Here at Tree Hugging Family, I mainly advocate making your own homemade green cleaners. Not only is it easy to make simple green cleaners, but very cost effective. That said, there will always be folks who want to buy, not make cleaners, so I figured we should take a look at which store bought cleaners are actually green.
The number one rule for choosing a green store bought cleaner is – read your labels. A pretty waterfall or little green leaf means nothing. Ignore fancy ‘green’ packaging and read your labels.
Terms you want to see on a cleaning bottle include:

Ammonia …read more

This product seems to:

The SamePaperPlayAgain recycling bin from the folks at FeelAddicted adds some kick to the recycling experience. Literally.

Use it at home or the office to spice things up. I suggest a contest, maybe with office supply prizes. At home I bet the kids would love this too.
Visit FeelAddicted to learn more.
[images via FeelAddicted]

Product tried: Biokleen Automatic Dish Powder
Test washes completed: At least eight or ten; we’ve been using it a few weeks.
Cost: About $9-10.00 at my local grocery store, for 32 oz., which is 64 loads, but I’m betting it comes out to more loads then that. Also, I found it at Drugstore.com for a great deal, just $6.59. That’s an outstanding price considering the amount you get.
Website: Again, remember that before I mentioned how Biokleen has a lame website. I still dislike their website. Here’s what I said before (and it still stands).
I’m very disappointed in the Biokleen website.
First off, their …read more

So, it’s been awhile since we did one of these round-ups. We’re due. Here’s the green we’ve been writing elsewhere that may interest Tree Hugging Family Readers.
Building, buying, or remodeling your own green home:

The best green real estate site!
Reclaimed & Salvaged Home Building Material Use
What Makes A Building Material A Green Choice?
Home Wind-Power Turbines Going Mainstream
35 Ideas for Building A Greener House
Will $100,000 Build A Good Green Home?
Green Building – How Much Would You Guess Is Going On?
Green Homes for Less Money

Home & Living:

4 Green DIY Alternative Energy Home Projects
How to Flush Your Toilet …read more

Mummies and our current trash situation are a lot alike. If you’re working on teaching your younger kids about biodegradability, then the mummy slant works nicely.
Biodegrade: at the most basic means to rot (decompose), and vanish, leaving no trace. Trash, like mummies is tough stuff, hard to rot, hard to make vanish completely.
We know that Egyptians buried their leaders and in some cases family members in mummy fashion. We also know that we bury our trash in landfills.
The mummies were buried in places devoid of air, sunlight, and water. So is our trash. Not the trash on top of the …read more

Product: Biokleen All Temperature Laundry Liquid from Biokleen
Cost: Around $9 for 64 oz which equals 64 plus regular loads or 128 HE (high efficiency) loads.
Basics according to the Biokleen:

“Our Laundry liquid removes the toughest dirt, grease, stains and odors, yet is gentle enough for cloth diapers, delicate fabrics and hand washables. Rinses clean without leaving residue on clothes that can irritate skin or ruin fabrics.
Naturally controls stains and odors.
Makes a great pre-treat for stains.
All of the Biokleen liquid and powder laundry products perform well in many different water conditions, including hard water.”

Website:
I’m very disappointed in the Biokleen …read more

Many of us are welcoming spring today, so I thought it would be nice to go over some nature loving, tree hugging, eco-friendly ideas that will carry the entire family through the better part of spring and into summer.
1. Quit looking at nature through your frosty windows. It’s warming up, so get out there and enjoy nature in real time, in real life, in full blown color.
2. Throw open your windows wide and let in the fresh air. Natural ventilation is actually a really effective green home goal to aim for. Proper cross ventilation naturally helps to remove any indoor …read more

Starting today, choose five small products that make no sense from the earth’s perspective, and boycott. Forget they ever happened. Choose any five you like, but I’ll give you some ideas to start with.

Single serving cereal boxes – you know those ones your kids want. Just say no, but of course explain why.
Small hotel shampoo and conditioner. Can we say extreme plastic overuse. I can, “Extreme plastic overuse.”
Traditional cleaning wipes. Most are full of gross toxic stuff, plus, they add up. That’s a ton of garbage if even 50% of this country alone uses them on a daily basis. I …read more

Etsy is cool. It’s easy to get addicted to their handmade goods. Some of their green goods are questionable; such as recycled sweater coffee cup sleeves (um, why use paper cups anyway), but many of the items you’ll find are very cool.  Like…
Green Handkerchief:  Nice for a reusable handkerchief. 100% cotton and vintage to boot. Adorable design and so much less waste than using paper based tissues.

This is one reusable item I’m a little concerned with, mainly because I always wonder about the overall germ issues – and believe me, I’m not germ-a-phobic or anything. But when you’re sick you …read more

Why terribly prejudiced? Well, I was looking around for some nice links to share and noticed that all the ones I like come from place that do make it appear that I’m prejudiced. Seriously, I’m not, I just happened to like these links this week.
On with it…
Burt’s Bees and Clorox from co-blogger Peggy’s other green blog. I know; it looks suspicious. But really this was a cool post and something I hadn’t heard of yet.
18 Uses for Old Towels from Deb at Simply Thrifty: Most people who know me, (the online me) know I’m friends with Deb. Still, how could …read more