My Going Green Challenge - How I’m Doing
Well, a few posts ago, I wrote about how I was trying to go green -or at least greener. I’ve bought reusable bags for groceries and taken my own mug to Starbucks instead of using their cups. Now that it’s nearly time to buy cleaning supplies again, my next step is going to be to try out some greener cleaners.
I’m a little skeptical - I love the smell of cleaning supplies and a house that’s been freshly cleaned. Not only that, but there’s probably a reason why people switched to these harsher cleaners in the first place - are my rooms going to be as clean as they are now? Then I thought about how I feel when I’m cleaning - that if I don’t want my children in the room with me that I’m cleaning, that’s a good sign I probably shouldn’t be using those chemicals anymore. Stay tuned for a review or two!
April 24th, 2008 at 3:18 am
It sounds like you’re doing great, Melissa and you know I’m right here, cheering you on
I’ll be interested to hear what products you manage to get - we have so many great brands available over here such as Ecover, Bio D, Clearsrping and heaps more. I was looking at one you have available to you called Seventh Generation - they seem pretty good.
I don’t think there is any ‘reason’ people switched to harsher cleaning products other than there were a lot of chemicals left over from World War II and they didn’t know what to do with them, so they started using them in our household and beauty products.
Before that time it was vinegar, baking soda, borax and washing soda with some time, patience and elbow grease! But of course, we’ve been bought up not to ‘waste time’ on cleaning when a powerful cleaning agent will do the work for us.
It does take a shift in mindset to use some of these more gentle products - a more Zen-like approach to cleaning the bath, perhaps
I’m eager to hear about the brands you find that work for you - good luck!
mrs Green x
P.S what is the attitude of the Starbuck’s staff like when you take in your mug - is it becoming the ‘norm’?
April 24th, 2008 at 2:58 pm
Mrs. Green,
Thanks for your comment!
I have seen Seventh Generation too, but it’s very expensive. I also saw Clorox put out “Green Works” that is more affordable - but I’m going to need to read the label.
It’s a scary thought that the only reason we’re using the cleaners we do is a result of a surplus of chemicals after the war. It’s a scary thought - but sounds about right.
I’m not sure I’ll ever be Zen with cleaning the bath, but if I can have some peace of mind I’m not going to accidentally poison or otherwise harm kids or pets, I can live with doling out a bit of extra elbow grease.
As for Starbucks, since I have a Starbucks mug they don’t seem to care too much when I bring my own in. You get a 10 cent discount for using your own, which isn’t much but at least it’s some kind of incentive. I wouldn’t say it’s the norm to bring your own mug, but it’s definitely accepted (at least here).