The highest heavens belong to the LORD, but the earth he has given to man. Psalm 115:16
I'm sure you've heard by now that it's Earth Day on Sunday. I used to walk my dogs on horse trails that went behind a house we lived in for about 4 years. Each year on Earth Day or there abouts I'd take a trash bag and pick up along it and off it where kids had a hang out full of litter.
I'm sure I could find something to do around here too but I'd been reminded about making cleaners and detergents lately so I wanted to give it a whirl. It also didn't hurt my grocery bill to save the 9 bucks a new jug of Bi-O-Kleen laundry liquid would cost. (This brand is very eco friendly but the price of it is causing me to balk lately.)
I made our detergent for years but when I was pregnant with my son somehow I got out of the habit. I followed Stephanie's recipe that she posted on her blog Stop the Ride!. She writes a lot about being more frugal. For me being frugal and environmentally conscious can go hand in hand. If we are cooking from scratch it takes less ingredients to make the same thing as well as less packaging. Next on my list is her recipe for dishwasher detergent when I run out.
I've used vinegar as our fabric softener for a long time and it works great. I also recently bought those dryer balls that not only soften fabrics but decrease drying time (I'd say by about 20% give or take) so that is saving energy too. During the dry winter months some articles of clothing (hubby's pants, fleece jackets) had really bad static cling so I'd put 1/2 a dryer sheet in with only those loads and sometimes even use those twice.
This week in my cleaning frenzy I used diluted vinegar for cleaning most everything - from countertops to stubborn spots on those silly baseboards! I used a small sprinkling of borax on a sponge for nearly everything else that needed more scrubbing - tubs, sinks, toilets. It worked great and so much cheaper than buying different products for everything.
If you are looking for other ways to be more green you can visit Sara at Walk Slowly, Live Wildly. She is constantly making me think.
Also Steph from Adventures in Babywearing wrote a wonderful post about living greener too.
Yet another link to environmentally friendly cleaners.
