Make Your Cleaning Greener and Cheaper

If you're like me you start reading about environmentally friendlier cleaning products with the best of intentions, but then you get to those lists of recipes and your eyes blur over when they have ingredients you haven't heard of, and multiple steps. But you also get annoyed at the idea of spending extra money on having expensive, green cleaning supplies shipped to you. Still you want to do something, so here is the advice you want on the easiest ways to make your home cleaner and a little greener.

Since cleaning products are not required to offer a list of ingredients for their products it's hard to really know which ones are more environmentally friendly. So even if you're armed with a list of chemicals to avoid you may end up with one containing one or more of them. Another issue is that phrases like biodegradable, fragrance free, and even nontoxic are not regulated leaving consumers to trust the company's own definition of those terms and their marketing ethics.

One of the easiest things to do is to use phosphate-free cleaning products. Phosphates are an environmental concern because they wash into streams and lakes where they cause blooms of algae which deplete the dissolved oxygen fish need to live. Most products will have labels indicating either phosphate free or the amount of phosphorus in the product.

Also look for products whose packages are made of post-consumer recycled material. And remember that the most toxic-sounding ones aren't necessarily the best cleaner. As for those groan-inducing lists of how to make your own cleaners, here are a few cleaners that take no more thought than using the product you would buy at the store.

Furniture polish can be made from one part olive oil and one part vinegar. Mix in a bowl and apply to furniture using a soft cloth.

For windows and mirrors ¼ cup white vinegar per one quart of water is enough, but you can add a few drops of dish soap if they're really dirty. The water and vinegar mixture is also good for cleaning floors.