Sharing 10 Helpful tips for a Cleaner, Greener Home

I have to tell you that I am really good about some of the things I am going to write about and frankly I need to get on the ball and get better about others.  I truly wish I could write a post about a cleaner and greener home while looking around the {perfect} clean and green home but as I sit here and type I with {head hung low} will confess that I have dog hair in my living room that needs to be vacuumed.  I wish it was because I was some brilliant artisan that was collecting the fur for some cool and unique sweater but alas...I am not...I simply have not swept today because I had some impromptu errands to run and I decided to overlook the small sweater on my floor in order to write this post. So what are 10 things that I do to keep a cleaner and greener home..Here is my list:

1. I use freecycle.  I have many items in my home that I have paid nothing for.  I have answered an email and stated I would be interested in picking up the item and then I received it for free.  Freecycle groups are intended to keep things out of landfills.  I have benefitted from freecyclers and in turn have given a great deal away on freecycle.  We rarely throw out anything anymore that is not completely broken.  We post the item on freecycle and usually within hours I have made arrangements to have someone pick the items up.  The last items I placed on freecycle was some artwork that we realized would be sitting in a closet for years for we had no place to put it so why not let someone else enjoy it?! This weekend I am picking up some plant trimmings from a local freecycler to plant in my backyard.
2. I have a child that has had a liver transplant which has left her with an immune system that is suppressed so she can get sicker quicker then most.  I like to wipe everything down and I have to confess that I do use bleach and water periodically....but in between my bleach and water I will use vinegar to clean.  It is a great cleaner and non-toxic...I told you I wasn't perfect...I would love to have all natural cleaners all of the time but I am just being real.
3. I do use table linens everyday and not paper napkins.  For me this is two fold...it is cheaper in the long run and it saves trees.  
4. I have a laundry basket filled with rags in the garage.  The rags are old tshirts that I have stained or {gasp} no longer fit into... I use the rags instead of paper towels for the same reasons I use table linens..it is cheaper (I have already paid for the shirts and they are of no use to me any longer so they are essentially free for the purpose of rags) and it saves trees....again, I am not perfect and if you look in my pantry I do have some Viva Paper towels I purchased on sale at Publix two weeks ago.
5. I wash my clothes in cold water.  I started to do this after my daughter was potty trained and I no longer felt the need for the Hot water...Frankly, at times I felt the need for a blowtorch but I digress .. Cold water is just as good and it is better for the environment.
6. I don't reuse my ziploc bags....my mom still yells at me for this (she washes and dries them) BUT on the other hand I don't use them often either.  I use sandwich bags that are reusable, Re-Usies are great! I also use containers to pack my husband's lunches so I wash those out nightly.
7. I do use my dishwasher daily...I know I should hand wash but the whole "immune suppressed" kid thing keeps me hesitant about this but I do make sure the dishwasher is completely full when I run it.
8. I try to do the majority of my wash (clothes and dishes) in the evening.  I had a man from the electric company come to the house to show me how I can save energy and this was a tip he gave me.
9. That leads me to contacting your local electric company and asking them to come out and assess your home and see how you can cut your energy waste down and with this your energy bill! Who doesn't need help with this?!
10. Last but certainly not least... I recycle...I print coupons out on the backside of old letterhead.  I take the bottom half of the coupon that carries an ad a lot of times and place it in my daughter's coloring drawer so she can color on the back half.

I am sure there is so much more I can do and hope to continue to improve in this aspect of my life.  If you have any suggestions please feel free to share...I love to hear from you!  Now, I have to get back to task of making my home a bit cleaner...I have dog hair to clean up....

Disclosure: I wrote this blog post while participating in the TwitterMoms and Mrs. Meyer’s blogging program, making me eligible to get a $30 gift card. For more information on how you can participate, click here.