I’ve tried to find more “green” ways to clean up around the apartment. Actually, I’m trying to make our whole lives more environmentally friendly. It’s slow going because I don’t feel like I can just go out and blow a bunch of money all at once and replace everything. We don’t have that kind of money. But just about every time I go somewhere I pick up one more thing. And I’m always on the look out for new things for cleaning etc.

We have made this choice to try a little harder to be better people, better stewards of our planet in the more recent months. We changed our diet to better suit Rick’s health problems, the result being that we eat more “green”. So why not take it full circle and surround ourselves with biodegradable things that won’t be harmful to us, our pets or the planet? Also, I want to protect our future health. My mom is allergic to everything under the sun. I am the only one of our family whom does not suffer from typical allergies other than a possible gluten allergy and a definite milk/lactose intolerance. I think that if we don’t stress our bodies out by requiring it to try to digest preservatives or things that really can’t be found anywhere in nature. Nor make our lungs breathe a wide variety of toxins found in most house hold cleaners than perhaps we can avoid developing allergies and live longer healthier lives.

So what have I done so far? I got rid of Soft Scrub. I now use baking soda to scrub the tub and sinks and counters. I have found that it cleans more thoroughly than the other alternatives. It doesn’t hurt my hands, only exfoliates them a bit. I don’t have to worry about not breathing in the fumes like I worried with Scrubbing Bubbles. I have found it also seems to absorb grease. I broil a lot of our proteins and the fat gets all over the inside of the oven. It grosses me out and starts to smell a little if you don’t clean it out. I used it to start scrubbing the oven out one night. I was not able to finish so left a coating on the bottom of the oven. A couple of days later, when I had time again, I went back over it with a damp paper towel and it came up with the grease!

I also got rid of the off brand imitation of Pine Sol. I used to use that all over the house, the bathroom and kitchen, where my food would end up. I now use a mixture of white vinegar, water and essential oils. I don’t mix it precisely, I’ve seen a ton of different recipes for these cleaners and it seems that one does not need it to be equal parts water and vinegar. I do 1/3 vinegar, 2/3 water and several drops of essential oils. I use several kinds of essential oils. This is one area I know a little about. Tea tree oil is a great one. Lavender is also very good. They are also smell better than some of the other oils. I included oregano and orange. It depends on what I have available at the time. I try to always have tea tree though, it is the “super-cleaning” oil.

I changed my dish soap from Palmolive to Seventh Generation soap, which is completely biodegradable. They have a pretty cool line of house hold cleaners including dishwasher detergent, and laundry soap. The dish soap has a couple of different options for scents that actually smell like the real thing. You can almost always tell that something is synthetic and not “real” if it doesn’t smell like it’s natural counter part. Lavender for example, is a very common scent, but rarely do they use real lavender. Seventh Generation does. I hate dishes and it makes for a more pleasant experience for me. It also is gentler on my hands.

I’m going to try some more things. I’ve read that Borax, castile soap and corn meal can be used for several things and I will keep updating my efforts here. Green cleaning to all!