by Marissa Lenting

Cleaning green.

These days everyone is cutting back on extra costs in their lifestyles. Keeping your home clean shouldn’t cause a pain in your wallet, but the cleanliness of your home shouldn’t suffer either.

A great new way to clean your home is through these handmade recipes, and there is no chemistry set needed! Just mix a few simple ingredients together and you’ve got your very own green-clean team! It is a great way to look out for the environment and your family, as they are kid and pet friendly! These homemade recipes are also a lot more cost effective than your typical chemical-based cleaners.

Try using vinegar for many of your home cleaning remedies. Don’t worry about your home smelling like vinegar, the smell disappears when it dries. A bottle of vinegar will cost around $3.80 for 128 oz. and a 26 oz. bottle of window cleaner can cost $4.79! That’s more than a $20.00 difference! Some simple and common uses for vinegar are:

Bathroom - Clean the bathtub, toilet, sink, and countertops. Use pure vinegar in the toilet bowl to get rid of rings. Flush the toilet to allow the water level to go down. Pour the undiluted vinegar around the inside of the rim. Scrub down the bowl. Mop the floor in the bathroom with a vinegar/water solution. The substance will also eat away the soap scum and hard water stains on your fixtures and tile. Make sure it is safe to use with your tile.

Kitchen - Clean the stovetop, appliances, countertops, and floor.

Laundry Room – Use as a natural fabric softener. This can be especially helpful for families who have sensitive skin. Add cup of vinegar to the rinse cycle in place of store bought fabric softener. Vinegar has the added benefit of breaking down laundry detergent more effectively.

Use lemon juice to clean your surfaces and rid of smells. Lemon juice can be mixed with vinegar and or baking soda to make all sorts of cleaning pastes. A bunch of 5 lemons will cost you around $2.50 and one lemon can cover an entire house! A 12.5 oz. bottle of furniture polish will cost you $3.99 the savings are simple. Simple and common uses for lemons are:

Bathroom – Lemon juice can dissolve soap scum and hard water deposits. Soak your showerhead in a bowl of lemon juice or rub a mixture of lemon juice and water on your sink or bathtub.

Kitchen – A great way to shine brass and copper. Cut a lemon in half and sprinkle baking soda on the cut section and scrub dishes or pans. Put a few slices of lemon in a bowl of water and place in microwave. Cook for 2 minutes and remove bowl. Then easily wipe off any food particles or grease from microwaves surfaces. Put a whole lemon peel through the garbage disposal, it freshens the drain and the kitchen.

Baking soda can also be used in an all-purpose way of cleaning. Mix it with vinegar or lemon for an abrasive super cleaner! An all-purpose cleaner can cost around $3.00 for only 32 oz., while a 48 oz. box of baking soda costs $2.25 and will last you a lot longer!
If you really want a great way to freshen up your home, add a few drops of lavender essential oil to your cleaning mixture, a 10ml bottle goes for $5 – $10, and can last you a year.

Here are some more really great recipes and ideas for all your homemade cleaning needs!

Furniture Polish: Combine 1/4 cup of olive oil, 1/4 cup of distilled vinegar, and 2 tsp. lemon juice and shake well. Dip a clean and dry cloth into polish and rub wood in the direction of the grain. Refrigerate any remaining polish.

Toilet Bowl Cleaner: Sprinkle bowl with baking soda and drizzle with white vinegar. Let soak 30 minutes, and scrub with toilet brush. For tough stains, let soak overnight.

All Purpose Cleaner: Combine 2 cups of white distilled vinegar and 2 cups of water. Use on counter tops, kitchen floors, windows, mirrors, and any other hard surfaces. For tough jobs, warm the cleaner in the microwave.

Happy Cleaning!

BE PART OF THE SOLUTION!

Original Article:  http://earthorganization.com/clean-green

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This post was first published on The Green Bean Blog. To continue reading, please visit Cheap, Clean and Green! is a post from:

What’s round like an orange, textured like a porcupine and green like a lime? It’s the green wash ball. This ball works by bouncing around natural ceramics inside the ball that raise the ph level of the water. This process is much like how traditional detergent works but instead of friction they use chemicals to raise the ph level. Also the texturing on the ball helps loosen dirt and at the same time softens clothes without the use of chemical fabric softeners.

To use, simply place ball in washer without detergent or fabric softener and wash as usual. The green ball can be used 7 times per week and then refreshed by place in the sun for 1 hour. Following this pattern of use will give you enough cleaning power to last 1,000 washes or 3 years worth of laundry. The green ball safeguards clothes, activates water’s natural cleaning power, eliminates odors, cleans with an antibacterial effect, removes dirt without chemical detergents and avoids allergic reactions to clothing detergents and fabric softeners. The green ball is safe for septic tanks and in the production of gray water. Also with college starting the green ball is an easy way for students to do their laundry with one simple ball. So the next time you’re in the detergent aisle think about trying the green wash ball.

Also, while laundry is on your mind think about the art of clothes drying. While fall is quickly approaching, the art of hanging your clothes on the line to dry is liberating and nostalgic. One can hang clothes on the line and enjoy the sun and breeze of the day. This enjoyment continues when the clothes are taken down in their crispness and the scent lingers in your closet and drawers. But if you cannot hang your clothes out or, have allergies, using a dryer to dry your clothes is your only option. However, you can save money, soften your clothes naturally, and save time by using dryer balls. These balls placed as pairs in your dryer beats one’s clothes to soften and speed up drying time.

So even the art of doing laundry can be green. Green wash balls reduce the use of plastic, cut down on unplanned trips to the store when you run out unexpectedly and soften one’s clothes by the tumbling of the ball in the washer much like what has been done for centuries with beating clothes on rocks. The green wash ball can also be used in the refrigerator to help keep fruits and vegetables fresh. The final task on laundry day is drying and it can be the most enjoyable. Mother Earth has provided the most wonderful dryer for clothes, the outdoors. But if you cannot take advantage of Mother Earth’s dryer the dryer balls in the dryer are the next best thing. While this act uses energy the beating of the ball softens clothes, cuts drying time which saves energy and if nothing else creates rhythmic music that spices up a mundane task.

This post was first published on The Green Bean Blog. To continue reading, please visit Laundry Day: Try Green Wash Ball is a post from:

I, personally, love to clean. I love the look of a sparkling kitchen and a tidy bathroom. However, I am not as fond of the toxic smell of chemicals, which is usually a side effect of having a clean home. So, I was thrilled when I finally tried Method’s line of soaps, surface cleaners and detergents. They are ‘people against dirty’ (read, people after my own heart) and they stand for great design, sustainability, safety and good-smelling cleaning products.

Method offsets their carbon from all of their employees’ commutes and the energy it takes to run their office buildings. They also offset the energy consumed by the manufacture of products through renewable energy credits. They work to reduce their energy consumption from making, shipping and using their products. One of the ways they can do this is by manufacturing concentrated soaps and detergents. Oftentimes, soap contains a large percent of water, but Method makes more concentrated products which allow less packaging materials and less weight. This results in fewer carbon emissions during the shipping and distribution of products.

In terms of safety, Method has followed the ideas of Michael Braungart, co-author of Cradle to Cradle, in using completely natural, biodegradable and harmless ingredients in their products. They were recognized at the ‘champions’ level of Safer Detergents Stewardship Initiative, as part of the EPA’s Design for the Environment program. The program works to reduce chemical risk and improve energy efficiency to be better for both people and the planet. The EPA now has 1,034 products and counting as part of this program, which have eliminated more than 270 million pounds of harmful chemicals. Method currently has 50 products in compliance with the DfE program.

Method also prominently displays their ingredient lists on their website, breaking each product down ingredient by ingredient. You can feel good about knowing exactly what’s in every product you use. The people at Method work with Michael’s Braungart’s team at the Environmental Protection and Encouragement Agency (EPEA) to carefully consider every material that goes into their final products, and to make sure that the products won’t pollute any of our water systems with harmful chemicals.

Method makes Cradle to Cradle certified products, which is a huge achievement in itself, but they also became endorsed as a Cradle to Cradle company recently, which means that they are environmentally sustainable not only in their products, but in all aspects of their business.

Eric Ryan and Adam Lowry, the founders of Method, have also figured out how to capture the market (and my gratitude) with their sleek designs. I no longer feel the need to stuff cleaning products under the sink or put them in non-descript containers; my dish soap stands proudly out on the counter. The bottles are 100% recycled plastic and Method uses labels that won’t jam up recycling systems. And did I mention they are pretty?

I knew I loved Method’s products the moment I read the bottles and discovered scents like ‘pink grapefruit, cucumber, ginger yuzu’ among others. Thankfully, we finally have another choice for scents in the cleaning aisle besides lemon.

Method has revolutionized a market which has historically been seen as environmentally unsound. They have made effective cleaning products that can be washed down drain without the subsequent environmental guilt pains. They have made it so we can take off the rubber gloves, and we can keep our cleaning products on display. Above all, they have set a standard of sustainability.

This post was first published on The Green Bean Blog. To continue reading, please visit Clean and Green: Method’s Home and Personal Care Products is a post from:

I, personally, love to clean. I love the look of a sparkling kitchen and a tidy bathroom. However, I am not as fond of the toxic smell of chemicals, which is usually a side effect of having a clean home. So, I was thrilled when I finally tried Method’s line of soaps, surface cleaners and detergents. They are ‘people against dirty’ (read, people after my own heart) and they stand for great design, sustainability, safety and good-smelling cleaning products.

Method offsets their carbon from all of their employees’ commutes and the energy it takes to run their office buildings. They also offset the energy consumed by the manufacturer of products through renewable energy credits. They work to reduce their energy consumption from making, shipping and using their products. One of the ways they can do this is by manufacturing concentrated soaps and detergents. Oftentimes, soap contains a large percent of water, but Method makes more concentrated products which allow less packaging materials and less weight. This results in fewer carbon emissions during the shipping and distribution of products.

In terms of safety, Method has followed the ideas of Michael Braungart, co-author of Cradle to Cradle, in using completely natural, biodegradable and harmless ingredients in their products. They were recognized at the ‘champions’ level of Safer Detergents Stewardship Initiative, as part of the EPA’s Design for the Environment program. The program works to reduce chemical risk and improve energy efficiency to be better for both people and the planet. The EPA now has 1,034 products and counting as part of this program, which have eliminated more than 270 million pounds of harmful chemicals. Method currently has 50 products in compliance with the DfE program.

Method also prominently displays their ingredient lists on their website, breaking each product down ingredient by ingredient. You can feel good about knowing exactly what’s in every product you use. The people at Method work with Michael Braungart’s team at the Environmental Protection and Encouragement Agency (EPEA) to carefully consider every material that goes into their final products, and to make sure that the products won’t pollute any of our water systems with harmful chemicals.

Method makes Cradle to Cradle certified products, which is a huge achievement in itself. They also became endorsed as a Cradle to Cradle company recently, which means that they are environmentally sustainable not only in their products, but in all aspects of their business.

Eric Ryan and Adam Lowry, the founders of Method, have also figured out how to capture the market (and my gratitude) with their sleek designs. I no longer feel the need to stuff cleaning products under the sink or put them in non-descript containers; my dish soap stands proudly out on the counter. The bottles are 100% recycled plastic and Method uses labels that won’t jam up recycling systems. And did I mention they are pretty?

I knew I loved Method’s products the moment I read the bottles and discovered scents like ‘pink grapefruit, cucumber, ginger yuzu’ among others. Thankfully, we finally have another choice for scents in the cleaning aisle besides lemon.

Method has revolutionized a market which has historically been seen as environmentally unsound. They have made effective cleaning products that can be washed down the drain without the subsequent environmental guilt pains. They have made it so we can take off the rubber gloves and keep our cleaning products on display. Above all, they have set a standard of sustainability.

This post was first published on The Green Bean Blog. To continue reading, please visit Clean and Green : Method’s Home and Personal Care Products is a post from:

Odds are, you have a DVD lying around the house that you’ve watched so many times it’s practically committed to memory. Or a book someone gave you that you’ll never read. You’ve thought about trying to sell these items on e-bay or amazon, but then it hardly seems worth it with the time and costs of listing those things. Well, for those of you who have been holding onto your old collection of movies, music, books or video games, you’ve hit the jackpot.

You can now swap any of your old media for something new through Swaptree. They allow you to set up a list of all your DVDs, CDs, books and video games that you no longer want (a “have list”), and media that you want (a “want list”) and the website goes to work to find you what you want. It’s easy, and it’s free. You’re only responsible for the shipping costs, which can be done on the cheap through the post office’s media mail rates.

Swaptree keeps consumers happy but is also reducing the number of shopping trips, packaging, and new goods purchased. Say you’ve got the last season of “Lost” on DVD, but you’ve watched it so many times you’re sick of it. Instead of tossing it, or even donating it, you can retain its value by trading it for something else you want.

If you’ve always wanted Michael Pollan’s book The Omnivore’s Dilemma, you can put it on your “want” list, and if you’ve got something that somebody else wants, you’ve got the book and it’s yours for as long as you want. For those of us who want to keep books we really love, this is a great system since libraries always have a return policy and buying through bookstores can be expensive.

Swaptree has brought real meaning to “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.” The more members, the greater chance of scoring the loot you want. So go ahead and try Swaptree, maybe that novel you just read at the beach this past weekend will be just the thing to get you a copy of your favorite movie.

This post was first published on The Green Bean Blog. To continue reading, please visit Swaptree: Trade Books and DvDs Free Online is a post from:

As many of you know, homemade cleaning supplies are often the greenest cleaning supplies. Such is the case with homemade window cleaner solution. Making your own window cleaning solution not only reduces the negative impact of the packaging, shipping, and hazardous chemicals of traditional cleaners, but it also saves you a little cash.

A simple mix of 2-4 common, around-the-house, and most importantly, non-toxic items and a reusable glass spray bottle or recycled plastic spray bottle (try to use something you already have, rather than buying anything new) are all you need for the perfect window cleaning solution.

I’ve gathered together the best recipes I’ve found. Just put all the ingredients in a spray bottle and shake it up. Experiment with them until you find a mix you like. If you are like me and find even dish detergent a little less natural than you’d like, I recommend recipes #4 or #8.

Homemade Window Cleaner Recipes

Recipe #1

2 cups water
½ t mild dish detergent
3T vinegar

Recipe #2

2 TBSP cornstarch
1/2 cup household ammonia
1/2 cup white vinegar
1 gallon warm water

Recipe #3

1 cup water
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 cup rubbing alcohol

Recipe #4

1 gallon warm water
1/2 cup white vinegar

Recipe #5

1 gallon water
1/4 cup vinegar
1 tsp dish detergent (liquid)

Recipe #6

1 gallon water
2 TBS lemon juice
1/4 cup vinegar
squirt liquid dish detergent

Recipe #7

4-5 cups water
2 cups rubbing alcohol
1/2 cup ammonia
1 tsp dish detergent (liquid)

Recipe #8

3T Ammonia
1T vinegar
3 cups water

Window Cleaning Tools

Another important aspect of green window cleaning is the tools you use. Believe it or not, windows can, and should, be cleaned without paper towels because paper towels always means unnecessary waste. All you really need to clean your windows is a squeegee and old newspapers or reusable lint-free towels.

Just spray on your homemade cleaner, wipe it off with the squeegee, and clean up the excess spots with newspaper or towels. It’s that simple.

I know it is not a big step towards saving the environment, but it is a little thing to lessen your impact.

This post was first published on The Green Bean Blog. To continue reading, please visit Green Window Cleaner: Homemade Window Cleaning Solution is the Best Alternative is a post from:

It doesn’t make sense.

Americans are drinking a billion bottles of water per week, a fact that may not hit so heavily if we recycled religiously.  38 billion empty plastic water bottles end up in landfills every year.

Nearly a quarter of the bottled water we drink comes from the cola companies as recycled, cleaned up tap water.  Those bottled overseas are a little more expensive due to the shipping costs (water is heavy) but more important than the money in shipping costs is that this process costs us as global people valuable resources in gas and electricity.

Our second most popular water bottle brand comes from Fiji, where about half the people lack safe drinking water.   It is easier for a teenager in Arizona to drink Fiji’s finest than it is for a Fiji island native to quench his/her thirst.  Does this sound ridiculous to anyone else?

The question is, then, how do we survive without bottled water?  We’ve become so dependent on it, the public use water fountains are rarely touched and most people wouldn’t drink water out of the tap if you paid them.

Simple solution: Home reverse osmosis systems.  We invest in our homes as a place we trust to live.  We invest in cars as trusted transportation systems.  We invest in insurance both for health and death. And yet  75%  of our body (that being water) is somehow overlooked, or if we do pamper that part of our body, then we are neglecting our green duty.  If you have a home, invest in a reverse osmosis system and treat your body right without filling up landfills.

Solution on a budget:  Water and ice stores are lifesavers.  They’ll fill up your container for about $.25 a gallon.  But be sure to reuse your containters.

Portable Solution: Invest in a Nalgene or CamelBak (BPA-Free) bottles  for travel. Or if you are particular about your water’s purity, try a water bottle purifier.

This post was first published on The Green Bean Blog. To continue reading, please visit Bottled Water on a Water Planet is a post from:

In the summer, the hot sun blesses us in so many ways.  It brings people out of their homes and together; it warms our swimming pools and feeds the plants in our gardens.  There is also one thing the sun is perfect for, LAUNDRY.  Hanging up your clothes to dry and letting the sun do all the work not only can save energy, but it can save your clothes. Not to mention, it is really easy.

The clothes dryer accounts for 5.8% of residential energy use per year and is the third biggest user of electricity in your home according to the US Department of Energy.  According to Laundrylist.org, if each American hung their clothes up to dry, we would save enough energy to close down several power plants.

Another plus: Hanging  your clothes to dry not only saves energy but it also saves your clothes.  When clothes are tumbled dried, the fibers of your clothes are broken down, which causes your clothes to wear much quicker.  Where do you think dry lint comes from?  If your clothes are hung up to dry they can last longer, which in turn saves the material needed to buy new clothes.  It also decreases the amount of clothes thrown out into the land fill.

Here are a few simple tips from  the Queen of Clean and a few of my own to help you on the road to line drying your clothes.

• A tension curtain rod hung up in a laundry room can make a great place to hang up clothes.  Project Laundry List also has many styles of clothes lines to choose from.
• Want eye-popping whites?  Hang your clothes in direct sunlight.
• Use caution when hanging colored clothes in direct sun.  Just as the sun bleaches your whites, it can bleach your colored clothes.
• Hanging clothes on plastic hangers with sloped ends will help them dry without “shoulder dimples.”
• Don’t like how your clothes can be a little stiff after line drying?  Toss them in the dryer with a wet washcloth or hand towel for 5 minutes and it will soften the clothes.
• The sun and a little lemon juice works wonders on stains .  Pour a little lemon juice on the stain, sit it out in the sun for 30 minutes and then wash.  No more stains!
• Clothes will have fewer wrinkles when line dried if you don’t spin to much water out of them before you hang them up.  Shut off your washer half way through the spin cycle and then hang up your clothes. You also save a little extra energy that way.

This post was first published on The Green Bean Blog. To continue reading, please visit Clothing Lines Save Energy and Clothes is a post from:

Summer is the perfect time to enjoy a picnic. But how green is your picnic if you’re bringing virgin plastic cutlery, paper plates, and paper napkins with you? As many places implement ‘carry in, carry out’ policies, we have to think about the effect our disposables are having on the municipal waste stream and how we can better minimize our impact.

Branch, which offers sustainable products for daily life, offers a series of biodegradable plates, bowls and napkins. These are made entirely of bagasse , which is a sugarcane fiber, a byproduct of the refining process.  It is a renewable material, but is often burned as a waste product instead of reused. Branch sells bowls, plates, trays, and platters made of this material that are unbleached and FDA approved.

Now all you need is your cutlery, right? Well, Branch offers a sustainable solution for that too. They sell forks, knives and spoons made of potato starch and vegetable oil which are also completely biodegradable. Their website advertises that the cutlery will decompose in just 180 days in a composting facility. A plastic fork (depending on the kind of plastic) can take decades to decompose. Tens, or even hundreds of years versus 180 days?

Lastly, Branch carries a line of cold cups made from a polymer that is derived from corn and other renewable resources. These are said to break down within 90 – 120 days in a commercial composting facility. Not only are these decomposing faster, but they are reducing our dependency on oil and focusing on products that we can grow in the US.

In addition to these biodegradable options, they also sell 100% recycled paper napkins. If you have to have disposable napkins, these may be a good choice but we can also suggest bringing your own cloth napkins from home, as these leave less of a waste trail.

Branch carries some great products for a more sustainable lifestyle. The only caveat for those trying to buy sustainable and local, is that many of their products are made in China or Thailand. If we can manufacture compostable tableware in the US instead of abroad, we can begin to close the loop in production, which would stimulate the local economy as well as be an environmental gain.

Though there are many options out there for biodegradable and compostable tableware, I like the selection at Branch because they clearly outline what their products are made of and why that is a more sustainable choice than its traditional counterpart. They also offer smaller quantities for the every day user, instead of only selling huge cases (better suited for retail). It’s important that it’s not only the food service industry that has access and incentive to buy these products, but that they are marketed for the individual as well.

We need to think about the purpose of the products we use and how the materials suit the need. Many products generally outlast the purpose they are built for, which contributes to greater waste. Instead, we can use biodegradable options that can be thrown into the compost pile or completely recycled when they’ve served their original purpose.

This post was first published on The Green Bean Blog. To continue reading, please visit Biodegradable Tableware: How to Have a Green Picnic is a post from:

While compost heaps are becoming more mainstream even for tight neighborhoods, many homes and apartments still have the good old-fashioned sink disposal that sometimes stinks like a compost heap.

Simple solution: Instead of using a foaming or chemically laden cleaner for your garbage disposal, cut a lemon and lime into quarters and run it for a few seconds.  Lemon is a natural cleanser, and lime is a natural smelly-goody.

This post was first published on The Green Bean Blog. To continue reading, please visit Quick Tip for Stinky Garbage Disposals is a post from: