Feb 1, 2010 | Green Living, In-Edibles, Recipes
I just found this recipe for Natural Deodorant on this site.
I am so excited to try it as I know it will save bundles and I will know what’s in it!
You use your own empty stick deodorant containers (washed out.) I found a site once where you can order these new, but can’t find it now. If you know of it please let me know!
Natural Deodorant
1/4 cup corn starch
1/4 cup baking soda
10 drops essential oil(they recommend tea tree or lavender)
Mix it all together(takes about 2 seconds)
you can use it just like that-dust it on as a powder
OR if you want to put it in a stick form you add
2-3 tbs coconut oil
you find it in the baking aisle by the shortening (also good as a skin cream and lip balm)
Once you have it all mixed up you pack it into an old, empty stick deoderant container.
Let “cure” about 24 hours for it to hold together properly when you apply it.
*Another recipe is HERE. (They say to use 1 part baking soda to 6 parts corn starch.)
Jan 25, 2010 | Uncategorized
Not much exciting happened this weekend to write about, so I decided to give you some of my green house-keeping hints and participate in 11th Heaven’s Homemaker Monday. (I love her blog! She always has the best recipes!)
Some things I do:
- Make my own cleaning products! Cheaper, easier, greener, (and did I mention cheaper?) So far I make my own laundry detergent, glass/general purpose cleaner, tub scrub. I haven’t perfected an automatic dishwashing soap yet. I use either Seventh Generation or try and find the lowest phosphorus content brand at the grocery store. Does anyone have a good recipe? Also, I can’t figure out what to use on the hardwoods that is all-natural and not store-bought. Now I use Method’s Good for Wood, supposed to be natural but the smell bothers my hubby to no end. (It is pretty strong smelling.) I am saving SO much money on laundry detergent alone. One bottle of my old standby, All Free, costs the same as the ten or so I get from this recipe! I use hydrogen peroxide instead of bleach in the whites. (Safer and cheaper!) The other recipes are cheap too, just buy big bags and bottles of rubbing alcohol, borax, baking soda at discount stores and you’ll be set! Pure rubbing alcohol works wonders on stainless steel!
- Compost! (I’ve composted for a long time, but starting to get more serious. My honey bought a cool rotating composter last summer and we’ve been composting more- all table scraps, leftovers (with no meat,) bread that is moldy, egg shells, peelings, leaf cuttings, yard waste… I am hoping I get something good out of the composter this spring! (It’s getting very full!)
- Recycle! We are lucky. Our town has curbside recycling for almost everything. (paper, plastics up to #7, aluminum, tin, cardboard, even yard waste!) Makes life easier. Also recycle all those things you don’t use anymore or the kids have grown out of by donating them to your favorite local charity!
- Eliminate the unnecessaries! We don’t buy paper towels (although before I party I have been known to get a roll or two, and just found a new brand that is 100% recycled.) We use rags instead. Don’t buy paper napkins either (cloth are prettier anyway!) Do you really need all those new dust gadgets they keep coming out with? A good microfiber cloth is nice though, I must admit.
If you have any good tips, please comment and leave them for us!
Jan 25, 2010 | Green Living, In-Edibles, Uncategorized
Tub Scrub (I love this!)
In a mixing bowl pour about equal amounts of baking soda and borax.
(Maybe 2 cups each?)
Pour in some True Lemon powder (you can use True Orange or Lime also!)
just enough to scent the mix.
To use: Wet bathtub or sink. Sprinkle tub scrub in tub. Watch the fun! It bubbles when it gets wet!
Scrub and watch the sparkles! This smells yummy too.
Glass & General Purpose Cleaner
Both of these are subjective recipes too. (Sorry!)
I have some spray bottles I bought at Sam’s Club in a three pack.
I fill one up about two inches with vinegar (disinfectant,) then add about an inch of rubbing alcohol (disinfectant and makes it dry faster,) then add a few drops of tea tree oil and fill the rest to the line with water. To make it more of a general cleaner I add a tablespoon of Borax and let dissolve (makes icky stuff come off counters better.) To be just a glass cleaner you can actually use all vinegar, but I like the mix of the alcohol and vinegar- just think it works better.
This works great on almost every surface (except nice wood.)
Hope you like these as much as I do! If you have some good ones to share please comment!
Dec 7, 2009 | Green Living, Uncategorized
How can I green up MY holidays?
- Don’t wrap gifts, or use a scarf, pretty re-usable bag (my sis-in-law used pretty reusable shopping bags last year -such a neat idea!)
- If you do wrap use paper over (like your grandma did!)
- Send e-cards!
- If you are like me and love to get “real” mail this one time a year then use recycled cards or re-use last year’s cards by cutting off the fronts. I read a neat tip on Suite101 that said to write your note on a slip of scrap paper or sticky note so the card-receiver can reuse the card next year! Also pare down your card list if you haven’t heard from someone in awhile. I’m still trying to figure out my cards for this year… I think we are going to make paper with junk mail, then make cards with those. We usually do New Year’s Cards to minimize the holiday stress.
- If you exchange gifts buy local or handcraft your own creations (try local folks on Etsy!) I saw an idea where friends who craft get together and swap gifts. I’d love to try this next year!
- Make sure the toys you buy are safe. THIS IS HARD! There are some great sites to verify the toys don’t have nasty chemicals in them (just do a search!) If you buy toys that are made for sale in Europe you will probably be safe as they have stricter laws on bad toys unlike we do in the U.S. (If you have pets remember to check them out too- there is virtually NO regulation on pet toy safety!)
- Better than giving things why not register your family on Heifer Project’s giving site?
You will give a chance for a new future for underprivileged people around the world. Another great choice is Arkansas Rice Depot!
- Buy local foods for your meals. It not only supports local farmers, but makes a smaller carbon print. But, most importantly, it TASTES BETTER! Thanksgiving we managed to get almost our entire meal from local farmers.
- Decorate using fresh items if possible, or recycle your old ones with new ribbons etc.
- Reuse old wrapping paper and cards to make neat new decorations for your home! We are making paper chains with old cards today!
- We always get a fresh tree. I know some people think this is bad, but it’s from a tree farm where they plant new ones every year. In my humble opinion you are supporting local farmers, putting a natural item in your home as opposed to a plastic chemical ridden thing that has been manufactured in China and shipped halfway around the world. Plus we love to go as a family and drink cocoa, ride the tractor, cut the tree… makes for a fun day! (Also they make your house smell so “Christmasy” as the kids say!) I have a great recipe for tree food here on my recipe blog.
Cutting our tree this weekend!Do you have a good idea to green your Christmas? Please let me know and let’s keep the ideas rolling!
Aug 11, 2009 | Uncategorized
Here is the update on the soapfront…
I ended up using:
Liquid Laundry Detergent
1 cup Washing Soda
1/2 cup Borax
a bit of tea tree oil (to cut the mildew smell front loaders can have!)
1/4 cup or so of Dr. Bronner’s Baby Castile liquid soap
4 cups hot water (first) then added about 8 more cups
I mixed it in a bowl with a whisk because the washing soda (soda ash) gets hot when it gets wet. (Luckily I knew this from my pool or I’d have probably burned my hands trying to get the clumps out.) I did put the end of it in the blender and mixed it there to try and get all the clumps out. It will be pretty runny, not gooey like usual laundry soap. Here are more recipes.
Like I said before the Fels-Naptha soap really smelled perfumy to me so I didn’t attempt to use it. I found out it is made by the Dial corp. (and I’m SOOO allergic to Dial soap.) I might use the Castile bar soap next time if it’s a lot cheaper than the liquid (which I think it is.)
It filled up 3 of the 32 load HE washer bottles, and another small container I had. The cost to make it was a little more since I used the liquid, probably $3.50 total. That’s about what I pay for one 32 load bottle (with coupons/sales etc.) Not bad at all!
I’m doing a test load now! Me, excited about laundry? Wow! Now if I can just rig up a clothesline I’ll be set!
Some of the goodies I got at market today!
(I’m getting hungry- can you tell?)
peppers, heirloom tomatoes, fairy eggplant, honey, cantaloupe, okra, purple hull peas, corn, Danish cucumber, zucchini (all go good with cornbread, don’t they?)
