My last post discussed some of the larger changes we made in our cabin to make the homestead more eco-friendly; many of those actions were larger one-time or infrequent changes that have a long lasting impact. This post outlines smaller changes that you can make to reduce your impact on the environment day-to-day.
Everyday Energy Savers:
Matt installed motion detecting lights in the two rooms we were most prone to leave lights on accidentally – the laundry room (we are usually too busy carrying laundry or cleaning goodies to remember) and the closet (we kept leaving the light on in our rush to get out the door in the mornings). We also use programmable thermostats (we have two units, one upstairs and one down) that are synced with our phones to help us remember to bump the A/C up (or the heater down) during the day when the house is empty. This is super helpful because we can adjust the temps remotely when we forget in the mornings (see above regarding rushing out the door).
Cleaning:
I love making a scrub for the tub/tile with baking soda and Castile soap (Peppermint is my favorite) rather than using chemicals to clean. I do not have a specific recipe, but I usually put 1/2 to 3/4 cup baking soda in a cup and mix in the liquid soap until it makes a paste (you can add water to make it easier to spread if you like); then spread all over the tile, scrub with a brush, and rinse. *Try to remember to wear rubber gloves for this because the baking soda can dry out your skin/sting a bit.
For toilet bowl cleaning, I sprinkle in baking soda and then pour in white vinegar so it foams up, then scrub with a toilet brush to clean and freshen.
Our countertops are quartz in both the kitchen and bathrooms, so we heed the recommendation of the installers and mix rubbing alcohol with water in a spray bottle to spritz and wipe down (about a 50-50 mix).
I cut up old t-shirts instead of donating them to use for cleaning rags. These work great for counters, mirrors, dusting, and general clean up. I also sewed some reusable “paper towels” out of an old towel and sheet that we keep in a drawer in the kitchen to use to dry our hands (one side is nubby from the towel and the other smooth from the sheet). Doing this has really cut down on the amount of paper product waste we produce and reuses something that we otherwise would have donated or thrown out. We switched to using cloth napkins to avoid the use of paper towels at mealtimes and, in an attempt to get away from plastic wrap, Matt ordered a set of Bee’s Wrap – it smells so good!
I made wool dryer balls from yarn to replace dryer sheets when doing laundry. You can find the link on how I made them here (thanks Pinterest!). I am not a huge fan of strong scents (or throwing out a million dryer sheets), so I like to squeeze a few drops of lavender essential oil on them before popping in with towels or sheets for a light scent without harmful VOCs.
Garden/Outdoors:
In the garden, we use rainwater that we collect in multiple 55-gallon rain barrels. You can purchase ready made barrels, or make your own by using food grade barrels from Craigslist and adding a spigot and screen covering. We also keep one of these barrels with the chicken coop for the hens’ water supply.
We have also tried to eliminate as many pesticides on our property as possible since we raise honeybees and want to support them and other beneficial insects. We do our very best to prevent harmful chemicals from impacting our pollinator friends (and ourselves). When the veggies are being snacked on by caterpillars, I pick them off by hand to smoosh, and follow up by spraying organic-farming friendly B.t. on them with a pump sprayer to kill any that I may have missed. For ants and other crawling insects, we sprinkle DE (diatomaceous earth) which is safe for use around children, pets, and healthy for the environment, and we love EcoSMART Organic Wasp spray for problematic yellow jackets that like to live right near our doors. We also use mosquito dunks in standing water (hello, rain barrels) and mosquito repelling incense sticks for the patio when we are hanging outside. (To be completely transparent: I will say that I have tried multiple homemade and essential oil options for the horses’ fly spray and cannot seem to find one to offer relief to poor Rio. So, unfortunately, I have had to use a harsher option over the summer with the bugs being bad and him scratching his skin off. 😐 )
It sometimes takes a bit more effort to do things when you are conscientious of how your actions or products you use impact the planet, but in my opinion it is worth it to know we are doing our part to leave the world a bit better.
These are just a few of the ways we have made changes for a more positive impact; do you have any favorite eco-friendly products or green changes that you have implemented to reduce your footprint on Mother Earth? I would love to hear your experiences, recommendations, tips, and tricks!
Visit Part 1 to read up about our switch to solar and other green changes to the cabin!