Soap Scum Remover / Soft Scrub

Supplies :

• baking soda
• liquid castile soap – I use Dr. Bronners and I LOVE the lavender scent, but any castile soap will work.
• bowl & sponge

Directions :

Simply mix the baking soad and liquid castile soap in a missing bowl to form a nice paste. Take your sponge and watch the magic happen as you scrub away the soap scum, mildew, grime, and limescale.

All – Purpose Cleaner

Supplies :

• plastic spray bottle
• vinegar
• water
• essential oil

Directions :

Pour 1 cup of vinegar into your spray bottle and fill with water. Add as much essential oil as you prefer in a scent that you enjoy. I like to use a anti-microbial, anti-bacterial essential oil like lemon or peppermint.

Oven Cleaner

Supplies :

• baking soda
• water
• spray bottle

Directions :

Fill the spray bottle with just water. Spray down your entire oven so that it’s moist. Get the walls, racks, and bottom to cover all the stuck on grime. Once it’s sufficiently moist, lather the baking soda onto all dirty, wet surfaces to about ¼” thickness. Make sure it’s wet and pasty. Then you let it sit with the oven off for a few hours. Come back and simply wipe it off. All the grime should come right off.

Toilet Bowl Cleaner

Supplies :

• baking soda
• liquid castile soap
• toilet brush

Directions :

Drain the water out of the toilet bowl so you can clean the bowl easily. Make a paste with the baking soda and castile soap. With a toilet brush, lather and scrub your toilet bowl with the paste.

Laundry Detergent

Supplies :

• 4 cups borax
• 4 cups washing soda
• Essential oil
• Vinegar

Directions :

Mix together the borax and washing soda in a container and label it. For each load of laundry, I use about ¼ cup of this mixture and add 2-3 tablespoons of vinegar and about 5 drops of essential oil. I like to use lavender or sandalwood for a calming effect.

Bleach Alternative / Stain Remover

Before washing, apply hydrogen peroxide directly to any large stains. I have use this on colors too and it has not actually bleached them white, but it does remove blood, wine, and every stain I have tried to remove.

Dishwashing Detergent

Supllies :

• Borax
• Washing soda
• Vinegar

Directions :

Mix together equal parts borax ans washing soda. You can keep these in a container together. Many folks add citric acid to it so that it doesn’t clump. Add 2 tablospoons of vinegar to each load of dishes.

According to this article in Forbes,

“You can scan the barcode on any product and the free app will trace its ownership all the way to its top corporate parent company, including conglomerates like Koch Industries.
Once you’ve scanned an item, Buycott will show you its corporate family tree on your phone screen.”

In addition, to my point about the anti-GMO labeling lobbiers,

“Even more impressively, you can join user-created campaigns to boycott business practices that violate your principles rather than single companies. One of these campaigns, Demand GMO Labeling, will scan your box of cereal and tell you if it was made by one of the 36 corporations that donated more than $150,000 to oppose the mandatory labeling of genetically modified food”

Buycott is still young, and not all products will have a scanable history, but they are actively encouraging users to help add to their database. You can download the app for iphone and android, or simply learn more about it here.

Hopefully this will make supporting the brands who do good, and avoiding the greenwashers a lot easier. Happy shopping!

Here, the are:

HerbanLuxe - That’s me

HappyTreePress

VickyMyersCreations

Be sure to show all our shops some love! Now to this week’s linky party!

 BackYard BBQ Linky Party!

I honestly love a good BBQ!  This year, in preparation for all the BBQ Parties I plan on having, I’m re-doing my backyard!  Show us your goods! Do you off great lawn chair covers or even outdoor furniture, handmade napkins and utensils, party good or anything to make for an awesome BBQ Party?  We want to see it.

Remember these simple rules! Good Luck!

Party Rules:

• Your listings: brag your favoriate listing
• Link back – add a link back to this post at the very bottom of your Etsy shop listing your are bragging (yes, we will be checking)
• By linking up you agree to allow EcoEtsy to feature your listing on our blog.
• Don’t link the same item twice.
• Start bragging your listing with your fans and followers ask them like your link here on this post since the winner is chosen based on ‘likes’
• The linky with the most likes will be featured in our next Linky Party next Friday
• We only feature those who linked back to us. So follow the rules!

So get to bragging! You only have until Thursday May 16th, 3PM (EST)to get your brag on!

******Enter your listing below by clicking the link*******

And just for good measure, here’s a happy story from TreeHugger about a man who went out of his way to save one hive:

“Everyone needs to know how important bees are. I have a moral duty to look after all creatures who live in trees as best as I can. Every job is different but I’ve never had one quite like this before.”

Have a lovely Monday!