Green Options

Ecover all natural, eco-friendly laundry detergents can help keep your fashion stylish and green. They even have a special formula for your delicates that can be used when hand washing your more intimate apparel.

Jeff McIntire-Strasburg occasionally writes posts on new, innovative green products (see Five Greenish Products You’ve Seen on TV and Five More Greenish Products You’ve Seen on TV). Rather than try to steal his thunder, this post looks at some basic, simple, green products that can make your everyday life many times greener.

Staying away from the topics of food and transportation, which are probably the biggest daily products you could green, here is a list of products you use everyday.

Absolutely.

Non-toxic cleaners are the far better, safer choice in household cleaning. That said, there is still some danger in any cleaning product. Your child could have an allergy to an ingredient, it might contain an eye irritant or could cause stomach upsets. This is much less of a concern than carcinogens and mutagens in cleaning supplies, but that doesn’t mean we can store our solutions under the sink in an unlocked cupboard and assume that our child is safe.

This topic came up last night with a girlfriend of mine, she is one of the most environmental people I know. She shot me an email saying, “As a Mom who has changed to eco-friendly products, be it Seventh Generation, or Vermont Soap Organic All Purpose Cleaner, or even a vinegar, baking soda and water mix- what if my child were to get into it, swallow it/drink it? How non-toxic is it really, as far as having to call 911, etc…? I mean, you still have to call a doctor, right? Even though it is “non-toxic” you should still follow some sort of instruction in case of eye contact/swallowing?”

The biggest learning curve for me as a cloth diapering newbie was how to clean up all the mess my little one made. There were lots of trial and error, but I think I finally got the hang of it. I know many parents are put off by the output of their offsprings, but for some reason; the baby daddy and I didn’t seem to mind scraping off poo off of the cloth. We even felt cheerio about it. Of course, there was the occasional face when things got out of hand. We even attempted to cloth diaper without having our own washer and dryer. However, we got to really know the coin laundry attendant REAL well. So without adieu, here’s the simple way to clean cloth diapers.

To cloth diaper full time, I recommend anywhere from 24 to 36 diapers. The 24 if you want to wash every other day; 36 if you don’t have your own washer (could do without the dryer if you utilize the clothes line) or wash every 2 to 3 days. It does take time to build up your stash so in the meantime you might want to consider chlorine free diapers like 7th Generation or even Gdiapers (didn’t work out for me but seems to be favorite among many green moms).

There is NO NEED TO USE WET PAILS. I repeat, NO WET PAILS. It’s a drowning hazard and the modern washing machine has gotten so good, there’s no need to dunk or let the diaper sit in poopy water. Either use a dry pail, nylon bag, or throw them in the washer. When the diaper bag, pail, or washer is full.. here’s a quick and simple way to wash cloth diapers.

I have discovered the holy grail of green cleaners! There are very few situations in which consuming unnecessary chemicals seems like a good idea so I decided to re-vamp my cleaning supplies. Slowly I am substituting my traditional products for vegetable-based products which are more safe and sustainable and I challenge you to try the same!

Of course it is always cost effective and environmentally friendly to make cleaning products at home but if you opt to buy them instead then this article is for you! So far I have found vegetable-based laundry detergent, anti-bacterial spray, dish soap and even biodegradable cleansing wipes! Let me elaborate on the brands I have stumbled upon:

My new favorite laundry detergent is made by a company called Ecover which specializes in biodegradable, vegetable-based cleaning products for all areas of the home. Each load requires just two small lid-fuls of detergent which will last you an estimated 20 loads. My clothes come out fresh and fragrant every time.

The second bunch of green cleaning tools comes from Clorox. I have invested in their new line of Green Works products, including toilet bowl cleaner and all-purpose cleaner, which work like magic. Now we’ll just have to wait for them to phase out the traditional chemical-based cleaners!