All Natural Cleaning

I have used this recipe for years as an all-purpose cleaner but have gone to another one.

OLD RECIPE - that is quite good and a nice place to start if you are just going green or trying to do natural cleaners for the first time.

All-Purpose Spray
1/2 cup vinegar
1/2 tsp liquid dish soap or something like Dr. Bonner's liquid soap
10 drops of essential oil (citrus, peppermint, or tea tree - I use tea tree and lemon)
water - to fill spray bottle

Mix ingredients in a spray bottle. Shake before use.


NEW RECIPE

All-Purpose Cleaner

Heat about 28 ounces of water to boiling (enough to fill your spray bottle), turn off heat and add 2 tbsp BORAX powder, 3/4 tsp of liquid soap, 18 drops of essential oils - usually a mixture of 2 or 3. Stir until the Borax is disolved and won't clog your spray bottle.


Essential oils I use - I always use tea tree oil - in any homemade cleaner - as it has antibacterial, antifungal, and antiseptic properties. I then add in lemon or a citrus scented one, and maybe rosemary - which all of these ones have disinfecting properties. But for Christmas I have just done tea-tree oil and peppermint so that it smells more like Christmas around the house as I clean. Peppermint essential oil has disinfecting properties too.


Basically these are the things I have moved towards when cleaning now:
Baking Soda - It is really good natural abrasive with mild alkaline properties. It is affordable, rinses easily and is completely non-toxic - no dangers for kids and pets.

Vinegar - It is an all natural and known disinfectant. It is affordable as well because you can get a pretty big jug of it at Walmart inexpensively. Only surface that you can't really use it on is marble as the acid discolors marble.

Hydrogen Peroxide - is also non-toxic and is known to be a disinfectant. Also very affordable.

Essential Oils - All natural and many have disinfecting properties. A little goes a long way so when looking at prices they do seem like they can be expensive but often you are using 6 to 10 little drops of it. I have had a bottle of tea tree oil for over 3 years and not even near being empty. Natural food grocers will have them, sometimes health food stores, Whole Food or Trader Joes I believe sell them too. But you can also get them online.

Liquid Soap/Liquid Castile Soap - You can use any liquid soap but to be green and more natural - Liquid Castile Soap is best. It isn't inexpensive but again a little goes a long way. Dr. Bronner’s sells liquid castile soap and I have found that at Target but Trader Joes and Whole Foods I am sure would have it too. Castile soap is a vegetable based soap where most others are petroleum based. So that makes Castile soap completely non-toxic so it can be used on your face and body but will also work well when it comes to cleaning your home.

Just a few little things I do to clean:

* Liquid soap and Baking soda make a great soft scrub (add in essential oil for a nice scent).

* Microwave vinegar and water in a little bowl and it steams all the cooked on food - and makes it easy to wipe clean.

* Clean fruit with 1 tablespoon baking soda, 1 cup vinegar, 1 cup water. Spray on produce and then rinse after 3 to 5 minutes.

Cleaning Supplies

Since it was Earth Day yesterday it has made me think of all the ways I have done better in going green the past year and what ways I want to do better for the next. I know there are a lot more things I want to do.

But one thing I do is use all natural cleaning products. I think it has been about 3 years ago now that I started going to all natural cleaning products - homemade cleaning products. Growing up my Mom cleaned with vinegar a lot and I have used it on and off all my life too. I just decided to use it more and add things to it to make it more of an all-purpose cleaner.

I now have sitting on the counter 1 shaker with baking soda, 1 spray bottle with straight vinegar, 1 with hydrogen peroxide and then 1 with the following mixture. All of which I use to clean.

All-Purpose Spray
1/2 cup vinegar
1/2 tsp liquid dish soap or something like Dr. Bonner's liquid soap
10 drops of essential oil (citrus, peppermint, or tea tree - I use tea tree and lemon)
water - to fill spray bottle

Mix ingredients in a spray bottle. Shake before use.

Green Shopping

Just some recent finds that like....



Nature Bags - green sustainable bags - look good and not a bad price on them either.







And then these are from the Green Heart Shop

Consumer Disobedience

Here is a great post about Consumer Disobedience. She has outlined 14 acts of consumer disobedience and it was a good read and struck a cord with me especially since I just watched The Story of Stuff again just recently.

Here are a many things on her list that I believe we can follow now here are just a few...

5. Be a borrower. Whether it’s a book, a ladder, or a dress to wear to a special event, explore borrowing options before you buy. Check out the library, tool shares, car shares, toy shares, and other programs in your area.

6. Swap. Trading your old stuff with others is a great way to save space (one in, one out!) and money. If you can’t make a swap among friends and family, go online: sites like Swap.com, Paperbackswap, SwapStyle, and Zwaggle help you trade books, CDs, DVDs, video games, clothing, accessories, toys, and more.

14. Want less. Advertisers, marketers, and corporations will do everything in their power to make you want more. But to be richer, happier, and freer, all you need to do is want less.

Dream

I found this really cool GREEN shop with very eclectic items and it is hard to find something I don't like. The photo is from website when I looked at it before I left for North Carolina but now of course this item is gone and it was on clearance.

The shop is Viva Terra.

Going Green

Last year I checked out several books on natural cleaning and just getting back to basics that eliminate toxins in our home. A couple of the books scared me at times and made me realize all the things in our home that have toxins.

You know how all the organic and fresh foods in the grocery store is more expensive than the processed and pre-packaged foods? Well the same goes with the house. Anything that is less toxic costs more. Which both of those just sound amazingly stupid as you would think there would be less cost to the fresh foods then all the making and packaging of the processed. And less-chemicals in paints and floorings - should be less expensive to me. But it isn't. It is hard when we are thinking of (future) remodeling - and we look at the costs of the less-toxic flooring, paints and so on.

But one way that I can help not have as many toxins in our life is by using more natural cleaners. I know that some have toxins but not like the harsh chemicals used in store-bought pre-packaged cleaners. So for over a year I have been going green in my cleaning products. I just have gradually eliminated one after another. I have mostly cleaned with combinations of - vinegar, baking soda, dish soap and tea tree oil.

I have 2 spray bottles in the kitchen one with just vinegar and water and then another with vinegar and tea tree oil. I have a spray bottle in each bathroom with the the tea tree oil mixture. And then one spray bottle with just straight vinegar and shaker bottle with baking soda that I have around to use in the kitchen and bathroom.

I want to make my own dishwasher detergent and also laundry detergent but in our smallish town they don't carry washing soda. I have called everywhere here and was going to start calling places in Denver to possibly pick up next trip over the mountains. In the past when I have search for it online - I knew that the shipping costs would be horrible so put that out of my mind but recently I did another search for it and I discovered Alice.com*. They have washing soda for less then I have seen anywhere and they have FREE SHIPPING.

So when we get back from Keystone I will make an order. And I can't wait to start making some new cleaners. I know it will save money using natural and homemade cleaners plus it will be less-toxic to us.


(*I will have a new post on Alice.com)

Book Review: The Art of Giving

The Art of Giving: Gift Ideas to Delight the Senses by Liezel Norval-Kruger


My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is from description from publishers:

Gift giving is a universal custom, but in today's harried world many of us have moved away from the more considered and creative aspects of what should be a very personal act. It should be a gesture of love, friendship, celebration, acknowledgment, and thanks. The Art of Giving is filled with inspirational ideas and practical information for the discerning gift giver on how to achieve beautiful, artful, and thoughtful gifts.

Taste, smell, and touch are the pivotal chapters. They draw on our capacity to indulge ourselves and those we love through each particular sense. Each chapter is filled with ideas and tantalizing images, as well as practical information on how to create and present wonderful gifts. Another chapter, on wrapping, will show you how to achieve expert finishing touches and inspired solutions to the most awkward of gift shapes. From handcrafted soaps and homemade potpourri to beautifully wrapped candies and an entire picnic for two, the endless variety of ideas in this book offer something for everyone. Turn to the back of the book for recipes, templates, diagrams, labels, and other do-it-yourself essentials to tell you how to do it all. For anyone who wants to create and give gifts that are more expressive, meaningful, and heartfelt than something grabbed off the shelf or ordered over the phone, The Art of Giving offers a wealth of inspiration and practical advice.

I really enjoyed this book. I enjoyed the photos and the style of the gifts and ideas. The Art of Giving is filled with quite a lot of DIY gift ideas that are inexpensive, attractive and simple to make. Also this is a great book to find ideas for those on your gift list that are impossible to shop for people. The book I previously reviewed about green giving...was good but this book has better ideas that could be implemented with green options. Such as it has tubes covered with paper, photos or postcards. Or gifts wrapped in newspaper and then tied pretty ribbon that don't look cheap but look like it was wrapped professionally because the folds are so crisp and the ribbon perfect for it. Or gifts wrapped with felt and embroidery thread to do simple stitches to close it. All their examples were lovely and I can't wait to try some of them out this year for holiday giving.

The book includes recipes, craft and label templates and instructions in the back of the book also.

Some crafts and recipes I want to try and give....
Milk & Honey Bread
Infused Brandy
Fresh Feet Bath
Shoe Bags
Sewing Kits (that would be good for men or women)
Beaded Coasters
Hot Chocolate Cream

Plus MANY MANY more ideas. It is an inspirational book and one I would love to have on in my home to refer to often.

View all my reviews >>

Book Review: Simply Green Giving

Simply Green Giving: Create Beautiful and Organic Wrappings, Tags, and Gifts from Everyday Materials by Danny Seo


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I liked this book better then the party book. Again I really enjoyed the photos/styling of this book. He really hits the concept to reduce, recycle and reuse over and over. Some nice ideas about reusing household items or getting items at thrift stores to repurpose to wrap your gifts, make handmade gifts and gift tags.

I enjoyed seeing him make bows from the scented perfume cards in magazines. He tore them out very carefully. And then opened up the scented edge. He cut 1/2-inch strips across the sheet, starting at the scented edge and stopping an inch from the end. Then you fold it up accordion style - neatly stacking the strips on top of each other. With a pair of sharp scissors take each strip and curl by pulling it over the blade. The quicker you pull it over the blade the curlier it will get. And then attach to gift. The colors and images on the bow turn into a bouquet of colorful ribbon.

He also used the same concept of curling ribbon by pulling VHS tape out of the plastic tape cassette. And he wrapped a wine bottle in newspaper leaving 5 inches extra on top and cut that into strips and curled also.

Some things I didn't feel looked great. He took an old string of christmas lights to tie around a package but I just didn't think it looked good. I believe it probably could have but I just don't feel it was styled right in the book. Something else I wasn't sure about was that he used the inside of silver foil part of potato chip bags to wrap gifts. He washed them of course and then wrapped so the silver was showing out. But I just wonder how someone would feel opening a gift wrapped in a potato chip bag? I guess if they knew you were going green maybe they would accept it but would they think you were weird? Does it matter to save the environment? I don't know. But I thought it was odd. It looked pretty in the book - just wasn't sure how someone would feel opening a gift wrapped in it.

Overall the book did give me ideas for wrapping and decorating gifts in more green ways. I think often people forget repurposing is a green option.

View all my reviews >>

Book Review: Simply Green Parties

Simply Green Parties: Simple and resourceful ideas for throwing the perfect celebration, event, or get-together by Danny Seo


My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I really enjoyed the photos/styling of this book. I enjoyed many of the ideas. Seo brings the concept to reduce, recycle and reuse upfront in party planning. Very nice ideas about reusing household items or getting items at thrift stores to repurpose for party decor. Many of the ideas are very chic and can be adapted to fit your needs.

Okay so the bad things....There were some things I didn't get why he felt they were green. I mean there shouldn't be a lot of trash after a green party. And he suggested using bamboo paper plates. Now that is more eco-friendly then the plastic disposable plates or regular paper plates...but what would be even more eco-friendly is using real everyday plates. Getting a plain white porcelain plate - and you can plan any party around that. Or picking up odd sets at thrift stores and mixing and matching is always to me a better choice then paper. He also did bottled water. Plastic bottles of water....I loved what he did with them making flavor waters but why not pitchers of filtered tap water with fruit in them instead of plastic water bottles.

Over all I am glad I read it. I enjoyed it. I am always thinking of ways to be more green and it did give me ideas for that.

View all my reviews >>