How to Clean Your Home the Fair Trade Way

It's time for spring cleaning! Are you excited? I hope you’re motivated and ready to clean your living space so that it’s more functional for your lifestyle, and that you’re also ready to prioritize ethical and fair trade practices and products!

It’s easy to fall into a harmful routine, especially when it comes to chores and clean-up.

Let’s look at four ways you can start to implement fair trade and conscious routines into your lifestyle to see #peoplethriving.

1. Choose Ethical + Natural Cleaning Products

We could write a whole article on this topic - our homes are filled with toxic chemicals and harmful products that fly under the radar as they hurt you and the people who made them, just because they smell sanitary! 

This year, take the step to swap out a harmful cleaning product that you may be using for a more natural or organic option. This article from the New York magazine references 12 great cleaning products to replace current products. Also, keep your eye out for an upcoming Zambeezi Journal article that shows ways that Zambian beeswax can act as a natural cleaner!

2. Eliminate Single-Use Waste

Single-use plastics and cleaning products can cause a lot of harm to you and people around the world. If you’re looking to support #peoplethriving in your spring cleaning this year, be sure to take the little steps necessary to cut out single-use waste. 

One great way to do this is to use beeswax wraps rather than plastic wrap and even plastic baggies!

Zambian beeswax is perfect to make the eco-friendly and trendy Wax Wraps as a switch-out. Just melt beeswax and brush it onto fabric of your choice, then let it cool to make a self-adhesive, easy to wash and reusable sealer!

Let us know what other ways you are making fair trade and ethical choices to eliminate waste in your home - leave a comment down below or tag us on Instagram!

3. Support Fair-Trade Advocates

We all have our favorite lifestyle bloggers and influencers who inspire us, especially during spring cleaning. This year, find some new fair trade advocates and ethically-focused influencers that you can engage with this season!

To discover some of our favorites, check out our People Thriving series on the Zambeezi Journal, as well as accounts we have featured on social media! If you find an account or a blog that you think we’d love here at Zambeezi, let us know! We’d love to feature your favorite fair-trade advocates and see how we can get involved with more like-minded people passionate about seeing the impact of fair-trade.

4. Keep It Clean!

One of the biggest ways to clean your home the fair-trade way is to put the effort in to maintaining the work you’ve already put in! 

Wear damage on your possessions takes more of a toll if they aren’t cleaned/maintained regularly, so check out some ways that you can preserve and mend, rather than ignore and replace!

In our homes, a lot can go to waste just because it wasn't preserved: from food to utilities to shoes! If you're wanting to clean your home the fair trade way, ask yourself questions that inspire you to not only reuse and preserve what you already have, but also to keep new items maintained. 

Plus, it will make next year that much easier!

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These are just a few general ways that you can focus on cleaning your home the fair trade way.

If you have more ideas, we’d love to hear them and hear how you’ve included ethical practices in your spring cleaning! 

But for now,

Happy Cleaning!