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Green Living

Tips for Green Living

You don’t have to go completely green.  Doing just a few things can add up and make a huge difference in the health of your family and the environment.  Here is a list of things to help you go green. 

Cleaning Tips:

• Switch from your regular bleach and chemical cleaners, to organic or natural cleaners. These are safer for your family and the environment!  Substitute natural germ fighters, such as tea-tree oil and eucalyptus oil, for bleach and chlorine.  Equal parts water and hydrogen peroxide work like bleach and remove most stains (it isn't officially considered a disinfectant).  

• Make your own cleaners from things you probably already have around the house:
  • Mix 1 cup olive oil with the juice from 5 lemons and transfer to a spray bottle. Works great for polishing/dusting wood furniture!
  • To polish leather, mix one cup vinegar and 1 cup of linseed oil.
  • Baking soda makes a great scrub for tubs, stove tops, and stainless steel sinks. I recommend testing a small area your first time to make sure it does not damage them.
  • Baking soda is also great a deodorizer. Sprinkle on carpets, leave for an hour or so and vacuum off. Put a small open container in your refrigerator and freezer to keep them smelling fresh and change every month or so.
  • Use baking soda to brush your teeth!
  • Mix equal parts white vinegar and water and transfer to a spray bottle to clean windows and mirrors! Streak-free!
  • Rub lemon juice on white clothing to remove stains.
  • Rub dish soap on clothing to remove stains. Natural dish soaps work the best!
  • Use white vinegar or 1 cup lemon juice and 1 cup water to cut grease in the kitchen.
  • A mixture of salt and vinegar removes coffee and tea stains from dishes.
  • For minor drain clogs, pour a handful of baking soda down the drain, followed by 1/2 cup vinegar. Then rinse with hot water.
  • To clean toilets, pour 1 cup vinegar in the toilet bowl, leave overnight and brush clean the next morning.
  • Soak tarnished silver in a solution of hot water, baking soda and a little dish soap.
  • Polish copper with equal parts ketchup and Worcestershire sauce.
  • Clean brass with equal parts vinegar and salt.
  • Rub baking soda into tea and coffee stains.
  • Mix equal parts Borax and baking soda with a little dish soap to make a scrub for tubs, sinks, etc.

• Use natural laundry detergents instead of your “regular” detergent and fabric softeners or dryer sheets. 
  • Here is a list of just some of the chemicals found in fabric softeners and dryer sheets:
    • Benzyl acetate: Linked to pancreatic cancer
    • Benzyl Alcohol: Upper respiratory tract irritant
    • Ethanol: On the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Hazardous Waste list and can cause central nervous system disorders
    • Limonene: Known carcinogen
    • A-Terpineol: Can cause respiratory problems, including fatal edema, and central nervous system damage
    • Ethyl Acetate: A narcotic on the EPA's Hazardous Waste list
    • Chloroform: Neurotoxic, anesthetic and carcinogenic
    • Linalool: A narcotic that causes central nervous system disorders
    • Pentane: A chemical known to be harmful if inhaled.
  • The chemicals in fabric softeners are pungent and strong smelling -- so strong that they require the use of these heavy fragrances (think 50 times as much fragrance) just to cover up the smells!
  • Better options for you and the earth: Add a quarter cup of baking soda to the wash cycle to soften fabric or add a quarter cup of white vinegar to the rinse cycle to soften fabric and eliminate cling.

Tips for Everyday Living:

Recycle!  Check with your waste management company to see what products are recyclable in your area.  They may even have certain days when you can drop off hazardous materials for proper disposale (paint, chemicals, etc)

Reuse products when possible:

• Use you’re regular silverware and dishes instead of disposable, one-use plastic silverware and paper plates. If you’re worried about your children breaking your dishes, buy children’s dishes made from safe, BPA-free and phthalate-free plastics. 
• Use washable rags instead of paper towels for most clean-ups. Extra or old prefold diapers work great and are much more absorbent than paper towels!  If you need paper towels for some jobs, look for ones manufactured out of recycled paper without chlorine bleaching, added dyes and fragrances.
• Use cloth napkins instead of paper napkins.  It doesn’t even have to be full time – using the washable napkins a few times a week will add up!
• Use cloth diapers and reuse them for all your kids.  Then sell them on ebay or donate them to a friend or an organization like Miracle Diapers: www.miraclediapers.org when you’re finished diapering all your babies.  The old prefolds could even be used as dusting or cleaning rags around the house or garage.  View our Why Choose Cloth page to view other benefits of cloth diapers.
• Use small, wet washcloths for diaper changes instead of disposable baby wipes.   
• Use washable bibs and placemats. It’s tempting to use the disposable convenience options, but you’re doing laundry anyway, it’s just as easy to throw the reusable items into the washing machine. Our Kushies taffeta bibs can be thrown in the washer with your dirty laundry! 
• Jars from baby food, pasta sauce and other foods can be reused to store snacks, pre-measured baby formula, craft supply storage or even in the garage to sort screws and nails! 
• Buy a few stainless steel water bottles and refill them rather than buying bottled water.  You’ll save money and the environment!
• Reuse your grocery bags.  If you don’t have the reusable shopping bags, just bring your paper or plastic bags back to the store with you. Or use the plastic shopping bags for your garbage in the bathrooms, office, or kitchen (if you use a smaller size can) rather than buying garbage bags.
• Wear clothes that aren’t dirty or smelly more than once before washing them. You’ll conserve water, detergent, energy and your time!

Breastfeed, if possible. Breast milk is very nutritious and will save you a ton of money over buying formula. Not to mention, the costs to make, package and ship the baby formula.  Pump and freeze breast milk if you’re going back to work or want to bottle-feed. Sensible Lines Milk Trays are perfect for storing breast milk in one-ounce sticks that you can drop into a bottle and defrost to minimize waste.  These also cut down on waste from using disposable milk bags.

Make your own baby food instead of buying premade baby food in jars. Not only will it be healthier for your baby because there are no preservatives, it will save you money and save the environment from the costs to make, package and ship baby food.  Simply cook the food and puree it in the food processor. You can even freeze it in serving sizes and defrost as needed. I used the Sensible Lines Milk Trays to freeze my homemade baby food into perfect one-ounce servings.

Use BPA-free, phthalate-free baby bottles, cups, and water bottles, stainless steel water bottles, or glass baby bottles.  Click here for information on plastic containers.

Turn off the water when brushing your teeth and teach your kids to do the same.

Install water-saving faucets and shower heads.

Other Tips For Your Home:

When purchasing appliances, look for ones with the energy star and visit www.energystar.govto learn about different energy-efficient products and programs. Don’t forget to save your receipts for energy-efficient purchases and give them to your tax-preparer. They may qualify for a government tax credit.

Have your home inspected for energy saving.  Seal or replace windows and doors with drafts, add insulation, and insulate water pipes. 

Close your window shades during the night to help retain heat and open them during the day to allow the sun to help heat your home. If it’s a hot summer day, close the window shades in sunny rooms to help prevent excess heat in your home.

If you really want to go green and save heating money, install solar panels and/or a windmill to produce electricity.

Change your furnace filter monthly to keep your furnace running efficiently. 

Use energy-saving light bulbs. These are more expensive than a regular bulb, but they can last several years and will reduce your electric bill, saving you more money in the long run.

Install solar lights in your garden or front walkway.

Personal Care Tips:

Use natural and organic soaps, lotions, make-up, toothpastes, and other personal care products. Leftover chemicals from these items that haven’t been absorbed into your skin are sullying the environment and threatening wildlife and the water supplies, according to Emily Main of National Geographic’s Green Guide. 

The “dirty dozen” ingredients to avoid from The Green Guide:

• Anitbacterials
• Coal tars
• Diethanolamine (DEA)
• 1,4-dioxane
• Formaldehyde, also called formalin
• Fragrance
• Lead and mercury
• Nanoparticles
• Parabens
• Petroleum Distillates
• P-phenylenediamine
• hydroquinone