D.I.Y Laundry Soap

Last April I wrote about my experiment to try out a recipe for making my own laundry detergent. It was a success and I was instantly hooked. After buying the necessary ingredients (bar of soap, borax, and washing soda) I was on my way. I was able to fill 4 old laundry detergent containers with the amount of soap it made and it lasted our house (which consists of just me, my husband and our 2 dogs) over 4 months. Usually we buy a container of detergent a month. So it saved us approximately $14/month in detergent costs.

After 4 months of use our clothes are clean and smell great. I don't think we'll ever buy another bottle of detergent again! The recipe to make your own costs:

• 1 Box of Borax = $4
• 1 Box of Arm & Hammer Washing Soda = $3.75
• 1 Box (contains 2 bars) of Yardley Soap = $1
• Total = $8.75 for more than a year of detergent for us.

We now spend about $0.75 a month for our laundry soap compared to over $14/month! Now that's some savings!

Some of you might be asking about the time or hassle it takes to make your own soap. I agree: It's not worth making some of these things when the time to make something takes hours or days. However, this small change takes about 30 minutes every 4 months and is actually kind of fun.

What are some changes that your family has made to save money in these tough times?

A little unsightly, but it's green...

I've been wanting to install a rain barrel in my backyard for some time now. It's been on my list of "to-do's" and we finally got around to it this weekend. We picked up the "rain barrel kit" from our local botanical gardens for $54. It included the recycled commercial food drum and the fittings for the spigot. All we needed was a way to hook it up to our gutter and a hose for the overflow.
With the help of my father, it was installed in less than a couple hours (including shopping time). So it was a quick project. It was slightly more expensive than I thought it would be (total came out to be around $80) but you can't put a price on minimizing water run-off, can you? When you search for rain barrels online the prices are well over $100 - so I guess eighty bucks isn't too bad...I'm debating over painting the barrel or putting up a screen/fence in front of it. Currently it really does look like a giant drum of cooking oil!

40 Ways to Go Green

Happy Saturday Afternoon! I've been working on a list of ways to go green. I've compiled some ideas that I've seen and added a few of my own. The highlighted ideas are ones that I personally do or try to do most of the time.

40 Quick Ways to Go Green:

1. Use the dishwasher – doing a full load is more efficient than hand-washing.
   
2. Plant an herb garden indoors or outside
   
3. Plant a vegetable garden. Some areas have plots you can rent.
   
4. Switch lightbulbs to CFLs - or how about LEDs?
   
5. Replace your shower head with a lower flow model (could save 14,000 gallons/year)
   
6. Create a homemade compost bin or a worm bin
   
7. Stop using disposable bags and make or buy your own
   
8. Buy a reusable water bottle
   
9. Wash laundry in cold water instead of hot
   
10. Turn off lights when you leave a room
    
11. Open your curtains and use natural light when possible
    
12. Share a car, carpool, take the bus or bike to your destination
    
13. Shop at your local farmer's market (ours is here)
    
14. Sign up for green power from the electric company (DTE offers it here)
    
15. Pay your bills online
    
16. Put a stop to unsolicited mail and opt-out
    
17. Reuse scrap paper
    
18. Check Craig's List or Freecycle before purchasing something new
    
19. 
    Fix leaky faucets
    
20. Make your own household cleaners and laundry soap
    
21. Repurpose something: how about making a shopping bag out of an old shirt?
    
22. Switch to cloth diapers – or at least combine with disposables
    
23. Switch to shade grown and fair trade coffee
    
24. Use reusable dishtowels instead of paper towels and reusable dishcloths instead of sponges.
    
25. Use cloth napkins instead of paper
    
26. Cut down on the amount of time you take to shower
    
27. Donate (and shop at) thrift stores such as Goodwill.
    
28. Replace a vinyl shower curtain with one that's washable
    
29. Place an aerator on your sinks to cut down on water usage
    
30. Get a programmable thermostat
    
31. Use drapes to keep the sun out in the summer (which will keep your house cooler)
    
32. Start a "no shoes" policy in your home. This will improve air quality and lower need for cleaners.
    
33. Choose LCD televisions over plasma (saves $36/year in electricity)
    
34. Unplug unused chargers or electronics or use a Smart Power Strip.
    
35. Use old t-shirts or towels as rags for cleaning instead of using paper towels.
    
36. Insulate your water heater and turn down the temperature 20 degrees (you'll save $20/year)
    
37. Ditch the paper bags and sue a reusable lunch bag to pack your lunch
    
38. Use a rain barrel for watering your garden
    
39. Turn off the tap when you brush your teeth
    
40. Use refillable office supplies such as pens and pencils.
    

So as you can see, I still have a couple more items that I need t o do or get in the habit of doing more often. I'm extremely guilty of taking long showers. I need to get out of the habit of that…

Weekend Experiments

This weekend flew by for me! It felt like just yesterday was Friday morning and it's already time for Monday. Ugh!
We did a lot of stuff this weekend - from dodging hale storms on Saturday afternoon after a quick walk around the farmer's market for the first time this season (luckily we were in the midst of eating some yummy Zingerman's sandwiches and their outdoor tent held up to the pounding winds) to making homemade laundry soap.
Most of my activities turned out to be a lot of fun. I really enjoyed dodging the hale storm. Every person in a 2 mile radius ran inside for cover. I think I was the only fool standing outside! We decided that it would be fun to walk around downtown with Mia in tow. But since we had a dog with us, we were stuck outside (even though the nice folks at Zingerman's did offer me to come in the entrance for the storm but I declined). My husband was safe inside - ordering the sandwiches for us. But the bad part of the storm only lasted 5 minutes and it will be a moment I'll remember for the rest of my life. I was hysterically laughing - trying my hardest to get in the middle of the tent so the balls of ice wouldn't hit me or Mia. The wind was so strong that it just pelted the rain sideways into the tent. But little Mia just slept in the bag that I was carrying her in. She paid absolutely no attention to the what-felt-like-a-hurricane!
The laundry soap project has been on my list of to-do's for months. It seemed like an easy thing for me to do that was economical and green. There are many recipes out there (all are the same ingredients but have different ratios). I chose to follow the one here. We'll see how it washes clothes...
I have other projects to post, but I'll check in with ya'll tomorrow...