How to Green Your Cleaning Routine
With the extra hour this weekend – due to the ending of daylight savings time – I decided to do a little cleaning around the house. I always try to think of the environment whenever I’m doing things around my home, and cleaning is no different.
There are a variety of environmentally friendly ways to clean your home. There’s an increasing array of green cleaning products, and you can feel good about lessening your own environmental impact while keeping harmful chemicals out of your home. You can even take it a step further and make your own cleaning products from simple natural ingredients you probably already have on hand, saving some money in the process.
Follow these tips and you’ll succeed in cleaning up your housekeeping routine in no time.
Buy or Make Green Cleaning Products
Many conventional cleaning products are made from non-renewable, petroleum-based ingredients, which take a substantial toll on the environment while also introducing potentially harmful chemicals and toxins into your home. Instead select from a growing number of green cleaning product brands, which are non-toxic, biodegradable, and made from renewable resources.
You can also return to tried-and-true cleaning techniques employing natural ingredients that have worked for centuries. Either baking soda or vinegar mixed with water makes a great all-purpose natural solution that can be used to clean almost anything.
To make your own furniture polish, try combining ½ teaspoon of olive oil with ¼ cup of vinegar or lemon juice. Mix the ingredients well, dip a soft cloth into the solution, and wipe onto wood surfaces. And for a homemade window cleaning solution, mix 2 teaspoons of vinegar with one quart of warm water, and use crumpled newspapers or cotton cloth to clean.
Replacing the paper products you use for cleaning can also help green your efforts. When shopping for paper towels and other paper products, look for ones made from recycled, post-consumer waste, and select either unbleached options or ones that have been whitened without chlorine. For tasks like dusting or wet cleaning, use flannel cloths that can be washed and reused.
Finally, select biodegradable trash bags or ones that have been made with recycled materials to dispose of your household waste.
Clean Indoor Air Naturally
Another way to green your cleaning routine is to invite nature to clean your indoor air. One option is to put your houseplants to work. NASA, as part of researching methods of cleaning the atmosphere in future space stations to keep them fit for human habitation, has found that many common houseplants can help fight pollution indoors. According to the NASA research, plants can absorb harmful volatile organic chemicals (VOCs) out of the air through the process of photosynthesis. By adding two or three plants in 8-inch or 10-inch pots for every 100 square feet of indoor space, you can help improve the air you breathe. More plants will help reduce indoor air pollution even faster.
A second approach is to forgo synthetic room deodorizers in lieu of natural solutions. To keep your home smelling clean and fresh, try boiling cinnamon, cloves or other herbs you like in a pot of water on the stove. The pleasing aroma will soon fill your entire house.
Do you have an environmentally friendly cleaning tips? Share below.
by Tisha Gay