Magic Butter

I made a discovery this week. It might not be one for you, but I thought I'd share it just in case.

No matter how much I try to control the kids at my brother's house, mishaps sometimes occur. The boys used a swivel chair, covered with shirts (his house is not quite as organized as mine), to get a view of the Eiffel Tower from a skylight window... Unfortunately, while taking the glimpse, a shirt sleeve got caught in the swivel mechanism and streaked it with black grease.

Stricken by guilt, I decided to repair the problem before my brother came home from work. I googled for a solution and found out that butter, of all things ;) would remove the stain magically. Not having anything to lose, I gave it a try.

I rubbed some butter into the streaks, and let it sit a few minutes. I then used some dish soap that I found next to the kitchen sink, water, elbow juice and another part of the shirt to rub the stain off. The results were amazing. After a quick rinse, the shirt looked like new.

I later shared my discovery with Scott. Unsurprised, he replied that when living in Santa Barbara, he would remove beach tar from his feet with baby oil.

"Oil removes oil" he said with assurance.

I had no idea that the phrase would come in so handy a day later...

Saturday evening, the day before my departure for the South of France (where my mom lives), my brother had his sitter of six years come over to watch our four kids, so we could go out for a nice dinner between adults. After giving her instructions to care and feed the kids, we took off. We were enjoying our meal tremendously when my sister-in-law checked her phone and found out with horror that she had 18 new voicemails. Somehow we had not heard it ring, and while we thought our kids were tightly tucked into their beds, the nanny had set the brand new kitchen on fire!

We rushed home to find the kids safe at the neighbor's, but my brother's kitchen looked like a war zone. The sitter had mistakenly turned on the oven, in which my brother stored a fryer (full of cooking oil). When the fryer caught on fire, she grabbed their fish bowl and threw it on the stove, water, pebbles and all (including the poor goldfish). Needless to say, it made things worse. When the firemen arrived, they extinguished the fire, but in the process, also tracked soot, burned oil, and pebbles all over the house and the new hardwood floors.

While my brother drove the sitter back home, I set out to clean the mess, which extended to the upper floors. I first tried a mixture of water and castile soap equivalent, but in vain. The black stuff was too thick and there was too much of it. It is only after 30 minutes of desperate scrubbing, and a call to my brother to recommend the hiring of a restoration expert, that I remembered Scott's words: "Oil removes oil". So I tiptoed into the sticky kitchen, grabbed the first cooking oil and sponge that I could reach and voila! Eight hours later, floors and white kitchen cabinets looked as new as before and the damages not as dramatic.

Considering that the kids and sitter were safe, and that only four cabinet doors and a stove need replacing, we were all lucky. And thanks to the simplicity and handiness of the oil cleaning remedy, my brother and sister-in-law were able to keep their sanity and stay upbeat in dealing with the aftermath of the ordeal. (I forgot to count how many times they said: "This oil trick is amazing! The damages are not that bad after-all.")

Interestingly enough, this fire was not the only one that we survived this summer, but since this is a blog and not a book, you'll have to wait to hear about the other story when the time comes ;).

Do you have a simple and magic pantry revelation to make?

Cleanliness Standards Revised

"U.S. consumers spend nearly $1 billion a year on antibacterial products that aren't necessary" according to Mother Nature Network.

In our increasingly germa-phobic society (where people go around carrying Purell on their key chains), we are pounded by advertisement for disposable products promising a cleaner, thus healthier life: Tissues, bottled water, antibacterial wipes and the latest… Kleenex's Disposable Hand Towel (!?).

For such products to make it on the market in 2010, proving that some manufacturers are either clueless about their role/impact on the environment or simply ignoring it for the sake of their wallets, is one thing, but perpetually preying on our primal fear of getting sick and misleading us with bogus information is another (one of the reasons why I do not miss TV).

"Regular washing of bathroom hand towels does not ensure clean hands." Kleenex says...

With absurd quotes like this one, coming from (or shall I say, sponsored by) an industry leader, no wonder why our society has trouble letting go of the disposables... we have come to believe that a higher standard of cleanliness would make us healthier.
The cleaner, the better...
But have we reached the point where we're too clean for our own good?

It is apparent that since disposability has hit the market and entered our homes, our standards of cleanliness have gone extreme. Sadly, living up to these made up standards and fitting "socially acceptable cleanliness" are costing us our health (killing the good germs) and that of our planet (depletion of resources through production and pollution through disposal).

Finding the right balance between squeaky clean and hygienic seems to be in order.

We have been steered away from reusable products, and led to think that these were somehow gross, so here are 10 standards, revised for TheZeroWasteHome:

It's OK to:

1. Actually, it's not just OK, it's a must...: Switch from your antibacterial products to natural soap (Don't breed the "superbug").
2. Wear clothes more than once: I admit, it took me a few months to get used to it. Your clothes should not make you self conscious if they have stains or smell, so use your sense of smell to guide you if you're stain free.
3. Wash your hair every other day: a little cornstarch can serve as a dry shampoo (sprinkle on your hair, massage in, and brush out) between washes.
4. Let it mellow, if it's yellow: I confess, I do not let it mellow and flush when I have people coming over.
5. Blow your nose in a handkerchief: tissues are only a recent invention, people lived without them before us. And remember, a hankie being a personal item it is used only for you, so they're your own germs.
6. Use the Diva Cup: Get over your skepticism and fear of the cup; if you can insert a tampon, you can insert the cup.
7. Hold off on your weekly sheet washing: If you went to college, you know your immune system survived less frequent washes. In Europe, people air out their sheets between washes. The word "sanitizing" is actually synonym of "airing out", in french crosswords.
8. Use and reuse a cloth napkin between washes: We use napkin rings to tell ours apart: so simple and yet, it helps us go longer between washes (once a week).
9. Clean your house with vinegar, castille soap, baking soda and reusable cloths (instead of Comet, 409, Windex, Dawn, Scrubbing Bubbles, Tilex, Lysol, bleach, etc...): Seriously, that's all you need to keep your house clean.
10. Accept a stain on the kitchen towel that you just washed: Stop fighting stains on items that are meant to be stained. Kitchen towels don't have to be spotless.

I have to say that I used to be obsessed with the whiteness of my kitchen towels, worried that my cleanliness would be judged by their spotlessness. I then realized that the impact of repeat washes and bleach, were not worth it, and that my time would be better spent elsewhere.

By lowering our modern squeaky clean standards, we can refocus on what matters most... spending time with our loved ones, cooking healthy food, or lending a hand to save the Earth.

Note to Kleenex: In a house where none of your disposable hand towels are to be found, we've amazingly survived yet another winter, free of colds...

Zero Waste Recipes

These are recipes of items that I have not been able to find in bulk or as a refill, items that our household “can’t live without”. We have tried and tested many recipes but these are the ones that have made the cut because they tasted good and worked best for us (which is why I won’t give the instructions on how to wash your hair with baking soda, or make cheese from kefir). Most importantly my recipes only require very few ingredients (all available in bulk, except for the yogurt starter) and are easy/quick to make. Every home is different: you might not find the toothpowder to your liking, and can find more options (with more ingredients) online. Experiment, have fun and make quantities that last!


Bathroom

Tooth powder:
2 tb baking soda
1/8 ts white stevia powder
In a parmesan shaker
(for my shaker pictured, it takes 16tb baking soda, 1 ts stevia)

Hair Spray:
2-4 lemons sliced
Cover with water
Simmer for 30 min
Strain
Pour in spray bottle
Add 1tb rhum or vodka

Vitamin E balm:
1 tb beeswax
4 tb vitamin E (a friend gave me some but you can find sesame oil in bulk. It has a high concentration of vitamin E, and does not carry the strong smell)
Pour in small tin (got mine from Container Store)
Let cool
I use this balm on under eye, lips, hair tips, and home applications that call for Vaseline, like greasing up our attic ladder...

Lip/Cheeks Stain:
Cook beets, as you normally would, in a bit of water (eat the beets)
Reduce the left over juice until it thickens
Add a splash of vodka
Pour into a glass roll-on


Laundry/Cleaning

Ironing Starch:
1 pint water
1 tb cornstarch
In a spray bottle

Drain Cleaner:
¼ c. baking soda in your drain
Followed by ½ c. white vinegar

Multi Purpose Cleaner:
1 ½ ts. castile soap (optional, for scent)
3 ts. white vinegar
4 c. water
In a spray bottle.


Kitchen
Mustard:
Soak ¾ c. yellow mustard seeds in ¾ c. white vinegar + ½ c. white wine, in a canning jar
Blend (immersion blender) with salt and 2 ts honey
Add water to reach your preferred consistency

Vanilla Extract:
Combine 2 vanilla beans chopped, ½ c. brandy, ¼ water
Steep for 3 days
Strain
Pour in glass bottle

Hot Sauce:
Blend ½ c. chiles (serrano or jalapeno), 2/3 c. vinegar, 1 ¾ ts salt
Steep for 3 days
Strain
Pour in glass bottle

Soymilk:
Soak 2 c. soy beans overnight
Drain
Blend (immersion blender) with 12 c. water
Strain and squeeze in handkerchief into a large pot
Add sugar and vanilla to taste
Bring to a boil
Boil for 10min
Let cool
Pour in a glass (Straus Creamery) milk bottle
Lasts a week

I was making soy milk for my older son only, who does not like the taste of regular milk, but as I noticed his use decreasing over the last few months, he finally told me that he had had enough of it and did not want it anymore... He added that it would save me time... what a sweet mama's boy.

Yogurt (you need a thermometer):
Heat oven to 100-150, turn light on
Heat 4 c. milk on the stove to 185F
Pour milk in a French or mason canning jar
Cool milk to 110F
Add yogurt starter or ¼ c. yogurt that you already have
Put in oven, turn oven off, keep light on (to keep temp at 110F)
(to save energy, you can also drop the jar in a 110F water bath in a closed pressure cooker)
Wait 4-6 hrs
Refrigerate

(You can also make cheese from your yogurt, by hanging it in a handkerchief and letting it drain... it's a lot of milk for a tiny bit of soft cheese though, not economical when you use Straus Creamery milk)

I am not making yogurt on a regular basis anymore either, I can't seem to get past the starter's packaging and am hanging onto my last packet. I hope to find yogurt starter in bulk soon!

On my way to make more hot sauce! (my bottle looks pretty low on the picture...)

Zero Waste Cleaning and Laundry

An alternative guide to your cleaning disposables

- House cleaning agents:
castile soap (bulk), a magic gentle natural soap, that can be used on floors, kitchen sink, dishes, hands, dog, body, hair…
homemade all purpose cleaner (see recipes) for the weekly house cleaningbaking soda in a Parmesan shaker (1.99 unpackaged at cost plus) for scrubbing jobs
hydrogen peroxide for mildew (use sparingly since it’s not available in bulk)

- House cleaning tools:
metal scrubby, it works wonders on stainless if used in the direction of the grain

loofah, natural brush, or a homemade scrubby knitted out of sisal twine for light scrubbing (loofah is a veggie, and you can grow your own!)
feather duster for speed dusting
old toothbrush for hard to reach places
microfiber cloths for every thing else (counters, floor, fridge, mirrors, etc…)

- Floors: Sweep with a natural boar bristle broom and wash with a wet microfiber mop and a few drops of castile soap. Compost your dust bunnies! We sold our vacuum cleaner: For the better, it saves on energy costs and storage space and we do not miss buying accessories or repair pieces.

- Windows: Microfiber cloths are great, just add water… no window cleaner needed

- Un-washable messes: Use un-donatable clothing items made into rags to clean up wax/auto grease/glue/caulk (use sparingly since they end up in the landfill!)

- Dishwasher: 2 options for the detergent (liquid in bulk from Rainbow or powder in a recyclable cardboard box such as Seventh Generation) and white vinegar as a rinsing aid

- Air: Let plants absorb toxins and clean your air. I do not like to have objects sitting on the floor since they make floor cleaning more painful, but I have found a vertical wall planter that is ideal (picture above).

- Laundry: Wash once a week only (to save time and dryer energy costs) with eco-friendly detergent (the one that has worked best for us is powder from a recyclable cardboard box such as Seventh Generation), using cold water cycles as much as possible. Savon-de-Marseille, dishwasher detergent, lemon or hydrogen peroxide work great on stains.

- Drying: Dry on a line when possible. If you use a dryer, compost the dryer lint and forgo dryer sheets (you should not be wearing synthetic static clothes anyways). I personally have not found the heavily packaged, but reusable, dryer balls to be very effective.

-Ironing: Iron very few things only (for us it's men’s dress shirts, dinner napkins and handkerchiefs), use a homemade starch in a stainless spray bottle (see recipes).

-Dry Cleaning/shirt laundering: Find a dry cleaner that has joined the sustainable world (Clean Look in Mill Valley for example). One that offers a reusable garment bag or nothing instead of plastic. And please do not settle for compostable bags, they are a real greenwashing ersatz.

Ready, Set, Clean Green!