Those of you who know me, know that I have a cleaning fetish. So cleaning products are important to me. Saving the world is also important to me, but not as important as keeping my apartment clean. Since I’m really old-school, it always seemed to me that chemicals get the job done better than that new-fangled “green” stuff that costs, like, $20 for a bottle of dishwashing liquid. (I mean, really! Talk about money going down the drain). You know, I figure if a product’s fumes don’t sear your nostrils and make your eyes burn, you aren’t really killing all of those nasty little invisible critters that are much tougher than human beings and will survive long after all of us are gone, when the huge asteroid hits the planet and demolishes all life on earth except for the invisible critters and cockroaches. But I digress.
Having said all that, I do realize that anything that sears your nostrils and burns your eyes and kills nasty bug(ger)s on contact is probably not that good for you, or the planet. Dang. The good side of my brain feels I should do things that are good for me, and the planet. The bad side only cares about money and convenience and death to all evil bacteria and cockroaches. So you see, I have this terrible inner conflict going on in my little brain, which can hardly handle deciding what to eat for dinner.
My solution to this unending battle (wow, I guess there’s more than one never-ending conflict that needs resolving) between my ears, is extremely unscientific and pretty much totally irrational. When I feel like it (meaning when I’m in my must-save-the-world-because-it’s-going-to-hell mood and I have a few extra bucks), I buy something labeled “biodegradable” that claims to not damage the environment. There must be more to life.
Lo and behold, recently my friend Laura sent me some really green solutions. These are from The American Lung Association of Washington. The nice thing is, they are cheap (the solutions, not The American Lung Association). And they use ingredients found in any kitchen cabinet. Do they work? To be honest, I’m just starting to test them out. After all, I have to wait for the right mood to strike so I can morph into Ms. Save-the-World. But I will say that baking soda does seem to be somewhat of a miracle substance. Although it won’t kill roaches.
