Foam Soap

One of the only DIY Green Cleaning items I've started doing myself is making my own foaming hand soap. Before I realized how many chemicals were in the typical foaming soaps, I used to love and stock up on the Bath and Body Works anti-bacterial foaming soaps. I loved them! Convenient, nice scents, and leaves your hands feeling good.

What I didn't realize however, was that a lot of those chemicals weren't good for me or my septic system. Upon learning that, I inquired around for a better alternative and was given a recipe that has worked wonders, saves us a ton of money, and no one besides me is the wiser. I actually prefer this home made version now.

So, what do you need? It's so simple, I promise you that truly ANYONE can do it.

- A soap dispenser
- Water - regular ole tap water is fine, that's what I use
- Liquid Castile Soap

I use Dr. Bonner's soap. I bought the large 32 ounce Lavender scent. In hindsight, I'm not the biggest lavender fan, so I should have bought another scent or unscented and found my own essential oil. You can buy Dr. Bonners in unscented, lavender, peppermint, almond, and eucalyptus. And, lucky for me and hopefully you, it's conveniently available at Target. I paid around $12.99 for the 32 ounce bottle. I was previously paying $3.99 or so per bottle of the Bath & Body soaps, so after 4 bottles, I'm saving money and believe me, I've already made it there.

Here's what it looks like - In my Target, it's right near the Burt's Bees and other natural cosmetic products.

How do you make it?

- 1 part Castile soap
- 9 parts water

Open your foam soap dispenser, pour in one part castile soap and 9 parts water. It doesn't have to be exact - I eye ball it and it's come out fine every time. Put in the soap first, then add in the water slowly, letting the water drain down the side of the dispenser kind of like pouring beer to minimize foam. Leave a little room at the top and seal the dispenser. Roll around gently (no need to shake, I simply flip it up and down slowly a couple times) just to get it to mix. And you are ready to go!

It's that simple and you'll find that you're quickly saving money. There are also tons of other uses for the Castile soap, but I haven't ventured there yet. I've made what seems like dozens of bottles of soap already and hardly made a dent in my Dr. Bonner's...So it could literally last me forever. If not, I'll eventually buy the unscented and make my own scents, but until then, I'll continue using the lavender and love my soap (and the extra money in my pocket)!

Until next time

~Amber

Green Dishwashing Update

So ironically, as a follow up to my post the other day, a fellow Green blogger posted the following the other day regarding a new dishwasher detergent that apparently works miracles:
http://theecofriendlyfamily.blogspot.com/2010/02/dishwasher-leaving-you-cloudy.html

She's also doing a give away as part of this. I'm so hoping to win a sample myself so I can give this product a try and see for myself, but I'm encouraging you to give it a shot as well.

Good luck & happy Green washing!

Green Washing (aka Green Cleaning)

So as I made the decision in my life to become more green/eco-friendly, one of the first areas I sought to improve was cleaning. As I learned more about some of the harsh or strange chemicals that were in the cleaners we were using every day and what they were doing to our bodies or the environment, I thought this was a good area to improve upon in my life.

I do have to admit, there are some so-called "green" cleaners out there that while better than most of the stuff on the Wal-mart shelf, still aren't in any way shape or form good for the environment. It's kind of a slippery slope that doesn't seem to be all that highly regulated yet, but then again, what areas of commerce really are now a days?

So what are the chemicals commonly found in every day cleaners that concerned me you ask? I'd classify them into two groups: those that harm your body and those that harm the environment. I'm sure there could be blogs out there solely dedicated to describing all the bad chemicals out there and what they can do, so I'll just list a few that were my top concerns:

SLS and SLES - Sodium Lauryl Sulfate and Sodium Laureth Sulfate are commonly used in many soaps, shampoos, detergents, toothpastes and other products. They are essentially added as surfactants, which for those of us who don't know what that means are the things that make the cleaners sudsy and foam up - a sign many people look to an interpret to mean that the cleaners are actually working. Doesn't sound too bad yet right? Well, SLS is an irritant. Many people are actually allergic to it and this allergic reaction or irritation can present itself in many ways even as concentrations as low as 0.5%. Some of these 'irritations' include eye irritation, scalp irritation, tangled hair, swollen body parts, rashes, and puffiness. I remember reading on someones blog that their husband was losing his hair and switched to an SLS free shampoo only to find that his hair grew back - the SLS actually had caused his hair to fall out! SLES is considered the more dangerous of the two though. It cannot be metabolised by the live and therefore its effect are much longer-lasting. Some studies seem to indicate that this can lead to cancer since SLES is commonly contaminated with dioxane, a known carcinogen. So why are these chemicals in cleaners and other products you ask if them cause so much damage? Well, the answer is simple economics - it's cheap and works well at dissolving oils. Here's a good site to read more: http://www.natural-health-information-centre.com/sodium-lauryl-sulfate.html

Phosphates: Phosphates are another comment chemical found in cleaning products, especially dish detergents and laundry detergents. While phosphates are a naturally occurring substance, we've found that if too much of it gets into waterways, algae and other organisms feed on it and reproduce in massive numbers, causing algal blooms. Think red tides or cyanobacteria, a blue-green algae that can even kill humans if ingested in large amounts. These algae blooms block out sunlight and as a result kill off other species in the water.

Anti-bacterial Products - So many products out there are anti-bacterial now a days: Hand soap, detergents, wipes, tissues, etc. Sounds great right amidst the H1N1 scare this year and flu season? Especially as a mom-to-be, I thought I was doing a good thing by using my Lysol wipes and anti-bacterial soap. Then, the more thought you put into it you realize - I grew up in the 80's - we didn't have anti-bacterial anything and we were fine and healthy. Plus, there are lots and lots of 'good' bacteria out there that we need in order to digest food and survive. If we are using a ton of anti-bacterial products, how are these 'good' bacteria supposed to survive and help us? Then, think of septic systems which require bacteria to function properly. I learned that by using these anti-bacterial products, I was actually probably doing more damage than good. I was killing the 'good' bacteria in my septic system, killing the 'good' bacteria around the house that my family needs exposure to, and by killing or weakening the 'bad' bacteria, I was potentially creating a breeding ground for stronger, more resistant bacteria to develop. Hmmm, not sounding so great anymore huh?

So what does this mean for those of us out there who want clean homes? So what to do? We still need to do laundry and wash dishes and we don't want to be sick all the time. Well, depending on the type of person you are, you have a couple choices. You can decide to make your own cleaners the way our grandparents or great grandparents did successfully for years. Or, if you are like me and don't really have the time and patience to grate up castile soap for detergents and don't particularly care for the smell of vinegar, you can choose to buy products that are more eco-friendly and have taken all of these things into consideration. Luckily, being green is the new black (ha ha, I make myself laugh at my witty-ness sometimes) and there are a lot of products out there. There are also some products out there that have been green for far longer than the green movement has been out there.

Here are some of my favorites I've found so far:

Laundry Detergent: While it's weird to buy laundry detergent online, I'm in love with this detergent. Crunchy clean - http://www.crunchyclean.com/ You can customize your detergent by choosing the type and scent. I can't imagine switching back. I actually ordered some of her cloth diaper type to wash my baby clothes in. Crunchy clean doesn't contain SLS, SLES, or Phosphates. It works well in hard water, soft water, with normal machines, or high-efficiency machines. I definitely recommend giving it a try. I was very leery at first to switching to a powder after using a gel for so long, but I'm never going back. She also has other products such as carpet freshener/powder, linen spray, and a new oxy-clean type of product.

Unfortunately, even some of the commercial 'green' brands contain SLS. I was shocked and dismayed when I purchased Seventh Generation Baby Detergent to wash my baby clothes in since crunchy clean can take a week or two to come in and I'm impatient and wanted to get the baby clothes washed and put away. I washed all the baby's clothes only to find out that the product has SLS in it and almost gave myself an anxiety attack trying to determine if I should re-wash the clothes. TBD on that to be honest with you. 7th Gen is usually my go-to green brand, but they really disappointed here.

Soap: Instead of buying my favorite bath and body works foaming anti-bacterial soap, I found a cheap, quick, and easy way to make my own. Head to your local Target, go to the aisle with the Burt's Bees and other green cosmetics and pick up a bottle of Dr. Bonner's liquid castile soap. I got the lavender although next time I'll probably get unscented since I'm not a fan of lavender. Re-use your soap pumps or pick up a nice one and use a mixture of 1 part Dr. B's and 9 parts water to make a soap. Swish around gently and viola - foaming soap that works wonderfully but isn't antibacterial. I've switched all of it in my house and the family is non-the-wiser. It works just as well and smells nice. Now I don't have to worry about the 'good' bacteria in my septic tank being killed and people are still getting nice clean hands. Dr. B's also has probably a million other uses, but that's the only use I've had for them for now. I should probably look into other options with I have time, but for now, even time constrained me was able to make this at home soap.

Cleaners: Lots of folks will tell you to use vinegar and water solutions. Well, I tried it and Joe hated the smell and I wasn't really a big fan either. So I switched to Seventh Generation cleaning products. I love the all-purpose cleaner. No SLS here, so I'm good with it. It even cleans my hard to clean black stove top wonderfully. Plus, you can't beat the 'warning' on the back that says, "While not meant for consumption, if consumed, drink a glass of water." A far cry from the Clorox cleaners that say contact Poison Control - another added benefit of going green. Seventh Generation can be purchased at Target. However, if you are unlucky like me and don't have a Whole Foods very close by and your target doesn't carry their whole line, I couldn't get their bathroom cleaner. I chose the Method brand cleaner. Didn't seem as eco-friendly to me, but still was much better than your Scrubbing bubbles type of stuff and worked just as well. Did have that cleaner smell though to it which 7th Gen didn't.

Dishwasher Detergent: My commitment is still up for grabs here. I tried the 7th Gen powder and wasn't happy. I'm currently using both 7th Gen gel and Method tablets. I put white vinegar in the Jet Dry spot. They work okay, but honestly doesn't seem to be work as well as my good ole Cascade. I've been told the 7th Gen tabs work just as well as the Cascade packs, but I can't find them near me. Either way, I don't mind a slight drop in efficiency to know I'm making a better environmental footprint. If anyone has any better suggestions though, I'd love to hear them.

So that's my short story on cleaners for now. Next time maybe I'll give you some information on cosmetics and personal type items so you can hear even more about the wonders of modern commercialism on our health, welfare, and environment.