First of all- what is green cleaning? As I see it, green cleaning means using products that are not harmful to your health, the public’s health, and the environment. It means using simple, natural, clean products that work. It means using products that you can feel confident about.

I know some people are hesitant about green cleaning- it’s a big undertaking. It doesn’t have to mean making all your own products, but it does mean considering the ingredients, the manufacturing, the packaging, and the long term environmental effects of the products you use. But trust me- it is simpler than it sounds!

If you’ve clicked this link, I’m assuming that you’re at least a little interested in green cleaning. There are plenty of benefits of green cleaning- more than I can list right now! I can tell you that I haven’t regretted making the switch to green cleaning one bit. It has been so great for me and my family. I definitely love it! So, here are what I think are the top 3 reasons you should be green cleaning:

1. Your health

I can’t be the only one who has felt terrible when using conventional cleaning products. I used to have to take breaks and sit down when scrubbing my shower because the fumes from the products would make me dizzy and give me a headache. You (or your family) shouldn’t ever feel worse because you want a clean home. There’s something very wrong with that picture.

The not-so-great ingredients in conventional cleaning products can range from mild skin irritants, to endocrine disruptors, all the way to full blown carcinogens. You shouldn’t have to wonder whether a cleaning product is going to give you cancer!

Green cleaning means using only products that will not negatively affect your health. In fact, some of them would even be safe to eat (although I wouldn’t recommend it!). Healthy ingredients and healthy products can make you feel confident about what you have in your home.

2. The environment

There are so many different ways that conventional cleaning products can harm the environment- from the manufacturing process, to the way they are packaged, the way they are transported, their ingredients, and how they accumulate in the environment after you use them.

When it comes down to it, you want to be confident about what you are sending down your drain and out into the world. You’re heard the horror stories- especially about aquatic life. Some cleaning products we use can really do a lot of harm to the environment. Simple alternatives are almost always better.

When it comes down to it- all the benefits of green cleaning are connected. If you’re putting less harmful things in your trash and your water, your health will benefit. After all, there’s just about nothing else as important as clean water. Humans, plants, and animals can’t survive without it.

Green cleaning means using products and supplies that are not doing to damage the environment.

3. Saving money

Green also represents money- and that’s no accident. Becoming a green cleaning home can save you real money. Almost all of my green cleaning recipes cost significantly less than their conventional counterparts, like my awesome dishwasher detergent tabs that only cost 9 cents a load!

Cleaning supplies can be costly! They can really eat up a good portion of your household budget if you aren’t careful. And companies that sell cleaning supplies are probably telling you that what you have isn’t enough or that your home wont be clean if you don’t use commercial cleaners. Honestly, it just all adds up.

What if I told you that you can clean pretty much your entire home with some dish soap, baking soda, and vinegar. Sure, I use more than that to make more effective cleaners- but simple is great. And so much less expensive! A little hot water and dish soap go a long way- for your wallet!

Green cleaning does NOT mean breaking the bank to keep your home tidy!

So- are you ready to make the switch?

Then download my free guide- the 5 Step Switch to Green Cleaning! Just click below to sign up and download!

some of my favorite green cleaning supplies

The post Why should you start green cleaning? appeared first on Pins and Procrastination.

The average American household goes through 150 toilet paper rolls a year. That may not sound like a lot to you, but there are 125 million households in America. That makes the total number of toilet paper rolls used annually in the US more than 17 BILLION. Stop and let that sink in.

I’m always looking to reduce my footprint and make our home a little greener. So naturally, when I heard about Scott Tube-Free toilet paper, I was instantly intrigued. No toilet paper tubes to toss or recycle? It sounded good to me.

And it is good; in fact it’s even better than I expected. I am still thinking to myself- how has NO ONE ever thought of this before? It’s the best thing since tubed toilet paper (and sliced bread too).

You can see in these photos that the Scott Tube-Free toilet paper rolls are exactly the same as any standard rolls with tubes. In fact, once they’re on your toilet paper holder, you can’t even tell the difference. We’ve been using ours for over a week with many a guest coming by and no one has noticed at all.

In fact, I made this handy little GIF so you can see how they function exactly the same as tubed toilet paper.

They’re easy to take on and off the toilet paper holder, and they roll smoothly. Better yet, the toilet paper is still soft and cushiony. We can make our lives greener without changing our lifestyle, and this product proves it!

My regular readers will know that I don’t do many product reviews, so when I do, I TRULY endorse the product. I love Scott Tube-Free and I’m definitely switching our household over. That’s 150 less toilet paper rolls a year… and the more people who use it, the less that ends up in the landfill!

Small steps can have a big impact on the environment. If even 1% of Americans started using Tube-Free toilet paper, it would save over 170 million tubes a year.

I love being able to reduce waste without sacrificing quality or convenience. Every time I use our new toilet paper, I wonder to myself how NO ONE has ever made the product before. It’s brilliant!

Toilet paper has had cardboard tubes for over 100 years. The tubes are completely unnecessary! It’s one of those things you don’t think about because you are used to it- but once the tubes are gone, you’ll wonder why we ever had them.

After hearing how many toilet paper rolls Americans go through, I started thinking about how much space they all take up. In two minutes, Americans go through 66,000 toilet paper rolls. If you watch this video, you can see just how BIG a pile of 66,000 toilet paper rolls is (with a little comedic relief thrown in).

And that’s only two minutes worth. Imagine a pile of 17 billion cardboard tubes! Think of the difference it would make if we all tossed the tube.

If you’re ready to go tube free, you can pick up a Scott Tube-Free coupon here! You wont regret making the switch.

The post Toss the Tube: Tube Free Toilet Paper appeared first on Pins and Procrastination.

One of the highlights of living with Lars (among the many, many great things) is that I get to decorate for and celebrate Christmas! Though I always get together for Christmas with my Dad’s family, it is more about family coming together than the holiday. And I love any kind of themes and decorations, and Christmas is a great opportunity for both those things.

Hannukkah is great and all, but the pins and opportunities for decoration are more plentiful for Christmas. So since we are hosting Lars’s family next week for an early Christmas celebration, we had to get a tree together!

I know for many families an actual Christmas tree is nostalgic. Either real or fake, it carries a lot of memories. For me personally, if I’m going to have a tree, it’s going to be in the most environmentally friendly way.

Last year I did a lot of research and decided that a potted plant that we could decorate year after year was the greenest option. Well, unfortunately for Lars and me, the plant we got was infested with fruit flies and no matter what we tried, we couldn’t get rid of them. I don’t have the best green thumb. So the potted plant wasn’t a great option for us.

So this year I wanted to try something new. Enter, the $10 upcycled tree!

What you’ll need for this project:

• A tomato cage (the taller the better- we got ours at Lowe’s for $4)
• Green fabric (ideally used- we bought a used tablecloth at goodwill for $6)
• Masking tape
• Needle and thread
• Adhesive backed velcro
• Scissors

Step One. Tape top of tomato cage

The first thing you’ll want to do after turning your tomato cage over is to tape the tip together so it comes to a point. Easy peasy. Masking tape works great.

Step Two. Drape fabric and trim

Using some more masking tape to keep the fabric from falling, drape it over the tomato cage. Trim off any extra fabric from the bottom.

Step Three. Sew top closed

Using a needle and thread, I hand sewed the tip of the tree so that it would rest on the tomato cage. I only sewed about 4 inches. I’m a terrible sewer, so if I can do it, you can. It doesn’t have to look neat because it will be covered in lights and a tree topper!

Step Four. Add velcro

To keep the fabric laying correctly, I also added a few pieces of velcro. Now the fabric cover is removable and rests wonderfully on the tomato cage.

Step Five. Decorate!

This is the most important step! It’s not a Christmas tree without lights and ornaments!

The tallest tomato cage we could find was 54 inches, which was just fine for us. I don’t need a tall tree. But if you want a tall tree you could stack the tomato cage on a box or stack a few tomato cages on each other.

Bonus points if you recycle wrapping paper too! It’s cheaper and greener. We use the circulars they leave outside our apartment all the time. They just get tossed otherwise.

I love our sweet little upcycled tree! If you make one too, send me a picture and I’ll feature it on the blog!

The post DIY Green Christmas Tree: Upcycled, eco-friendly, and only $10 appeared first on Pins and Procrastination.

These 10 ways to make your kitchen greener are all easy to implement and don’t make you change your lifestyle in any inconvenient way. Anyone can do them, really. There’s nothing holding you back- so go ahead and make a few small changes to help your health and the environment.

1. Limit paper products

We all know it- waste isn’t good for the environment. And paper comes from trees that could have been providing oxygen and higher air quality. So do your bets to limit what paper products you use. This includes napkins, paper towels, and even coffee filters. If it’s paper you should try to get rid of it.

Luckily, this doesn’t mean never using napkins, towels, or coffee filters again. It just means finding a non-paper replacement. And the replacements are pretty awesome.

Cloth napkins are a no-brainer, especially if they are machine washable. Reuseable coffee filters are pretty easy to find too. And you can find the most adorable replacement for paper towels. I mean- they’re called unpaper towels. Super cute.

So get creative and replace any paper products in your kitchen.

2. Use biodegradable trash bags

Landfills are bad enough on their own- but even worse when the trash is in plastic trash bags that will take more than one lifetime to break down. It’s so easy to switch to biodegradable trash bags. Like super easy. Do your trash a little favor and help it break down!

3. No more plastic grocery bags

We all know that you are supposed to use reusable grocery bags instead of the plastic bags at the store. Some towns are even implementing bans on plastic bags in stores- they are so terrible for the environment. And the reusable bags are even more effective than any of the plastic bags you get.

So be serious about your reusable bags. Keep a set in your car. Keep a set by the door. Keep one bag in your purse so you never leave the house without it. Make the commitment.

And the checkout bags are not the only culprits- get some reusable produce bags too. We use ours every time we go to the grocery store, and I love them so much.

4. Compost

Even if you aren’t a gardener- you can find a way to make your compost productive. Lots of organizations accept compost donations or you can find a local compost pile to contribute to.

Definitely get a compost bin to add all your compostable scraps- you will feel better, you will create less trash bags, and you will be helping some more food grow somewhere!

5. Replace plastic where you can

Plastic itself, whether or not it is filling a landfill, is just bad for the environment. And human health. We are so used to plastic that we don’t think of it as such an unnatural thing- but it really is. The chemicals in plastic are absorbed by the human body and into groundwater. Not such good things.

Probably the most plastic you have in your kitchen is in the form of tupperware. The easiest thing to  do is replace it with glass tupperware. This doesn’t have to be an all-at-once thing, but if you do it over time it will make a difference. And don’t get rid of your plastic by throwing it away- donate it so it gets reused!

And even things you didn’t realize you can get in a reusable form- you can! Reuseable straws. How adorable.

6. Reuse it

Anything you can reuse- do reuse! Empty jar of applesauce? Keep the jar and use it as a new piece of tupperware. Cans can make a great addition to craft and organization projects. A spice jar can become a baking soda sprinkler for household cleaning. This one is kind of a no-brainer.

So before you go to throw something out- look at it for a minute and think of how you could use it.

7. Stay organized

One of the worst problems with first-world humans, especially Americans, is how much food we waste. And this can happen especially when you aren’t organized. I myself am super guilty of this.

Didn’t eat those leftovers because you couldn’t see them in the fridge? Time to reorganize. One of the things that Lars and I have done is get rid of the drawer in our fridge and use clear fridge bins. That way we can see what we have. The drawer was really just blocking our view.

I’ve seen lots of great fridge organization solutions on pinterest- some people even use a lazy susan in the fridge so they can turn and see everything they have! So get creative with it and use a system that works for you.

8. Goodbye pre-made K-cups

Keurigs are so convenient- there’s no denying it. We have one. But Keurig waste is just building up and up. In fact, the trash from the Keurig’s just in 2013 would circle the earth 11 times. Sound like a lot to you?

So you don’t have to stop using the Keurig, but you definitely should switch to reusable K-cups. You don’t want to be a portion of the K-cups circling the earth.

9. Make your own cleaning products

One of the worst offenders in your kitchen is your cleaning products. You can buy green cleaning products- but they usually come with a huge markup and it’s hard to know whether they really are “green.” It is way cheaper, healthier, and easier to make your own.

If you need some help with this, check out my guide “Five Steps to Switch to Green Cleaning.”

With a little baking soda, vinegar, and lemon juice, you can clean your whole kitchen. Trust me.

10. Reusable lunch bags

I used about a million of those brown paper bags in my school lunch days. And I never once recycled one. That all could have been stopped by using a reusable lunch bag. I have one now that is my absolute favorite thing. My neoprene lunch bag can fit weird shapes of food and it is even machine washable. I couldn’t recommend one more.

So any time you are bringing a meal out of the house- just grab an awesome lunch bag!

You will feel so much better if you implement even a few of these changes. Trust me. Get to greening your home and you won’t even know why you hadn’t done it before!

The post 10 Ways to Green Your Kitchen (Without Changing What you Eat) appeared first on Pins and Procrastination.