Earth Day

Spring is my favorite time of the year and Earth day is one of my favorite holidays. Our family usually celebrates by going to a fun community event where we gather new ideas and inspirations for living a greener healthier lifestyle. This year it was raining (which my garden and I are thankful for) so we stayed home. Mom and I worked around the house a bit, still on a mission to purge and simplify. Today I am proudly to sharing some of the changes my family is making. By next spring we hope to me leaving a much smaller footprint on our Mother Earth.

Since we recently completely stopped using paper towels and paper napkins we needed some cloth napkins to use at meals. So I spent Saturday evening going through old scrap fabrics (some belonged my grandma) and I sewed our family about 15 colorful napkins. The kids have been enjoying passing them out at dinner. They try to pick out the one each family member will like the best. Conserving can really be fun for kids.

Today I made a dryer satchel, to replace our dryer sheets. I used a small natural fabric bag, added a little batting, some fresh lavender from the garden, and a few drops of lavender oil inside. I have already used it on three loads and it still smells great. I will have to spruce it up from time to time, but again I am very pleased with the results.


Several weeks back I made natural laundry soap, and I am happy to report that it works and smells wonderful! I think you can tweak the receipt to however you will like it, but this is the one I made:

1 1/2 cup Borax

1 1/2 cup Washing Soda (some receipts say to add baking soda too, but I didn’t)

1 bar ZoteLaundry Soap, grated
(I picked zote because I like the natural citronella scent, but I may try Dr. Bronner’s next time for fun)

* Optional-Several drops of your favorite essential oil

(I used nag champa, it’s my favorite and it went well with the citronella in the zote, next time I may use lavander to match my dryer satchel)

We only have to use about 3 tablespoons if we have a large load, a little less for small loads. I am so happy with the results. We now have safe non-toxic detergent, using less of it and getting better results. How fun is that!

I am transitioning to a lot of new natural cleaning receipts. My basic cleaning supplies will now consist of baking soda, vinegar, washing soda, fresh citrus, borax, dr. bronners, and essential oils. I think I can cover almost all of our cleaning needs with these few safe and natural products. I love making less of an environmental impact, but I also believe it is vital to our family’s goal of complete health.

Happy Earth Day!! I hope you all enjoyed and celebrated.