Imbibing the mantra of reduce, reuse and recycle in our lives - Black & Decker, India

We are leaving our carbon imprints all over, leaving precious little of the resources for our future generation. With the World Earth Day just behind us, it is a good time to take stock of the damage done and find ways to quickly arrest further damage to the environment and planet Earth.

Surprisingly, for the amount of destruction all around with garbage mounds piling everywhere, increasing pollution and traffic levels, it requires fairly simple exercises to correct the situation. The golden mantra of reduce, reuse and recycle has to be incorporated in every aspect of our living.

Reduce: reduce the amount of stuff that comes into the house. It might be interesting to note that a large percentage of purchases go unutilized due to improper planning and impulse buying. Buying re-fill pouches for repeated purchase of the same item is one way of reducing the number of bottles or cans coming into your house.

Re-use: old bottles and cans can be re-used to store odds and ends. Fancy looking bottles can be creatively given a make-over to fit into the living room or used as planters in your balcony. Old curtains or cushion covers that are no longer required can be made into interesting cloth bags or even framed to adorn your wall. Similarly, old clothes can be given to needy people like your maid/car cleaner, driver or cook.

Re-cycle: After Bangalore suffered the garbage crisis a few months back, the segregation of waste for recycle has become mandatory for all the households. Indeed, if we can segregate the recyclable waste, precious resources can be brought back to life. Water needs to be conserved and can be recycled for use. Many individuals and apartments have their own sewage water treatment and rain harvesting plants.

At Black & Decker, we provide you a range of useful appliances to make your home cleaning needs easier. Do visit our website http://www.blackanddeckerindia.in or log on to our FB page https://www.facebook.com/BlackandDeckerIndia to get regular updates.

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De-clutter your home this season and re-energize the place - Black & Decker, India

Is your home over-flowing with unwanted items and forever looking like a tornado-hit place? Does the thought of de-cluttering send you scooting under cover or feeling lost as you don’t know where to begin?

Do not despair. We have a few easy tips for you to achieve the best results of your cleaning spree and it will also leave your home much cleaner, organized and bursting with positive energy.

For the clothes:

Discard, donate, and re-use: The rule of the thumb is to discard clothes that are lying unused for more than 6 months. Categorize the stuff into three main piles: one that needs to be discarded since they are not in a good condition, one that can be donated away and the third that has stuff which can be re-used for other stuff.

Sort and arrange: Arrange the clothes in the manner you use them; often worn at a place that is handy and easy to reach and seldom-worn ones at the back. Small clothes like socks, handkerchiefs and underwear can be arranged in neat piles in a basket that can be kept under short hanging wear.

Re-examine every few months: do not wait till the closet is brimming over to begin cleaning. Make an audit every few months to see if the clothes are lying in a disorganized pile and if you are buying more than you are using.

In the kitchen:

Check for the expiry for food items: check all the items in the fridge and cabinets for their expiry and also the frequency of their use. Throw away all that have superseded the expiry date. Also view all the items objectively and see if you use them as often. If not, it is best not to clutter your shelves with such products.

Store items effectively and make a list while shopping: It is best to check the shelves before making the monthly grocery shopping, so that you don’t end up buying the stuff you already have. Also, stick to the list while shopping so that unnecessary items do not land up in the kitchen.

For paper, medicines and cosmetics:

Check for expiry: Medicines that have surpassed their expiry date need to be thrown away. Arrange the medicines in a neat transparent box and keep them in a handy location. The same rule applies for cosmetics too.

Paper: it is best to opt for e-bills but if you still get a lot of paper bills, a basket can be maintained near the doorway for easy storage and every time, the basket is full, the old ones can be filled away in a folder.

Check out our range of cleaning appliances to help you keep your home always clean: http://www.blackanddeckerindia.in

6 Tips to keep your Home Allergen free - Black & Decker

Many of us stay in places where allergies are prone to raise their head at times of season change, and the pollen and other irritants in the air can be a really bad experience for children and adults who are sensitive to them. In such a situation, we can only try our best to make our home an allergen-free zone, and here are some ways we can go about it:

Keep dust away: Dust is one of the biggest factors for allergies, and it is very difficult to keep it at bay, due to the pollution in the air and other reasons like construction activities in the area. The best way to eliminate and clean dust without it rising up in the air is to use a vacuum that quickly sucks it away.

Mattress care: Mattresses can be repositories of dust as well as hosts to bed bugs and it is very important that they be cleaned regularly. This can be done by regular change of sheets and pillow covers, as well as airing them out in sunlight if possible. Use a vacuum for cleaning mattresses at regular intervals as well.

Air purifiers: Purifiers and humidifiers can be a good means of improving the quality of air, especially if you have children who are prone to allergies and have disturbed sleep due to coughing bouts.

Eliminate chemicals: Most cleaning agents have strong smelling chemicals in them that tend to irritate allergies a lot. By moving to natural cleaning agents like baking soda, lime and vinegar, we can reduce these impacts. Another good way of natural cleaning is by using a steam mop that uses just steam for effective cleaning.

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Curtains, Blinds and Carpets: These are areas where dust and other allergens can collect over time, and can be especially harmful for young children who play closer to the floor level. Curtains need to be removed and washed regularly, and for the carpets and blinds you can use the different attachments of your vacuum cleaner. You can also use a smaller handheld vacuum for the blinds.

Pest control: Allergic individuals are highly sensitive to pests and their effects. Droppings from cockroaches or even a bite from an ant or mosquito can set off a severe reaction, and it is always better to be careful in advance. Try some eco-friendly pest control methods and creams and try to keep these pests at bay.

Check out our range of cleaning appliances to help you keep allergens away at our website:

http://www.blackanddeckerindia.in