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10 eco-friendly things to do with lemons

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Lemons are natural and very useful, plus, they don’t harm the planet. Personally, I can’t think of a bad thing to say about lemons. They are great for salad dressings, flavouring puddings and squeezed onto veggies too. Here are some other things you can do with lemons.

    1. Grow a lemon tree – the most eco-friendly thing to do with lemons is grow them so that you have your own carbon neutral supply. These can be grown in the UK, believe it or not.
    2. Highlight your hair – much better for you and the environment than commercial bleaches. Mix the juice of one lemon with one teaspoon of salt and apply to your hair with a comb. Get out into the sun for a couple of hours. Do some vegetable gardening, tend your lemon tree, go for a walk, you get the picture. Don’t do this too often, it will dry your hair out.
    3. Exfoliate and clean your feet – mix up some lemon pulp and brown sugar and get rubbing. Rinse and moisturise.
    4. Combat bad breath – gargle with lemon juice to get rid of bad breath.
    5. Fight off a cold – mix lemon juice with honey and hot water to sooth coughs and sore throats and give you a dose of vitamin C.
    6. Sooth a sting – mix the juice of half a lemon with water and bathe a sting to lessen the pain.
    7. Make homemade lemonade – and avoid all the chemical/preservative laden stuff in the shops. The basic recipe is 1 cup lemon juice, 1 cup organic sugar, 1 cup water. That will give you a syrup to dilute as you like. Add ice.
    8. Freshen up your dishwasher – use half a lemon and jam it onto an upright in your dishwasher. Smells fresh, helps cut grease and has got to be more eco-friendly that those plastic lemon shaped things you can buy to do the same job.
    9. Remove limescale from draining boards and taps – use half a lemon to rub over stainless steel draining boards and taps. Leave a minute, rinse and shine with a dry cloth.
    10. Clean a bar – it’s a bartender’s favourite, just lemon and salt, rinse and shine.

So there you have it folks, lemons are our friends. They can do great things that are mostly done with chemicals these day. Ditch the chemicals and get back to nature with lemons.

Please remember to use your own intelligence and common sense before taking any of my advice, and if necessary, consult a professional hairdresser/doctor etc. Try not to squirt lemon juice in your eye.