A lean, green, not so much cleaning machine

Ive been wanting to write about cleaning and cleaning supplies for awhile now. How to write about this and not make it boring, mundane or preachy? Enter the following email from my good friend Nancy. Nancy and I have been friends since 5th grade, with a 15 year gap that was bridged last year courtesy of facebook. She is still the beautiful and entertaining soul Ive always loved. The following is a conversation she had with her seven year old son, Dayton.


Nancy: Hey, so I know you've noticed that we are all out of paper towels. Well, I'm not going to buy anymore for a while.

Dayton: What should we use then?

Well, ya know how we talk about reduce, reuse, recycle?

Yeah, and we can't reuse paper towels, of course.

Right, so we will use sponges, towels and dish rags, etc... all things we can reuse. And I might even stop buying paper napkins. We'll use cloth napkins that we can wash. By reusing we will also be reducing the amount of garbage we create.

Cool, but it's going to be like a wiggly tooth for a while.

(Pause) What?!

(Audible sigh) Ya know how when you have a wiggly tooth ...you wiggle it a lot?

Ummm, sure.

And then after it comes out, you still try to wiggle it until you get use to it not being there??

Oh! Right. Wait, what does that have to do with paper towels?

Well, for a while I think I will keep going over HERE to get paper towels (walks across room). And when I set the table I will go all the way over HERE to get the napkins (walks to pantry). But what I SHOULD do is go over HERE to get the towels (walks to drawer). Just like a wiggly tooth, see?

(Suppressed laughter) Yep, I guess it really is just like a wiggly tooth, huh?

Yep. And please don't laugh at me when I go the wrong place.

Absolutely. I know it will take some getting used to. I'll probably do it too so don't laugh at me either, k?

(Very serious) Ok. Deal.

It is like a wiggly tooth. It may take getting used to but, I haven't bought paper towels since I moved into the woods. That's two years in April. Its been easy for me, I don't miss the dispose able paper products (except maybe, when a dog has an accident). No paper towels, no paper napkins, no cleaning products. I use vinegar, baking soda or Dr. Bronners natural soaps on everything. I have some orange oil cleaner that was gifted me. For rags i tear up old towels or shirts, just like our mothers did. I have lovely cloth napkins and towels i buy at thrift stores and garage sales. For shampoo we use soap that was bought at the farmers market or made by friends. Works just fine. Actually, come to think of it, it works better than fine. My hair, when washed, has much more body that in did in the old shampoo and conditioner days. I have also been hearing and reading about washing your hair with a baking soday/water combo which i will likely try next. You can read more about it here, at this beautiful blog: http://asonomagarden.wordpress.com/ We have a couple bottles of conditioner left over or gifted, we don't use it much. I'm sure there are plenty of things in the kitchen we can condition our hair with when we run out. The money I save, the amount of trash we are not creating, the less we 'need', the fewer chemicals we are putting in and on our bodies.. It makes it more than worth it. We don't have a vacuum. They have become so disposable, planned obsolescence. We have stone or tile floors throughout. I sweep with a broom I have begun sharing with a neighbor. He just moved in, doesn't have a broom. Rather than go out and buy one we decided to share mine. How nice is that? Truth be told its not like were using it all that much.. What, once a week? Dude, all my neighbors can use my broom. Its a great opportunity to have a conversation or know that one of us is actually cleaning their house. Brooms too have become so disposable. Made of different pieces of plastic, they break. Brooms of old are still around. Brooms from before they figured out how to make them super cheap, with plastic parts, guaranteed to break so that we need to BUY MORE!

And while were on the subject of cleaning. Theres just that, cleaning. I love a clean house. I will on occasion pay a friend to help me clean house. Cause well, as much as i love a clean house its not where i focus. And really, Ive come to realize Ive never lost a friend or potential friend because of the state of my house. Well, not to my knowledge. If someone doesn't want to be friends because things are out of place, toys are scattered and my floor has leaves and dirt well... Yknow were probably not cut out to be the best of friends anyway. And trust me when I tell you my kids are quite content with the comfort of our home. I'm not a neat freak and I no longer feel the need to play one. My house is lived in, we are real. I am loved as I am or I am not. And who i am I am enjoys who I am now. With dirt on my floors, things out of place, games stacked under the coffee table and compost under my nails. I may never make it into an advertisement but damn if I finally freakin figured out how to love myself and my own life! "You look particularly clean today" is something i have heard from more than one friend. That's alright. They have isolated a bacteria in dirt that fights depression.The lone bumper sticker on my car, a gift from a friend, reads "tree hugging dirt worshipper". I'm taking it all the way.

Thank you Nancy for inspiring this post. I love you!