It Ain't Easy Being Green

OK ok, let's not get all crazy because people may actually want to clean their house with "clean" substances.

I love love love green things. I avidly read the ingredients of anything that will somehow come in contact with the inside or outside of my body and those of my family, including my little doggies. This includes food, cosmetics, soaps, vitamins, and also cleaning supplies. I would love a house built of bamboo and solar panels but unfortunately it's hard to go totally green unless you win the lottery. So I pick ways I can contribute to the benefit of our planet. I do not buy water in little plastic bottles for use in my home, I use stainless steel thermoses or glass jugs filled with water from my fridge door, which is lovely filtered chicago water. I steer clear of any plastic or baby products with BPA in it, I buy organic as much as possible. I reuse and recycle. That being said I do not drive an electric car, I don't compost (but my neighbor does), I go through paper plates and paper towels like crazy, I buy McDonalds for my daughter, and I 'm sure I do a ton of non-green things everyday. You'll hear this a lot from me about almost anything in my life..."Everything in moderation"

Last year just before I had my second baby I got all hot on clearing out all the chemicals from my house cleaning so anything my baby touched would be chemical free. First I tried the baking soda and vinegar bit, along with castile soap, borax, etc. I even created a little file folder of how to use all this to clean any and every surface in my house. I felt great the first time I cleaned this way but what I did not feel good about was how this natural alternative just didn't CLEAN as well as the good old "chemical" cleaners. So I moved on to Shaklee products, recommended from a friend, and they actually do work very well. However, the downfall was I could not just run out and get it when I needed it. This had to be ordered. Yuck. Over the years I have tried various things from Whole Foods and other natural stores. I'm now settled into a moderately natural cleaning state of mind. I still use store bought natural, biodegradable, no phosphate products but from time to time you have to bring out the big guns no matter what.

Yes, bleach is in my arsenal. I like bleach, it kills germs! I put a few small drops in a sprayer with water and make my own disinfectant. I once bought the Clorox Anywhere spray but read the label and realized I was paying for a few small drops of bleach in water. What a ripoff! Another GREAT product is Grapefruit Seed Extract. This is so versatile and can be used in 100's of ways. I use it as a germ killer on surfaces and also add it to my laundry.

I also tried the natural deodorant before. First, the name is what you have to pay attention to, "deodorant" not anti-perspirant AND deodorant. Ok, this just does not do it for me. I sweat. I need something that will keep me from sweating and make me smell good. I also like aluminum, it keeps me from stinking best it can and it has a tough job let me tell you!

And people, don't start sending me crazy granola comments about my mattresses and carpets emitting harmful VOC's and other things like that. I know about most of it and I tolerate it until or if ever I can do better. Also, the more crazy green stuff I do, the more teasing I get from Rachel.

So Rachel is right, chemicals can be our friends. Sometimes "Natural" can be bad for you and "chemical" can be good (hey, water is made up of Hydrogen and Oxygen, 2 chemicals). However, I think we should start going more natural as much as we can to help our planet and our bodies.

P.S. Check out Clean Well all-natural hand sanitizer for your kids. Be sure to check out the links section of our blog. And remember, good old soap and water can go a LONG way!