Going Green: One Week Review

It's been a full week since I've resolved to go green. My basic observations are that, so far, I really like it. The homemade deodorant is cheaper and better than any store-bought I've ever used. The organic cooking that I've managed to make has tasted better than I expected--actually it was delicious. Also, the organic grapes I purchased are absolutely the best we've ever had!

The laundry recipe works very well--the laundry is definitely clean. I miss the "smell" of clean laundry though. The house cleaning is a challenge too. I miss the smell of Pine when I wash the floor and clorox in the kitchen. Those just smell "clean" to me. Tweaking this to get better results will be my challenge. The garden is doing well, or the bits that Petey hasn't taken out are, anyway. One overall "change" I've noticed is that I'm more sensitive to smells again. The ivory soap I use in the shower never really had a scent that I could discern. This morning I noticed, for the first time in a while, that it actually does have a fragrance, lol.

Shopping:
I first went to Wal-Mart yesterday and purchased 4 boxes of baking soda ($0.44 each), two large containers of white vinegar ($1.59 each), four cylinders of salt ($0.44 each) a box of Borax in the laundry department ($1.50), ethanol alcohol ($.99) and hydrogen peroxide ($.69). I also purchased two large packages of Wal-Mart's brand of entree-sized containers w/ lids (15 in each), four gallon-sized containers ($1.25 each), and some tiny ones ($2.44 for six). I purchased four spray bottles from the hair department ($.99 each). I'd have liked to have gotten the larger ones but they were $3.99 each and I don't feel that's in my budget at the moment. Lastly, I purchased the following organic items: grapes, granola, and tofu.

Then I went to the local health food store and purchased the following essential oils: rose, lavender, lemon, eucalyptis, clove, coconut. I also purchased ground flax meal, organic zuccini and organic squash. LaundryI am using a homemade recipe now for doing the laundry. For darks I use 1/2 cup of vinegar (deodorizer, anti-fungal) and 1/2 cup of salt (anti-bacterial, cleaner). For whites, 1/2 cup vinegar, 1/2 cup salt, 1/2 cup borax. I add a few drops of essential oil (rose) to 1/2 cup of water and put it in the fabric softener compartment. So far so good! I've noticed less waxy build up in my dryer screen. The dirty clothes came out smelling, well, normal. I miss the strong scent of clean clothes, but these seem clean anyway. I'm giving this non-toxic lifestyle a shot, but if I go back on anything, I'll probably go back to using a little fabric softener b/c I love the smell!

Garden
Last week I planted: cucumber, beans, 2 tomato plants, zuccini, squash, yellow peppers, green peppers, artichoke, jalapeno peppers, dill, lemon balm, and thyme. Thus far, the plants all seem to be doing fairly well, the ones that are still intact that is. Petey took out the dill and the lemon balm, and it looks like my cucumbers died. The bean plant is growing very quickly, and the tomatoes have flowered. The orange pepper has a blssom-turned-pepper, so that's cool. Petey took out the thyme, too. I'm very much looking forward to my tomatos, zuccini, squash, and peppers growing! Oh, the lettuce is doing great too--all eight plants are growing quickly. I think I'll be able to start harvesting from most of the plants in about 6-8 weeks...Food/meals

J sniggered when I told him I bought organic grapes. We expected them to taste... well... compromised. Instead, they are the best-tasting ones we've ever had. The taste is sooo strong, and they are sooo juicy! Shocked us!

I'm trying my hand at cooking and freezing on the weekends. I bought the 15-entree containers to be able to freeze everything individually. Unfortunately, the wal-mart brand SUCKS. The lids don't fit. I can't afford 20 rubbermaid entree-size containers so am, um, taping them closed. LOL. We haven't fully gone organic--I'm currenlty trying to use up all the food we have left to make more shelf room. But the organic meals we have made (salmon w/ rosemary from my garden & tabouli with fresh tomatoes last night, chicken with rice & organic vegetables earlier this week) were surprisingly delicious. (Even J ate the asparagus and spinach--shock me, shock me, shock me!!)

Deodorant
I decided to try some homemade deodorant recpes. The one I'm using goes basically like this: after a shower, rub rubbing alcohol under your arms with a cottonball. Then I put a bit (1/2 cup) of baking soda in a small container and added a drop of rose essential oil. After shaking it up really well I dabbed a bit under my arms. This is the best deodorant I have ever, ever used. I've tried many brands, and living in Florida, by the end of each day, well... let's just say I can't reuse my shirts. Even if I reapply! Not even a hint of BO by the next morning when it was time to get up and take a shower... I'm definitely adding this to my favorite home-remedies list!

House Cleaning:
I followed Flowerchylde's suggestions re: finding some recipes with vinegar and baking soda. I found two super-wonderful sites and have printed out the directions. Organic House Cleaning has many wonderful ideas and recipes for saving money and cleaning the house. Clean and Green had even more ideas, but I felt it was a little overwhelming with options. I filled one spray bottle with 50% ethanol alcohol (for windows), one spray bottle with 100% vinegar (general cleaning), one spray bottle I filled halfway with vinegar, added a bit of water and then about 1/4 cup of salt (disinfecting), the last spray bottle I filled with 2 tbsp Organic Almond dish washing soap and then filled it with water (to kill the bugs in my garden).

Observations on house cleaning:
Bathroom--I first cleaned the bathroom. In the end I was a little disappointed I guess because it didn't "smell" as clean as it does when I use hosehold cleaners. That said, I sprinkled baking soda in the tub and then dripped vinegar over it. It fizzed and cleaned fairly easily. After initial rinsing I filled a bucket with a bit of the almond dish cleaner, some baking soda and then hot water. I recleaned the tub and then the rest of the bathroom with the almond dish soap so it wouldn't smell so vinegary. I cleaned the toilet with vinegar/baking soda (worked well).

Parrot Room--I used the baking soda/almond dish soap combo in cleaning the parrot room. I washed down all the cages first with a sponge--it worked well enough. I didn't have to worry about overwhelming fumes, and that was nice. Washing the office mats was a challenge b/c the soap is very sudsy and tended to puddle in the crevices. I will probably just take the cages and the mats outside and hose them down in the future. Again, ultimately I felt a little disappointed b/c it didn't "smell" very clean--actually, the bird smell somewhat remained. I opened the doors to the patio and turned the fan on high, and the smell went away.

Kitchen--I used the vinegar spray on the counters and was very pleased. The counters cleaned easily enough. I used the alcohol on the stove and it came out all sparkly. On the tougher bits I dabbed some baking soda on a sponge and scrubbed. It came off quite nicely.

In the upcoming week I hope to try a toothpaste recipe, figure out an edible meal with tofu, double up on some cooking (freeze more meals), and keep Petey from taking out the rest of the garden...One topic up for debate at the moment is what to do with a tan. Even with sunscreen, tanning is harmful, I read recently. I do have Neutrogena sunless tanning, but it definitely has a lot of extra chemicals, and I'm trying to avoid them during this little experiment. On the other hand, pure, tanless white isn't a good shade on me. Am going to have to continue musing on the topic...