We're in a decade where "green" and "eco-friendly" are buzzwords, and this makes me brilliantly happy. If wanting to live free of toxic chemicals is cool, consider me Miles Davis (no infringement intended, old lady from Billy Madison!). My routine is determined by two fundamental principles that dominate my life: I hate waste, and I am damn picky about what I allow to be used in my home. This is especially true for the surfaces I use to prepare my food, the blankets on which I sleep, and the things that I put on my body.
Many home cleansers contain bleach, which has a lot of purported links to illness, not only when ingested but inhaled. Intuitively, I was turned off by traditional cleansers by how they irritated my skin when I would get some on my hands. According to traditional Chinese medicine principles, the lungs share an intimate connection with the skin. If it was doing that to my skin, what was it doing to my insides when I inhaled it, or if it got on my food? However, the price of those green cleaners was certainly prohibitive. Luckily, I've come to learn that most of the fancy, green cleaning products you buy at the co-op can be replaced with one of two things (or a mixture of both): vinegar and baking soda.
To break it down, a giant plastic jug of vinegar and a container of baking soda will set you back about $6.00 (more if you want to spring for the organic stuff, but I usually just go with the cheapest I can find, since I won't be eating it). And oh! The wonderful things you can make with these two simple ingredients. Plus, you can whip up a new batch in the same container every time, rather than throwing away packaging each time you run out!
Orange Enzyme Countertop Cleanser
My husband is probably sick of me following him around like a vulture whenever I see him peeling an orange or a grapefruit. "You better not throw away that peel!" I'll exclaim. Every peel goes into making a new batch of my countertop cleanser. I don't know the exact science behind it, but the citrus peels make it work more effectively than vinegar and water alone.
Here's how you do it:
- Get a jar
- Fill it with orange (or lemon, lime, any citrus will do) peels
- Cover the orange peels with white vinegar (I keep adding new peels to the jar and topping it off with vinegar until it's full)
- Let soak for at least 2 weeks
- Strain off the orange peels - the vinegar will be orange-colored and smelling wonderfully citrusy
- Measure out one part infused vinegar to two parts water. I usually eyeball it as I add it to the bottle.
- Add essential oils - I usually add a few drops of orange and ginger oil, which leaves it smelling vaguely like ginger-ale, refreshing and not vinegary at all
Antibacterial Tub Scrub
Here's how you do it:
- Combine a cup of baking soda, a teaspoon natural dishwashing detergent, and enough warm water to form a paste. Mix in a couple drops of antibacterial essential oil, like Tea Tree, Thyme, Eucalyptus, or Rosemary. I like a mixture of lemon and thyme myself.
- Use a stiff brush to scrub your tub (I start with a dry tub and spray a little vinegar or Orange Enzyme Countertop Cleanser on it as I go)
Totally Natural Clog-Busting Drain-No
Here's how you do it:
- Set a teapot on the stove to boil (you'll use it later)
- If you have a slow drain, start by using one of those tools to pull out as much gunk as you can. (However, it's better to do this routinely to avoid the build-up in the first place).
- Pour a cup of dry baking soda right into the drain
- Pour a cup of table salt in next
- Pour in a cup of vinegar and pretend your tub is a fizzing volcano you made in 5th grade science class
- Let it work its magic for 10 minutes (it may not go down right away)
- Pour in boiling water from the tea-kettle
- Plunge and repeat if necessary. Or call a plumber if the situation looks really bad.
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