Green Cleaning

Basic Ingredients: And there uses

Baking soda:Cleans, deodorizes, increased the cleaning power of soap, gentle scouring powder, extinguish fires, stain remover

Borax: Detergent booster, softens water, cleans, deodorizes, disinfects, preserve flowers

Castile Soap (or other vegetable base soap): Laundry, general cleaning, pet shampoo, degreaser

Distilled or Purified Water: Use instead if tap water when making your cleaning products to prevent hard water marks

Distilled White Vinegar*: Cuts grease, disinfects, deodorizes, fabric softener, kills mold, stain remover, oder neutralizer, pest control
*Never use white distilled vinegar on marble. The acid can damage the surface.

Essential oils: Are optional and use sparingly, fragrant, antiseptic, disinfectant, repels bugs, stain remover

Lemons: Cleans, deodorizes, bleaches

Olive Oil: Wood polish/cleaner, metal polish, lubricant, shoe polish

Salt: Non scratching abrasive, artificial flowers, oven/stove top spills, clean medals, poison ivy, stain remover

Recipes:

All Purpose Cleaner

1-16 oz spray bottle

1 tsp. Borax

2 Tbsp. White Vinegar

1/4 cup Castile Soap (or other vegetable base soap)

1 1/2 cups hot Distilled or Purified Water

optional: 20-30 drops of essential oil (tea tree makes this an disinfectant)

Add to bottle in this order!

Hot water, borax, cap and shake until borax is dissolved. Add vinegar, shake again. Add soap and oil and shake. Shake before use.

I use this cleaner in my bathroom. Instead of tea tree oil I use: 5 drops bergamot, 10 drops lavender, 5 drops cinnamon, 10 drops lemon and 10 drops citronella

Scouring Powder:

1 cup each in an old jar (I use a Parmesan container)

Baking soda, Borax and salt.

Mix together add to jar.

You can also sent this with your choice of 10-20 drops of essential oil. I like to mix mine up a bit. Right now it smells of lemon. If you chose to add oils let set for 24 hours to let the oils be absorbed. Cover tight when not in use.

Window Cleaner:
Equal part Vinegar and Water
This also be used after using scouring powder to get rid of white residue.

Furniture Dusting Spray:

1-16 oz spray bottle

2 Tbsp. Olive Oil

20 drops Lemon or Orange essential oil

1/4 cup Vinegar

Distilled or Purified Water

Lint free cloth (I use an old cotton diaper).

Add olive oil to bottle then essential oil and vinegar. Fill the bottle with water and shake well, spray on to cloth and dust away.

Shake well before every use.

Clothing Stain Remover:

4 Tbsp. Baking Soda or Salt

1/4 cup warm Distilled or Purified Water

Eucalyptus Oil

Make a paste with the baking soda or salt and warm water. Rub the paste on the stain and let set for 1 hour, then wash as usual.

The eucalyptus oil works well on old stains. Put a few drops on a cotton ball, let dry and wash.

Powder laundry soap:

2 cups Borax 20 Team Mule

2 cups wash soda

1/3 bar grated Ivory soap.

Store in a plastic container (big butter dishes work well)

Use 2 table spoons for a full load, less for smaller loads.

I find if I dilute this in hot water before adding it to the washer it helps the granules dissolve.

Liquid Laundry Soap:

1 gallon container

1/2 cup Soap Flakes

1/4 cup Borax

1/4 cup Wash Soda

Distilled or Purified Water

Add soap flakes to a pot over medium heat with water. Heat until the soap flakes melt. Add the wash soda and borax and heat until dissolved. Add 2 cups of hot water to container, then the soap mixture and shake well. Fill the container the rest of the way with cold water, shake well and let set for 24 hours. Shake well before use. Use 1/2 per full load.

Fabric softener:

1 cup baking soda

6 cups white distilled vinegar

8 cups water

15-20 drops essential oil to sent (optional)

Put the cup of baking soda in a 1 gallon container (I suggest something with a twist on lid, like an old milk jug), add 1 cup of water. With the container IN the sink very slowly add the vinegar (this will cause a reaction with the soda). Add the rest of the water and essential oil. Shake well add 1/2-1 cup during the final rinse.

Freshening Spray:

16 oz Spray Bottle

16oz Distilled or Purified Water

3/4 Tbs Essential Oil (lavender works well)

2 Tbsp Vodka

Mix all ingredients in bottle and use for:

Air Freshener, Linen Spray, Carpet Spray, Curtain Spray, Clothes Freshener and General Cleaning.

Dust Mites:

8 oz bottle

20-30 drops of Eucalyptus or Thieves Blend Essential Oil

8oz 90 Proof Grain Vodka

Mix all ingredients in spray bottle and spray your pillows, bedding and upholstery a couple times per week. Use on carpets as you vacuum, spraying as you go and allowing the spray to set for a second or two before vacuuming.

Produce Cleaner:

Spray 1:
8 oz bottle

1 Tbsp Fresh Lemon Juice

1 Tbsp Baking Soda

1 cup Distilled or Purified Water

Mix all ingredients in spray bottle and shake well. Spray on produce and let set for 2-5 minutes, rinse in warm water and dry.

Spray 2:

16 oz Spray Bottle

1 Tbsp Baking soda

1 Cup Distilled or Purified Water

1 Cup Vinegar

20 Drops Grapefruit Seed Extract

Add the baking soda to the spray bottle, followed by the water and shake well. Slowly add the vinegar (over the sink, will react with the baking soda) and shake. Then add the grapefruit seed extract and shake well. Spray on produce and let set for 2-5 minutes, rinse with warm water and dry. Shake well before each use.

Soak:

Large Bowl (mixing bowl works well)

1/4 Cup Vinegar

2 Tbsp Salt

Fill the bowl with cold water, add salt and vinegar. Soak produce for 15 minutes, rinse and dry.

Clean Artificial flowers:

Paper Bag

Salt

Put your artificial flower in a paper bag, add salt and shake vigurously. Remove from the bag and shake off the salt.

Note: I get some of my recipes from Clean House Clean Planet by Karen Logan and from Green Clean by Linda Mason Hunter and Mikki Halpin. Others have been handed down to me by various sources.

Keep looking, I will be adding more recipes soon!

Where can I recycle this? (Where to recycle in Kent County)

The other day we tried to fire up our mower, with no luck. So my husband and I gave it a jump and got it going. Of course once it was shut off it would not restart. My husband removed the battery and took it down to Home Depot to get a new one and hoped to turn in the old one for recycling. Home Depot does not recycle old batteries! So home he came with both the old and the new and the question of what do we do with the old one.

Today the girls and I were at the library and I came across Kent County's 2009 Household Waste & Recycling Guide. Inside it as well as on their website, are drop off locations to recycle just about everything.

Here is a small list:
Motor Oil
Batteries-Auto and household
Antifreeze
Tires
Appliances
Building Materials
Household (Garage) Hazardous Waste
Yard Waste
Fire Extinguishers
Propane Tanks
Latex Paint
Fluorescent Light Bulbs
Medical Wast & Pharmaceuticals
Electronics, TVs & Computers
Styrofoam
Telephone Books
Tennis hoes
Smoke Detectors

You can find the entire list one Kent County's Website at www.accesskent.com/waste

Happy recycling and Happy Earth Day!

Weekend finds

This past Saturday, Grand Rapids held all kinds of events to kick off the week for Earth Day. Having young kids we could not hit them all, but did make it to 2.

First stop, the Farmer's and Artist Market at the Grand Rapids Public Library. This is something that is usually held at the the Fulton Street Farmers Marker during the regular season which starts next month. We had a good time and found some great finds!

We came home with all kinds of homemade soaps, some geraniums, a spider plant and 2 reused fabric accessories.

The first is a small wallet made from and expired fabric sample book.

Made by Stuff & Nonsense

I had my purse stolen out of my van (in my own driveway) a few weeks ago. In it I had 2 wallets. One with all your regular wallet stuff: ID, bank card, credit card and money. The other held punch card and business cards. This reused wallet is perfect for my punch cards and business cards.

The second is a clutch made of an old sweat shirt and has the characters of one of our favorite books one it! (A great find made by my dear husband)

Made by Sally Ann

She reused the front and back of the sweatshirt as well as a zipper from another piece of clothing. So far it has come in really hand bringing books back and forth from the library.

Next stop, the zoo, for Party for the Planet! Oh how my girls love the zoo! They had over 30 West Michigan organizations there with seedling give-aways, games, entertainment, science experiments, recycling, conservation tips, and of course the animals! They even had a designated area in the parking lot where you could your old electronics and clothes to be recycled. Unfortunately we forgot our recyclables, but will be making drop offs soon.

We did come home with lots of information, which after I have had a chance to read and research I will share. We also came home with 2 fur seedling, some flower seeds the girls planed and a bird house kit that we are going to build and hang this weekend.

Real Simple Magazine had a good article this month

About Natural Cleaning Solutions. Many of them I already use, but wanted to share.
Make sure you also check out the ones at the bottom.

You may not believe what I found a reusable use for!

I have an eclectic aromatherapy vaporizer room diffuser and really do not like the filter for it. You can not clean it (believe me I have tried) and some of the stronger scented oils don't fade away. I have tried a few different things to deposit my oils on and non have really worked, without being wasteful. Then yesterday I was cleaning out a drawer in my dresser and came across a bunch of cotton nursing pads. I stood there thinking, now what can I use these for? AHHH! My diffuser! I gave it a try and voila, it worked! Perfect! Now I have a plentiful supply of reusable filters of it.
That is until I find another use for some of the nursing pads.

11 Things

I have come up with a list of 11 things we all can do to be a little more green.

1) Keep the lights off until the sun goes down and open the curtains to let in natural light. If you decide you do want a light on even with the curtains open, use a low watt bulb.

2) Use CFLs (Compact Florescent Lights). CFL last about 8 times longer and are more energy efficient.

3) When buying electronics and appliances buy those with then Energy Star label.

4) Use cold water when washing your laundry! 80-85% of the energy it takes to wash a load of laundry is used heating the water. Also don't use more detergent than needed. More isn't necessarily better.

5) Line dry your clothes. You'll be surprised most items will dry faster than in the dryer and you'll have less to iron. If you do chose to dry in the dryer only dry full loads, make sure the lint trap is clean.

6) Use native plants in your garden. They will need less watering, attract birds and butterflies and animals depend on them.

7) Go local. Grow your own fruits and vegetables. If you can't see about joining a community garden or buy from your local farmers markets, farms and farm stands.

8) Don't waist the water! Use gray water to water your plants. Collect the water from doing your dishes, laundry, bath/shower, gutter and kitchen sink. Make sure you water close to the roots where it is need most.

9) Refuse packaging or buy in recycled packaging. Your paying for the product not the package. Don't put your produce in plastic bags, , most come in their own packaging, we call it the skin. Buy in bulk when you can. Remember to recycle your packaging.

10) Take your own bags with you to the store, whether it be store bags you are reusing or your own reusable bags.

11) Clean naturally! Most of the indoor pollution or 'sick building syndrome' comes from using chemical cleaners that can cause irritation of the eyes, nose, throat and skin. They can also cause headaches, dizziness and fatigue.

New use...old item

I switched from using store bought feminine menstrual items to washable cotton products. I have purchased some GladRags and made my own. GladRags posted a use for the store bought ones on their blog. Here is the link to their blog: http://www.gladrags.com/blog/ And a link to the site the posted about: http://www.tamponcrafts.com/ Enjoy!

Used Coffee Grounds

What do you do with yours?

I put mine in the compost most of the time. But I also put them your house plants, garden and yard.

You can use them to clean odors off your hands. If you have been cutting garlic or onion and can't get the smell of, dip in to the mornings grounds, get a squirt of soap and give them a good scrub.

You can make a facial/cellulite scrub out of them. You can use it as a hand and facial scrub. Put it on your legs and wrap in plastic wrap and leave on for 10-15 minutes, brush it off and jump in the shower.

What you need:
2 cups of used coffee grounds
1/2 cup of raw sugar or unrefined sea salt
2 teaspoons of the the oil of your choice (Sweet Almond, Grape seed or Jojoba)
Optional: Brown Sugar, Cinnamon of vanilla Extract
I mix mine in an old jar. (I save all my jar and reuse them)

You can dish or muslin teabag put them somewhere smelly to absorb the odor.

Put them in your damp hair to stain your hair like a natural hair dye. Leave on for a bit and rinse. You can also do this with cooled (black) coffee. You may have to do this several time to get the effect you want.

*Help save a tree and use a reusable coffee filter!

Start Simple!

Part of my reasoning behind starting this blog is because a lot of my friends and family ARE NOT GREEN at all. It hurts! It hurts us all! It hurts our planet Earth!

Think about it. Look. What do you see when you drive to work, go to the store? Trash, litter, cigarette butts....everywhere! It is disgusting! When you clean your house, do your laundry, what do you smell? Chemicals! Cancer, asthma causing poisons. You might think they smell good, but do you know what those things are that are in the bottle of toxic you just sprayed all over the counter where you are gonna prep your next meal? Look at the label, do you see anything you can't pronounce? Probably. Whatever it is it is probably harmful for you and your family!

I'm not saying change everything you do to make this a healthier world to live in. I'm saying take a look around and start small. Sure some things come with a price tag. For instance I pay $3 a month to have my recycling taken away with my trash. It is so easy to do! I have 2 bags sitting next to my trash can in my kitchen. One is for paper and the other is for all of my other recyclables. Just put your 'trash' in the correct bag. It's that easy to recycle! Once you start you will be amazed at how much trash you don't have! As a family of 4 with 3 animals we put out less than on kitchen bag of trash per week. Composting helps. Composting is something I am still working on. I just toss my fruit and veggie (no meat or dairy-they may attract animals) trash into an old cat litter bucket (reuse-another way to recycle) out side then later take it to the back part of the yard into a pile and give it a little turn with my shovel. I am not very good making my leftovers into dirt yet, but am hoping to get a compost barrel and some red wiggler worms this summer to assist me with it.

To make your own cleaners is simple really. All you need are a few things to get started and you probably already have them in your own house!
Check it out!

All purpose cleaner:
Equal parts water and peroxide
Put in a spray bottle and spray away use a clean cloth or paper towel (I use a cotton diaper) to wipe a way. Works great in mirrors, windows and to get grubby little hand prints off the TV.
Peroxide is a disinfectant, but you can add Tea tree oil, Lavender oil or a citrus oil for sent and additional germ fighting power.

Powder laundry soap:
2 cups Borax 20 Team Mule
2 cups wash soda 1/3 bar grated Ivory soap.
Store in a plastic container (big butter dishes work well)
Use 2 table spoons for a full load, less for smaller loads.
I find if I dilute this in hot water before adding it to the washer it helps the granules dissolve.

Fabric softener:
1 cup baking soda
6 cups white distilled vinegar
8 cups water 15-20 drops essential oil to sent (optional)

Put the cup of baking soda in a 1 gallon container (I suggest something with a twist on lid, like an old milk jug), add 1 cup of water. With the container IN the sink very slowly add the vinegar (this will cause a reaction with the soda). Add the rest of the water and essential oil. Shake well add 1/2-1 cup during the final rinse.
I find if I dilute this in hot water before adding it to the washer it helps the granules dissolve.

You can also use a small dampened cloth with a little conditioner on it a s a dryer sheet for the dryer.

Wood polish:
3 cups of water
4 tablespoons of olive oil
2 tablespoons of distilled white vinegar
10-15 drops orange essential oil (optional) this will help kill germs and make it smell good. Mix in a spray bottle. Shake before using.

Other stuff:
You can add 1 teaspoon of tea tree oil to a gallon of water to wash windows, floors and toilets to scrub away the germs.
To chase away bugs, but a drop of tea tree oil near where they are coming in.
Lavender oil or tea tree oil can be applied directly to cuts and scrapes where it will cool the pain and help fight infection.
Mixing a few drops of tea tree oil with some water in a spray bottle can clean mold in the bathroom, so can (warmed) vinegar and borax.
Water in a spray bottle a few drops of essential oils sprayed around the room for air freshener. Mine is has lavender & patchouli in it.


It really doesn't matter what you do, but doing something helps a lot!

The Green Me

I am a thirty something Stay At Home Mom.

As long as I can remember my dad has always recycled and I give him credit for turning me green. Thirteen years ago I started doing aromatherapy. Just basic stuff, make the house smell good, a treat wounds, a little cleaning.

When I had my second daughter I started making a few of my own cleaners and composting. Not a lot was added to my green list. Now I am really into being green. You could almost call it a hobby. I find it relaxing.

I am making nearly all of my cleaner with dishwasher detergent being my one exception. I have yet to find something I really like. I have really gotten in to my aromatherapy and am making all kinds of things with my oils, there are little bottles all over my house! I am starting to make all kinds of personal care products and am very happy with them.