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January 13, 2010

5 Ways to Green Your Cleaning in 2010

Filed under: saving money — Tags: cleaning, DIY, health, home, natural — K @ 3:39 AM

: Image via Wikipedia

The following is a guest post by Marcy Tate.

Greening your cleaning is not only good for the planet, it’s good for your pocket. It’s pretty simple to green your cleaning and you’ll notice the savings right away. Clean better and feel better in 2010 by following some of these eco-friendly cleaning tips:

1. Natural Cleaning Products –You can reduce your exposure to harmful chemicals found in chemical based cleaning products by using inexpensive, natural cleaning products found right in your pantry. Using vinegar, baking soda and lemon juice is not a new idea, however it is often overlooked. Make a separate area away from your pantry to store vinegar, baking soda and lemon juice. It will remind you to go green when you clean.

Vinegar

Vinegar has many cleaning uses. Vinegar cleaning involves diluting vinegar with hot water in a bucket or in a spray bottle. Use it for washing hardwood floors, windows, toilets, tubs and more. Vinegar is great for removing hard water stains from glass shower doors. You can purchase vinegar in bulk from warehouse stores or buy it at your local grocery store for under $4 a gallon.

Baking Soda

Baking soda is a natural deodorizer and stain remover. It is great for removing stains from clothes. Just add some baking soda to a hot-water load of clothes. Other great uses for baking soda include unclogging drains and removing odors from a garbage disposal. Some baking sodas contain aluminum. Check the ingredients of the baking soda you select to make sure it does not contain aluminum. Some studies suggest that aluminum exposure is linked to diseases, such as Alzheimer’s.

Lemon Juice

Lemon juice has similar cleaning capabilities to vinegar. Also acidic, lemon juice can disinfect sinks and toilets.

Simple Combinations

Try these natural cleaning product combinations for quick, easy and eco-friendly cleaning:

Multi-purpose cleaner: Dilute baking soda, castile soap, water and a few drops of any essential oil.
Clog remover: Pour ½ C. to 1 C . of baking soda down the clogged drain. Then pour ½ C. to 1 C . of vinegar down the drain. Wait about 15 minutes and flush with very hot water.

2. Green Cleaning Products – Green cleaning products refer to products made from non-toxic, biodegradable and renewable resources. Green cleaning products are manufactured by companies that produce chemical-based cleaning products. Not all green cleaning products are as green as they claim to be. The EPA does not require manufacturers to list all ingredients in household cleaners. Check the labels of the products to be sure they are eco-friendly; mineral or plant-based ingredients are a sign that they are eco-friendly.

Choose refillable containers when purchasing green cleaning products to help you avoid the need to purchase a bottle each time. Tip: Don’t throw away your old cleaning products. It’s better to dispose of them at a toxins recycle center that accepts cleaning product waste.

3. Get Rid of Disposables – Disposable cleaning supplies are filling up landfills at alarming rates. All types of disposable cleaning products, such as dusting cloths, paper towels and cleaning wipes should be replaced with reusable rags and microfiber towel or cloths. An even greater cost-effective method is to cut up old T-shirts and undershirts and use them as rags. A great perk is that you can choose the size of the rag.

4. Water Conservation – Washing dishes with an open tap can use up to 20 gallons of water a day. Instead, fill the sink, dishpan or bowl with water. Closing the tap can save 10 gallons , which equates a few hundred dollars a year off your water bill. An additional way to green your dishwashing is to cut down on your dishwasher use by running the dishwasher only when it is completely full.

5. Hang Your Laundry – Hanging laundry is extremely eco-friendly. It can save you money by lowering your gas and electric bill. Hanging laundry reduces your gas and electricity usage. It also eliminates the need for dryer sheets, which cuts down on waste.

Marcy Tate is a blogger at Networx. She is also a featured author at Landscaping Networx.

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July 14, 2009

DIY Laundry Supplies Part 1: Detergent

Filed under: Headline — Tags: cleaning, DIY, home, saving money — K @ 8:45 PM

I frequently look for homemade household cleaning products and recently came across one for homemade laundry detergent. It looked like a more eco friendly idea, fun, cheap, and practical at the same time so I decided to give it a try.

You’ll need to gather these supplies before you get started:

1 bar of soap (whatever you have around: Fals Neptha, etc. I used Lever 2000 because DH bought a lifetime supply last summer)
1 box of washing soda (look for it in the laundry detergent aisle at your local grocer – it’s a bright yellow Arm & Hammer box and will contain enough for six batches)
1 box of borax (this isn’t necessary, but it’s easy to find so why not boost the cleaning power?)
A 4-5 gallon bucket (preferably with a lid if you want to store it in the bucket)
3 gallons of tap water
A big spoon to stir the mixture with
A measuring cup
A knife
A 2+ quart pot (for melting the soap)

Instructions:

Part 1: Pour approximately 4 cups of water into a pot. Place on stove and heat on high until almost boiling. While the water is heating, use your knife to SHAVE the bar of soap into the heating water. (SHAVE – do not cut chunks of soap into the water – I learned this the hard way that small chunks do NOT melt!) Keep the mixture just below a boil. Keep stirring until the soap is dissolved.
Part 2: Pour three gallons of hot water into your 4+ gallon bucket. I used a spare one gallon milk jug. Mix the hot soapy water slurry into the 4+ gallon bucket. Stir to mix well. Add one cup of washing soda and stir that in well. Add one-half cup of borax and stir in well. Leave overnight to gel up.
Part 3: In the morning check on your mix… it’ll be kind of like soft gelatin. My mix was white since that was the color of the soap bar I used. Dump one cup in the washing machine and wash your clothes!

picture 126 300x225 photo DIY Laundry Supplies Part 1: Detergent

Here, you can see its gelatinous texture

So, I plop one cup into the washing machine with warm water – no suds…hm. At this point I’m glad I tried the recipe with towels instead of clothes. Later, after I hear the washing machine stop, I run down to see the results. The towels look fine. I had tossed in a very dirty towel – one with stains that Era hasn’t been able to get out – and the mix actually lightened the stains, but not the towels itself. I like the smell – it reminds me of fresh hotel linens.

My only problem with the mix is the washing soda – the nearest store that carries it is 1 1/2 hours away. I purchased two boxes while on a business trip – Jewel Osco in the Chicago area carries it for about $3. You can purchase the washing soda on Arm & Hammer’s website, which will set you back about $10 just for one box by the time you pay shipping

The math has already been done…

Three gallons will clean about 48 loads of laundry. If you do this six times, you’ll have used six bars of soap ($0.99 each), one box of washing soda ($2.49 at our store), and about half a box of borax ($2.49 at our store, so $1.25) and make 288 loads of laundry. This comes up to a cost of right around three cents a gallon, or a savings of $70.

Thanks to Trent over at the Simple Dollar for this great idea!

Stay tuned for homemade fabric softener and homemade dryer sheets.

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July 7, 2009

How to Compost and What to Put in It

Filed under: DIY — Tags: gardening, home, natural — K @ 12:08 AM

Now that you have your compost bins, what do you do with it? D and I keep a small lidded trash can and fill it during the week. You could also use a bucket – our dogs became fascinated with it, so we had to use something with a lid! If it gets full we dump it on the compost. When we have time on the weekend, we flip it to incorporate the new material.

Good things to put in a compost

Fruit and vegetable peelings and leaves
tea leaves/ tea bags and coffee grounds
leaves
grass clippings
soft prunings (not the hardwood kind because it takes forever to compost)
young weeds (those with seed, or about to set seed, should be disposed of in the garbage)
cow and horse manures
ash (from open fireplaces)
hair and nails
vacuum cleaner contents (however, synthetic carpet will not break down)
shredded newspapers/paper/mail, paper towels/napkins/tissues, and cardboard
if you want to speed up the composting process, you can add a fertilizer high in nitrogen
For some interesting things to put in your compost, visit the WebEcoist’s article on composting
For 163 things you can compost, see PlanTea’s list
The below photo is what our compost bins look like before we flip them.

Do not put this stuff in a compost bin

Animal products – meat, fish, chicken, bones, dairy products & cooking oils
Non-living things such as plastics, bottle tops, food wrappers, metals etc
Diseased plants
Fruit fly infested fruit
Pet and human droppings – if you’re interested in composting this stuff, look for the Pet Poo Converter (or make a poo composter) or get a composting toilet.

Ratio for fastest composting

1 part greens to 2 parts browns
Browns are those things that are dry to the touch – crunchy autumn leaves, paper products
Greens are those things that are fresh or have a higher moisture content – grass clippings, kitchen scraps

An added bonus!

When flipping the compost, you’ll notice a lot of worms! I still get a little squeamish around them, but they do very good things for the soil. They break down the compost and then spread nutrient rich castings (worm poo) wherever they go!

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June 30, 2009

Summer Flowers A’blooming

Filed under: life — Tags: gardening, home, random — K @ 10:35 PM

It was a beautiful day Sunday so I decided to take some photos of the yard. Please excuse my first attempt at “garden photography!”

Our daylilies have started blooming, even a stray that ended up in the would-be compost heap. The yellow cultivar is ‘Going Bananas’, which from what I understood from the tag is the improved version of ‘Happy Returns’. It has bigger blooms and sets flowers for a longer period of time.

The pink/mauve one are ‘Always Afternoon’. To save money on plants for our retaining wall, I purchased 3 pots of daylilies and one pot of iris. I was able to split them before planting and covered almost the entire area with them. They looked pretty bad last fall after they were planted, but they came back and are doing wonderful! D is especially happy since he saw how small and chlorotic they looked last fall.

We also have a small rhubarb, garlic, and then the iris’s that haven’t started blooming yet. Can’t wait for my lavender to get bigger next year! It’s so puny right now…

First time growing garlic. We love garlic and can’t wait to try our homegrown bulbs!

I will definitely need to divide that hosta next spring!

I just bought this little rhubarb this year at the annual Master Gardener’s spring sale. So far with the garlic right there and the occasional cat living under our deck, I haven’t had any pest damage! I did recess a tuna can in case I needed to flip it over and fill it with beer to get rid of the slugs, but amazingly haven’t had to do so yet. Wondering if it has anything to do with it being a slightly raised bed.

Cute, stray daylily. Probably ‘Happy Returns’. And my terribly weedy “garden” I keep putting off cleaning. May always comes and goes so fast!

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June 18, 2009

Top Remodels During a Recession

Filed under: saving money — Tags: discounts, home, home improvement, projects, shopping — K @ 1:09 AM

A few months ago Kiplinger’s magazine talked about what you should do to improve your home in the recession. It wasn’t that you get a large return for the specific improvement – it was that the price of the main material has gone down during this slow time. So without further ado, here are the top remodels to do during a recession according to Kiplinger’s:

1. Replace the roof – According to Kiplinger’s the price of asphalt has been falling lately. While researching this, another site states the opposite, that the cost of liquid asphalt has increased 90% in the past year.

2. Repave your driveway – The price of asphalt is apparently falling, but unbeknownst to Kiplinger’s may have increased.

3. Upgrade vinyl siding – The price of petroleum-based vinyl fluctuates with the oil prices. Lower oil prices mean more affordable siding.

4. Add a deck – Kiplinger’s states that lumber costs have declined 5% over the past year. Since the publication, the US Department of Labor, Producer Price Index has showed that lumber has dropped even more (6-7%) over the past year, meaning a 38% decrease since 2004.

5. Replace or add insulation – Prices are down 2% and are a reflection of the current housing slump. In addition, you may qualify for a tax credit, which would help to defray the cost, too.

The funny thing is: although the prices have gone down on construction costs, these projects are still very expensive, with insulation possibly being the cheapest. We’re still talking $1000′s unless you do some of the work yourself.

D and I got new blown cellulose insulation when we moved into our home. Even during the housing boom (early 2006), the insulation was decently priced. We have looked into having the other projects done over the past couple years. Even with prices dropping, we don’t want to spend all the money to get the “big ticket” projects done, especially since we’ve been thinking about moving for a while. We met with a realtor last November who told us that it’s not worth it to spend the money to get a new driveway and siding installed – we’d need to live here at least another few years to see any kind of return on it.

If you’re interested in the cost off fuel, asphalt, and steel, New York state’s DOT has compiled a list of prices from January 2006 through last month so you can see the fluctuations for yourself. Construction Magazine has also compiled bi-monthly reports of Design Cost Data from metals to sheet rock and the construction materials in between.
And a little lesson — before doing a major renovation, do your research. The prices are fluctuating constantly with the economy.

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