#226 - Oh Nuts

Taking Soap Nuts for a Spin

This is the twelfth change in my month-long pledge to give up plastics for Crunchy's Extreme Eco-Throwdown.

Well Criminy, between these soap nuts and my dryer balls, laundry time at Casa Burban is starting to sound a lot like gay porn. It's not though. I know because there's no cheesy "baw-chicka-baw-baw" music in the background.

So you know that I switched to Seventh Generation Powder Detergent back in.... oh wait. I never posted about it! Egads! You know, sometimes I'm just making so many changes, I forget to tell you about some of them. Oh well, too late now. I've been using the powdered detergent for months now and it works great. The only downside (other than the price tag) is that it comes with a plastic scoop in every package. Like we couldn't just use our own measuring cups? COME ON!

So since this month's challenge is all about avoiding plastic, I ordered up some soapnuts from Amazon. Just five of them - enough to see if they worked. Of course, silly me, they came packaged in plastic. Sometimes you just can't win.

But here's a review for those inquiring minds: They work.

Yup. Sure as soapnut shit, they cleaned the clothes. I have a high efficiency front-loader and had no problem with over sudsing.

Now for the rest of the inquiring minds who wonder what the hell soap nuts are:

Soapnuts are the dried fruit of the Soapberry tree. They contain saponin, a natural cleaner used for thousands of years to clean clothes. Soap nuts, especially Sapindus mukorossi, have become popular as an environmentally friendly alternative to manufactured, chemical detergents . A few nuts can be placed in a cotton drawstring bag in with a washload and reused several times. Soap nuts are safe for washing silk, woolens and other delicate fabrics.

So, yes, they do work. BUT. (I've always got a big BUT, don't I? Wait. Don't answer that.) I'm just not sure that importing a bunch of nuts from Indonesia is any better for the environment than using plant-based detergent made in Canada that comes with a recyclable plastic scoop. My gut tells me that, at best, it's a wash. hehehehe.

So, to avoid making another decision that doesn't feel quite right, I'm going to zig instead of zag. I think I'll give up my 7G Laundry Detergent AND the soapnuts. Instead, I'll try making my own laundry detergent using a combination of washing soap, borax and goatsmilk soap - all natural and all plastic free.

I guess that'll make me a soapnut then, eh?

#200 - Crunch Time

Giving Up My Fabric Softener Entirely

As predicted by Green Bean and Wendy, I have quickly become addicted to line drying my clothes. I have gone beyond the drying rack and the garage clothesline and have added a retractable 5 string clothesline in the laundry room. Between those three options and the deck railing, damn near everything in my house is being line-dried.

*WARNING: "Duh" moment straight ahead*

wait for it.... wait for it....

Well why the hell am I still pouring fabric softener in the machine every time I wash towels? That doesn't make sense, does it? It seems silly to "soften" the towels before you purposely "crunchen" them. God, sometimes I hate being blonde.

So, even though my towel softener of choice was Seventh Generation's relatively benign liquid softener, none is always better. Eco-wise, that is.

Savings:

Back in September, I began using dryer balls to help soften the clothes, but when I still added the fabric softener (just a little) to loads with towels and pajamas. Sadly it has taken me almost two freakin' months to reach the "DUH" moment. Geez, a mind really is a terrible thing to waste, isn't it?

So my savings will be one bottle of 7G Liquid Fabric Softener (and the plastic bottle it comes in) every 6 months or so. That's two bottles of softener per year. Not a ton, but all these little changes help me to chip-chip-chip away at my plastic bottle use until one day soon I'll be down to nothing. How cool would that be? I could go head-to-head in a no-holds-barred plastic-shunning showdown against Fake Plastic Fish. Well, I'm not there yet... but someday.

Difficulty Level: 0 out of 5

Can I give things a 0 out of 5? Well, it is my blog. So, yeah. I can.

#186 - Where There's A Will, There's A Clothesline

Getting Creative With Line Drying

Just last month I posted about how I finally got a drying rack and was using it to dry about 15-20% of my clothes sans electricity. Wendy and Green Bean both left me comments about how "once you go rack, you never go back" and said that I would become "racked with guilt" anytime I turned on the dryer. Pfffff.

Well, turns out them bitches was right. I load my rack up to the point where it nearly topples over, then I begin to toss items across the back of kitchen chairs, over the top of doors and shower curtain rods - I even utilize the various door knobs when possible. All this leaves my house looking like some shabbily-dressed strippers just left, and it tends to make my OCD personality twitch. Besides, I've caught the kids wiping their paint-y hands all over things recently and don't want to have the "but those were my best work slacks" conversation with hubby.

Of course, you loyal readers will know that I live in a subdivision whose HOA rules prohibit me from hanging a clothesline anywhere outside of the 4x4 fenced area that houses our garbage cans and compost bin. Not the best spot to hang clothes -- especially when you realize that area sits directly under several sappy pine trees. I initially had planned to go commando and install some sort of 007-esque retractable line this spring, but I have to wait for the foliage to grow in a bit more or it will be visible from the road. And in the meantime, Wendy and GreenBean's prediction is coming true. I am obsessing over what I dry in the machine.

So here's the stylin' new clothesline at Casa Del Burban:

Tres chic, no? Well, as my Dad always says, Form Follows Function and that puppy is definitely functional. I took a length of rope and two of those screw-into-the-wall-hooks. Some pounding and spinning, a couple of those "the rabbit comes out of the hole, around the tree and back down the hole" knots and voila! Instant clothesline. It's totally retractable too. Kind of. I just unhook one end, loop the line up (with clothespins still attached, of course) and hang it on the other hook. Although the clothes don't have that "sunshine smell", they also don't smell like a garage. Plus I'm not violating any HOA rules,and most importantly, I'm not using my dryer!

The only downside is, when I told hubby about my plan, he was quite concerned that whatever spiders may be in the garage would wind up in the clothes. I poo-pooed that idea and told him we were WAY more likely to get spiders from hanging the clothes outside. He insisted that he did not want his clothes hung up in the garage and, being the dutiful wife that I am, I relented and assured him I would definitely not put his clothes out there to dry.

Now how long do you suppose it will take him to realize that means he'll be doing his own laundry?

Savings:

I still use the dryer for socks, underwear and bras. After all, nobody likes crunchy toes, butts or boobs (but if you do that's ok, we don't judge here). As such, I have gone from an average of six full dryer loads per week to one really small load. Since I use the moisture sensor, that one load only takes about 35 minutes to dry.

So, get your calculators out folks. Our 3,000 watt dryer went from running 45 minutes, six days per week (13.5 kWh / week) down to 35 minutes, one day per week (1.75 kWh /week). That's a weekly savings of 11.75 kWh per week, 611 kWh per year. At a windblown electrical rate of approximately $0.10 kWh, that's a dollar savings of $61.10 a year.

Difficulty Level: 1 out of 5

Getting the idea was easy, since Paula Hewitt left a comment on my drying rack post about how she hangs her wash in the garage. Constructing the indoor line was also a relatively simple task. Even the actual hanging process is nice because it allows me to escape to the quiet sanctuary of the garage for a few moments in the day, where I can no longer hear "DAH-EE KNOCK OVER MY LEGO TOWER MOMMY!!!!!" and the oft-repeated rebuttal of "BRUH-BRUH KICK ME!!!!!" I'm thinking about getting a washboard and a bucket to put out there, if only to buy me some solitude. Maybe then I could get in a full 30 minutes of meditation. ;-)

#169 - High and Dry

Drying My Clothes on a Rack

Remember my wish list for Christmas? How I wanted a drying rack? Yeah, never got it. "Santa" said he could only find ones made in China and didn't want to violate any of my rules. Of course, "Santa" does know how to drill holes and buy dowels, so I'm not sure why he felt he was out of options, but anyhow..... I didn't get one in December, so I finally broke down and bought one today. A drying rack, that is. Check her out:

Isn't she a beaut? It folds up to nearly nothin' and stores itself right beside the dryer when not in use. It doesn't hold a ton of stuff, but I'm still hoping to go all "Mission Impossible" and install a hidden clothesline this spring, despite the HOA regulations. In the meantime, I'll be able to dry sweaters, napkins and small items indoors on my rack. I figure I'll pile on as much as I can and then dry whatever's left in the machine. Judging from the amount of stuff it holds, I'd say that in the course of a week it will save me one full dryer load. Of course, it helps that I supplement with my "less-than-legit" outdoor drying system too.

Oh yeah, baby. I bet the HOA would LOVE it if I hung all my laundry off the deck! As my sister is fond of saying: I really put the "K" in "Klassy".

Savings:

One dryer load per week. Since our model dryer runs at 3,000 watts x 1 hour per load, that's 3 kWh per week, 12 kWh per month, 156 kWh per year.

Difficulty Level: 2 out of 5

It's not too difficult, but it does require more work than just throwing all the laundry in the dryer. Plus, I know hubby and the boy will complain about the "crunchy" clothes. Me? I like it. So until everything is being line-dried, I'll just rack-dry my own clothes, napkins, towels, etc.

#159 - Sensing a Change

Using the Moisture Sensor on the Dryer

For those of you who are better people than I am and actually hang your clothes outside to dry, please ignore this post and go back to de-icing your socks.

OK, I know any post that talks about dyer habits really isn't that green. But as I've mentioned before, our HOA prohibits clothes lines, except for on the side of our house that is totally shaded by pine trees. And I'm going with the assumption that replacing all of our clothes on a weekly basis due to pine sap damage would be a bigger energy suck than using the dryer. Also.... I'm lazy.

So anyhow, I don't know what type of dryer you have, but if it was manufactured in the last, oh I don't know, 20 years or so, it should have a moisture sensor. Check out the picture I snapped of mine:

I always use the Auto Moisture Sensing side of it. However, I only recently learned (ok, about six months ago, but I was slow to post about it) that clothes weren't meant to be dried in a dryer to the point of being 100% moisture-free. It's really hard on the fabrics to be exposed to that drying heat source after all the moisture is gone. So now I set the dial closer to "less dry" than "normal dry". Sure, some stuff needs to hang on the back of a chair for a while before being folded, but that's really not any extra work. Plus, it will keep my clothes looking and feeling new longer. Added bonus? No more static electricity - that only comes from super dry clothes.

Savings:

Bringing the clothes out early cuts about 15 minutes off the drying cycle. I do roughly one load of laundry per day, so that equates to about 39 kWh per month or almost 500 kWh per year.

Difficulty Level: 1 out of 5

Oooooh, it hurts my wrist to turn the knob the extra 1/10 of a turn. Just kidding. This is another very simple change to make. Try it. You'll like it.

#151 - When Life Hands You Cheap Plastic Shit

Make Cheap-Plastic-Shit-Ade

Look at that laundry basket, will you? What a piece of crap. I've only had the damn thing two years and already one of the handles broke off. Apparently, it's not strong enough to withstand tying a rope around the end and dragging the kids through the house, pretending it's the SS Minnow. You'd think they'd put that on the label or something.

Anyhow, the old me (meaning the "me" before I went green, not the "me" who is actually old, and getting older by the minute) would have tossed this puppy in the trash and happily trundled off to Target for a new basket. New me (meaning the "me" after I went green, not the clone I just made in the garage) will be making do with her crappy, broken basket.

Oh sure, I could go out and buy some sort of environmentally-friendly basket made from recycled plastic bags or hemp or biodegradable monkey poo, but I don't want to be accused of falling for the "greenwashing" that is so prevalent these days. Instead I will once again do the absolutely most enviro-friendly thing I can think of: nothing.

Is it a hardship to live without a third handle on my laundry basket? Certainly. Now I have to carry the basket using one of the other handles. Will I survive? Honestly, I'm not sure. But I'm willing to try.

Besides, back in the olden days, when something broke, yet still served its original purpose, you either fixed it or dealt with it. Replacing it wasn't always an option, much less the first choice. And from now on, I'm going to either fix it or deal with it, whenever possible.


Savings:

One laundry basket. Oh, and one broken cleaning caddy. And the spatula that's bent funny. And the blender that I have to wobble around to get the blades to engage. And this laptop whose cord doesn't work right and whose screen has lost its brightness. And... you get the idea.


Difficulty Level: 1 out of 5

Sure, it's a bit of a nuisance, but so is drowning an entire planet in discarded plastic, just because you don't feel like making cheap-plastic-shit-ade. Drop a line, I'll give you the recipe.

Day 106 - Forever in Blue Jeans

Wearing My Jeans at Least Twice Before Laundering

OK, now that I've got you all humming Neil Diamond songs from the seventies, let's talk about my pants.

The cool fall weather that I love so much is finally upon us and I have put my three ill-fitting but comfortable pair of dungarees back into the ol' wardrobe rotation. These were all purchased just last year, after I finally decided that 18 months post-partum was a little to long to be wearing maternity jeans. Being relatively new, they are all that dark-blue, looks-like-I've-been-wearing-them-to-work-in-a-coal-mine color. What I'm trying to say here, is that a little dirt is hardly noticeable on these jeans.

So, I've decided that, to save water, laundry detergent, dryer energy and denim wear-and-tear, I will be wearing my jeans until they can practically walk themselves to the hamper. Or twice. Whichever comes first. Hubby always wears his jeans at least twice and it's not like I notice it on him, and his jeans are the older, nearly-faded-white color, so who the hell will notice on me? And if someone does notice and has the balls to say something, God help 'em - cuz I'll go all Song Sung Blue on their ass.


Savings:

In the fall/winter/spring, I usually wear jeans five days per week. Rather than washing after each wear, I will wear them twice. So in one week, instead of washing 5 pair of jeans, I'll be washing 2.5 pair. Now let's assume that it takes 10 pair of jeans to fill a load of laundry (they're bulky and heavy). I will be saving an entire load of laundry every four weeks. Jean season lasts November - April or 26 weeks, so that's a savings of 6.5 loads of laundry per year. That equates to 78 gallons of water and over 20 kWh saved.


Difficulty Level: 1 out of 5

The only difficult part is that I'm a slob and I'll need to try a little harder not to spill food, coffee or the kids' paint on my pants. I know I can do it though. I'm a Believer.

Day Ninety-Three - Appliance Heaven

Recycling Our Old Washing Machine

If you recall, a couple of months ago our washine machine bit the dust. We replaced it with an uber-efficient LG Front Loader and I tried to Freecycle the old one. This is the first time I have offered something on Freecycle that absolutely no one wanted. I mean, these people gobbled up my used cleaning supplies and old air fresheners, I can't believe no one would want a broken washing machine -- even if it's just to geet some cash for the scrap metal. Oh well. Looks like I'll have to take it to the dump :-( Or do I?.....

Clickety-click-click, enter The Steel Recycling Institute (dun-da-da-DAH!). The Steel Recycling Institute (SRI) is an industry association that promotes and sustains the recycling of all steel products. The SRI educates the solid waste industry, government, business and ultimately the consumer about the benefits of steel's infinite recycling cycle. They rock.

On their site, I was able to access a database of appliance recyclers in my area and found that Gene's Appliances right down the road would be delighted to take my dead washer. I am hoping that they are able to 1. fix it and sell it or 2. harvest its internal parts so that other machines may live. Either way, I will be a happy little camper know that I kept a 150 pound chunk of metal out of the landfill. And I'm sure my washer will be happy to be helping others clean clothing and linens once again.


Savings:

One greatful wachine machine and one eco-conscience.


Difficulty Level: 2 out of 5

Not as easy as Freecyclin', since I'll have to load it and take there (Gene doesn't have a truck) but no more difficult than taking it to the dump or any other disposal facility.

Day Eighty-Eight - Shower Me With Love

Replace My Old PVC Shower Curtain With a Cloth Curtain

OK, I think I may have mentioned before that I'm not the best housekeeper in the world. In fact, I might very well be the worst, or at least really, really low on the list. This tends to result in the unintended creation of a virtual playground for mold and mildew, at least in my shower. Now I'm no scientist, but you would think if we had figured out a way to turn black oil into a shiny white sheet of plastic with grommets on top, that we'd be able to mildew-proof it as well. Apparently not. So I'm left with a really gross shower curtain that looks like it's getting its grown up Dalmatian spots.

I tried scrubbing the thing with my eco-friendly cleaning products, but the little spores just laughed at me and ripped the scrubber out of my hands. So, with a heavy heart, I removed the plastic sheet of doom, wadded it up and placed it in the trash (where its volume DOUBLED my trash output for the week) *sigh*.

And I cringe when I tell you this, but this is our third shower curtain this year. That's right, our bath is so teeny-tiny that the all that steam from hubby's long, hot showers just stagnates in there (he doesn't use the fan) and really accelerates the mold growth. Up until now, I have been replacing the curtain every quarter, like the changing of the seasons.

To make matters worse, I have always purchased the standard, cheap PVC curtains for our shower but never knew that PVC is the WORST kind of plastic, both for the environment and for your health. It is dangerous to human health and the environment throughout its entire life cycle, at the factory, in our homes, and in the trash. Our bodies are contaminated with poisonous chemicals released during the PVC lifecycle, such as mercury, dioxins, and phthalates, which may pose irreversible life-long health threats. When produced or burned, PVC plastic releases dioxins, a group of the most potent synthetic chemicals ever tested, which can cause cancer and harm the immune and reproductive systems. Not something you want hanging around your house.

But the news is not all bad -- I have found a PVC-free, machine-washable alternative to the shower curtain dilemma! Right at Target, no less! That's right, it's a polyester (yes, I know where polyester comes from) fabric that is machine washable and 100% PVC-free! No nasty pool-liner smell from the off-gassing. No leeching of phthalates in the house or in a landfill. Plus, since it's machine washable, I won't have to throw it out when it gets all gross!

If you check online, you can find even more alternatives, like organic cotton curtains and hemp ones, but I had already tossed out our old curtain, so I needed something in a hurry. Once again, failing to plan....


Savings

Four PVC shower curtains per year, plus the little plastic bag they are packaged in. All in all, that's 17.28 ounces of plastic for each curtain, a total of 69 ounces of "poison plastic" per year. I'm glad to have it out of my house.


Difficulty Level: 1 out of 5

It was actually easier to put up the soft fabric curtain, because it unfolds the way a curtain should. You don't have to fight with it to make it be flat. And I know that throwing it in the wash will be so much easier than trying to scrub it while it's hanging in the shower.

Day Sixty-Four - Great Balls of Fire

Using Laundry Balls In Lieu of Fabric Softener

OK, it's been about a week and I'm officially over my maniacal rant about the packing nuts who sent me my dryer balls. I've been using them faithfully (once I was able to steal them back from the kids) and they really seem to work.

I have definitely seen a decrease in drying time. I'd say a reduction of about 15 minutes which reduces my dryer time to under an hour for a full load. I have absolutely no static -- but I think that may only be a seasonal thing anyhow. I don't really notice a big difference in softness, but some 100% cotton items do feel a bit more stiff -- kind of like they had been line-dried. It doesn't bother me in the least. I like crunchy underpants. TMI?

In addition to the energy savings, I'm obviously saving on water pollution, by not increasing the amount of chemicals I put in the laundry water. Of course, since I switched to Natural Laundry Agents, that hasn't been too big of a concern for me. Nonetheless, it's still contributing to slightly cleaner grey water for our sewage facility to process.

Savings:

OK, my favorite part of the post -- the math calculations -- OMG I am such a nerd. Let's see now, if an average load of laundry usually takes 1.25 hours and it has been cut to only 1 hour, that's a savings of 20%.

Our model dryer runs at 3,000 watts x 1.25 hours per day x 260 days per year = 975 kWh/yr

But with same dryer using balls, we get 3,000 x 1 x 260 = 780 kWh / yr

That's a savings of 195 kWh per year. At my current rate of +- $0.10 / kWh, that's a dollar savings of $19.50. Plus I'm also saving the cost of fabric softener too!

Difficulty Level: 1 out of 5

Once I was able to convince the kids they weren't new playthings for them, it was easy. Simply toss them in the dryer and let them do their thing. They don't make very much noise -- not as loud as drying sneakers in there -- so other than the shorter drying time, there's really not much difference.

Day Forty-Eight - Give Us Dirty Laundry

Replacing My Dead Washing Machine with an Energy Efficient Front Loader

OK, let me preface the post by saying, I know that purchasing a brand new appliance isn't exactly in line with my Compacting post, but with two toddlers, a husband and a 95+ heat wave this week, waiting while I find a used washer just isn't gonna happen. I am, of course, Freecycling the old machine.

My washer died this week. It was Sunday and I was running a load when I heard an awful noise, like the machine had just leapt in front of a semi on the highway. I shrugged it off, convincing myself it was just a really, really unbalanced load, but had to face the facts when I went to move the wash over to the dryer, only to find a pile of soaking wet towels and Scooby-Doo pajamas. Handyman hubby did make an attempt to fix the machine, but to no avail. Since it was a $300 machine and the repairs would most likely be in the $200 range, we decided to bite the bullet and get a new machine.

We trundled on over to Home Depot to check out what was available. I got a quick lesson in the differences between the old top-loaders and the new high-efficiency front-loaders. Compared to my old machine, the new one has a slightly greater capacity, uses an average of only 167 kWh per year and, here's the biggy, consumes only 12 gallons of water per cycle, vs. 40 gallons per cycle. So, not only can I wash more clothes in one load, I am using less electricity and sixty percent less water. Also, because the spin cycle reaches 1100 rpms, the clothes will be essentially wrung out before being tossed in the dryer, thereby shortening the drying time required (some say by up to 50%). One more "good thing" is that, because there is no middle agitator, the machine is actually easier on the clothes, extending their useful life.

The down side? Big chunk out of the ol' wallet. It cost us $899 for all this green-ness, compared to about $399 for the old styles. So, will I get that $500 back in energy savings? According to energystar.gov, I should save approximately $110 per year in energy costs. So as long as the new machine lasts over 5 years, I'll be ahead of the game.


Savings:

I'm calculating that due to the larger capacity, I'll only have to do five loads per week, compared to seven. Based on the other information given above, that means that in one year I should save 11,440 gallons of water. Add to that the energy saving of roughly 1,100 KwH per year. That's a pretty good savings!


Difficulty Level: 2 out of 5

It wasn't difficult to get the new machine, just inconvenient that the old one broke! Again, it was a bit painful on the wallet, but fortunately, we have an HD card so we did at least get six months with no interest. Of course, HD didn't have any of the machine we wanted in stock, so now I have to wait until Friday for delivery. Not good, since I've already had to resort to the underpants-that-have-lost-their-elastic and Ethan's only got one clean pair of pj's left. :-(

Day Forty-Five - Don't Give Me Any Static

Changing My Fabric Softener

I am a HUGE Downy Fan. I love the April Fresh smell it gives my clothes, the way it softens my towels and keeps my socks from sticking to the walls of the dryer. I really debated making the switch to a "green" softener, especially when I read the benign ingredients list on the bottle: "Contains biodegradable softening agents (cationic)". Awww, biodegradable, how could that be bad?

Well, somehow I managed to find the MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet) on Downy Liquid and found out what some of the agents are... Imagine my surprise when the list contained Ethanol and Hydrochloric Acid. Those don't sound benign to me at all, but then again, I really don't know what they are. So I just checked out Ethanol and Hydrochloric Acid on Wikipedia. Unfortunately, I never took chemistry in high school, so I didn't really get much from reading it.

So now I've been scouring the web for half an hour looking for proof that Downy is polluting our fresh water supply and poisoning our fish, but you know what? I haven't found it yet. HOWEVER, I have found that these biodegradable fabric softening agents will infuse our clothing with additional chemicals that are toxic, flammable and, known to be irritating to skin and lungs. They are also most likely derived from petroleum and may have been tested on animals. So I guess those should be arguments enough to switch.

I chose to go with Seventh Generation's liquid fabric softener, although there are a number of "green" laundry products available. What I really wanted to get was one of those dryer balls that have all the big bumps on them, but Kroger apparently doesn't carry them. But I digress.

My new ingredient list reads: Natural fabric softener base (derived from soy or canola), whole and natural plant essences (a blend of eucalyptus, lavender, peppermint and pine essential oils), preservative (less than 0.05%), Water.

OK, I admit, I don't know what the "preservative" is, but I'm hoping the company isn't trying to BS me into buying something that has harmful chemicals. (yes, I did read Consumer Reports last month, but I liked SG's response so they have been forgiven).

Anyhow, I made the switch to something gentler than I was using before. Again, I'll be keeping any eye open for my dryer balls, which I'm sure will make a nice thump-thump-thump-thump noise in the dryer. Rumor has it they even shorten the amount of time it takes for your clothes to dry by fluffing as you tumble. Until I find them locally, though, I'll be sticking with my all-natural fabric softener.


Savings:

Unsure at this point. At least the kids won't be more flammable than normal. That's good, right?


Difficulty Level 2 out of 5

OK, is it just Kroger or do all the supermarkets hide the "natural cleaning products" over in the tree-hugger, dried granola area of the store? I HATE that! It would be MUCH easier to not only FIND but COMPARE the products if they were with all the other cleaning products! I tell you, I think stores would sell more "natural" items if they shelved them where they should "naturally" be found! GRRRRRR.

Day Twenty-Two - The Lint Trap

Finding a Second Use for Lint

Yeah, that's right. I'm following up yesterday's BIG IMPACT tip with "things you can do with lint". What can I say, sometimes you thinks big, sometimes you thinks small. The important thing is to keep on thinkin'.

I have a trash can in my laundry area that accumulates a surprising large amount of lint. The only reason I notice it is because lint is usually the only item in that trash can. You just don't generate a lot of trash in the laundry room. Anyhow, it's been bugging me because if I could just find a use for that lint, I wouldn't even need a trash can in there. Well I hopped on the ol' information highway today and lo and behold, there are quite a few uses for it! Do a google search and you'll be amazed. And possibly a little wierded out.

Anyhow, the use I've decided to try first is "Lint Makes Good Kindling". Apparently, what you're supposed to do is take an empty toilet paper tube and keep stuffing it with your dryer lint. I guess you can pack quite a bit of lint in there. Once it's 80% full or so, fold over both ends of the tube to keep it in there. **The only caveat being that you want to make sure you're not saving lint that comes off plastick-y items (like waterproof mattress pads) as they might give off nasty fumes.

The next time you need to build a fire, use it, instead of small twigs or paper, for kindling. Supposedly it lights right up, even when it's wet, and will burn long enough to get the fire going. We go camping a lot so I thought this would be a fun one to try. They'll definitely be easy to store and take with us.

There were a lot of other ideas out there for your lint. Put it outside for birds to use in nest building, Use it to stuff dolls, toys, pillows, etc. Use it as a packing material for shipping breakable stuff. Use it to make paper mache or clay. Compost it. Stuff it in an old sock to make a draft stopper (or dog toy). The list literally goes on and on. What can you do with your lint?


Savings:

I average one load of laundry per day. That creates one handful of lint (no idea how to better quantify that). That means I produce 365 handfuls of lint per year. Even compacted, that's still gotta fill a trash bag. So, big pat on the back for saving one more bag of trash. Woo hoo! Every bag counts!


Difficulty Level 1 out of 5

This one's been fun. I look forward to letting you know how it works too. Do you have any kooky uses (or re-uses) of odd household items? If so, post them here so we can all see!

Day Fourteen - Shades of Grey

No More Hot Water Wash Cycles (And no Bleach, either)

Mom always taught me to wash my colored clothes in cold water, but to wash my whites in hot water. Why? I don't know, but that's the way she did it, so that's the way I do it. I guess maybe it was to disinfect the undies (am I really that germy?) or maybe to ensure sparkly-white underthingies. Who knows? All I know is, it's time to find out what would happen if I didn't anymore.

Will I suffer the fate of ending up in an emergency room with dingy underpants? If so, should I consider switching doctors if/when that is their biggest concern there?!?! Who knows? But this daring suburbanite is willing to find out.

Normally, it takes me a week to work up a small load of whites in our house (mainly a couple pair of my undies, some bras and our washcloths) which I then wash in hot water with bleach. Instead, I'll be tossing all those bright whites in with my other garments and washing it all in cold water -- no bleach. It's like a double-bonus. Let's see what that saves....

Savings:

Doing a load of hot cycle washing uses 3.966 kWh, compared to 0.264 kWh for a cold wash cycle. By nixing the weekly "hot whites" load, I can save over 3.7 kWh per week, or 192 KWh a year! That also equates to about $16 annual savings on my electric bill. WOOHOO! I love being Green!

Difficulity Level: 0 out of 5

If I could give this one a negative difficulty level rating, I would. This means the end of sorting laundry into whites / non-whites (which seems so discriminatory anyhow), it means the end of having to buy bleach, it means no more having to switch that little knob (and remembering to switch it back). It just makes life easier. And I think I'll just start phasing the whites out of my wardrobe anyhow. Afterall, I have two messy toddlers and a black dog at home, why on EARTH would I wear white?