Mommy Goes Green

Last week, we looked at the cleaning products in our house and replaced them with non toxic, healthier alternatives.  Since then, I found April’s edition of ‘Real Simple’ magazine to have a whole section of DIY cleaning solutions.  I plan to start trying them out and I’ll report back!  On to week 2!

WEEK 2 – Clean your oven, refrigerator and dishwasher.

Oven – Oven cleaner smells like poison and that’s because it is.  If you replace just one cleaner, this might be the one.  As ‘Wired‘ says, when talking about oven cleaner ingredients, “One of the most commonly abused inhalants, butane poses severe health risks. But that’s not a worry here: Huffing fumes from the other ingredients would almost certainly kill you first.”

The good news is that a replacement for oven cleaner is easy and cheap: baking soda.  Sprinkle baking soda all over the oven, spray it with water and let it sit overnight.  Wipe clean the next day.

Refrigerator – There’s nothing like a clean and organized refrigerator.  After you’re done cleaning it, take one more step and move it away from the wall to clean the floor underneath and vacuum the coils ( after unplugging it).  You might be surprised at what you find under there ( in my case, refrigerator magnets, lens from an old pair of sunglasses, an embarrassing amount of dust and crumbs ).  This will improve the efficiency of the refrigerator, saving energy.

Dishwasher – To clean the dishwasher, run it empty with a cup of magic : white vinegar.  Fill up a bowl with white vinegar, set it in the top rack and run the dishwasher.  Mine came out remarkably shiny ( which means I had to admit it wasn’t that sparkling clean to begin with ).  

By the way, when you replace your oven cleaner ( and any other cleaning products ), make sure not to throw them away or dump them down the sink.  Find a hazardous waste recycling event near you to take them to.   Call your local waste disposal company or environmental health department in your city or state to ask when the next one is.

If you want to jump ahead to week 3, check out the entire MGG Guide to Green Spring Cleaning.  You can also print a copy to keep it on hand for each week’s task.

FREE STUFF:   To get your spring cleaning off to a great start, I have 2 copies of the book,  ”Naturally Clean: The Seventh Generation Guide to Safe & Healthy, Non-Toxic Cleaning” to giveaway to readers!  You can enter to win in any of the following ways by Sunday, April 12 at 11:59pm PST – the more ways you enter, the better chance you have to win. ( Make sure to use your full name and email address, if asked for it, to make sure we can identify all the ways you’ve entered. Privacy Policy ) 

1.  Become a MGG Fan on Facebook.

2. Tell us your favorite Seventh Generation product and why ( add a comment to the post ).

3.  Start a new thread in the forums or answer an existing question.

4.  Subscribe to the MGG newsletter ( the sign up is located in the middle right of the MGG homepage ).

Contest open to all U.S. and Canadian residents, ages 18+.  We will choose 2 winners, at random, and will notify them by email.

CONGRATS to Stacy from Oregon and Amanda from Minnesota for winning the Naturally Clean books!