Cut Costs Being Green

[homealone]

Being green these days is a great way to cut back on household expenses all at the same time.

Don't run your clothes dryer. If the weather is nice enough hang your laundry outside. This keeps the house cooler, save on electricity and is healthy for the environment.

If there is a nice breeze blowing outside, open the windows and doors rather than running fans or air conditioners. Again savings on the electric and better for the environment.

Grilling outside is another way to help keep the house cool, cook great foods and save on electric (if you have an electric stove).

Catch rain water if possible. This water is great for use on veggie gardens as well as flower gardens and will save on your water bill.

Instead of hooking up a water sprinkler for the kids to play in, fill up a pool. This will save on your water bill as a pool can be covered and used over and over again through out the summer.

I know there are a bunch more things that we all can do to help lower bills while making sure the next generations will have a cleanier planet to enjoy, but these are a good start.

Top all of these off with remembering to recycle, buying recycled products and you have one heck of a start on helping yourself and others also.

[flip_it_fast]

Cleaning products are one thing that I hate to buy. For one because many of them tend to be expensive and another is they are so harsh. Many of them are filled with bleach and basically pesticides to kill bacteria. Over time, the bacteria just become immune to them and don't do any good anyhow so why breathe in all of the harsh chemicals?

If you have mildew you can use wither lemon juice or vinegar. Both work wonders. Just spray on, let sit for a few minutes and the wipe away.

For a disinfectant use 2 cups of water, 3 tbls of liquid soap and 20-30 drops of tea tree oil. Very easy and safe.

[flippinout]

You are so right about the harshness of some of our store bought cleaning products. One I had used to clean our bathroom with worked exceptionally well but the fumes from it caused me to have to take a weeks breathing treatments, so be very careful when using these products and always use them with plenty of ventilation to prevent breathing problems.

I like to use natural products when I can and right now keeping germs at bay here at home is necessary because my husband is taking chemo again and the doctors dont want him to get sick.

I do tend to trade off with the different products, as in one time I use bleach based antibacterial products, another time Lysol, and then I will trade off and use an all natural product because as you said, germs do build up a resistance after a while and hopefully with this trade off of products, I will be able to keep my home even more germ free.