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Can You Make People Clean Up After Themselves At Work?
How many battles have been fought in the workplace kitchen? The colleague who simply dumps their plates in the sink and leaves them for someone else. The overgrown leftovers in the fridge that no-one has claimed. The missing teaspoons and knives that leave only a handful of forks to eat your soup with. The coffee cups left abandoned around the building. Invariably, it means that there are a few people that clean up after the rest, and a handful of passive aggressive notices Sellotaped to the wall of the kitchen. Why Do Some People Not Clean Up at Work? When most people wouldn’t do this at home, why do they leave a mess at work? It’s a psychological theory called diffusion of responsibility. This is when a person is less likely to clean their mess up because they can assume that someone else will clean it. And, in terms of a workplace, they are often correct. So how can you resolve it? How Can You Ensure The Kitchen Is Left Clean? Make a roster that allocates people to certain tasks over certain timeframes. Make sure that list includes the boss, so that it sets an example that everyone must contribute, especially leadership. This ensures that the kitchen is tidied daily and the dishwasher is started. A Roster Can Have Unintended Side Effects However, if you divide up kitchen duties among staff, it may have the unintended consequence of making them abandon tidiness at all other times and focus only on their role or their ‘day’. It becomes a firm ‘Not My Job’ and those cups will simply be left in the sink for Someone Else. So how can you avoid this? Give permission for people to call others out for their laziness. If Dave leaves his plate in the sink, ask him to rinse it and put it in the dishwasher. If Terry leaves half-drunk cold cups of coffee lying around, make it the norm that people will ask him to clean it up. Reward Good Behaviour If the kitchen remains clean for a certain timeframe, you can offer a reward- maybe it’s time for a new coffee machine, or a set of new un-chipped mugs. Or, you can punish bad behaviour. One workplace had individual coffee cups made up, which meant that people who left their dirty cups lying around became very obvious and had no cup to drink out of!
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Make a Difference By Adopting These Easy Ways to Stop Using One-Use Plastic
It’s no secret that the world and our oceans are awash with plastic waste. It’s destroying our marine and bird life, and humans are eradicating flora and fauna faster than we can re-plant it. The cost of the humble plastic bag is not just in the resulting waste which takes 1000 years to decompose, but also in the energy and materials to create it in the first place. In NZ, supermarkets are banning use of plastic bags in an effort to reduce wastage. Following in the steps of cities like Delhi and Bangalore and a number of European countries, we are lagging behind the rest of the world in the need to reduce waste. Take Ownership of Your Waste High income countries create more waste than developing countries. In NZ, we produce 4.31 gha (global hectares) of rubbish per person per year. At this rate, we need 2.5 earths to sustain our existing demands. Comparatively, India’s rate is 0.9 gha per person. We need to consume less, and recycle more. You can make a difference, and it doesn’t have to be difficult. Every Bag Counts Buy reusable bags. Store them in the car. Start your shopping list with ‘bags’ and once you’ve unpacked your groceries, hang the bags on your door handle so you remember to put them in the car again next time you leave. If you forget to take the bags into the supermarket, simply take the trolley or basket out to your car and fill the bags there. Easy! You’ve just saved plastic from the landfill. Other Single-Use Plastic Items to Remove
   There is a plethora of YouTube videos or blogs with cleaning ‘hacks’ that just don’t work. While we’ve tested some for you, some don’t even need testing to know they don’t work. Here are some of our favourites…
It’s autumn! Follow these 4 natural cleaning tips to prepare for winter
As the weather starts to cool, you’ll want to take advantage of the last of the warm days and prepare your home for the winter ahead. Clean your heat pump You can pay someone to do this for you, or do it yourself. A clean heat pump works much more effectively, keeping you warmer and saving you power. Find the instructions and follow the manufacturer’s instructions, but in general, there are two main things you can do. Clear away any cobwebs and debris from around the outdoor unit, and you can even give it a hose down if it’s dusty. For the indoor unit, wash the filters, buy new ones if required, and use your vacuum attachments to gently give the entire unit a good dusting. Clean bedding to remove musty smells A few times a year, it’s a good idea to give all your bedding a wash or thorough airing. Read the labels, but most duvets and pillows can be washed on a gentle cycle in your washing machine. Take advantage of the warm weather to dry them outside in the sun and you’ll have healthy, fresh smelling bedding. You can even add a few drops of your favourite essential oil to the wash- lavender to help you sleep, or lemongrass to help your bedding smell fresh for longer. Remove mould from bathrooms When winter hits, it can feel very counter-productive to open bathroom windows to dry out your home. This still must be done to maintain a clean, healthy bathroom, but you can prepare for winter. Kill existing mould and mildew before it has a chance to establish itself. Bleach may remove the surface mould, but it doesn’t kill the entire plant, with its roots deep in your walls. Use our bathroom surface cleaner, which uses vinegar and lemon essential oil. It kills the entire plant including the roots so it doesn’t reappear again. Clean your makeup brushes Unless you’re one of those super amazing makeup people who seem to have their lives together, you probably haven’t washed your makeup brushes in forever. You need to. They’ll have all sorts of dust and dirt in them from your face (and could be a reason you are suffering breakouts). Warning: this is really gross. Create a solution of a little dish soap and water, and you can even add a dash of white vinegar in there as it helps to disinfect. Wash your brushes thoroughly – this may take a number of loads of water- and then air dry in the sun. Try not to get the base of the bristles too wet as it may damage the glue. For a natural dishwashing liquid, take advantage of potent essential oils
Whatever you use as a dishwashing liquid probably does double duty. Window washing, floor washing, in fact anything that needs grease break-down will often get a dash of dishwashing liquid. You need a product that cleans, and you want a product that is gentle on the environment and safe for the family to use. Luckily, we have the solution. Our range of dishwashing liquids are non-toxic, yet still get the job done well. Using essential oils to fragrance the product, they also provide natural anti-bacterial action and a host of other benefits- all while still being safe and gentle on your skin. Why are our dishwashing liquids so effective? It’s the ingredients in our dishwashing liquid that make it incredibly effective at removing dirt. Citric acid, derived from citrus fruit, is acidic and helps to dissolve soap scum and a host of other things. We use cocoabetaine as a foaming agent. Derived from coconut, this is a safe alternative to sulfates. It mixes oil and dirt, breaking down the barrier between them so that the dirt can easily be wiped off. Another surfactant, cocoglocoside, is a mix of glucose and coconut-based fatty alcohols. It’s gentle on the skin while still being effective as a cleaner. It helps to make the detergent foam up and break down grease. Essential oils for scent and many other benefits Our range comes in a variety of fragrances. Pine and sweet orange is lovely and refreshing, with the oils also providing natural anti-fungal and anti-bacterial qualities. The lemongrass and lime combination of oils is naturally antibacterial, with the lemongrass also being an amazing deodorizer. This makes it ideal for washing up from meals that contained strong odours, such as fish or garlic. Cinnamon and tangerine are a lovely scent combination- the warmth of cinnamon and the spiciness of tangerine combine to make washing dishes an enjoyable task (almost). These essential oils are also anti-fungal and anti-bacterial, for a healthier home- naturally! What our customers love about our amazing cleaning products
We have the best customers, who are just as committed to a healthy environment and a healthy home as much as we are. From the feedback we get from them, here are the best things about our products. Our products smell amazing One woman told us her husband loves walking into the house after milking and smelling the beautiful aromas from our products ‘floating through’ the house. Another happy customer noted that she wants to keep cleaning because she loves the smell of the cinnamon and tangerine surface cleaner so much! (Is it really that good? You’ll have to try it and find out!) Fly off surface cleaner Due to the sheer volume of feedback, this product has a category all of its own. Not only do people think the smell is ‘heavenly’, but it actually is effective at keeping the flies away. The formula removes fly spots easily and helps to prevent the flies from returning. This is a definite favourite! Our products are gentle on the skin As anyone with sensitive skin can attest, a new cleaning or self-care product can result in dry, red, itchy and painful skin. A change in anything can result in a flare-up of dermatitis or psoriasis. Dream Eco Products have been designed to be gentle on you and your skin so you can use these safely. Some products even are good for the skin, with essential oils offering benefits to skin health. Our products are effective With our products leaving floors smelling ‘lovely, clean and fresh and shiny too’ and customers saying that our products are ‘some of the best products I’ve ever used’, you know that you’ll be able to replicate those results in your house. As one woman said, Dream Eco Products ‘actually make cleaning a pleasure’. How amazing (and can she come and clean our homes for us?)! It’s not hard to think of some good reasons to buy our amazing products, but here’s a few ways you can use our fantastic limited time offer of three cleaning products for $48 deal to make the world a better place.
This three pack is also great if you’re a real estate agent looking to buy a settlement gift. Luxury cleaning products with gorgeous fresh essential oil fragrances will always be appreciated, and will last longer than a bunch of flowers.
Why you should have sweet orange essential oil in your cleaning products
There are a large number of orange- scented cleaners on the market, and for good reason. Orange is a pleasantly sweet and refreshing smell, as well as being a bit astringent, making it an ideal scent for a cleaning product. However if you want the full benefit of using an essential oil, the manufactured scents won’t provide what you want. It’s worth using real essential oils for more than just their smell though. The benefits of sweet orange essential oils are varied and do so much more than just smell nice. Limonene and Myrcene These two active ingredients that are found in orange oil are the superstars that give it many of its positive qualities. Limonene is an antioxidant that helps fight inflammation. Myrcene may help in a similar way, with an analgesic affect, helping chemicals to be absorbed through the blood-brain barrier. It’s also a sedative and relaxant. Orange essential oil dissolves grease easily One of limonene’s qualities is that it is excellent at dissolving oils. This makes it an excellent addition to cleaning products as it helps to cut through grease with minimal effort. This is why a number of heavy-duty hand cleaners use orange or lemon as a base. Antibacterial qualities of orange essential oil Citrus makes an excellent cleaner because it has a natural antibacterial affect. Wipe down your benchtops with cleaners that contain real sweet orange essential oils and you are wiping away bacteria- naturally! Myrcene relaxes and has calming affects The scent of sweet orange can relieve a bad mood and help you to relax. It can help to ‘turn off’ cortisol, the chemical that appears when you are stressed. Using a diffuser, oil burner, or having orange essential oil extract in household cleaners can help to control stress and anxiety! Used before bedtime, this may help to get a good night’s sleep. Our Fly Off Surface Cleaner has been 'flying'off the shelves (did you see what I did there!?). We have had some amazing feedback about it so far, with people coming back to buy more. With the strong scent of peppermint & eucalyptus essential oils, Fly Off Surface Cleaner repels flies from surfaces, such as bench tops, tables, walls, ceilings and furniture. Spray and wipe surfaces where flies land to deter them from these surfaces. Flies are creatures of habit, which is why you will notice that they will continue to come back to the same areas constantly. Fly Off Surface Cleaner is just that, it's a surface cleaner. Unfortunately it's not going to stop flies from entering your home, or kill them on the spot, but when used, you should notice a reduction of flies landing on sprayed areas. This surface cleaner will also disolve fly spots from walls and ceilings. Spray directly onto a damp cloth or mop, or directly on to the surface and wipe. It also works well to repel mice, and if sprayed for a few days along ant trails, will help clear up ant problems. You can try this popular product by buying online, or at one of our retailers: Coco & Co in Hastings, The Department of Curiosities in Napier, and Shopology in Christchurch. Eco-friendly cleaning product company
Make your space naturally sparkling Sulfate FREE Palm oil FREE - unlike most Eco Cleaning products brands Concentrated and NOT watered down - a little goes a long way 3 reasons why you should have essential oils in your cleaning products
There’s a lot of hype surrounding essential oils and their use, but are they effective? Do they live up to the expectations?
So why would you use anything else, when you have nature’s tools for providing beautiful scents in your home? |
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April 2018
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