Save $ (and the planet too!) while cleaning house

I happened upon this book at the library called "Clean House, Clean Planet: Clean your House for Pennies a Day, the Safe, Non-Toxic Way" (author-Karen Logan). There's a ton of useful recipes for cleaning using non-toxic, inexpensive basics like baking soda, vinegar, lemons, etc.

Most of us probably know either from experience or reading, that most cleaning chemicals are not good for us. But how do we know which are okay & which are not? Safer ones include Bon Ami for kitchen cleaners and the laundry stain removal Spray n Wash stick (whew that's one of my favorites!). For a list of safe products see the the Washington Toxics Coalitions "Buy Smart, Buy Safe" guide. The website also includes information about safe products all around the house, including lawn and garden care.

This book had so many good recipes I'm going to buy it for my house. I haven't tried all of these yet but definitely will be getting rid of any toxic chemicals I have left & will start using these.

Here are some useful recipes for a variety of cleaning jobs.

Garbage-can deodorizer and cleaner
Ingredients: baking soda & an essential oil

Directions: Make a scented baking soda and sprinkle 1/4 cup into the bottom of your garbage pail. Then you can clean out the can (to avoid clogging drains, rinse it outdoors). Wipe clean with soapy cleaner & hot water. Once it's dry, sprinkle more baking soda in the bottom. It will help keep the can dry and mildew-free plus it deodorizes. The next time you clean, the baking soda makes a nice past when you rinse it out.

Garbage disposal deodorizer
Ingredients: Citrus peels (any kind will do) & ice cubes

Directions: Drop 3+ ice cubes and 2 fresh citrus peels down your disposal & grind them. The ice cubes help to cool any grease & grind it out. The citrus peels make it smell nice & have natural acid cleaning power.

Air Freshner
Ingredients: White Distilled Vinegar
Directions: In a small bowl or jar, put about 12 cup of vinegar uncovered. Then place it on an upper shelf to let it sop up odors. This trick is also good for offensive cooking odors, musty closet smells, smokey rooms, or kitchens with little or no ventilation.

For those of you with cats!
Litter box deodorizer
Ingredients: baking soda & a essential oil for fragrance (such as eucalyptis, peppermint or lavender)

Directions: Scent approximately 2 cups of baking soda (about half of a regular 2 1b. box) with any one of the following oils: 24 drops of eucalyptus oil, 24 drops of peppermint, or 20 drops of lavendar oil.

How to use: pull open the entire top of a 2-1b box of baking soda. Add the essential oil on top & mix it with a fork. Pour in about 1 cup of the scented baking soda into the bottom of the litter box. Add the sand last. Save the rest of the baking soda for the next time.

Dish sprinkle - auto dishwashing detergent

Clean your dishes in a more effortless way! I did try this one & spent much less time cleaning my pyrex casserole dish. That's always a good thing, especially if you don't have a dishwasher.

Directions: All you need is some baking soda & a shaker. When you pile the dirty dishes in the sink, scrape off any lumpy food & shake on some baking soda. This helps cut down on odors & helps dissolve grease & grime. The baking sodda works best if lightly wet. Let sit on dishes for at least 5 minutes. For those of you with dishwashers, you can spray them with water & load directly into the washer & you don't need to add extra detergent in the open dispenser (because the baking soda works like soap too).

Car maintenance
Substitutes for products such as Armor-All
Petroleum jelly can be used to condition & nourish the vinyl & other assorted plastic in cars. Put a small glob on your rag & buff it in. Do NOT use too much (or it will attract dirt & dust). This works on tires too. Do not get any on glass or windows though or you'll have to deal with smears & streaks.

Disinfecting Cutting boards
Rub a little salt and water into the board & rinse (not scientifically proven to disinfect) after cutting meats. Lemon juice & salt, or a little vinegar, help to clean and deodorize too.

Floor cleaner
Ingredients: White distilled vinegar, water & an essential oil for fragrance.

Directions: In a 16 oz. squirt-bottle, mix equal parts of the white distilled vinegar & water. Add 15-20 drops of pure peppermint oil. Shake to mix.

Once made squirt cleaner directly onto the floor & wipe clean with rag or mop. Can be used on lineoleum, tile, or polyurethane & finished wood floors. Vinegar's natural acid quality helps to remove the film that typically accumulates on a kitchen floor.

Alternative insecticides for crawling insects
Ingredients: liquid soap or hand-dishwashing detergent & water

Directions: Fill the spray bottle with water. Add 3 tbsp. liquid soap OR 1 tbsp. liquid detergent. A peppermint- or eucalyptus-scented soap works nicely. Your dish-washing detergant at your sink works but use only the 1 tbsp. if spraying in environmentally sensitive areas like outdoors. Shake to mix.

You can spray these directly on ants & they will dry up in a few seconds. Then using petroleum jelly, clog any holes they might come in (reapply every few days as the jelly dirties).

Ant Stay Away
Ingredients: peppermint oil & water

Directions: In a 16 oz. spray bottle, fill half full with water. Add 2 tsp. peppermint oil. Shake. Spray where the ants come in (corners, baseboards, window sills, & behind appliances). Reapply as needed to keep the odor strong.

Honey Pot for Ants
Directions: Mix 1/2 cup water with 1/4 cup honey & other sweet stuff, (i.e. sugar, corn syrup, maple syrup, fruit juice concentrate or candy) in a small bowl or cup (can be paper). Set it outside to distract ants from coming inside your house.

Peppermint Ball
Ingredients: Cotton Balls & peppermint oil

Directions: Dip several cotton balls in peppermint oil & rub where you don't want the ants to come in. Wipe along their entrances & paths. They will be confused & you can easily clean them up.

Bug Spray for Plants
Ingredients: Dr. Bronner's Peppermint-scented liquid soap & water

Directions: Fill a 16 oz. spray bottle with water (purified when possible). Add 1-2 tsp. Dr. Bronner's peppermint-scented liquid soap. Shake. To prevent sudsing, add soap last.

Then spray directly onto bugs. Check for bugs underneath the leaves & inner stems. Spray & wash them whenever you see them. The peppermint scent is rumored to repel many insects.

Brass & Copper Cleaner
Ingredients: 1 lime (or lemon) & some ordinary table soap.

Directions: Cut lime (or lemon) in half. Sprinkle a little salt on whatever needs polishing & start rubbing immediately. Limes are easier to rub & have no seeds.

OR

Ingredients: flour, white distilled vinegar & salt.

In a glass or plastic bowl, Mix 2/3 cup white distilled vinegar with 2/3 cup flour. Stir the mixture until smooth. Add 1/2 cup salt & stir until mixed in. This doesn't keep well, so make a fresh batch each time you need it. Then spoon mixture onto items you want to polish. If it's too goopy, add 1 tbsp. more flour. It should be sticky, smooth layer to stay on the metal. You'll get better results if you leave it on for 1 or 2 hours or even overnight. Green goop means it's working but that is also toxic (so don't let any kids get near it). Rinse the copper off well & wipe clean. Polish with a soft cloth & a dab of olive oil. This helps to prevent further tarnishing.

Tub & Tile Cleaner (alternative to soft scrub)

Ingredients: baking soda, high-quality liquid soap (castile, vegetable-oil based or glycerin), white distilled vinegar, & water
**Need a 16 or 22 oz. squeeze container with squirt flip-top cap.

Directions: 16 oz. bottle
Mix 1 2/3 cups baking soda with 1/2 c. liquid soap in a bowl. Dilute with 1/2 cup water. Add 2 tbsp. vinegar last. Stir until the lumps are gone. If you can pour it into the container easily, then you have the right consistency. If it's too thick, add more water. Keep the cap on because this mixture will dry out. Shake well before using.

For 22 oz. bottle: mix 2 cups baking soda, 1/2 cup liquid soap, 2/3 c. water & 2 tbsp. vinegar.

Once it's made, squirt this cleaner everywhere (tub, sink, toilet bowl, floors, garbage cans, any greasy grimy job). Use it with nylon white-backed sponge to prevent scratching. Rinse well.

If you find that you are leaving residue, try using less scrub next time and/or rinse with a squirt of vinegar (can be scented) and water. The vinegar will help prevent mold & mildew too.

Always shake well & measure exactly, otherwise the squirt will be too thick or thin. Mix baking sodea & soap together with a fork & always add the vinegar last.

Quotes that make you say hmmm....

"Of course the people don't want war. But after all, it's the leaders of the country who determine the policy, and it's always a simple matter whether it's a democracy, a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism, and exposing the country to greater danger."
{Hermann Goring at the Nuremberg Trials}

A tyrant must put on the appearance of uncommon devotion to religion. Subjects are less apprehensive of illegal treatment from a ruler whom they consider god-fearing and pious. On the other hand, they do less easily move against him, believing that he has the gods on his side.
{Aristotle}

Democracy is when the indigent, and not the men of property, are the rulers.
{Aristotle}

Republics decline into democracies and democracies degenerate into despotisms.
{Aristotle}

"Our suicidal poets (Plath, Berryman...et al.) spent too much of their lives inside rooms and classrooms when they should have been trudging up mountains, slogging through swamps, rowing down rivers. The indoor life is the next best thing to premature burial."
{Edward Abbey}

If the USA is the greatest country in the world....

Why aren't we at the top of the list in environmental health? According to the Sierra Club magazine (May/June 2006 issue), the USA is number 28 in a study of world environmental health. The data of 133 nations was compiled by researchers at Columbia & Yale Universities and "measured how well nations are doing in areas such as air, water, energy, biodiversity & habitat. The study's authors also compare each nation with its geographic and economic peers."

The top six environmental performers are: New Zealand (go NZ!!!), Sweden, Finland, the Czech Republic, The UK & Austria. Chile, Colombia, Japan, Malaysia, Slovakia & Taiwan, and most of Western Europe are all ahead of the US in the rankings.

The US did get good marks for water quality (thank God for that!) and pace of timber harvest. We failed in ozone emisions (score=.1 out of 100) and RENEWABLE-ENERGY PRODUCTION (okay that's not really a surprise. Score =4).

So tell me again, why we didn't join in the Kyoto Treaty? Was it because we are already so ahead of the rest of the world in protecting our environment?

Hmmm.....When smaller, so-called "less developed nations" are doing better than we are, maybe we'd better rethink what we're doing & how our actions affect the rest of the world because they do not only affect us (think wind & current).

I also have to question why our cars haven't evolved much in the last 50 years; other than creating a bigger, more gas-guzzling engine in the 50s or 60s. Think about it...most cars still get about the same Miles Per Gallon as they did decades ago. In some cases, like SUV's, they actually get less MPGs than cars from the 50s.

Of course, you can't think of that without questioning why we still rely on fossil fuels tho power our vehicles and cities. But I already have an answer on that one. It's because gas has been so underpriced for the last several decades.

Totally unrelated to the physical environment. If we are so great in our FREEDOM....why is is that our government has been SPYING on its own citizens for decades since the Cold War? And that some corporations (phone companies) have been aiding them?

Why aren't we pissed about this? Why aren't we protesting this? If our government has disregarded that freedom, what other rights are they disregarding?

Are we US citizens so afraid of Commies/terrorists/chaos/life that it's okay to lose rights in order to protect ourselves (thus leaving us more vunerable in other areas or to different tyrants)?

If we're such a Christian nation, why are we afraid anyway? Where's our faith in GOD to protect & keep us? We shouldn't have faith in man or government.

Or are we too busy consuming or in an entertainment-induced stupor to notice?

Socrates believed that living in a nation means residents give tacit consent to government activities. I'm sure wiser people than me have expressed this, but only when we do nothing, do we give tacit consent, while the government/nation, does immoral (even if they couch them in moral terms) things in our name.

Natural cures for sinus troubles

This is mostly for Kimba, who I told I'd email her the recipe to help her sinuses badk when I wrote "Cough, Cough, Wheeze, Wheeze". I'm finally getting around to it.

Here are some things that are good for you if you have issues with your sinuses. Remember that fresh is always best. If you don't have a juicer, at least buy some fresh, organic juice for these recipes.

Gingerroot/ginger
Ginger acts as an expectorant, helping rid the sinus cavaties of mucus & lungs of phlegm. Also, good for fevers (because it dilates blood vessels) & can aid in healing vocal chords from laryngitis.

Ginger recipes: Mix with apple juice when you have laryngitis; drink ginger-carrot juice often and especially when you feel a cold coming on.

One of my favorite, easy recipes that doesn't call for a juicer is to mix mineral water, a bit of shredded ginger & lime &/or lemon in one glass of water. Very refreshing & tasty.

Radishes
Radish juice should only be consumed with other juices, like carrot or apple juice. A small measure of radish juice will restore & strentghen mucus membranes, clears sinus cavaties, & soothes sore throats.

Grapefruit
A friend of ours said she's been eating several grapefruit daily & hasn't had a problem with her sinuses since. So I've been trying to eat at least one a day; after all I don't want to get tired of them. Grapefruit is also yummy juiced.

A prost to your health!

April has come & gone

Wow, what a busy month. It seems like the end of March was just here & now it's May. Time for May flowers! Hurrah!

I've been working a second part-time job (shore support for a cruise line) where I lugged luggage, took passengers to & from the airport or hotel, tied & untied the ship, got the gangway put out. It was fun but tiring. Let me tell you I have some buff arms from all that luggage! : > The last cruise was last Friday. I'll go back to my normal schedule until the end of September & then the cruise job will start again for 2 months. I made some money to put away for property taxes & will use the rest for tickets to see K & C in LA NEXT MONTH!

The City came & checked all our neighborhood sidewalks. I have to replace some small sections; even though sidewalks are considered city property we property owners have to pay. GRRRRR... That wasn't what I wanted to hear. But I did save over $300 by going with an outside contractor versus the city. I just called today & they are already sawcutting the sections out. Smash, boom, bam!

Ben & I went to the farmers market & bought tomatoes, a pepper plant, & soil for our garden. We also bought 2 organic basil plants for our herb garden from this adorable red-headed & freckled entrepreneur boy aged 10-12. : > He grows basil every year & sells them. I just planted those all today. Ben planted some flowers in our front yard yesterday. Suddenly I hate the yard a lot less!

Then tomorrow Ben & I go on a 2 day sailboat trip up the Columbia. That should be fun. I love being on the water & we'll be learning to sail too (continuing what we started last year).