Hoosier Wordsmith

De-cluttering for the Holidays

   

 I love this time of year. So many traditions – trick or treating, carving pumpkins, enjoying harvest parties and hayrides. Already my mailbox is buckling under the weight of Christmas catalogs, so I’m observing another tradition: de-cluttering for the holidays.

 

    What is clutter? Clothes my kids have outgrown. Unfinished craft projects. Leftover roof shingles. Dusty, neglected toys. Used books. The breadmaker I bought on impulse. Perfectly good shoes that don’t match anything in my closet.

 

    A lot of the items you might consider clutter can be reused and recycled – much better than just tossing them in a landfill. Local agencies and on-line communities such as Freecycle will find a home for stuff you no longer need or want.      

 

Household goods. Do you want to make room in your closet for new Christmas clothes? Donate to a charity such as the Salvation Army. Besides clothing, they will also take fabric, bedding, décor, craft supplies, puzzles, game, small appliances (such as microwaves), used mattresses, and books.

Paula Shively, who works at Salvation Army, told me that they particularly need  paperback books right now.  “Winter accessories, such as hats and gloves, are nice to have right now, too,” she said. They do not take large appliances or anything flammable. They are open most days during regular business hours and prefer that you bring in items in bags or boxes.

 

      Earthworks, a ministry of the Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ in Donaldson, Indiana, is collecting gently used household items for its Whole House Sale until November 15 – everything except furniture and clothing. The sale is November 20 -21, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day, and promises “rummage sale goodies (recycled, polished, ready for giving), handcrafted items (local artisans), Earthworks breads, oils, and jellies.” (For more information, call Earthworks at 935-4164).

 

      Furniture and building materials. The Habitat Restore in Plymouth has only been open for a few years, volunteer Sharon Anderson told me, but by year’s end they expect to have diverted 100 tons of material from landfills, and they have sold 900 gallons of paint that also would have been thrown away. They accept hardware, building supplies, paint, furniture, all appliances, fixtures, and household items. Sales help fund the building of new Habitat for Humanity homes in Marshall County. They are open Thursday and Friday from 10 – 6 p.m., and Saturday from 9 – 5 p.m. and will pick up items on a limited basis. (Call the Restore at 935-4214).

 

     Reduce clutter by joining an on-line recycling community. Freecycle’s mission is “to build a worldwide gifting movement that reduces waste, saves precious resources & eases the burden on our landfills while enabling our members to benefit from the strength of a larger community.” There’s no selling on the Freecycle network: people simply pass along items they are no longer using. On their website, www.freecycle.org, you can find a local group for convenient exchanges. The site also offers advice on ways to use the stuff around your house that you might be tempted to pitch (e.g., wire hangars, socks with no mate).

    The best way to get rid of clutter is not to bring it home in the first place. Easier said than done, I know, in our consumer-oriented society, especially this time of year. With every purchase I make, I ask myself: am I really going to use this?

    Or will it be one more thing to get rid of during next year’s traditional fall de-cluttering?

Caulk Is Cheap

Last week I was on my roof, industriously squeezing caulk along the vinyl siding on the upstairs dormer windows. October in Indiana – the red maples were aglow, the skies were deep blue, and it was not cold, but cool enough to need a jacket. Leaf rot scented the air.

  I enjoy caulking. Not just because it’s a home repair I can actually do myself, but because I know it’s going to save us money and make us more comfortable this winter. Our home suffers from infiltration – what happens when cold air sneaks in and warmed air sneaks out. And what happens? Our rooms get cold and we pay more for the experience.

  This fall I’ve been a house detective, wetting my index finger and feeling for a breeze along doorways, ductwork, and any other perceived nook or cranny. If I can plug them up, life will be cosier and less costly. Caulk is cheap, too – the real investment is the time you spend applying it, but it’s time well spent. We recently put in a newer, more efficient furnace, but if cold air is still getting through the cracks, I won’t reap the full benefits of that much bigger investment.

  I never expected to enjoy caulking. When I was growing up, on beautiful October days, my father would climb up on a ladder, caulk gun in hand – not that I paid much attention. I was too busy leaping into leaf piles (that he had just raked). Caulking was a Dad Thing, like changing out the storm windows and fretting about the Cubs.

  Another Dad Thing: monitoring the thermostat, something else I find strangely satisfying. My dad monitors his home’s thermostat as if he’s in Mission Control during a space shuttle launch, and woe to anyone who adjusts the temperature without a security clearance. Houston, we have a problem.

  I know, of course, that Dad’s focused on the bottom line. Programmable thermostats save money. I set ours for 68 during the day, dropping down to 60 at night, for maximum energy and cost savings. During the winter, unless we’re going away for the weekend and want to turn it down, no one has to touch the thermostat – it’s a no-brainer. I just tell the kids what my dad told me: “If you’re cold, put on a sweater!”

  (By the way, in recent talks on home energy savings, I’ve taken non-scientific surveys and discovered that for the most part, adjusting the thermostat does seem to fall along gender lines. As in, the male of the species turns it down, and the female of the species turns it up. Conflict ensues and comes to a shaky resolution. Cycle repeats. A programmable thermostat could save your marriage).

  I’m hoping to get a little more caulking in before the snow flies. Upon reflection, I know why I like to caulk. It’s quiet. I’m no longer multitasking, trying to rush kids hither and yon, or sitting in a meeting, or drawing a blank as the dinner hour approaches. I’m just filling up holes and letting my mind wander while the kids are off jumping in leaf piles (that I just raked).

  I get it now, Dad!

  Looking for advice on home repair? Ask your dad. Or check out the U. S. Department of Energy’s handy Energy Savers Booklet: Tips on Saving Energy & Money at Home, available at www.eere.energy.gov.

Green Godliness: Ben Lowe's book Green Revolution

 

  As a person of faith, I’m always interested in how religious communities think about environmental stewardship. For a long time, it seemed to me that religious communities weren’t thinking about the environment at all. Nowadays some congregations are ditching Styrofoam cups at fellowship hour and exchanging their incandescent light bulbs for fluorescent ones. Others are setting up “green teams” and conducting energy audits.

 

    However, some church-goers aren’t convinced that they should be worried about issues like climate change. Others reject the idea, citing scientists who have broken ranks with researchers warning of imminent climate disaster.

 

    Where do we get good information about “global warming”? What does it mean to be a steward of the environment? Ben Lowe tackles these questions in his book Green Revolution: Coming Together to Care for Creation. Published by InterVarsity Press and available through local bookstores or on-line, this is a short book that’s definitely worth the read. Lowe obviously believes that we should be doing more to prevent climate change, but he has an honest approach that includes admitting his own doubts about “going green.” Lowe coordinates Renewal, an organization that helps groups take care of the environment. Individual efforts are important, in Lowe’s opinion, but churches and other faith communities can be considerable forces for change, he argues.

 

    In part one of Green Revolution, Lowe answers the question, “Why should Christians be concerned about sustainability?” He believes that “global society” needs to take responsibility for our contributions to global warming. “[W]e fail to realize and respect our limitations and those of the planet by continuing to rachet up unsustainable rates of population growth, resource consumption and waste production,” he writes. “The result is that we have waded over our heads into troubled waters, stressing our global society and the planet beyond what it can bear. And we are starting to drown.” As a church, he says, it’s not enough to acknowledge our excesses: we must adopt simpler ways of living and reach out to others who have less. 

 

    In part two, Lowe lays out the evidence for the climate crisis and talks about his own journey to sort through the facts and find his own position on the topic. Lowe does something few Christians seem to be willing to do on this subject: actually look past the rhetoric at the bald facts and seek out those who have studied the issues.

 

    For a while, Lowe attempted to ignore the topic—his textbooks said one thing, but he heard a different message at church. Finally, he decided to consider all the facts by searching out the most authoritative science on the subject and by comparing that science with his own experiences in developing countries. He also sought the counsel of those who had been working in the creation care movement. Research, observation, and wise counsel convinced him that something needed to be done about climate change.

 

    Ben Lowe has written a motivating resource for those involved in environmental stewardship. “All across the Church, Christians are waking up to God’s call to care for his besieged creation and to love the poor who are suffering the most from environmental degradation,” writes Lowe. “Not too long ago, Christian environmental activists were rare and were often viewed as part of a tree-hugging, granola-eating, fashion-insensitive, hygienically-challenged, radical fringe. Now, however, creation care is regaining its rightful place as a central part of discipleship.”

 

Greening Up Blueberry

 

    For the second year in a row, the Marshall County Blueberry Festival went “green”. And this year, thanks to Green Team volunteers, cooperative festival patrons, the Blueberry Board, and many agencies, we kept lots of plastic and aluminum drink containers out of our local waste stream. (I’ll share just how much in my next column).

    Our community can feel proud of its efforts. Here’s why:

    We saved resources. The aluminum in cans can be used repeatedly without degrading, so recycling it is a no-brainer. Plastics (especially #1 and #2 plastics found in most drink bottles) are also recyclable. Plastics fill our ditches, waterways and trash containers. Recycling them keeps our home cleaner, safer, and healthier.

    We sent less trash to the landfill. It turns out that for years, Blueberry trash has gone to County Line Landfill just south of Plymouth. I had no idea how landfills work until I took a tour of that facility recently. I was shocked to discover that trash doesn’t biodegrade at a landfill – it is simply stored there. How many more years of landfill space would we have left? According to the EPA, one person generates about 4.6 pounds of trash a day. With around 500,000 people attending the festival every year, that’s a lot of trash in our own backyard.

    We set an example. Recently I attended a sporting event attended by thousands of people from all over the world. Despite the amazing athletic achievements, intense media coverage, and all the support of a big sports franchise, I didn’t spot a single recycling bin. It was still an awe-inspiring event, but no visible efforts were made to capture all those plastic sports drink bottles. As Blueberry recycling coordinator, I felt a little smug that, by contrast, our local festival was trying to lessen our impact on the environment. It’s fun to get together, but it doesn’t have to have a high environmental cost.

    We shared the Spirit of Community. One of the best parts of the recycling effort for me was working with so many committed volunteers. Perhaps you saw members of the Green Team circulating at Centennial Park during the festival in their bright blue shirts and aprons. (No, they weren’t green. My bad.) Some members of the Green Team were so committed that they actually dug misplaced cans and bottles out of trash containers so they could be recycled! They passed out stickers to encourage recycling, thanked people who did recycle, and shared valuable information with festival patrons (“Where are the walleye sandwiches?”), not to mention emptying full bins and moving them as necessary.

    We educated people. In our Blue Goes Green booth, we shared brochures, give-a-ways, and good advice about living more sustainably. Most of the time it seemed to be children who had made recycling a priority. Okay, grown-ups – time to get with the program! Many thanks goes to Republic Services, Marshall County Solid Waste, Walgreens and Felke Florist for their help supplying the Green Team and our booth.

    We laid a foundation. After all the positive comments the Green Team received from patrons and vendors, I know we’ll do more recycling next year. The Marshall County Blueberry Festival’s goal is not just to recycle – it’s a four-day celebration of food and fun. It’s nice to know, though, that in the midst of celebrating, we can also keep our county a great place to live.        

Should We Change Our Eating Habits?

  Recently I wrote an article about my family re-thinking meat. Then Time Magazine came out with this one about the price of cheap food. Read it and see what you think.

http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1917458,00.html

Re-Thinking Meat

My family’s latest “green” project? Re-thinking meat.

    Food safety is one reason. This month alone the USDA has recalled three “batches” of beef because of e. coli and salmonella outbreaks. At the supermarket, I don’t know how many miles my hamburger traveled to get there, how fresh it is or if the package contains meat from one cow or several. The people behind the meat counter don’t seem to know, either. (Check out the website www.foodshield.org for more information about all food recalls.)

    Climate change is another reason. Our food choices impact our home. The Center for Food Safety and the Union of Concerned Scientists are two groups that recommend eating less meat to reduce global warming.

    The Union of Concerned Scientists claims that, compared with other protein sources like beans or soy, “[L]ivestock production is more resource-intensive: it takes three pounds of grain (as livestock feed) to produce one pound of chicken, and 7 to 10 pounds of grain to produce one pound of beef. As a result, it generates more heat-trapping emissions (including nitrous oxide from grain production and methane released by cows and other ruminants) than plant-based foods grown specifically for human consumption” (www.ucsusa.org). Scientists at Carnegie Mellon University estimate that 60 percent of greenhouse gases emitted from world food production comes from turning animals into edibles.

    Feeding our future food takes resources, too. The Center for Food Safety estimates that of all the grains and seeds grown in the United States every year, livestock eat half of that total amount. Unsettling facts in a world full of hungry people!

    To change our habits, my family has been asking these questions, courtesy of The Center for Food Safety’s Cool Foods Campaign:

• Is this food organic? Organic meats contain less pesticides and fertilizers, big producers of greenhouse gas emissions.

• Is this product made from an animal? To cut back, we “go meatless” frequently, omitting meat from pasta dishes or using beans instead of beef in chili.

• Has this food been processed? My daughter’s personal chef is Chef Boyardee. To break this habit, during busy weeks I try to prepare meals in my Crock-Pot so that we have something good waiting on us when we get home.

• How far did this food travel to reach my plate? I use local suppliers who raise their meat sustainably – usually grass-fed or free-range. This takes more legwork, but it also takes the worry out of Sunday dinner.  When I can, I buy in bulk and freeze, which saves trips. The website www.eatwellguide.org provides information on local suppliers across the country.

• Is this food excessively packaged? Food packaging often cannot be recycled. I try to pick fruits and vegetables from bins, not bagged, and ask the butcher to avoid using Styrofoam.

    Reducing our meat consumption is a major change! It takes research, new recipes, new ingredients, and some experimentation! But I’ve discovered how tasty meat can be – worth paying a little extra, especially when we eat it less. Preparing a roast from a quality supplier, knowing I’m supporting a family farm or cruelty-free, sustainable business, I appreciate it twice as much. I’ll gladly eat less meat if I can enjoy it more.

 

Tomatoes for Small Spaces

    Today's the day to plant my garden tomatoes. I'm yearning for that home-grown taste!     

    You say you have no room for a garden? No problem. With six hours of sunlight, you can grow tomatoes on a balcony or patio with ease.

    Home-grown just makes sense:

    It's cheaper. One patio tomato plant produces dozens of fruit.

    It's safer. Commercially-grown tomatoes contain pesticides. When you grow your own, there are no mystery substances.

    It's convenient. A back door salad bar!

    It's good for you. Tomatoes contain lycopene, an antioxidant with proven cancer-fighting properties. They are also loaded with potassium and vitamin C.

    It's easy to freeze them. Wash them with water, freeze them raw, whole or cut-up, on a cookie sheet, then plop them in a freezer bag, no peeling or blanching necessary. Or freeze them as juice or a sauce. Imagine fresh tomatoes in the wintertime! They're a little mushier once they've been frozen, but they taste as fresh as the day they were picked. (Check out http://lancaster.unl.edu/food for a great article on freezing tomatoes).

    The right plant. A few rules apply to growing container tomatoes. Choose a small, compact variety to fit your space; often the label will tell you if the plant is appropriate for container-growing. Determinate or dwarf tomato varieties are a better choice than indeterminate: Celebrity, Carnival, Daybreak, Mountain Fresh, Sun Leaper, and Sun Master are good hybrids for the Midwest. Cherry and grape tomatoes work especially well in small spaces. If you prefer old-fashioned, heirloom, and/or organic patio varieties, your best bet is the World Wide Web: search under "heirloom patio tomatoes."

    The right container. No matter what the variety, all tomatoes need root-space. Choose a container that's at least 10 gallons in size with drainage holes in the bottom. In late May, your plant might look tiny in such a big container, but in late August you'll be glad you planted it in plenty of soil. Speaking of soil, use a potting mix, not regular garden soil; it's too heavy to drain effectively. Any mix designated for flowers or vegetables will suffice.

    There are lots of interesting tomato containers on the market. Add a bit of whimsy to your patio—plant your tomatoes in a barrel or basket (lined with plastic to keep the soil intact). What about an old washtub? Or add elegance with a beautiful terra cotta urn. Don't forget that tomatoes need support, too—a small trellis, cage or stake will help prop up the plant when all that fruit comes along.

    The right conditions. To do their best, container-grown tomatoes need lots of sun. Water them frequently; don't soak them, but make sure they stay moist. Regular fertilizing, either granular or liquid, helps keep the plant nourished, but follow directions carefully. Over-fertilizing results in lots of leaves, but not many tomatoes. If the plant gets bushy, stake it, but don't prune it. The leaves soak up energy from the sun to make more fruit and shield the fruit from sunscale.

    Tomatoes aren't the only plants that do well in containers. Herbs, greens, and peppers also thrive on a sunny porch or patio. These days, the newest trend in gardening is mixing ornamentals with edibles. Try under-planting your tomatoes with edible trailing nasturtiums or curly parsley.

    Give container-gardening a try, and see how satisfying it is to grow (and eat!) your own food, even in a tiny space.

      

      

      

      

      

      

    

My Energy Audit

        Last week I asked John Vialard of REMC to do an energy audit of my house. It’s an inventory of a home’s energy output, followed by some energy-saving solutions—usually a free service to utility customers. I learned that while some energy innovations are great, simply cutting back makes the most sense—especially if we all do it.

            Conserve. John Vialard pointed out that while it might seem smart to install a new wind turbine, reducing my current energy use is wiser. Turning off lights and gadgets, using less water, programming my thermostat, correctly maintaining appliances, air-drying my clothes, insulating my water heater—all add up to savings for little cost.    

            Seal the cracks. Air infiltration happens when outside air sneaks in uninvited through cracks or gaps. “Make sure your house is as energy-efficient as possible,” John advised me. “That will automatically reduce your carbon foot-print and your costs.”A “tight” house is an efficient one. Homes like mine that were built around 1980 and earlier are not as snug as more recent construction. John suggested taking advantage of a cold, windy day and feeling along windows, doors, walls, and visible ductwork with my hands. Holding a candle or a feather next to possible cracks can also indicate air movement. Cheap solutions such as applying caulk or adding insulation usually does the trick.

            Buy efficient appliances. Tightening up the house saves energy; so does buying energy-saving appliances like the ones with an Energy Star label. According to John Vialard, appliances are the biggest contributors to energy use in a typical home.

            However, don’t rush out to replace your current appliances with new ones. “Unless you know that refrigerator is really working hard,” said John, “it doesn’t make sense to get rid of it in favor of a newer, more efficient one. Someone else will end up using it anyway, which will still consume energy.”

            Invest in an efficient HVAC system. When our aged air conditioner finally wears out, John suggested replacing it with a geothermal heat pump, a newer technology that offers radical energy and cost savings. Though installing a heat pump has a hefty price tag (as high as $10,000), if you can afford it, it is exponentially more efficient than a furnace and readily pays for itself in just a few years.

            More than light bulbs. I think compact fluorescent light bulbs are the greatest thing since sliced (organic whole grain) bread. However, John told me that lighting is not a significant energy cost for most people. He pointed out that the energy-saving benefits of CFLs won’t be realized until most households are using them—it has to be a collective effort. That reminded me that saving energy should not be a pursuit for obsessed greenies; keeping energy costs low releases funds that can be used elsewhere.

            What if our local schools had energy audits? How much money could we save just by taking steps to conserve energy, and how many dollars could be released for education? What about using energy audits to help cash-strapped libraries, non-profits or churches find ways to save energy?

            Start in your own home, and let’s see where our collective energy savings takes us!

Kilowatt Conundrum

    Wake up and smell the burning coal, Peters, I thought, after eyeing my whopping electric bill.

    So far my family's efforts to cut our energy usage resemble chopping down a mighty redwood with a herring. Not that we haven't been trying.

    I programmed my thermostat, keeping daytime temperatures at a balmy 68 degrees. My thin-skinned youngest daughter won't shed her coat after school. I suggested that she do more housework. Hmmmm—no response.

    We turn off lights religiously. My office on the east side of the house takes advantage of morning light. The girls have learned to turn off lamps in their bedrooms when they leave. They've really learned. On a recent trip to Hobby Lobby, their mission was to turn off every display lamp in the store.

    "Stop!" I commanded, glancing around for store security. "Besides, there are thousands of lamps!"

    "I know, right?" said Kate, my logical seventh-grader. "They're wasting energy!"

    "Hey!" hollered Claire from the next aisle. "There's more over here, Kate!"

    Kate scurried off, and I pondered the consequences of raising young environmental activists.

    I've been hanging most of my clothes to dry inside, eschewing the energy-gulping clothes dryer. On cold, dry days, my clothes racks give off a pleasantly scented humidity that's a relief to my nose.

    Despite these efforts, our kilowatt usage surged during frigid January. I'm determined to find other ways to cut our energy use and save money.

    Incandescent bulbs lurk around the house. Those curly fluorescent bulbs cost more, but use a fraction of the energy and last years longer than incandescents. This week I'm going to switch out as many bulbs as I can.

    Just a note on CFLs: CFL bulbs do contain small amounts of mercury. They can be disposed of through most community recycling facilities, along with other hazardous materials. Like regular light bulbs, they should be stowed away safely until needed and handled carefully when they have run their course.

    Phantom power also lurks in my house. Leaving devices plugged in, even if they are turned off, still uses energy. I will plug more appliances into power strips that I can turn off when they are not in use. For instance, with three females in the house, we have our share of styling tools. I can plug all of those into one strip, then turn it off until we need them. A friend of mine plugs his electric toothbrush in all night to charge, then unplugs it during the day.

    If my house were a boat, it would sink. Another task this week: seek out and seal drafts along my windows and doors with caulk and weather-stripping. I will also search for drafts around air ducts.

    Saving energy pays. Are you aware that tax credits are available for people who buy energy efficient equipment or use renewable energy like solar or wind? Check out the Energy Star website (www.energystar.gov). Or contact your local utility for more information. Some utilities even offer free replacement programs—you can trade out your old gas water heater (an energy hog) for a more efficient electric one.

    You probably have other ideas for saving energy. Would you like to share them? A new group called Watt-Watchers is beginning this month. We'll meet in the library on March 26 at 7 p.m. in the Jim Neu room to discuss ways of living more sustainably in Marshall County. It's open to anyone! For more information, contact me at marianne-peters@comcast.net.

      

      

      

      

      

    

Homemade Housekeeping

A friend once told me, "I want to live a simple life, but it's so complicated!"

 

Learning new habits takes time, because it's not just doing something a new way, it's thinking differently as well. A mundane task—like cleaning house—suddenly requires more brainpower.

 

Speaking of new habits, recently I switched to milder, less-toxic household cleaning products to reduce my family's exposure to scary chemicals. Marketing messages for today's commercial products shout that the only good germ is a dead germ! But average American homes don't need to be as sterilized as the Centers For Disease Control. Some commercial cleaners disinfect with the use of hazardous chemical irritants that require warning labels and safe disposal instructions. Popular antibacterial formulas cost more and kill normally-occurring bacteria indiscriminately; even the beneficial bacteria that help prevent disease. Might they be doing more harm than good?

 

Homemade cleaning products are gentler and, in most cases, just as effective as using the store brands; they use cheap and natural ingredients such as vinegar, baking soda, borax, rubbing alcohol and olive oil. Some are so mild they can be eaten.

 

Mixing up my own cleaners seemed cumbersome at first. However, most homemade solutions require only a few ingredients. Some ingredients go solo: for instance, I can use undiluted white vinegar as a fabric softener, to clean the toilet bowl, to remove scale from my shower head and to remove mildew. I can use baking soda to scour sinks, unclog slow drains and absorb odors in the refrigerator. Tried and true tips for homemade cleaners have been around for years and are widely available in books, magazines, and on the Web. The newspaper column "Hints from Heloise" has always featured thrifty homemade cleaning solutions.

 

Starting a new habit takes time and a little work up front. For convenience and to help me remember what to use when, I wrote recipes and tips on 3x5 cards and pinned them to a bulletin board above my utility sink. I carefully disposed my leftover commercial cleaners. Since some commercial products do contain toxic materials, I didn't want to pitch them. Landfills and local watersheds are no place for these substances. My local solid waste management program's website has a convenient guide to safe disposal of household chemicals (www.recycleyourtrash.org). I rinsed out my left-over plastic spray bottles to refill with my new homemade solutions—but I checked those labels, too, to make sure it was safe to re-use them.

 

Some big brands have responded to customer preferences for gentler cleaners and now make plant-based formulas such as Clorox's Green Works line. Not all "natural" brands list all their ingredients, though. Brands such Ecover and Seventh Generation offer a wide array of products and they are completely transparent about their ingredients (they are available on the web and at some big box stores, such as Target and Walmart).

 

It feels empowering to say "no" to cleaning products that come with a heavy cost for my family and for the planet. Here are a few recipes if you'd like to make your own solutions:

 

Recipe for an All-Purpose Cleaner

Mix in a spray bottle: ½ cup of white vinegar and ¼ cup of baking soda (or 2 teaspoons borax) plus a ½ gallon of water. Use for showers, chrome, windows, mirrors, and other surfaces. (Source: www.eartheasy.com)

 

Recipe for a Homemade Glass Cleaner

Mix in a spray bottle: 1 cup of rubbing alcohol, 1 cup of water, and 1 tablespoon of white vinegar. (Source: http://organizedhome.com).

 

©Marianne Peters 2009