Little seeds and Reduce…
Green woman tagged me for a meme about what I do to reduce the amount of chemicals in my house.
At first I was very daunted by this, so I went through my house and looked at the “chemicals” I have. It surprised me to find that, other than dishwashing detergent, orange power (hand cleaner for after car work), oxy clean,and laundry detergent, I don’t have a lot of chemicals in the house. Now the studio, thats a whole different kettle of fish. Don’t know to many folks who have lithium carb, manganese dioxide or silica on hand! So We will leave the chemist out of the equation.
I live on well and septic, so I can not use bleach or ammonia, soapy water cleans the floor (when I get to it!)
I am a vigilant advocate for composting, so thats what goes in my gardens, although the 15 year old would love to participate in Green woman’s nitrogen program! ( it’s under consideration.)
I make my own soap, and have for years, since the chemicals and perfumes in store soap either give me a horrible rash or dry my skin out terribly.
I use both vinegar and lemon juice to wash windows, and baking soda will clean a toilet great, and if you add salt and washing soda to the mix it gives it a heck of a shine!
The other thing that I like to do is to grow Pyrethrum,it’s a member of the daisy family. It is also a Very very good bug repellant. If you have small or very young children however, they can not pick or eat these, because they are very toxic. The pesticides people still make a derivative from these plants to spray on home foundations to keep out spiders,ants, roaches and a host of other bugs!
I think the most important thing is to avoid “anti bacterial ” products, these items kill both good germs and bad germs, and how does that help anyone?
Check out this link HERE for some simple solutions to help you reduce your chemical impact.
Thanks green woman for the poke through my cabinets!
and if anyone else wants to participate, please feel free to share your “Green” tips!
and happy Earth day, every day!
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Liking this Sorrow, but need to read again.
I’m looking for alternatives to commercial de-bugging. I don’t like the toxic mix, many members of my family not only have E.R. reactions to toxins but same to natural insects, most importantly, spiders and mosquitos. I’m looking for the balance and as you point out above, even the natural can be dangerous.
Blessings…will read and absorb your post again.
SE~ good luck with the natural stuff< if you are looking for a soap, I believe you can go to etsy and put in a request for a natural soap with bug repelling essential oils!
also btw: may be me, but can’t find the link to click to…we’ve gone 95% “organic” here (no politics please, it’s just a personal journey with pitfalls I’m sure). would love to see the link you referred to…………..
Peace always.
*hanging head*
I’m embarassed to report what’s under our sink.
*sigh*
Time for a good cleanout, methinks.
And time for a new way of doing things?
MEL~ no time like the present!
Baking soda and distilled white vinegar are good for so many things ! I love using freshly squeezed lemon juice for things too.
Annie~ amazing how the old tried and true work so well! Thanks for the visit!
Evening Lady Sorrow~
So glad you posted this!
I never KNEW about anti-bacterial products!?! Thank you for making me aware of that. Dear, god…that’s what kind of dishwashing soap I’ve been using!!! However NOT in my bath soap.
(speaking of which…YOUR soap is FABULOUS!!!)
I don’t ever use anything with ammonia, simply because I just can’t stand the SMELL of it. However, I am guilty of bleach in my laundry.
(you know how UNDERWEAR gets….with pee-pee stains!)
I’ll check out the link you left here, for some simple solutions.
Thanks for this post, dear lady….VERY informative!
Hope you had a great Sunday. I was outside ALL day…it was beautiful!
Ron~ always a pleasure to read your words! always a smile and a warm fuzzy! thanks for the plug on my soap! I am glad you enjoyed!
The anti bacterial stuff is scary! been reading about it’s impact on the environment, not s o good! by the citrus! does just as well with out killing all our friendly bacteria!
I’m a convert to ENJO products - just uses water and the special mitt. The first time I cleaned my windows with it, I walked back into the glass; the duster made everything reflect off each other, the timber was so shiny- just a dry cloth! Love it.
Cate~ going to have to go looking for these ENJO products, not sure if my little country grocery carries it!
It’s frightening when you look at all those so called time saving “latest” chemical cleaning products that are expensive too.
BIM~ ABSOLUTELY!
some of this stuff is so frightening!
Good meme to post. It makes one stop and think. I know I have greatly reduced the chemicals in my home but still I have many.
Golden feri~
yes, I was a little fearful of what i would find, I pick things up from time to time, and have no idea what i was thinking, but luckily i seem to have broken that habit!
I so agree about the anti-bacterials. Not only damaging but dangerous. And it gets harder and harder to find products without them!
thank you 
I shall check out your link
mig~ Yeah, it is, I just keep looking for citrus and orange power stuff, they don’t seem to be on the anti-band wagon yet!
Great post!
I am a label reader (goes with the territory), and I’ve made more and more of an effort over the past few years to eliminate the chemicals from my household. For the most part, I feel like I’m pretty close. The cleaners I use are enzyme and/or citrus based, and I think no chemicals at all. Still, there is something even more satisfying knowing that we can clean with some of the same ingredients we’d put in our food.
I’ve always meant to read up on that (there’s actually a vegan cookbook that has some of that - garden of vegan, I think it is; one of sarah kramer’s anyway!), and move towards those types of household solutions.
Another bonus - reducing even further the plastic bottles that the cleaners invariably come in!
Deb~ here! here! seems we must be ever vigilant, I am a label reader too! and i get so disgusted! why is what I want to know? what’s the purpose behind all this junk?
BLEH
If ever the need for a very effective, chemical free lice treatment should arise… *hoping it does not*
…G’s dad created a wonderful one.
Happiness.
~:*P*:~
PIX~Oh now you have to share this!!! I may not need it now, but I am sure I could pass it along to a few friends after the summer slumber parties kick in!
Please?
(oh that’s *up arrow* made me want to scratch my head!)
you’ve done such a better job on Earth Day than I did
ISLTV~
Earth day? well, okay….
if you say so…
I live in the realm of opposites…so if you say so!
~chortle!~
Good morning, Sorrow.
He made a mixture of olive oil, calendula, patchouli and lavandin oils. (I will get you the exact measurements ~ he’s an NMD so he gets them through the medicinary).
We applied it to G’s head for 30 minutes and combed through with a nit comb.
Dr. Bronner’s mint soap was used to wash it out because it is castile and removes the oil from the hair.
We didn’t have a re-occurrence and he explained the reason for that as: the patchouli is a natural insect repellent (as is the calendula, which also soothed the itching)and the oil keeps the hair shaft coated so nits won’t stick.
A neighbor put Rid on her poor kid’s head three times with no success - finally tried G’s daddy’s mixture and it worked.
I do this every 4 weeks or so, just to be sure… because I get the heebie-jeebies thinking about it. LOL!!! Smells fantastic, too!
PXX~ thanks so much! I am hoping that i NEVER have to test it, but I have a friend who seems to have troubles every summer (3 teenage boys!) so I will pass this along!
(((HUGS))) thanks
Terrific post Sorrow. You’ve got lots of good suggestions and so do all the readers. I’m glad you did the meme and I hope that more people will do it. Its good for us to figure out how to eliminate chemicals. So many of them we actually don’t need. Consumerism has caused alot of these beliefs that natural solutions and remedies aren’t enough. Efforts like our posts help change that viewpoint. ((hugs))
Greenwoman~Thanks for the Tag, I have to admit my comments have more good stuff than my post!
This was a great idea!
Vinegar is so versatile..you can clean with it and then have a drink. hee, hee.
Seriously, remember my VERY old Grandma (101 in June)she cleans with it and she drinks a “brew” every day. It has vinegar, grape juice, and apple juice in it.
Blessings be and happy earth week!
Gypsy~
Hiya lady!
I love your Gran, she sounds like she might have a little of that vinegar in her blood! my favorite kind of folks are sweet and sour!
A blessed earth day to you!
Happy Earth Week - I wish it lasted all year.
In the garden we grow patchouli and citronella geranium. They work well keeping the mosquitoes away.
Also a composter here. I always save my coffee grounds and put them in. (we drink tons of coffee here)
I didn’t know you made soap. that is aweome. I use the eucalyptus brand of Dr Bonner, and I also use it diluted in a mist bottle to take care of problem bugs in the garden.
This is a great post, Sis. You are awesome.
RD~ Thanks bro!
I knew you would have some awesome suggestions!
Thanks for sharing the love and keepin it GREEN!
(((HUGS)))
Peace,
=RD=