Cleaning Green is an incredibly easy thing to do. It requires very little effort or a change in habits. What it requires is finding a safe way to dispose of some of the nastier chemical cleaning agents. It is vitally important that you never pour these chemicals down the drain or simply throw them in the garbage. Consult your local waste disposal ordinances and read the labels for possible safe disposal methods. In all honesty, the safest way to dispose of your current cleaning products is to use them up and then switch to green.

* I spoke last week about reducing your household’s waste production by shifting to the use of cloth towels and rags instead of paper towels.  If you want a great source of cleaning rags try some old t-shirts and socks.  If you can’t bring them to a consignment shop for resale or aren’t able to donate them to Salvation Army or some other charity, use your old clothing as dust rags or scrub rags.  The best part is that instead of disposing of used up paper towels, you can just throw them in the laundry and reuse them next time.
* Ever tried cleaning with baking soda?  You should.  Nothing scrubs out a refrigerator quite like it.  Mix equal parts baking soda and water and scrub away.  It also does a great job on the kitchen sink and with the added benefit of deodorizing.  Come to think of it baking soda cleans just about anything for which you might want a commercial scrubbing agent like Comet or Soft Scrub.
* Forget Draino or Liquid Plumr or whatever you’ve been using.  Mix 1/2 cup  of baking soda and 1/2 cup of vinegar and pour it down a clogged drain.  Wait about ten minutes and then flush with boiling water.
* I personally avoid using bleach at all costs.  Lemon juice works great on stains.  Try club soda with some lemon juice if you’re worried about bleaching spots.
* While on the topic of lemon juice, try adding some to a sink of soapy water.  It cuts grease like a charm.  You can also use lemon slices if you wish.
* Olive oil makes a fantastic wood cleaner.  Three parts olive oil to one part vinegar and your wood will never have been so clean.  The added bonus of cleaning with oil is that it is also a natural moisturizer for your wood to prevent cracking from temperature fluctuations.
* Baby oil is a great chrome polisher.  Put some on a soft clean cloth and go to town…. although personally I’ll do whatever possible to avoid polishing anything.  ;)
* Ode to the power of vinegar.  I wash down the foam play room pads in my daughters room once a week with vinegar.  It is a natural disinfectant.
* Use vinegar to clean your toilets.  Stubborn stains? (ick!) mix vinegar and baking soda.
* Rubbing alcohol will remove any soapy buildup from your windows and mirrors.  Once you’ve removed the residue mix 2 tbs of vinegar in a quart of water and go to town.  My grandmother always swore by the power of newspaper to make sure the windows dried streak free. It works and it is a useful way to reuse weekly papers.

Vinegar, baking soda and lemon juice aren’t the only way to go. If you prefer commercial cleaners there are some Green ones out there on the market. Look for anything that is hydrogen peroxide based. Companies like 7th Generation, BioKleen, Ecover and Meyer make some good products. I’m partial to Ecover for dish washing detergent and BioKleen for washing floors. In general, however, making your own cleaning agents is cheaper and reduces the amount of waste your household produces by not needing the extra packaging.

I’d like to close out this post with a link to an incredible website that was emailed to me by my mother (aka Nonna). It gives a list of at least 50 uses for vinegar around the house. Personally I’m most looking forward to trying out the vinegar, soap and water bug repellent. Have I ever mentioned how much Miami sucks in the summer?

Next installation of Go Green will include ways to conserve water as well as Greener baby tips.