Best Friends with Baking Soda

Baking soda, how do I use thee?  Let me count the ways:  Use it to clean the bathtub instead of scouring powder.  Mix with a little water into a thick paste to clean the inside of the oven.  Mix with more water to make an all-purpose cleaner. Combine with white vinegar and clean a drain.  Sprinkle in the bottom of trash cans to reduce odors.  Shake onto carpets and vacuum to freshen the room.  Remove grease from kitchen surfaces and from clothing.  Get rid of countertop stains.  Boost detergent and freshen the laundry.  One could lose count of baking soda's many possible uses, aside from baking.  In my continuous effort to use non-toxic cleaning solutions, baking soda has become a staple. Many cleaning products contain dangerous, corrosive ingredients.  Baking soda is a great alternative:  It's versatile, it's cheap, it's natural, and it's right on the grocer's shelf.  So, as another Earth Day rolls around and I take stock of what eco-friendly decisions I can make, I'm grateful for the many ways that baking soda freshens my world without harming it.

Casting the First Stone

I'm always looking for green cleaning methods, so when I noticed that mineral deposits had made vertical streaks down the back of our main level bathroom's toilet bowl, I went online to find a remedy.  I'd already tried applying drenched white vinegar cloths, but to no avail.  So, when I read about gently and carefully rubbing a dampened pumice stone on the stain (so as not to scratch the surface), I thought it was worth trying.  For little more than a $3.00 investment, I found my non-toxic solution.  It meant sitting with my legs around the toilet bowl and rubbing into the stains for a while, but every trace of mineral deposit came off, leaving the bowl sparkling, like-new clean.  Of course, Larry walked by just in time to see me in my serious cleaning position and laughed heartily, but even he had to admit that the pumice stone did the job.  We are so bombarded with chemicals in our lives these days that it's nice to know that something as simple as a pumice stone can do the trick on some hard-to-remove stains.  Each time I use a green cleaning method, I thank our beautiful planet for all that it gives to us. I hope that I'm helping in my own small way to give back to it and to make our world a happier, healthier place.

Green Cleaning

Vinegar, especially white vinegar, is the most amazing substance, with more uses than I'll likely ever have the chance to try in my lifetime.  I use vinegar as a multi-purpose cleaning agent -- in the kitchen, in the bathroom, even on wood laminate floors.  I've discovered some outdoor uses for it, as well.  White vinegar is great for washing windows and, when sprayed on weeds, is just as effective as herbicides.  White vinegar is such a simple product, yet it is rather miraculous -- and so inexpensive.  I wonder how much money I save each year by replacing expensive, toxic cleaning agents with my inexpensive, green-cleaning methods.  I started the quest to use environmentally-friendly products in lieu of the more toxic alternatives back in the 1990s and I've not looked back.  I have an overflowing file of clippings and pamphlets about cleaning with such everyday products as white vinegar, baking soda, lemon juice and salt.  I also make my own powder laundry detergent, which costs me pennies and drastically reduces containers and packaging.  There are so many simple things we can do to positively affect the health and well-being of our planet and ourselves.  I'm sold on green cleaning as one of those simple, yet effective things.