Green is more than just a color...

   Something I have always been passionate about is making sure I leave this world better than I found it.  At a young age I knew how important recycling and not being wasteful was.  I have always had a love of the outdoors and wildlife.  I considered many times what it meant to be green.  So often we hear how important it is for us to live "green."  Once upon a time, I thought to live green meant one lived a hippie lifestyle out of their VW van and lived off of a diet consisting only of tofu.  More recently than this, I simply thought it was just too expensive and even at at times an inconvenient way of life.  You'd have to buy solar panels, a new car, all new appliances for your house, and convert from gas to vegetable oil which you would have to buy from restaurants all over town, just to name a few expenses and inconveniences you would incur.  While all these things are great, they are not necessary necessities.  

   As a mother with a home of my own, I want to make sure I teach my children to keep this planet beautiful.  So I have done a lot of research and tried a lot of different things out.  I am by no means an expert, but I consider this a hobby of mine.  No matter how you feel about global warming, one thing is for sure, we must take care of this planet.  She is our home, and more importantly, the home of our children.  It is our responsibility to teach our children how to care for the earth.  And there is no better way to do this than by example.

   So for the next few weeks I am going to share some easy and cheap ways you can make your homes "green."  The first one is using white vinegar.  That's right, vinegar.  It's great, and super cheap, too.  The benefits of using vinegar are endless.  Straight 5% vinegar, which you can buy at any grocery store, kills 99% of bacteria, 82% of mold, and 80% of germs.  And it isn't harmful to breathe in.  What's better than that?  You might be wondering if my house reeks of smelly feet, and I can honestly tell you that it doesn't.  The odor goes away within a few hours, and sometimes does not stick around at all.  So here is a list of all the wonderful things you can use vinegar for;

1.  It actually eliminates odors.  Half a cup of vinegar added to a toilet bowl and left over night will remove odor.  

2.  For cleaning your dishwasher, vinegar frozen into ice cubes, add to the bottom of the dishwasher just prior to a cycle.

3.  Save money on washing pre-spray by spraying neat vinegar on deodorant and other stains on clothes just prior to washing.  (Vinegar even gets out chocolate milk)

4.  Vinegar can be used as a fabric softener by adding half the amount of vinegar as you would have with your usual softening agent.  I just pour it into one of those downey balls and toss it on top of the clothes as the cycle starts.

5.  Use as a glass cleaner.  You can use full strength or mix with water.  I use full strength and I love it.  It makes my mirrors so clear, and doesn't leave behind a filmy residue.

6.  Use full strength vinegar to polish chrome or stainless steel.  I use it on my appliances.  It works better than any stainless steel polish I have tried.

7.  Spray around doorways and other areas to repel ants.  They hate vinegar.

8.  Use a 50/50 mix of vinegar and water to clean your iron.  Add the mixture to your iron  and let it steam itself clean.

9.  Revive old paintbrushes by dipping them into heated vinegar for a couple of hours.  Then rinse with soapy water.

10.  If you use cloth diapers, I secretly admire you, simply add half a cup of vinegar to the water

in the cleaning bucket.  

   So there you have it, cheap and easy ways to save the planet, 1/2 cup of white vinegar at a time.

-monica

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