Spring Cleaning Now That It's Allergy Season

Six months ago, I stopped buying household cleaning supplies from the store. I came to realize how toxic they are in human bodies even though they work really fast in getting read of germs & stains inside my house. I admit using them every single week to clean my sink, windows, toilet bowls & tub because they are really super heroes to me. But not anymore..

My husband & my kids have allergies that can be worst at times especially during this time of the year. I still remember the time when I took a day off to relax at home away from kids (they were in school). An hour after my husband dropped them off to school, the teacher called me and asked that I pick up my son for he had a severe allergy reaction... to what?? She said he has not eaten anything and they just came out to the playground and he started having this hives like thing all over his body. I figured it must be the tree or pollen..I don't know. Seeing my son with his face swelling made me realize how fragile they could be when exposed to this elements. And that I have to start getting read of all harmful chemicals at home which means changing almost completely everything over to more environmentally friendly cleaning products. Of the estimated 80,000 synthetic chemicals in our environment, only a fraction of them have been tested for safety. That makes me worry about the long-term impact of chronic exposure.

Organic Housekeeping

I'd like to share to some of my new found best friends in the kitchen and everywhere in the house with you. I hope that you will make use of them not only to protect your family but also for our mother Earth. This is part of my contribution to help green the earth, recycle and save.

Sweat stains-soak shirt in vinegar before washing them
Leather furniture-use glycerin-based liquid saddle soap
Hard woven/wicker-scrub furniture with a moderately stiff scrub brush dipped in warm salt water.
Water rings from wood-remove with a mixture of 1 tbsp. white vinegar in 1 cup olive oil.
Furnitures-use 4 parts olive oil and 2 parts beeswax heated in a double boiler
Sink-hot water & mild dishwashing liquid and/or baking soda, rinse with water.
Sink stains- use hydrogen peroxide on a clean wet cloth, rub it on the stained surface and rinse it off immediately.
For sanitizing sink-Use Bon Ami or Oxyclean (an oxygen bleach)

More tips to come..

World switches off to save planet in "Earth Hour"

Just in case you don't know..this is from the news today..

Lights went out at tourism landmarks and homes across the globe on Saturday for Earth Hour 2009, a global event designed to highlight the threat from climate change.
From the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge to the Eiffel Tower in Paris and London's Houses of Parliament, lights were dimmed as part of a campaign to encourage people to cut energy use and curb greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels.
Organizers said the action showed millions of people wanted governments to work out a strong new U.N. deal to fight global warming by the end of 2009, even though the global economic crisis has raised worries about the costs.
"We have been dreaming of a new climate deal for a long time," Kim Carstensen, head of a global climate initiative at the conservation group WWF, said in a candle-lit bar in the German city of Bonn, which hosts U.N. climate talks between March 29 and April 8.
"Now we're no longer so alone with our dream. We're sharing it with all these people switching off their lights," he said as delegates and activists sipped bluish cocktails.
The U.N. Climate Panel says greenhouse gas emissions are warming the planet and will lead to more floods, droughts, heatwaves, rising sea levels and animal and plant extinctions.
World emissions have risen by about 70 percent since the 1970s. China has recently overtaken the United States as the top emitter, ahead of the European Union, Russia and India.
BILLION PEOPLE TAKE PART
The U.N. Climate Panel says rich nations will have to cut their emissions to a level between 25 and 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2020 to avoid the worst effects of warming. Developing nations will also have to slow the rise of their emissions by 2020, it says.
Australia first held Earth Hour in 2007 and it went global in 2008, attracting 50 million people, organizers say. WWF, which started the event, is hoping one billion people from nearly 90 countries will take part.
"The primary reason we do it is because we want people to think, even if it is for an hour, what they can do to lower their carbon footprint, and ideally take that beyond the hour," Earth Hour executive director Andy Ridley told reporters at Sydney's Bondi Beach.
In Asia, lights at landmarks in China, Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines were dimmed as people celebrated with candle-lit picnics and concerts.
Buildings in Singapore's business district went dark along with major landmarks such as the Singapore Flyer, a giant observation wheel.
Other global landmarks that switched off their lights included the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, the Reserve Bank in Mumbai, the dome of St Peter's Basilica in Rome, Egypt's Great Pyramids and the Acropolis in Athens.