Spring is the perfect time to declutter and refresh your home. After a winter spent cozying up indoors, the arrival of spring – full of blooming flowers (achoo!) and warmer days – is a great opportunity to rejuvenate your space. Time to use more areas of our home, host gatherings, clear out excess items and maybe even plant some fresh veggies!
With a little planning and eco-awareness, you can prevent excess waste and be mindful of your cleaning practices. Ready to dive into eco-conscious spring cleaning? Below is a 30-day Eco-Cleaning Challenge to guide you through, one simple step at a time!
This challenge is all about taking small, manageable steps to make your cleaning routine greener and more sustainable. Here’s how to do it:
Week 1: Declutter and Donate
Yes, this is the hard part but best get it over and done with then the fun cleaning can begin!
Firstly, you’ll need 4 boxes (or bags).
Box 1: Donate. Anything you want to donate goes here.
Box 2: Repair or repurpose. When you come across items that need to be mended or repaired. Place these items in a box until you’re ready to get them fixed.
Box 3: Put-Away Box. We don’t want to stop decluttering to put something in its proper place. Instead, add them temporarily in a put-away box until the end of your session.
Box 4: A Bin.
Day 1: Start with a quick declutter session in your lounge room
Start by gathering any items that don’t belong– stray books, empty cups, or other out-of-place objects – and set them aside for later. Next, tackle paper clutter by recycling any old magazines, that have piled up on tables or surfaces.
Store remotes, chargers, and tech accessories in a designated spot to keep things organised.
Finally, reassess the room’s decor – store blankets for next year, remove pillowcases to clean them, and consider whether any decorative items need to be refreshed or removed.
Day 2: Sort through your room and donate items you no longer wear.
It’s easy for our bedrooms to become the go-to spot for stuff that we just don’t know what to do with. But, as we have no doubt heard our bedrooms should be sanctuaries, so let’s get to it!
Clean and organise your bedside table and any draws, use the 4 box system to empty out the unwanted stuff.
Sort through your clothing. Just do it one section at a time (ie winter jumpers) once you’ve worked out which need to be donated neatly put the remainder away one item at a time.
Reorganise your wardrobe – store winter clothes and plan for warmer days 🌞
Don’t forget to go through your shoes!
Day 3: Declutter your bathroom and discard empty, expired products.
Yes, an ‘easy’ day.
Sort through your medicines. Have any expired? Depending on what it is best to search for ways to safely dispose of used prescriptions in your area rather than putting it down the drain or throwing it in the bin.
Go through your bathroom drawers. If your place is anything like ours lots of little and odds-and-ends tend to land here. If there anything that can be donated or repurposed? If not, best to throw it out.
Day 4: The Kitchen!
Firstly, let’s go to the more rarely visited places: The high up cupboards and the appliances cupboard. Is there anything you haven’t used in two years and most likely never will?
Now let’s go to the pantry. I know, this isn’t fun. But we got this. Put on some favourite music, set yourself a timer (say 15 minutes) and go for it! You’ll need to toss anything past its used by, maybe look at bringing items at the back towards the front so you can remember to use them.
Now clean those countertops, the less on them the better.
We’ll leave the fridge till next week.
Day 5: Physically this is a rest day, but mentally, not so much.
Today we are just going to attack paper clutter. Organise, recycle and go digital where possible.
Day 6: Laundry and Kids rooms
If you have kids, it’s time to tackle their rooms/spaces, if not, please go straight to the laundry. Often, we have products in here we never use, or items that need to be washed that we’ve been putting off, wash them now if you can, or donate.
Kids: If possible, work with your child to identify items that they can donate, be they toys or clothes. Start a memory box for the art and as that’s often-plentiful look at also taking photos of these that you can store digitally.
Day 7: Storage cupboards
Games, linen, holiday decorations… what can you giveaway or repurpose (ie into cleaning rags).
Week 2: Cleaning Inside the Home
Congratulations you’ve made it past the hardest part of the challenge! Now for the fun part 😊
Day 8: Clean the fridge – remove old food, compost what you can and wipe down shelves with eco-friendly cleaners. If you’re struggling with where to start, have a look at some you tube videos of people cleaning out their fridges… there are a lot - and amazingly it can be quite motivating.
Day 9: Freshen up the bedrooms – vacuum your mattresses and rotate them.
Day 10: Clean windows with ecyo and eco-friendly cloths or rags. If they are really bad, they may need a good scrub first.
Day 11: Deep clean the bathroom – wipe down surfaces and scrub drains with ecyo bathroom cleaner.
Day 12: Dust all the skirting boards. Vacuum behind furniture, including bed and sofa.
Day 13: Clean light switches and door handles with an ecyo antibac spray. Check the walls, do they need a dust or a wipe?
Day 14: Organise your cleaning supplies and switch to green products or refillable. If you have an office, give that a thorough clean.
Week 3: Outdoor Spaces
Day 15: Clean outdoor furniture with multipurpose ecyo spray and a rag.
Day 16: Sweep patios, balcony and decks to clear away leaves and debris.
Day 17: Clean out your compost bin or start one if you haven’t already.
Day 18: Wipe down garden tools and store them properly. Let’s get them out of the weather.
Day 19: Clean windows from the outside.
Day 20: Clean your wheely bins: Spray ecyo antibac into your bins, leave it for 10 minutes, then hose them down for a fresh start. Live in a shared apartment, maybe email strata/landlord to ask them when they are next getting a clean?
Day 21: Clear gutters of leaves and dirt, using water-efficient methods to avoid wasting excess water. AND plant some new veggies or herbs in your garden 🌿
Week 4: Eco-Organisation and Maintenance
Day 22: Rest day. You've earnt it!
Day 23: Swap paper towels for reusable cloths in the kitchen.
Day 24: Restock cleaning supplies with eco-friendly refills.
Day 25: Review energy usage in the home – your bills should show you how your usage compares each quarter, can you do better? Switch to LED bulbs, unplug unused appliances..
Day 26: Install a water-saving showerhead or low-flow faucet.
Day 27: Start collecting single use plastics for when they day comes we can recycle them again.
Day 28: Review and recycle old electronics – and batteries responsibly.
Day 29: Check outdoor lighting and replace any bulbs with energy-efficient options.
Day 30: Celebrate! You've completed your eco-cleaning challenge!
By tackling spring cleaning in an eco-conscious way, you’ll not only refresh your home but also reduce waste and support a healthier environment. Whether you’re donating, repurposing, or cleaning with green products, every small step adds up to positive change.