Accidentally Green

Making Healthy Decisions That Honor God and Happen to Help the Environment

The Reduce, Reuse & Recycle Kitchen Challenge

You know spring cleaning time is here, and since I’ve been discussing cleaning in the kitchen – particularly ways to deep clean your oven – this week’s Reduce, Reuse & Recycle Challenge is all about the kitchen. I would love to challenge you to clean your oven with my all-natural method. But you might find yourself a little strapped for time or motivation this week. So, this week’s Reduce, Reuse & Recycle Challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to clean your appliances ... Read more

An Improved Homemade Oven Cleaner

Last May I wrote about how I tried to make my own oven cleaner. At the time I was surprised that it worked pretty well – even though I attempted it during a time crunch caused by melting down children. All year, though, I remembered what a mess I had to deal with. Because I added far too much white vinegar, I ended up with a baking soda and vinegar lake in the bottom of my oven – and it wasn’t so enjoyable to figure out a way to get it out. This spring, I knew I had to clean my oven ... Read more

Why Are Oven Cleaners So Toxic?

As a rule of thumb, you can count on three products to be the most toxic cleaners on the market: corrosive drain cleaners, toilet bowl cleaners, and oven cleaners. Out of twelve oven cleaners tested and rated by the Environmental Working Group, only one product received a C. The other eleven all received Fs. It doesn’t matter if the product was “Fume Free” or filled with fumes – they flunked. Wondering why they failed miserably? Because the eleven products all contain toxic ... Read more

Your Accidentally Green Kind of Life

If you’ve read my new eBook, Accidentally Green, you know I’ve transparently shared my family’s story. I’ve explained what has worked for us and what hasn’t worked – along with what has been easy and what’s been difficult. I would love to hear YOUR personal story. I bet other readers would, too! I’m inviting you to share what you’ve learned along your own green journey. If you’re willing, please answer the following three questions and e-mail me at accidentallygreen@gmail.com: 1. In what ... Read more

Detoxing Your Cleaning Supplies

Welcome back to Positively Real Media's Raising Healthy Families series! Today we’ll take another look at how to keep our families healthy in a not-so-healthy world. I'm thrilled to write today's post about a topic so important to me. Now that it's finally feeling like spring, I’ve got an itch to clean. There’s just something about airing out my home and thoroughly cleaning each room once a year. For most of my life, my spring cleaning involved toxic cleaning products – yet I didn’t know ... Read more

The Reduce, Reuse & Recycle Bedroom Challenge

I have a confession to make. In my typical cleaning efforts, I focus on decluttering and tidying a room – not always on cleaning it. My husband is the vacuumer in our home, simply because I forget to vacuum. I mop my kitchen and bathroom when company is coming over. (Fortunately we like to entertain frequently.) And dusting? Well … it gets done sometimes. In my home, though, our bedrooms are the dirtiest rooms. I neglect to dust the hard surfaces and sweep our hardwood floors. Oh, sure, I put ... Read more

8 Ways To Create an Eco-Friendly Bedroom

Your bedroom should be a haven for you – a place you know you can retreat to unwind and relax. It’s possible to create this sort of a space while also making it eco-friendly. Here are eight ways: 1. Declutter wisely. The easiest way to create a relaxing room is to keep clutter away. Make sure stacks of papers don’t accumulate on your nightstand or piles of laundry end remain on your chair. Be ruthless about what enters your room and organize what’s there. Recycle unnecessary papers. ... Read more

How and Why I Turned Green

For thirty years, I lived what many Americans could consider a “normal” life. When I went to a store, I bought whatever caught my eye or stayed in my budget. When I ordered food at a restaurant, I chose whatever sounded good. I didn’t read labels, I didn’t think about my health, and I certainly didn’t make purchases based on the environment. And then I changed. Once I got pregnant my life rapidly morphed into a healthy, environmentally friendly one. My long-time friends and family members ... Read more

The Reduce, Reuse & Recycle Dusting Challenge

Dust is everywhere. And no matter where you live, you need to dust your furnishings. Even if you don’t develop a full-blown allergic sensitivity to dust, it’s not a beneficial thing to have in your living environment. Some elements of dust are pretty harmless – like dead skin cells, food particles, or dead insect parts. Other parts aren’t exactly what you’d like to have floating around your home. Arsenic, DDT, and lead particles commonly make up dust, as well as toxic PBDEs – flame retardants ... Read more

Why I’m Glad I Stopped Using Furniture Polish Sprays

When I was young, one of my favorite Little Golden Books was “We Help Mommy.” It was so romantically retro … Sally and Bobby love to help their darling mother with chores. I wanted to be just like Sally and help my own mommy. And my mommy was happy to have a little helper. The one chore I was allowed to do since I was five or six years old was dust. And I became a great duster. Whenever it was cleaning day – or company was coming – I would grab the yellow canister of wood polish spray and an ... Read more

My Own Spring Cleaning Challenge

Welcome to the March 2013 Natural Living Blog Carnival: Naturally Spring Cleaning. This post was written for inclusion in the monthly Natural Living Blog Carnival hosted by Happy Mothering and The Pistachio Project through the Green Moms Network. This month our carnival participants have written posts about how they keep their homes clean - naturally. —– Spring is finally here! And this year I’ve jumped the gun on spring cleaning. I’ve been excited to thoroughly clean each room, so I started ... Read more

The Reduce, Reuse & Recycle Dryer Challenge

Want to start saving some money on your laundry? Then get ready for today’s two-part Dryer Challenge. This week’s Reduce, Reuse and Recycle Challenge, if you choose to accept it, is to implement safe fabric softeners and reduce the amount of energy used when drying your clothes. Ready to get started? Fabric softeners This week we’ve talked about the health ratings of fabric softeners and how to bypass fabric softeners altogether by making your own felted wool dryer balls. If you completed ... Read more

.
.