One of the things I wanted to do when I started this blogging thing was to spend some time discussing Green Living, and some things the ‘Fly family was doing to get greener and get ideas and tips from others. When it comes to being green, none of us are in like say, Ed Bagley’s league; we are just a regular family who is interested in reducing our footprint for the sake of our kids.
However, I am not willing to give up a certain standard of living or a certain amount of convenience either; which, I suspect, puts me in the majority. Sorry, Ed, I am not going not going to roll out of bed, hop on a bike and pedal like Sarah Palin was after me with one of her many firearms so I can generate electricity to run the toaster. So not happening.
We also have a rather tight budget in which to work. There are no blood diamonds in this house, we can’t afford them.
None of us have any particular expertise in the field of Green Living. I’m a software engineer working for a large, soulless corporation because it pays well. Mr Fly is currently hunting for a job since the housing bust dried up his freelance landscape consulting. The Boy is a college student and video game aficionado, while The Girl is a high school student, cheerleader, and militant WWF supporter. The dog and the cat couldn’t care less as long as they get their 2 squares a day, plenty of naps, and a place to poo.
So how does this motley crew go green? Um, working on it. We are definitely a work in progress. One of the things we are constantly on the lookout for are green products we can substitute for the not-green products we are currently using. This
Is a product Mr Fly brought home from Costco. We have been using it for several months now and I can recommend it without hesitation.
Before switching to ECOS, we were using Cheer or Tide, depending who was on sale that week at the grocery store. ECOS cleans as well as either one, without releasing phosphates into the environment. I think it’s better for my clothes in general, I have seen virtually no fading of colors. I do not buy a separate detergent, such as Woolite for delicates any more either. ECOS works just fine for them too. The bottle is recyclable as well. It’s not tested on animals and it’s made in the USA, so it hasn’t been shipped from far and wide, nor was it produced in by some cruddy 3rd world factory that pays 30 cents a day.
The only drawback I can find with this product is the fact that the only place I have seen it is Costco. While we do shop there a couple of times a month, it’s not kind of place you just pop into like you do the corner store. Popping into Costco requires a lot of time and a lot of nerve, so it’s not something I do on the way home from work when I am running short on both. If I run out of ECOS between trips, I have to get something else. Fortunately with the size of the bottle, (I do buy it at Costco after all), running out happens about as often as lunar eclipses.
I should take a moment to point out that I have not used a lot of the other eco-friendly laundry detergents on the market. I did try Method’s once, but I like ECOS better; it just seemed to offer better value for the money. I don’t think Method is a bad product, should the maker of ECOS bite the dust tomorrow, I would switch to Method in a heartbeat. And Method has one big advantage, it’s sold at Target, which is way more convenient for me than Costco.
Anyone else have some green laundry tips to share?
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One laundry tip - having just purchased a compost bin and begun our composting, I recently read that dryer lint is compostable.
check out http://www.psymeet.com/recycling/
I've used the ECOS laundry detergent and other products before, and they are great. Sometimes, they can tend to be a bit pricey, depending on where you buy them. But, at least, regular grocery stores are starting to carry them, so I'm presuming the cost will go down a bit. You can now find them at Kroger, Meijer (Michigan chain), and other mainstream stores. Co-ops are a really good place to find green cleaning products, although they tend to be a bit higher in price.
If you happen to live in areas where there are Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, or similar greener/healthier stores, then try their brands of products. Trader Joe's is by far the cheapest grocer in my area, and Whole Foods does have its own brand (the 365 brand) of foods and other products that are much cheaper than other green/organic brands.
I buy my laundry detergent, dish washing liquid, dish washer detergent, toilet paper, and soap at Trader Joe's, because it's the cheapest there. All of them are natural products, and the toilet paper is made from recycled paper. The soap I use is actually Dr. Bronner's all-natural soap. I buy a quart at a time ($8 at Trader Joe's as compared to Whole Foods and other stores where it's around $11-$12), and it lasts a 6 weeks to 2 months... since it's concentrated.
I'm partial to Jason brand toothpaste, because of its ingredients and price, and I get that at Whole Foods (Trader Joe's doesn't carry it). It's around $4 for a 6 ounce tube, and they regularly have specials on it. I use all-natural deoderant that has ONLY herbs in it (no aluminum or any other nasty ingredients). I also get my shampoos and conditioners at Whole Foods (I buy Nature's Gate brand)... but it's about the same price at other stores.
My cleaning products are also green. I get an all-purpose cleaner at Trader Joe's that has cedar oil and other oils in it, and it smells wonderful. There's absolutely no need to buy a separate cleaner for each room in the house or for each purpose. That's all marketing done by the major brands so they can make a ton of money off consumers.
I bought a liquid fabric softener that I put on a washcloth and then throw in the dryer with my clothes. It works great and is completely natural. If I need a room deoderizer, a laundry stain remover, or anything else, I buy all-natural/green products. Some of them may cost a bit more than mainstream products, but it's worth it to take care of myself and the planet. But, a lot of the green products are the same price as mainstream ones, because they are becoming more popular.
Oh, I also buy natural hand lotions... Burt's Bees is one of my favorites. You can find it just about anywhere, even at Walgreen's and CVS.
I'm very fortunate that I live in an area (Ann Arbor, Michigan) that is very progressive about green products and green living (we got voted the 4th greenest city in the nation) and holistic healing. We have Trader Joe's, Plum Market and Arbor Farms (local stores similar to Whole Foods), 2 Whole Foods, and some other smaller health and vitamin stores in a city of around 300,00 people. The City has gone from traditional diesel-burning city buses to hybrid biodiesel buses, and we have a few farm markets in the area where you can find organic products, we have 2 co-ops, and we have a lot of local farmers who are organic. The Eden brand of foods is headquartered in the area (EdenSoy). The area is very green-minded.
Anita,: did you do that video? That was great!
Shawna: Thank for your extremely informative post. We are pretty new to this Green thing and your post is exactly the type of conversation I was hoping to start. Unfortunately I have a serious disadvantage in the fact that I live in the Central Valley of California, which is so conservative, we could probably scare the Bible Belt. Living in a rural, poor area my shopping choices are limited, so not Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods. The nearest shopping is Wal-Mart (yeah, I know, kill me now). However I will keep an eye for the products you mentioned, there is a Target near my job and I shop there quite frequently, I know they carry Burt’s Bees.
http://www.purenaturalsoaps.com