Happy Earth Day! Today could not be a more beautiful day to enjoy the natural world around us. It's almost 60 degrees here in Chicago (and sunny too!) which is more than we have been able to enjoy lately. In honor of today's "holiday" I wanted to bring you a very simple way to reduce the amount of chemicals that you use in your house or apartment.
Luis and I recently started reducing the amount of processed foods, chemicals, and toxins that we put in our bodies, and that led me to consider the ways to reduce all of those things in our home as well. I started a new Pinterest board dedicated to what I see as "clean living." A lot of the cleaners we use every day are full of harsh chemicals that are purposed to wiping our bacteria, even the good stuff. Some of these tend to lead to skin irritations and are almost always fatal if ingested.
But don't get too stressed out. You don't necessarily have to cut out everything- look for household cleaners that are less
caustic and friendlier to both the environment and the body. Look for
"green" and "nontoxic" cleaners, or products that say, "petroleum-free,"
"biodegradable," "phosphate-free," "VOC-free," or "solvent-free." These are likely to be less harmful to have around; or, most "green" cleaners can be made with every day household items like baking soda, vinegar, and even lemons. This super simple DIY cleaner uses only vinegar and lemon peels as its ingredients and is sure to disinfect and pleasantly deodorize.
Orange Vinegar Cleaner
1 Mason jar of any size (just make sure it has a seal-able lid)
Peels from about 2 orange (possible more depending on size of jar)
Vinegar to cover peels
Clean out the Mason jar. Place peels inside jar all the way to the top of the jar, pushing down to make sure that you can fit as much in as possible. Pour enough vinegar into the jar to cover the peels. Replace the lid and store for two weeks so that the vinegar can absorb the orange essence. After two weeks, it will be ready to use.
Mmmm.... I'm going to copy this and make some of my own! I bet it smells far better than Clorox or Lysol!
ReplyDeletei love this! you never really now how many chemicals, artificial flavors, and preservatives are in put into food until you start purposefully avoiding them. can't wait to try this!
ReplyDeleteWord to the wise- just don't forget about it! This worked wonderfully for us until I left it under our cabinet for a few weeks and some sort of reaction made the lid impossible to get off. We had to throw away the entire jar! =(
ReplyDeleteI'll have to try this. Great post. Following you via Bloglovin. I'm doing a great stella & dot giveaway and i'm hosting a link up this thursday April 25. Would love it if you joined and followed me via bloglovin.
ReplyDeleteAgi:)
vodkainfusedlemonade.com
Haha oh my gosh! Thanks for the warning! I will put it somewhere I can see it. I did also mark it on the calender, so hopefully I'll be paying attention :D
ReplyDeleteThat's so true! I have felt so much better since avoiding certain chemicals and it's definitely something I'm going to stick with. Hope the cleaner works out for you :)
ReplyDeleteI bet that smells amazing! My problem with non-chemical cleaners is that most of them use vinegar and I really can't stand the smell of vinegar. Oranges? I can dig orange scented cleaner!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea to make your own cleaner! We may well have to try this out for our own home. Thanks for sharing! Xo, M&K at brewedtogether.com
ReplyDelete