So, is it possible to be environmentally friendly
and frugal at the same time? I have been reading a lot lately about ways to reuse instead of sending to the landfill, reusable household items, and DIY cleaners and other household products. I have to admit, I am not the best at making my home completely environmentally friendly, but I think that every little step we take makes an overall impact. For instance, I no longer use sponges or paper towels. I cut a was cloth in half and use it in the kitchen. When it's dirty, it goes in the washing machine. I recycle my cans and bottles, have a compost pile that I put vacuum contents and dryer lint into, I have chickens and goats that love to eat our non-meat scraps and dogs that love the meat scraps. I grow a lot of my own veggies and can them for the year, I support local farmers by buying produce and veggies at local produce stands, and my husband deer hunts to help with the overpopulation and we get a natural, unadulterated source of meat. I make my own bread and eat our chicken eggs, we have a homemade meal most every night instead of unhealthy pre-packaged foods, and we try and have left over nights so we don't waste food.
The one area I haven't really delved into is homemade solutions like detergents, air fresheners, and cleaner alternatives. I know Pinterest has a million pins about these issues, but honestly I feel it's hard to sift through them all. I also find a lot of "recipes" that call for odd items that I've never seen or heard of. I want to be environmentally friendly, but I'm also wanting to be practical, frugal, and have things that really work.
To that end, I'm on the hunt for environmentally friendly, yet frugal and practical ways to green up my home. I'd love any suggestions or pointers! I'll be getting together some of the best finds from Pinterest and the blog world and hopefully be getting some guest writers to let us all know their secrets too. I hope you all get as much out of this as I do.
14 comments:
The biggest part of being green is looking past the advertising. It's a huge market, but if you plan carefully, you can be eco-friendly and still live on a budget :) Then again, I may be a bit biased since it's what my blog is about :) I am all about healthy and saving a few bucks!
I do some of the things you already do. I didn't know you can compost dryer lint! I've also never made home made cleaning products, but I agree, there are a ton of suggestions on Pinterest! Good luck!
For natural cleaning products, the base is just vinegar and baking soda. I add some essential oils for natural fragrance and natural germ-killing properties. You can also skirt some lemon too.
I am a frugalista myself and find this area terribly hard. Like you, I am also working on way to green my home and the way I live life.
reuse reuse reuse.... crafts and such - it is super hard because the cheap stuff seems to have 5 tons of trash.
This is interesting. I think being eco-friendly and frugal naturally go hand-in-hand.
I initially was trying to say money by DIYing household cleanings/other items, cloth diapering, etc. which then lead to recycling (obsessively), composting, gardening, and beyond.
I look forward to checking babk in here!
God bless!
Our Front Porch View: The Story of a Young Family's Pursuit to Fulfill a Simpler Life
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It's been mentioned, but I agree, for cleaning vinegar alone, or a vinegar and water composition or vinegar and baking soda are amazing for cleaning! And very cost effective! Just Google "vinegar for cleaning" and you will get a TON of ideas and instructions.
I haven't figured out the air fresheners, except for using Soy candles instead of wax; but you are making great strides! I wish my husband went hunting, I miss Elk, Deer and Antelop meat! I grew up on that stuff. We also make our own jerky, it's delicious and saves a lot of money.
I struggle with this sometimes as well (mostly because I struggle with cleaning at all, lol.) Honestly the most handy things for us have been baking soda, vinegar, and essential oils which were already things we had readily available in our house. Once you get out of the habit of reaching for the windex it gets so much easier!
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I'm interested in learning this as well. I find so many Green products are sooo expensive, it seems so much easier and cheaper to buy traditional products.
I haven't delved into too many homemade solutions for detergents, etc but I do use vinegar and baking soda for cleaning.
I haven't made any of my own detergents or anything but I think you can pretty much clean anything with a vinegar solution. That's greener than all the store bought cleaning stuff!
It sounds like you're well entrenched in being green already! Taking your cleaning to a non-toxic level is really easy with a few ingredients. Start by ditching your cleaning sprays and reaching them with vinegar. Easy, affordable, and so much better for your household. With that one product you can replace 90% of your cleaning supplies. You can also replace your dishwasher rinse aid with it and your liquid fabric softener.
I wrote a post recently on making your own dish washing detergent and will also be trying out a homemade dish liquid in the next coue days. I would love to share the cleaning recipes that work for me if you're interested.
Good for you for wanting to green your home. :) :)
I'd be interested in finding more environmentally friendly and frugal ways to clean the house too. You're right about Pinterest have tons of ideas. The challenge would be sifting through and finding the gems in all the things posted.
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