Winter Cleaning: Get the Kids Involved

Jamie Ervin — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 02:07:04 +0000

I prefer to do our major cleaning during the holiday break when its cold and wet outside and save Spring time for playing outside and trips to the beach.

Our mission this week is to tackle all the problem areas in our house. Each day we will tackle one or two areas. That region will be decluttered, recycled, repurposed, and scrubbed until it shines before we move on to the next space.

I’ve been motivated in my cleaning style by Squeaky Green The Method Guide To Detoxing Your Home. When I first read the chapter on dust mites I went bonkers, removing every item from underneath my bed, vacuuming, scrubbing, and fluffing until I felt reasonably assured that our sleeping spaces were free of creepy crawlies.

Throughout the book you will find Dirty Little Secrets. My favorite is no.00 found on the back cover of this manual. ”What you think makes your home clean might be making it dirty. Sometimes the chemicals in household cleaners are worse for you than dirt and dust.” Um, yeah… let’s get it clean and chemical free!

How Big is still Green?

Lee Welles — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 03:16:39 +0000

Like many of you, I’m very aware that what goes on my skin, in my hair and on my floors and countertops, also goes down the drain and into the world! I distinctly remember a moment, while congratulating myself for using a great, organic body care product, that I looked at the label and realized that bottle had traveled about 3000 miles! Then I squinted and saw that Unilever was distributing the product and I was no longer giving my money to the small, eco-friendly company that I thought I was!

This New York Times article has me again pondering the crossroads of eco-friendly products and economies of scale.

While I’m a big fan of the cleaning power of baking soda, vinegar, Borax and lemons …a decent homemade shampoo is still beyond me! It took me a while, but I found a skin care line that I like; not only because the ingrediants are simple and organic, but because the packaging is recycleble.

Green Options » house cleaning

Winter Cleaning: Get the Kids Involved

How Big is still Green?