Talking About Green

Spring is just around the corner, and we all know what that means: it’s time for spring cleaning! But, this year, we want to try to stay green as we get our house clean. After all, traditional cleaning methods make use of non-green methods, which can be harmful for the environment. No, we want to keep the environment clean as we make our own houses clean. Here are a few tips for getting your house in shape while at the same time helping the environment.

Get Green Cleaning Products

Your first step is to ditch the cleaning products. Many of these products contain extremely harmful chemicals to your own health as well as the health of the environment. It’s not good to breath in bleach, nor is it good to flush other solvents down the toilet. Instead, look into alternative cleaning solutions, including home-based cleaners, such as vinegar, or purchase green cleaning products from your local store.

Reuse Cleaning Implements

The big trend nowadays is to create products that make cleaning easy on the user. We’ve all seen the commercials in which the woman cleans the kitchen floor, and then takes the papery pad off the end of the handle and tosses it in the trash bin. Likewise, you can see how badly artificial sponges can be for the environment after we throw them away; they simply sit in landfills. Instead, you should use a bagless vacuum, cotton rags, cotton mops, and other tools to clean house. You can still get rid of bacteria on these tools after you’re done by using some of your home-based cleaning solutions to clean the mop head and cotton rags.

Clean What You’d Least Expect

Have you ever vacuumed the coils of your refrigerator? Have you ever soaked your shower heads in vinegar to get rid of the mineral deposits? These kinds of cleanings can actually make your home run more efficient. Your refrigerator’s coils can lose heat faster if they are clean, thus making your refrigerator more energy efficient. By clearing out your shower heads, you can reduce the pressure buildup in your water system, thus making everything work more efficiently. You should also consider cleaning out your filter for your ventilation system, as well as your windows. Cleaning out your filter means your air conditioning and your furnace work less hard to draw air throughout your house. Clean windows will let in important sunlight that will help regulate the temperature of your home.

Recycle and Donate Old Belongings

Finally, take the spring cleaning session to go through your belongings and decide what can be donated or recycled. Old clothing, old toys, old appliances can all find new homes where their lives can be extended. It’s much better than having them sit in a landfill for long periods of time. Furthermore, by donating these materials, you can take a tax deduction, which makes your own spending more efficient, giving you more money with which to purchase green products to replace whatever you have given away.

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This guest contribution was submitted by Kitty Holman, who specializes in writing about nursing colleges. Questions and comments can be sent to: [email protected].

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