Morticia's Rabbit Hole

Thats right..nothing fancy..I am just going to share with you what I did to become a little bit greener...
So first off I decided that I wanted to do more for the enviroment.I conciously made the choice to research this and to see how it is done.
I also have very bad asthma that prevented me from truely being able to clean my home.My boyfriend had to do the majority of the deep cleaning because I am allergic to all the chemicals out there.Even the mild one's.
So I took it apon myself to find all natural ways to clean my home.Ways I could do and the boy wouldnt have to be responsible for.Cause lets face it ladies.What male likes to really clean??
I mean really..think about it!!

So that brings us to the home..
How do we green the home..Well most of us know that the house hold chemicals we use every day are actually very toxic.Even if we dont injest them..just their vaporous presence and left behind residue poison's us slowly..
So with that in my brain I looked up natural home cleaner's...and what did it lead me to..
Well it lead me to this site right here..
http://www.vinegartips.com/

There I found hundreds of home uses for white distilled vinegar! I was amazed at everything you can use that one natural product for.So I decided to test a few..and BAM OMG LORD IT WORKS!!
Then I read on there you can couple it with baking soda!..What baking soda for real.. So I decided what the hell ..
I went and bought a 13lb back of baking soda and a gallon of vinegar.Came home and proceeded to test out many natural home cleaning tips from the vinegar site and I could not believe how clean and fresh my house smelled.
Now I have never been a fan of the smell of vinegar.I cant eat it thats for sure.But when I saw how well it cleaned and then adding baking soda it added an extra punch I was so sold..
Then I was like..hmm..I've heard of borax powder..
So I looked it up and read about its natural properties and thought...well what the heck..
I bought a box and let me tell you borax and a little vinegar is an amazing toilet bowl cleaner.
You do have to be careful with the borax.It can be harmful to pets.but like anything you have to keep it away ..because even nature can be fatal..if your into herbs you know that one for a fact(belladonna ring a bell..lol)!
So now I was armed with white distilled vinegar,baking soda,& borax.My house didnt stand a chance.It was goin to be clean come hell or high water!!
So see just by making the choice to research alternative cleaning options a whole world was opened up.

So with that I started thinking...Well if this cleans the whole house there has to be a natural way to do laundry...
I mean because come on we all know that if there are toxin's in the house hold cleaners that means laundry soap to.

http://bestofmotherearth.com/2010/06/30/which-laundry-brands-carry-14-dioxane.html
So I started researching organic laundry soap.I stumbled upon these little jewels..
They are called soap nuts..
Their AMAZING!!!!
They are a natural fruit that grow's over in the area of India. Their hull's create a natural soap.That not only cleans but helps take out stains and also softens your clothes! Plus even though they dont smell they have a sweet smell to them.Its interesting...
Then once the nuts stop producing soap u can toss them in you compost pile!
How freakin great is that! They are truely 100% organic.
So I researched where to get these amazing little fruit nuts.Ordered a sample and fell in love...
You can get a sample of them at http://www.laundrytree.com/ .
Most argue that going green is more expenisve.But its truely not..
If you go through with a calculator and tally up how much u spend in your normal house hold products, then go and tally up how much u will spend on vinegar,baking soda,borax(optional),& soap nuts.You will be very surprised at how non expensive it is..
So just by making the choice to clean greener you will not only save money but do your body and family an amazing favor!
Its a simple choice..
Ok for another choice..
If you are like I am someone who uses paper towels it can be very very hard to not purchase them.Because its so convienant...use it throw it away.But we fail to realize that by using more paper we are helping to depleate the tree population.
An easy way to remedy this is by purchasing or making cloth napkins. For those of you of a creative nature making them is just an excuse to have a project.
But there are lots and lots of really great options out there if you wanna purchase them.
By doing this you are not only saving money again but helping save several tree's.
Which rocks some socks because we need those beautiful green giants..

Its not truely difficult to do this either..
Because honestly cheap wash rags or hand towels can be used as napkins as well.
We often think we have to go for the gusto when we change something in our lives..but we truely do not.
Plus when your washing dishes if you use disposable washing items you can replace those with reusable washcloths.
Yes I hear all the mom's out there goin.."BUT WE DO ENOUGH LAUNDRY ALREADY!!"
I never said it wouldnt make some things a little more tedious.But to me saving moneys saving money...
But you can see by just making some simple choices you can save money & save the planet.
You dont even have to change everything at once either.
By doing things in baby steps you can ease into the greener lifestyle without shockin the system.If your single you dont have to worry about shockin anyone but yourself.But if you have a family it might be difficult for everyone to get on board.But I assure you that once they see the differance in everything they will turn around.
You are also probably asking.."well I wanna change my cleanig habits but I still have all the cleaner's here already..what do I do with those"..
Here's my answer to that..which might make some eco-people cringe..
Use up what you have.But do this.. go out and buy your new cleaners (vinegar,baking soda,borax,soapnuts)...and put them aside.Once you start running out of your toxic cleaner's then you start substituting the new greener cleaning..
So you can slowly and surely step into a healthier life..
Same goes for the laundry soap.Dont use your soapnuts till your totally out of laundry detergent...That way you can ease into it..
Dont make it brain surgery...
Once you have changed one thing it will be easier to change other things..
For example how you eat...
I personally love the idea of getting my food from a 250 mile radius.That means your helping the local economy and also getting fresher more nutritious foods.
I also started a small garden this year.I love knowing where my food comes from.So I started a small veggie garden this year to see if I had the ability to not kill it.LOL...
So far so good.We have only had a few casualties and that was due to mother nature.Not anything we did.
Oh Im afraid Im rambling..lol..
Ok so I'll wrap this up really quick...
As you can see it doesnt take a whole lot of changes to make a good change for your life..
Being greener isnt so super hard.
There are total hard-core greenies out there.But not everyone can be that green.
Dont feel intemidated just because you only change a couple things in your life.All that matters is that you made a change at all!!
So hold that chin-up and decide where you want to be greener in your life.
I will be posting more info on being green each Wednesday.
I will post the links from earlier again..
They are...
http://www.vinegartips.com/
http://www.laundrytree.com/
Also a fellow greenie (way greener than me) Lisa Sharp does green consulting...
Check her out at
http://www.retrohousewifegoesgreen.com/

A great article on 29 tips to go green! Gots good stuff it do!!

http://www.squidoo.com/agreenlife

Until next time darklings!!
Be green ya'll!!