Up until recently, I have resisted the whole “going green” movement. I have considered it all a bunch of hogwash. I have always had certain standards for what I wanted out of life. I am a “here and now” kind of gal and have never looked at prices in the grocery store. If I was craving something, I would buy it. Lately, I have noticed that the price of groceries (AND everything else!) continually on the rise. I began looking at things I could do to pinch a few pennies here and there. Here are a few things I’ve found:
1) napkins & paper towels – I have been spending about $20 a month on paper towels and napkins. That’s a half a tank of gas in my shiny, red sports car! While the occasional paper towel is not a bad thing, when they are in our house they’re going to be used and generally in excess. The solution I’m working toward is going to all cloth napkins. I’m still working on the cost effectiveness of buying them vs. making my own. I am hoping to make or buy enough for a about 4 days to start us off. Once a meal is finished, we will drop our napkins into a bucket of water and soap solution (very much similar to what you do with cloth baby diapers) to keep stains from setting in until they can be washed. To replace the paper towels we use, I purchased some terrycloth washcloths on a clearance rack at Wal-Mart 15 for $2. I purchased 2 packs of them. I am going to use half of them for cleaning and the other half for kitchen use (setting a spoon on while I’m cooking, etc.)
2) household cleaners – When I began looking at the prices of household cleaners I was using, I was astonished! I admit that previously I was all about the new and the latest, especially when it came to cleaners. I was buying the Mr. Clean wipes, the Clorox toilet scrubbers (the heads with the cleaner built in), the Clorox bath scrubbers (ditto), the Swiffer Wet Jet (with all the different solutions for the different types of floors in our house), the Swiffer dusters, etc. not to mention all of the cleaning products under my sink. There was Clorox spray, the professional window cleaner I use, several bottles of citrus cleaner, toilet bowl cleaner, Barkeeper’s Friend, De-solve-it, and I could go on for an hour. Every time I use the harsh chemicals, I wake up the next morning with a stuffy nose and barely able to breathe. After a lot of thought and research, I discovered that there were recipes out there on the internet on how to make your own household cleaners, dish washing liquid, dishwasher liquid, laundry detergent, etc. While all off that looked very interesting, I found something else at Wal-Mart that seemed to make a little more since to me. Clorox has come out with a new product called Green Works. The Green Works line has several products in it, but the one that has caught my eye is the natural dilutable cleaner. It’s sold at our Wal-Mart for about $2.85 and it makes over 10 gallons of solution. I’m not really sure, but I don’t think I can use baking soda and vinegar for that cheap. The best thing to me is that is has a very pleasant smell. Things smell clean without being overpowering.
Those are my 2 biggest things right now, but I’m sure there will be more!
Do you have a “green” or money saving idea? Please let me know. I would love to hear about it!
