Ecominded Mama

Minimizing products packaged in plastic

I took a look at my recycling bin recently and was somewhat surprised to only realize NOW, after nearly a year of consciously trying to reduce my environmental impact, that many of the products I'd bought in landfill-clogging plastic bottles could have been bought in paper packages instead. To name a few: bar soap in a paper box instead of liquid soap in a plastic bottle, and powder laundry and dishwasher detergent instead of liquids in bottles. I'm going to make an effort to choose products packaged in paper from now on whenever I have a choice.

Back-to-basics cleaning tips from Real Simple

The article isn't live online yet, but Real Simple magazine's April 2009 "Back-to-Basics Cleaning" has 78 tips for cleaning with everyday, natural (depending on which ones you buy) products like salt, lemons, toothpaste, and baking soda. One of my favorites involves lemons: "To bleach stains from tomato soup and other acidic foods on dishwasher-safe items, rub lemon juice on the spots, let dry in a sunny place, then wash as usual." It worked on my tomato-stained rubber spatulas.

Tossing the Ecosponge

I stumbled across the Ecosponge while shopping at Bed, Bath & Beyond, and thought it looked promising (BBB doesn't sell it on their website, but I found it on Ecohousekeeping.com). I paid $5.95 for two sponges, which is significantly more than I'd pay for two disposable sponges, but the fact that they are reusable made it worth the extra money (and had the potential to be a pretty big money saver). 

Unfortunately, I don't like the sponge. First, it doesn't encourage a good lather (perhaps it's too absorbent?), so I felt like I was just washing dishes with water. Second, it wasn't good for scrubbing pots and pans, even after I soaked them in warm water to loosen the food -- it wasn't abrasive enough. Finally, I cut the outer covering of one while washing a knife and the sponge fell apart. I still have my second sponge, but it's currently out of service -- we're back to using disposable sponges.

J. R. Watkins Dish Soap

I bought the J. R. Watkins Concentrated Dish Soap (lemon scent) a few weeks back, and as silly as I feel saying this about a dish soap, I absolutely love it. It works really well, produces a nice amount of suds, and smells incredible. The scent sealed the deal for me -- I've bought a few products (natural and conventional) with overpowering and/or unpleasant fragrances, but this dish soap has a fresh, subtle scent that reminds me of, well, a margarita (which makes the chore of doing dishes just a little less onerous). Since it's concentrated, a bottle lasts a long time, which also takes some of the sting out of the price ($5.99 at Target).  

The company's products are eco-friendly as well. I'm always wary when a label describes the product as "natural," since that term has no definitive or regulatory meaning, but their products are plant-based, non-toxic, bio-degradable, dye free, and phosphate free. For a complete list of what their home care products are free of, see the list on their website.    

Useful info about antimicrobial household products

I came across the article Antimicrobial Products: Who Needs Them? by Philip Dickey, and although long and somewhat dense, it has a ton of great information. The following is from a sidebar at the bottom of the page:

• Avoid household products containing triclosan. There is little evidence they are effective in homes and considerable concern about resistance. Triclosan does not kill viruses.
• Wash your hands frequently during the day with hot water and soap, especially before eating, after using the bathroom, and after contacting surfaces that might harbor a lot of germs.
• Keep your house clean using cleaning products without antimicrobials. Don’t try to maintain a germ-free environment unless there is a particular medical reason to do so in your family. If so, consult your physician.
• Handle meat, fish, or poultry with care. Avoid cross-contaminating utensils, cutting boards, sponges, towels, or hands. Use one cutting board just for meat, fish, or poultry. Use only clean implements on food that will not be cooked before eating. 
• Replace kitchen sponges frequently. Disinfect them weekly by boiling in water for at least three minutes or microwave for a minute or two (or both!). Launder dishrags in hot water every week. Keep sponges and rags as dry as possible. 
• Use disinfectants only if they are really needed. Choose an EPA-registered product labeled for the type of use you need. Avoid products with the word DANGER on the label. Vinegar and borax are not disinfectants.
• If using a disinfectant, read and follow label directions to ensure that the product will be effective.
• Don’t use aerosol disinfectants as air fresheners. You can’t disinfect the air. Find the source of an unpleasant odor and deal with it appropriately.
• Keep an antiseptic in the home for cuts and scrapes.