Living Green > Getting Started: The Top Ten #7

7) Cleaning Green

Cleaning with green, natural products is so important, for many reasons. For one, I personally don't want those chemicals (like bleach, and sodium lauryl sulfate) getting into my body. For two, everything that we clean with, ends up in our water systems, affecting so many aspects of life.

All those household chemicals that you have to lock up from children, you lock up because they are hazardous to your health. If you wouldn't want your child getting into it, then you probably shouldn't be cleaning with it either! If you clean your floors with a cleaner containing sodium lauryl sulfate, and then your baby crawls across it, you are putting your child at risk for serious health problems and skin irritations.When you use a cleaner in your tub, toilet, sinks, laundry, even your floors, it eventually will make it's way back to our water system. When it goes down the drain, it goes to the water filtration system, and then right back into the water system that you use to shower with and brush your teeth. Now you wouldn't want to be soaking those chemicals up into your pores that you used to unclog your drain, would you? I know I don't! Also think about how that same water supply will makes its way into our streams and oceans. So many of our plant and animal life has disappeared from our eco-systems because of chemicals.

Collectively, we dump 32 million lbs. of toxic chemistry down our drains each day, just from household cleaning chemicals. That doesn't count what goes into our indoor air. Switching to green alternatives keeps those chemicals out of our bodies and out of our water supply.

So go through your cabinets and check the labeling. A good rule of thumb that I like to go by is, if you can't pronounce it, don't use or eat it!

Some natural cleaners I enjoy are:
Ms. Meyers
Seventh Generation
Dr. Bronners
Green Works

What you can do:
Some natural alternatives to chemical household cleaners are:

BAKING SODA (sodium bicarbonate): An all-purpose, non-toxic cleaner. Cleans, deodorizes, removes stains and softens fabrics.

BORAX (sodium borate): A natural mineral that kills mold and bacteria. An alternative to bleach, it deodorizes, removes stains and boosts the cleaning power of soap. Please note safety precautions at the bottom of this page.

CASTILE and VEGETABLE OIL BASED SOAPS: Cleans everything

CORNSTARCH: Starches clothes, absorbs oil and grease

HERBS and ESSENTIAL OILS: For disinfecting and fragrance

LEMON JUICE: Cuts through grease and removes perspiration and other stains from clothing.A bleach alternative.

SALT (sodium chloride): An abrasive

NON-FLUORIDE TOOTHPASTE: A mild abrasive

VINEGAR (acetic acid): Cuts grease, removes stains and is an excellent water softener.

WASHING SODA (sodium carbonate): Cleans clothes, softens water, cuts grease and disinfects. Increases the cleaning power of soap.

ISOPROPYL RUBBING ALCOHOL: is an alternative to harsh cleaners with bleach.

Homemade cleaning recipes
Sodium Lauryl Sulfate Info

Living Green > Getting Started: The Top Ten #6

6) Natural Lawn Care

Don't you just love summertime's, laying on your lawn, flowing your fingers through the grass?

I bet you would think differently if you knew what you were really laying on.

The average suburban lawn uses six times the hazardous chemicals per acre than conventional farming. Is this really safe? Or necessary? What about your children and pets who play on that lawn, how much of those chemicals are going into their bodies?

If just 10% of us switched to natural lawn care, over half a billion lbs. of synthetic fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides would prevented from entering the environment...and our bodies! When you use pesticides, fertilizers, and herbicides on your lawns and gardens, you cannot segregate what they kill from what you really want them to kill.

Some of the best fertilizer you could have is compost. While you mow your lawn, mulch! Leave the mulched clippings on your lawn and reduce the need for lawn fertilizer by 30% as well as help your lawn trap carbon. If you don't want to mulch, keep the clippings for compost. You can buy or make a fairly inexpensive, yet effective, composter that can sit in the corner or your lawn, or by your recycle bins. Keep all your scraps of food, and lawn trimmings to create beautiful compost that will fertilize your lawn naturally (and your plants will LOVE it). One of the benefits to using organic fertilizers is reducing the amount of toxic chemicals in our water systems, which in turn reduces the amount of toxic chemicals in our bodies.

Most people who have a garden struggle, at one time or another with unwanted insects. Take example from Mother Nature, use checks and balances! Instead of jumping to the easiest thing, sythentic pesticides, research the pest, and try to find it's natural enemy (a beneficial insects) to introduce into your garden instead. This is the most effective, and natural way to remove unwanted insects from your yard. In nature’s cycle we have predators and prey. Those nasty bugs that are making prey out of your prize roses are also a tasty snack to other insects. Introducing these beneficial insects into your garden can help control unwanted pests.

One very beneficial insect to introduce into your garden is the light green lacewing fly. Lacewings should be purchased as eggs which you spread around your garden plants. As soon as the eggs hatch the hungry larvae will eat caterpillars, moth eggs, aphids, mealy bugs and almost anything else that gets in its way.

Another beneficial insect is the praying mantis. Purchase praying mantis’s as eggs and place in your garden. When the praying mantis hatches he will eat beetles, flies, aphids, and many other insects. Your kids will love this one too, they are fun to have around, not to mention beautiful!

What you can do - 6 steps to a more natural lawn:

1) Switch to natural lawn care
2) Compost!
3) Use natural pesticides, like bugs!
4) Water less frequently and deeper
5) Mow higher
6) Choose the right grass for your region