Greening update

April 6th, 2008 • Related • Filed Under

http://flickr.com/photos/stephcarter/303104774/ - BY-ND - Well, I’ve been greening the house for a couple of months now. I have the following to report:

  • Drying clothes on racks: The difference to our electric bill is noticeable and staggering. It has been decreasing with every bill. I just have to figure out how  to keep it low when the heat comes in a couple of months (weeks). I’d call this one a win.
  • Green house cleaning products: no complaints or praises. Just keeping the house clean with a dusting cloth and biodegradable cleaning products. I did buy a bunch of supplies from Soaps Gone Buy to make my own stuff, but I haven’t tried to make anything yet. Also a win.
  • Green dish and clothes detergent: here’s the biggest disappointment. Our dishes are clearly not as clean as when we used Cascade, and our clothes are not as clean as when we used Arm and Hammer detergent. I will be trying to make our own detergents with the above-mentioned products, but I’m greatly disappointed in Mrs. Meyers, Palmolive green detergent, and Method clothes detergent. FAIL.
  • Learning to sew: Not sure if I’ve blogged about this, but I found a great blog post about how the new green product movement is hypocritical, as one of the greenest things you can do is do what you can with what you have instead of going out to buy a ton of new stuff. So, in addition to making our own cleaning products, I decided to learn to sew to mend our clothes instead of throwing out old clothes with minor holes. I find it oddly calming to sew, and I’m getting fairly good at it. I’m branching out slowly to other projects beyond mending, but it’s slow going. Definite win.

There Are 13 Responses So Far. »

  1. Comment by Mae on 6 April 2008:

    Awesome, Mur. please let me know if you find a good green dishwasher detergent… and yeah- sewing is defintely relaxing and environmentally sound! :-) Keep it up!

  2. Comment by Eliza Sea on 6 April 2008:

    I’ve found that distilled white vinegar in the rinse aid cup helps greatly when using green detergents, especially if you have hard water.

  3. Comment by Andrea on 6 April 2008:

    Have you tried BioKleen laundry detergent? It’s what I used to use back when we were using cloth diapers. It really got the diapers clean, but I find it a bit pricey for regular laundry. I love hearing when others discover how calming it is to sew. If I don’t sew at least a few minutes each day, I start going a little nutty.

  4. Comment by Icelander on 6 April 2008:

    I just wear clothes with minor holes. Or even major holes. I love having a casual work environment and being married so I don’t have to impress the opposite sex.

    And if something has a stain, I can blame it on our six month old. Win.

  5. Comment by Clair on 6 April 2008:

    The Mrs Meyer’s line of products have some good and some not so good. The laundry detergent is one of the not-so-good. Unfortunately, I think I just stuck with All’s fragrance and dye free formula. I just don’t use as much and almost everything’s washed in cold.

    Someone mentioned in your LJ about using the ECO line. I’ve used their dish-washing detergent and it’s pretty good. Dunno about the laundry stuff.

    I use Trader Joe’s in the dish washer. Seems to do a pretty good job. I think it’s greener than what I used to use. I’d have to go look.

  6. Comment by Ash on 7 April 2008:

    Good work, I’ve been doing some research on how to be greener, I’m glad others have already done it!
    And yes sewing is incredibly relaxing and I recommend everyone try at least once!

  7. Comment by Mike Wills on 7 April 2008:

    I don’t know how “green” it is, but it is supposed to be more environmentally friendly. My mom has been getting this stuff from Medaluka (not sure on spelling) and we have started buying it through her. We have used the laundry detergent and it works good for us. One pump per load and there is about 80-90 loads per bottle and costs about the same as your brand name detergent.

  8. Comment by Ivy on 7 April 2008:

    I have been trying to learn to sew for ages and I can’t seem to get the hang of it. How are you learning? Books? Classes? It looks like such fun.

  9. Comment by Shawna on 9 April 2008:

    Hi Mur - have you tried Charlie Soap? I am in Mebane NC, and buy it a local shop, but their products can also be ordered online at charliesoap(dot)com. The powdered laundry detergent is great - low suds, fantastic cleaning, rinses really well, and no need for fabric softener - even on air dried items. There are no perfumes, dyes, etc and it can also be used in the dishwasher. They make a liquid detergent and an all-purpose cleaner. This stuff is magic - works on the ickiest of things!

  10. Comment by Ken Myrback on 9 April 2008:

    Mur,

    Have you converted to compact florescent bulbs? You can cut your lighting bill by 75%. It is a higher upfront cost but they save money over their lives.

  11. Comment by Mark on 10 April 2008:

    What type of racks are you using for the laundry?

  12. Comment by Nick on 6 July 2008:

    Hi Mur, i use many of the products from “ecover” and they do clean well. I don’t know if they are greener than some others out or not. Another idea is to try using Castille soap. Dr Brommers 741 use soap. Supposed to be more natural than some others. On the every little bit helps, i have unplugged all my digital clocks and gotten rid of the battery operated ones. Between my computer and cell - how many clocks and alarms do i need? They are more expensive upfront, but a front-loading washer is a great idea, especially if you are line/rack drying. I don’t use the dishwasher at all - but when i am at someone else’s house, i make sure to turn off the drying cycle and just let it wash, then i dry the dishes with cloth or air. Good Luck.

  13. Comment by Timothy on 23 July 2008:

    Ok, I’m late to the party… But my house went green a few years back when my wife read a couple of books… here’s the results of what we found…

    http://iedaddy.wordpress.com/2007/10/08/household-chemicals-whats-in-my-house/

    Now we have mostly hydrogen peroxide, vinegar baking soda, and a bit of bleach.

    I still use Windex to clean my car windshield though!

    And, if you’re looking to leave a small carbon footprint by reducing your electric bills, there’s always solar. I’m probably the mad scientist of backyard projects, but I’ve managed to make a solar powered chicken coop ( http://iedaddy.wordpress.com/2008/06/16/solar-powered-chicken-coop-update/ )
    It’s not very powerful at the moment, but there’s not a lot of tech know how needed to connect a solar panel to a car battery and then clip that to a power inverter for my one outlet power station. It’s all pretty much plug and play. The hard part is keeping the chickens from um…how shall put it… blocking the photo voltaic surface with reconstituted chicken feed?

    Oh, we also use something called Dr. Brauner’s 18-in-1 soap.

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