Every single day, over 60 million plastic bottles will the tossed into wasteland, where they will never biodegrade, and continue to destroy the environment and kill wildlife.
http://www.container-recycling.org/index.php/issues/…/275-down-the-drain
By now, you know I love eco-friendly life-hacks. I love swapping out everyday products or habits for more earth-conscious ones. The ones I adopt for my own lifestyle have to be easy and safe for my family. The bonus is they end up being cheaper in the long run, too. I consulted Drishti Patel ( You can follow her on Instagram @journeywithdrish) about using essential oils to bring you another eco-life-hack: cleaning products!
NOTE: If you don’t need any convincing and are just looking for the recipe, scroll all the way down. Or, keep reading (It’s not too long of a post, I promise!) to learn more about why you should consider the switch.
We don’t spend a lot of time considering our cleaning products or our housekeeping habits, especially if you have a housekeeper. When you’re low on supplies, you simply re-purchase online or in the store. It’s a really toxic, expensive, and earth-hating purchase that easily doesn’t have to be. How? Make your own! It doesn’t take near as much time as you think, and it’s safer and cheaper.
Most commercial cleaning products are expensive and toxic and have filler products like dye, and unnecessarily so. There are natural alternatives that work amazingly, and for a fraction of the cost. Think about it. The cleaning products you buy have to cost what they do to make, market, and distribute and sell them. Also, why does cleaner need to be blue? Or yellow? Because it smells like lemon? News flash—real lemon oil doesn’t look like the bright yellow of vitamin pee that you see in some floor cleaners. (If you have ever taken a multivitamin, you know what I’m talking about.) It actually smells like lemon because it IS lemon—plus it has all the wonderful properties of germ-killing goodness.
For years now, I’ve been making my own cleaning products. And it only takes two ingredients—vinegar and water. I make two versions—one that’s a bit concentrated for counters, tubs, and any other surface I want to disinfect, and another less-concentrated one for mirrors and floors. I simply reuse empty bottles of cleaning products that I have purchased in the past. Vinegar is naturally acidic. Because of that, it dissolves away soap scum, kills germs, and dissolves hard water stains. I will throw in a few drops of lemon or Theives essential oil if I remember. It’s non-toxic, so if it gets on my hands, I’m not worried. And, the best part is, my kids can help clean without me worrying about exposing them to harmful chemicals.
A while back, I had to switch housekeepers, and while I love my new lady, she is very sensitive to the smell of vinegar. So, I still keep the vinegar mix for us to use, and I use either Young Living’s Thieve’s Oil concentrate or Mrs. Meyer’s concentrate according to the directions on their bottles to make mixes for my housekeeper. She’s happy, and I avoid throwing my money away on harmful and expensive, unnecessary chemical cleaners—and the plastic bottles in which they are packaged.
The only thing I haven’t figured out yet is toilet bowl cleaner—but I’ve got a recipe I’m dying to try….so I’ll share if I’m happy with it! Below is the recipe I use for my homemade cleaning solution.
