Becoming "Green" Part 2

[Kenre]

I have found many people say that they cannot become green because it is hard or expensive. I am here to help these people who want to become green, save money, and live happier and healthier lives through it. It's not hard. It's one step a week. I am going to put a new step (with three things you can do to be Green) every week for everyone to start to follow. If you'd like to follow me in this mission, then here we go.

LAST WEEKS MISSION CLICK HERE FOR PART ONE

Keeping up with what you have done last week, you are now going to try three more things to add to your life. If you find these hard to do, try one a day or hold off another week and then come back and do these. Remember, take it slowly. Overwhelming yourself will only lead to discouragement. Go at your pace. You are doing this for yourself, your family, your health, and the health of the planet... no one can tell you what pace is right for you.

1. Sweep instead of vacuuming your carpets or hard floors. Sweep daily. Vacuum weekly. It saves energy, and most of the time we're vacuuming entire carpets and areas that aren't heavy traffic for no reason. If you can, get a bag-less vacuum when it comes time to upgrade your unit. This saves in money on bags and the environment when throwing those bags out.

2. Dust with old t-shirts. Cut them into strips and you have easy, home-made, already paid for dusting rags that can be washed instead of thrown away. Remember that a damp rag makes dirt cling to the rag instead of polluting the air and just landing again later on what you just dusted. Be extra careful with damp rags on books and wood. Make sure it's not too wet before wiping these things down.

3. Making liquid hand soap is easy and since bar soaps can be cheaper and last longer this is a good way to save money. Also, liquid soaps from the stores come in plastic. Bar soaps come in recyclable cardboard and paper. To make liquid hand soap: Grate a bar of pure soap (or use soap flakes) and pour into warm water. Heat until dissolved, then cool and store in a pump container. Keep in plastic containers until needing to refill your pumps by keeping it air tight (so fill to the top of the plastic container and squeeze out the air). It will store indefinitely in a closet or cabinet as long as air isn't in the container.

These might seem a bit harder, but try them out for this week. You will find that even if they take time, the money they save and the environment is worth it. Good luck.

Cleaning tip for the week:

• Make your own dish soap. Mix 4 fl ozs of unscented natural dish washing soap with 10 drops each of lemon and orange oils. Shake well. Use instead of the chemical based dish washing liquid. (Green works makes Natural Dish washing liquid. The oils are not to be message oils, but rather pure scented oils for fresh smelling soap. Use any you like the smell of.)