Switching to greener cleaning practices can make your home a healthier place and save you money. Make the following easy, earth-friendly changes part of your green-clean lifestyle and you can reduce your carbon footprint at home.
| Old Way | Green Way |
|---|---|
| Running a load of wash in a hot dryer. | Hang the laundry on the clothes line and let solar power do the work. |
| Burning scented, petroleum-based wax candles or spraying room freshener. | Neutralize room smells by using baking soda as an odor absorber or burn soy or beeswax candles with natural scents. |
| Tossing kitchen scraps down the disposal or out in the trash. | Put vegetable peelings, coffee grounds, eggshells, and non-animal scraps in a compost bin for great garden food. |
| Cleaning counters with single-use, cleaner-soaked wipes and then toss. | Grab a cloth rag — part of an old towel or diaper — to scrub down the counter and then toss in the wash. |
| Turning the washer temperature to hot to get the dirtiest of clothes clean. | Use cold water wash, presoaking or using a laundry booster, such as borax or washing soda, as needed, and watch your clothes maintain their color and last longer. |
| Using an antibacterial hand soap that promises to annihilate all dirt and germs from your skin. | Wash hands with a plant-based castile or bar soap that does a thorough job of wiping out virtually all germs. |
| Spraying your shower wall with a cleaner that you know is killing all the germs — because it’s nearly killing you as you breathe in acrid chemical odors. | Use a homemade or green, natural cleaner to get your shower clean. You may have to put in a little more elbow grease, but you’ve now got the lungpower to breathe through the workout. |