Eco life

Yeah, vinegar is a great alternative to most cleaners, I mix 1 cup vinegar, 1 gallon water and 2 tbsp of alcohol to make a cleaner.

I switched from paper towels to micro fiber towels in the kitchen, you can ring these out and throw in the washer/dryer and reuse over and over and over...! I still keep a roll of paper towels, but it lasts for a few months now.

Murphy's oil soap is good for keeping bugs off plants and wiping around doorways/ windows to keep bugs out.

There's a list of eco-cleaners/stores at this URL: http://www.findagreenstore.com/householdcleaners.htm

I'd like to know if anybody has used those Soap Nuts for washing clothes, it sounds too good to be true!!
Leah

I use biodegadable washing soap

reuse old bath scrubbies for tub scrubbies.... I'll post a how-to when I make one. You unravel 'em, and attach'm to a cut-off handle from a detergent jug.

Hi!

There are so many great websites for home made cleaning products - I know that recipezaar.com has some interesting recipes for shampoo, clothes washing powder, and general household cleaners. I have found that the easiest shampoo is just two tablespoons of baking soda in a cup of water - and a nice rinse is a splash of vinegar in a cup of water - gets your hair really soft (but I do not like the smell - it does go away after you dry your hair).

hi holly, if you want post some tips here

We use washing powder and washing up liquid and stain remover all made by a company called Ecover. It's all biodegradable and made from "green" ingredients and stuff.
And I use vinegar and water to clean windows and mirrors, makes them nice and shiny.
We've got a little pot of bicarb in our living room as well, it absorbs all the smells of dinner that tend to stay around for ages afterwards lol.
The only other thing I can think of is using old clothes that are too tatty to send to charity as rags/dusters for cleaning. They can just be stuck in the wash after, or binned if they're too disgusting.

see I know we all have super great ideas

teach your kids to turn off the lights when they leave a room, to turn off the tv, not to let the water run, or waste paper, to scrape their OWN leftovers into the Green Bin (our city/province? has a compost program called the Green Bin, and they pick it up with the recycling every week!), and teach them to recycle, and why. our kids are our future... and what we teach them now, even if it's not what we did as a kid, we want them to understand and to work for a better future for our grandchildren.

walk or take the bus, carpool

We use ecoballs for our clothes. They're good. We have ecover too, and we get our bottle refilled at a local health food shop, so no wasted plastic!

I (of course) recycle and changed all my light bulbs and all that simple stuff, if you have a local co-op you can get some earth-friendly organic laundry detergent...smells great and makes your clothes extremely soft. I also really like this website: http://eartheasy.com/homepage.htm It gives a lot of good tips on keep tips!

one tip is: have your shower/bath in the morning or during the day as if you have one at night you'll have to turn the bathroom light on. Every little bit counts!

great tip shivi

we use soap nuts!good tip shivi- shame we dont have any windows in our bathroom so what ever time of day you still have to turn on the light