Three eco-friendly cleaner recipes to try out at your next “green party”:

Furniture polish: Combine 1/4 cup olive oil, 1/4 cup white distilled vinegar and 2 teaspoons of lemon juice for fragrance (optional). Shake well. Dip a clean, dry cloth into the polish and rub wood in the direction of the grain. Refrigerate if you add lemon juice.

Toilet bowl cleaner: Sprinkle toilet bowl with baking soda, drizzle with white distilled vinegar. Let soak for at least 30 minutes and scrub with toilet brush. For persistent stains, let ingredients soak overnight.

All-purpose cleaner: Combine 2 cups white distilled vinegar and 2 cups water. To reduce the smell of vinegar, add 20 to 30 drops of lemon or lavender oil, available at specialty grocery stores or health food stores. Use on countertops, kitchen floors, windows, mirrors and other hard surfaces. For tough jobs, warm cleaner in the microwave until barely hot.

Source: Women’s Voices for the Earth (womenandenvironment.org)

The party favors are boxes of baking soda, recipe cards and spray bottles.

The theme is green.

Green cleaning parties have sprouted nationwide as a fun, easy way to rid homes of toxic chemicals found in common household cleaners.

Women’s Voices for the Earth, an environmental group in Montana, started the parties in March to offer people homemade alternatives to hazardous cleaners found under most kitchen sinks. Hostesses provide the recipes and ingredients; the guests whip them up.

Laura Daniels hosted a party this week at her New Tampa home for about a dozen friends and neighbors. On the menu: wine, hors d’oeuvres and furniture polish made from olive oil, vinegar and lemon juice.

“We all say we want to do something to protect the environment, but we don’t do anything,” said Daniels, 59. “This just made sense.”

The $15 party kit comes with recipe cards, a supply list, container labels, fact sheets and a video to show during the party. The video talks about the link between toxic chemicals in household cleaners and asthma and reproductive problems. It also calls on government leaders to require companies to list ingredients on product labels as they do for food.

There’s no sales pitch.

The parties promote all-natural cleaners used long before Easy Off, Formula 409 and other products became mainstream. “Ask your grandma what works,” touts the video.

Recipes cover an assortment of cleaners, from a toilet bowl cleaner to a creamy soft scrub for counters, stoves and bathroom sinks. The ingredients are cheap and typically found in most homes.

Guests take the products home with the mandate to use them and spread the word to friends and family. So far, 400 people have registered to host parties worldwide.

“I really thought they were going to have some secret ingredients,” Marti Woznicki said. “I think I’ll give them a try.”

Ingredients:

• 1 tsp liquid castile soap
• 1/8 cup white vinegar
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 2 cups water
• 6 drops citrus seed extract
• 4 drops lemon, lime, orange or eucalyptus essential oil
• 1 tsp borax

Combine all ingredients in a plastic spray bottle.  Shake well before every use.

• 1/4 cup baking soda
• 5 drops essential oil of your choice
• juice of half a lemon

Sprinkle baking soda on the stain, then add drops of essential oil and sprinkle with lemon juice. Let sit over night or several hours. Wipe baking soda away and then rinse well.

If the stain is on the side of the sink, make a thick paste from the ingredients, using more baking soda if necessary. Make sure the paste sticks to the side of the sink.

• water
• vinegar
• 3-4 drops citrus essential oil

A simple mixture of equal parts of vinegar and water is the best thing for cleaning faucets.

Buildup of grime around the base can be treated with a 3-4 drops of a citrus essential oil dropped directly on the grime, then scrubbed away with an old toothbrush.

I thought I would be posting once more to warn of my absence, but alas I didn’t meet the deadline. I am, however, back and ready to go now. Sorry about that readers!

Do you make any household cleaners yourself? We make our own laundry detergent and are quite happy with it. Here’s the recipe I follow.

Read her recipe here

There’s some ‘green’ products out there that just aren’t quite as green as they claim to be. Whether you call it greenwashing or just plain dishonesty, here’s a few products that don’t live up to their green hype.

“Green” Cleaning Products: To meet the growing demand for environmentally-friendly products, a number of companies have created “green” cleaning products. For people concerned with the number of chemicals in traditional household cleaners, these seem like a great solution. However, these new “green” products contain some of the same chemicals. The real green cleaning solution? Homemade cleaners from everyday items such as baking soda, vinegar, cola, etc.

(…)

Energy Trackers: There are a lot of devices out there marketed to green people that display or keep track of the electricity your electronic devices use. These trackers supposedly conserve energy by making you aware of the electricity you’re using, thus helping the environment. However, these devices seem to me to be a big waste. They are made of plastics, metals and other materials, and take energy to produce and ship. And the problem is, they don’t offer anything to the consumer that isn’t common sense knowledge. Keep the following four things in mind, and you can save yourself from buying one of these gizmos:

* Your stuff uses electricity.
* When you turn your stuff off, it uses less electicity…
* …But even when it’s turned off, your stuff still uses electricity.
* Your stuff uses a lot of electicity (the exact amount can be found on your monthly utility bill).

And guess what? Energy trackers use electicity, too!

“Eco-shape” water bottles: These “eco-shape” bottles use less plastic than traditional bottles, and are thus labeled as “green.” Unfortunately, these bottles use almost infinitely more plastic than your kitchen faucet. So fill up a reusable container from the tap (like this one) and be a real eco-hero.

Organic /Hemp / Recycled Fabric clothing: Sure these might be a bit greener than the clothes for sale in the mall (or they might not be), but the greenest choice would be not to buy new clothes at all. Unless you absolutely need a new item of clothing (and how many of us really do), these eco-friendly clothes can’t really be considered a green decision. If you do want to buy some new threads, go vintage and give some older clothes new life. Now that’s a green choice!

Well, that’s some of the stuff you might want to avoid. Here’s some stuff you can buy that will actually make a big difference:

* CFL bulbs
* Appliances rated highly by Energy Star
* Reusable shopping bags
* Anything used!

Hopefully this will help you make your spending dollar a little greener. Happy shopping!

Competition Bureau sees red over false green claims
Sarah Schmidt , Canwest News Service
Published: Thursday, June 19, 2008

OTTAWA - Consumers weary of environmental claims about products can soon expect more straight talk from manufacturers when the Competition Bureau releases tougher standards for green marketing pitches.

As early as next week, the agency is expected to release updated guidelines for self-declared environmental claims to make clear the federal government wants companies to stop making false or misleading claims.

Customers are bombarded with eco-friendly pitches for products, ranging from household cleaners to electronics as companies try to cash in on a desire by Canadians to help the environment. But the bureau says the truth has been a casualty in some cases, and wants to see an end to vague claims, such as pitching a product as “ozone-friendly.”

Tara writes:

Homemade Cleaning

Six or so years ago I started making homemade household cleaners out of the neccessity to save money. It didn’t take long for me to realize the enormous benefits of making and using homemade cleaners. Yes it is a great way to cut costs, but even better than that is the fact that you are cutting out harmful chemicals from your home! Not to mention reducing waste by not buying & rebuying containers full of chemical cleaners.

I’ve tried many different recipes over the years and have come up with a few favorites. One thing I have noticed is that you don’t have to have a cleanser for every purpose. I’ve simplified things and use 2 basic recipes for almost every cleaning need.

Read her recipes here

Ingredients:

• 1 part sage, rosemary, lemon balm, thyme or mint, either fresh or dried
• 1 part water
• 4-6 drops of your favorite essential oil
• baking soda

Steep the herb in hot water for 2-3 hours, brewing a strong infusion, the strain and reserve the liquid.  Pour the liquid into the sink after closing the drain and let sit overnight, or for several hours.

If the stain persists, drop essential oil directly on the  stain and scrub after a few minutes with baking soda sprinkled on a damp sponge.