“Five million people saw me emptying my dishwasher on Instagram”

A 75-year-old Instagrammer said she was using her new social media fame to spread the message about being more environmentally friendly after videos of her waist-high dishwasher and novelty staircase in her replica home went viral.

Judith Leary-Joyce's film about her clever dishwasher solution has been viewed more than five million times and there are two videos about her Staircase with counterweight at her home in Hertfordshire has been viewed 30 million times.

She said it was “a bit strange.” [to become so popular] at my age.”

Having been environmentally conscious since the 1970s, she said she wanted to share on social media how she made her St Albans home as “draughtproof as possible” and show others how they could do the same.

Ms. Leary-Joyce, known to her family as “Instagran,” set up her account “ecorenovationhome” to encourage people to take “small but meaningful actions on climate change,” she said.

Last year she decided she had to “get involved in filming, so I couldn't think of what to do, so for now I'm going to record myself emptying the dishwasher.”

The inventive design solution that eliminates bending has worked, she said, and because it's right next to her china cabinet, “you take the cups and plates and just push them to the side.”

She said she also has “a very interesting counterbalanced staircase” leading down from the attic, “so I thought if they like the dishwasher, they might like the stairs.”

The day her dishwasher post went viral, she had 311 followers, but a month later she had 30,000 followers and has since grown to 84,000.

When she decided to retrofit her Victorian home to make it more energy efficient, she said she was “amazed” that she saved 75% on energy, compared to the expected 50%.

Her advice to people was to ensure their homes were as “draught-proof as possible” and adequately insulated to prevent “uncontrolled air from entering”.

Ms Leary-Joyce will be taking part in a TEDx salon talk on 'Living the Green Life' at Harpenden Quaker Meeting House on Monday at 7.30pm GMT.