It was Sunday and the weekend had left us with stories and a sink full of dirty dishes. We were also left us with a dirty floor, recyclables scattered throughout the house, and the sad realization that tomorrow we needed to work. Cleaning has never been our strong suit and we are impressed if we manage to vacuum once a month. Nonetheless we are giving it our best shot at living like 'adults' and have been trying to clean more frequently. We have also decided to start using more environmentally friendly cleaning products.
Late this summer we rounded up everything in our house that wigged us out; this consisted of any bottle we didn't recognize the ingredients for or things that we had once learned about in a chemistry lab. Like many folks we had various cleaners, paints, and flammable items that are supposed to be locked up and away from children. Although lacking children we figured our behavior was close enough sometimes and perhaps it should be out of our reach too. My parents were visiting and had rented a car so we loaded up the trunk with everything and drove to Metro's Hazardous Waste Facility. For those unfamiliar, Metro operates two hazardous waste facilities one at Metro Central Station, 6161 NW 61st Ave., Portland 503-234-3000, and a second at Metro South Station, 2001 Washington St. Oregon City 503-234-3000. Both are open from 9am-4pm Monday through Saturday and have no drop-off fees.
Getting rid of everything felt great, and it was really easy. At the hazardous waste facility we got a brochure on "Green Cleaning." Arranged by areas of the house, this brochure is super easy to use and contains recipes for all your home cleaning needs. You can find Metro's home cleaning information at Metro.
Over the past month we have slowly begun purchasing greener cleaning items. Using Seventh Generation detergent for our clothes and Seventh Generation dish soap (both products work great). We've started cleaning out sinks using baking soda and vinegar. The whole cleaning process is more like an elementary science fair project than a swifter commercial. We've also begun mopping using vinegar and warm water. I was really surprised by how well this worked and the floor looks better than we used 409 or bleach.
On the whole it has been easy to switch and it is nice not worrying about strange chemicals touching food surfaces or our skin. In fact our biggest problem isn't that some rooms smell like vinegar after cleaning. It's that, well, twenty year old men aren't very into cleaning. In fact the hard part about mopping using vinegar is not finding the recipe, it is instead finding someone to sweep and mop the floor. I would strongly encourage people to use more basic cleaning products around their homes. Baking soda and vinegar get used for cookies and salads. Lemon juice gets added to hummus and drinks, so when we aren't cleaning (which is most of the time) we still have functional products to use around the house. For some harder to replace items, like soaps and detergent, Seventh Generation is one of many companies that sell good products. Metro has lots of easy to use recipes for making home made green cleaners and their site is quite user friendly. Start with small changes and bigger changes will fall in place.
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