have almost completely replaced halogen bulbs. More and more households are choosing to use this relatively new and better source of artificial light. Although the first visible LED spectrum was invented in 1962, technological advances led to a large drop in prices, making LED bulbs and LED lighting a cost-effective and very good solution for lighting a space. It is a known fact that energy-saving light bulbs contain mercury, while LEDs do not contain harmful substances. LED bulbs also have a much smaller impact on the environment in terms of pollution and are therefore much better to use if nature and the environment are kept in mind.

The inevitable fact is that technology will develop faster and more efficiently in the coming decades and centuries, the only question is in which direction. No matter what new gadgets or services we have at our disposal, don’t forget to pay attention to electricity consumption and to be energy efficient in your everyday life.

Winter can sometimes be harsh with its weather conditions and unpredictable when it comes to its effects on our finances. Although it might seem like we cannot significantly influence the weather conditions, it is important to note that one of the biggest causes of climate change in recent years is humankind and behavior. With this in mind, we bring you some practical tips whose implementation will contribute to a healthier environment while at the same time reducing your costs. Sounds perfect, right? Take your pen and note them down!

Watch out for gaps and holes around the facade openings

If you have any gaps or small holes that can leak air around doors, windows, or floors, you need to close them effectively. You can use adhesive tapes (made of plastic, metal, or foam) for this, but don’t forget that thick curtains can also do wonders when retaining heat in the home. Also, watch out for other places that may leak cold air, such as locks, mailboxes (in the door), or cat/dog doors (keep them closed as much as possible during the winter months). If you are ready for an investment that will pay off in the long run, the best solution is to install energy-efficient carpentry.

Work with the nature

Nature gives us much more than we are aware of, and often we do not know how to use its gems in the right way—for example, the sun. In addition to looking forward to feeling its rays on our skin while relaxing on the beach during the summer, the sun is even more useful during the winter. You’re your curtains or blinds on sunny days and enjoy “free” heating. Polish windows that are facing the south so that light penetrates through them even more efficiently. Also, don’t forget to close the curtains or blinds when the sun goes down to keep the heat inside the house as efficiently as possible.

Control the heating

If you do not have a heating system that automatically controls your rooms’ temperature, then do it yourself. It is unnecessary to heat the rooms with equal intensity throughout the day and night, especially if you do not use them all the time. Be sure to close the doors when entering or leaving rooms to keep warm air inside. It is much more efficient to keep the heating always at a lower temperature than continually turning it on and off.

How did you arrange your furniture?

Furniture layout is also an important factor in ensuring the energy efficiency of your rooms. It may seem obvious, but if you put furniture in front of the radiator, it will prevent the heat from spreading around the room. This causes the radiator to work more or use more energy to heat the room.

Is the oven not just for food?

In winter, your oven can take on an additional role – those of heaters. When you finish preparing your meal, leave the door of the oven open and allow the heat to come out of it. In this way, you will additionally heat your kitchen and the space around it without wasting energy on the heating system.

Slightly more expensive, but also a more efficient solution

In winter, the heat generated by your heating system “moves” from warmer to cooler rooms in your home, such as attics, garages, basements, or even directly outside. To make up for this, your heating system must work longer and harder to keep the temperature in your home constant, resulting in an increase in your bills. For your home budget not to suffer and for you to ensure that the house retains heat throughout the winter, it is necessary to insulate it well. You can insulate the roof, windows, walls, and even place insulation under the floorboards. Depending on the type of water heating system you have, water tanks and pipes can be insulated to keep the water warm for as long as possible. While this may seem like a significant expense to you at first, it is important to view it as an investment, as it will definitely pay off for your household in the long run. Remember, saving energy is not just a winter activity. Use heating/cooling rationally throughout the year, turning off lights and appliances when you are not using them, and paying attention to water consumption will surely contribute to saving nature and your resources.

If you are a person that cares about the environment, we have no doubt that you are already familiar with eco-friendly or zero waste references. The increasing pollution of our planet and the global warming that threatens all living beings have stood out significantly as one of the crucial issues in the last few years. In addition to raising awareness about these issues, small changes that we can all practice in our daily lives without much effort and sacrifice are especially important.

Projects, such as Additional Funding for the Bosnia Energy Efficiency Project (AF BEEP), focus on raising public awareness on energy efficiency and implementing energy efficiency measures in public facilities, thus reducing CO2 emissions. However, the AF BEEP experts are aware that such an important topic reaches all segments of human lives, such as the season of giving. Are there such gifts that will pleasantly surprise the person you are giving them to but also won’t harm the environment? The answer is – yes! In order to make it easier for you to find the answer to the “What to gift someone?” question, AF BEEP experts bring you five great gift ideas that are environmentally friendly and perfect for any occasion.

Decoupage

Decoupage is a technique, i.e., an artistic skill, used for centuries for decoration. In short, decoupage comes down to decorating objects or furniture pieces with paper clips that are glued to them. In addition to the fact that this will be a fun activity for you, to the person you give such a decorated gift, it will be a unique work of art, created with a lot of attention and love. This type of gift requires minimal investment in material and maximum commitment.

The “pretty” side of a glass bottle

Glass bottles of various drinks, sauces, or baby porridge often end up in the trash, and that is no place for them (if they, however, end up there, make sure to put them in a container intended for glass). If you want to give something interesting and unusual as a gift, don’t throw away glass bottles, but use them as decorations. These bottles are easy to preserve, and their shape and material make them ideal for turning into many different things. Whether you use them as a colorful vase for flowers, which you can cover with colorful paper, or as a candlestick, by putting decorative stones in it, decorating it with bows, and placing a candle in it, we have no doubt that the gift will be a complete hit. Let your imagination run wild!

Homemade cosmetics

Many women, but also men, enjoy caring for their bodies. But how do we nurture both ourselves and the planet? Today, cosmetic products can contain chemicals that harm both you and nature, especially when you’re done with them and throw them in the trash. So why take the risk? If you want to give someone a handmade soap or body scrub, all you need is a couple of ingredients that you can find at the nearest herbal pharmacy and get to work. Also, make a handwritten sticker with your name; the person you give this to will surely be thrilled. And if you still don’t have the time, choose domestic producers who make natural cosmetics without any additives, and be careful what kind of packaging they use (whether they are biodegradable or not).

Cover table

If your loved ones enjoy comics and superheroes, this idea is the perfect opportunity for you to give them something original. Surely you have some old table that no one uses, somewhere in your parents’ pantry or in the attic. Tips for restoring old furniture are all around us, the steps for doing it are simple, and when the table is ready, all you have to do is cover the tabletop with comic book covers and clips from the comics of the person’s favorite heroes. And voilà, a unique gift for a unique person.

Candles

Aside from just gifting someone, it is also important to teach them something. Energy efficiency reaches many parts of our lives, and our home is one of them. Lighting is one of the things that many can save on if they take pay attention to it. AF BEEP experts emphasize the importance of conscientious energy use, turning off lights when no one is in the room. One of the alternative light sources are candles, which are an increasingly popular gift nowadays. So why not make them yourself? Make sure you use natural ingredients, and all you need are wax, candle wicks, a mold, and an old pot. And to make your candle even more special, you can add some essential oils you like. The person you give the candles to will remember you every time they light a candle and smell a pleasant scent.

In addition to gifts, don’t forget to be imaginative and eco-friendly when it comes to packaging as well, so make sure to use recycled paper or even old newspapers. Think of your loved ones and save the planet!