Looking for Greenie Solutions

It's funny how the greenie movement seems to come in waves. A wave hit when I was in late high school--I remember kids starting up paper recycling programs. I'm sure there were a few before then too, in the 60s and 70s, at least among the hippies. Out of the 80s wave came the corner bins, the bins in schools and offices and malls, etc.

But then it sort of died down, so that someone like myself who was trying to Greenify her life (when I was newly moved out of home) still had to use the old hippie tricks (which are the old Granma tricks, only they weren't tricks back then, they were Crappy Hard Work Cleaning Methods). When you start using the Old Fashioned Methods, you understand why disposable products and chemicals were invented in the first place--OFMs often require more time to prepare, more forethought, and some laundering, which when you don't own a washing machine is a pain. (MORE stuff to drag down the laundry room? Forget it!) That's how the slide happens from doing greenie things, to being naughty--hence the name Practically Moral. I'm practically living the Moral Lifestyle I want, but only practically, because it's not always practical.

So I'm glad that another wave has started, because more and more eco products are becoming mainstream, and there are some new technologies coming out. I was pretty shocked, actually, when the whole Swiffer revolution began. I mean, I could see the appeal, I wanted one too! I have been guilty of coveting those disposable toilet bowl brush heads.

I did give in and start buying Lysol wipes last year, when Haley came into my life, and Nombly began his Reign of Peepee Terror. You can't get cat urine out of a wash cloth without using a special product, so I really do prefer disposables for cleaning up his crimes. And I prefer them for the now-multiplied hair balls as well, though I might be able to talk myself into stopping.

But I find myself using the wipes for general cleaning (Oh! Look at the grime in the doorway! Come here wipes!) so I need to explore alternatives. I discovered the company Method, which makes wipes and containers that are biodegradable, but I only bought them cause they were marked down. Method doesn't test on animals and is all greenie, but of course they cost more. I did buy the dish soap, also on sale, and you don't need to use a lot. I might try the laundry soap if I can find it.

When I was first trying to greenify, in my bachelor days, I read The Tightwad Gazette. (Best advice of all time: Buy always the same brand/color of sock. You don't have to pair them up, and if you throw one out, the others are still usable. I could never do this because Fernando buys all the socks, but it's genius.) And I remember someone used a rag with liquid fabric softener, as a softener sheet in the dryer. This seems like a good concept. (For years I didn't use softener at all--but one day I grew tired of all the cat hair and static on my black work slacks, and I caved.)

So I think I also need to come up with washable Lysol sheets. Not for the pee, but for other quick cleaning jobs. Maybe I could keep the Lysol and Method wipes bottles and reuse them, but I would need thin cloths. Maybe something like cheesecloth? And then just fill the bottle with cleaner. Or maybe microfiber cloths, and then fill the bottle with water? They just have to be skinny enough to pull out of the little mouth-hole, which squeezes out the excess liquid. I know, I know, you mock and say--why not just grab a rag and rinse and squeeze and clean? But the whole point is to find tricks that are super fast, because that's why we love the disposables! I can't live like Granny used to. I'll do it for awhile, and then I'll cave, like I did with the dryer sheets. I need re-usable greenie options, that are also prepped in such a way that I can grab and go.

That's always been my problem with natural cleaning products too. The ones that come prepared are more expensive, I just can't afford them much of the time. But every time I've tried to clean with javel and water and vinegar and soda etc., I can't remember what cleans what, and in what proportions to mix them, and where is my book with the info, and what page is it on, grrr grrrr, where the hell is my Dutch cleanser! The end. And it happens with a lot of other tightwad tips--they just become a pain to maintain, and I give up.

I'm not going to pursue that cleaning products line again this year, my last year of school. I'll stick with my Hertel spray (biodegradable) and my Vim spray, which clean everything.