So, I started looking for alternatives. After a lot of research, I decided to buy a hard floor steam cleaner. It works great and they are really green.

Here are just a few reasons why you may want to consider making the switch from whatever you happen to be using now to a hard floor steam cleaner.

1. It’s a one-time cost. Not only does that eventually save you you money, it’s also a green thing to do. You are creating more waste every time that you have to purchase new chemicals for your floor or a new mop head. Most hard floor steam cleaners come with microfiber cleaning cloths which can be washed and used again.

2. No Chemicals Needed! This was the biggest draw for me. Most of the chemicals that we bring in to our homes aren’t things that we really want to be breathing in. They also cost money and create waste in the form of the plastic bottles that they are packaged in.

3. They work really well. The first time I used my new hard floor steam cleaner, I realized that the microfiber pad was really dirty when I was done. That seemed a little odd to me since I had mopped just the day before! What that tells me is that my mop was leaving a lot of dirt behind.

4. They are very easy to use. My 13-year old daughter who despised mopping her floor with a regular mop actually enjoys using the floor steam cleaner. If you met my daughter (or saw her room), you’d know that’s saying a lot!

There are a number of great hard floor steam cleaners on the market and which one that you’ll want depends on how much tile or wood you have in your home and how often you clean it.

For most homes that have tile in the kitchen and bathrooms, a simple model like this one made by Bissell work great.

Bissell Hard Floor Steam Cleaner

I use the Bissell and I’m extremely pleased with it, even though I have a lot of hard floors in my home. However, some people with a lot of tile or hard wood or tile may want to invest in a larger residential or even a commercial steam cleaner. It really depends on how much you’d like to spend and how often you’ll be cleaning your floors.

Do you use a hard floor steam cleaner? What do you think of it? How well does it work? Have you saved a lot of mops and cleaning supplies? We’d love to hear how you are greening your routine with steam!

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Let’s start with going over why you may want to consider going with a natural or organic mattress.

First, the exterior of a mattress usually consists of a cotton cover. Here’s a quick newsflash for you. Cotton is the most heavily sprayed crop in the world. Lots of pesticides are used on cotton crops and unfortunately, the pesticides that are used on most of them contain lots of extremely harmful chemicals, some of which are known human carcinogens. When cotton is harvested and then used to make the thousands of items that we buy, all those pesticides don’t magically disappear. So, avoiding cotton that was ever treated with pesticides is a good thing. It’s good for the people who use the product and it’s good for the environment.

Mattresses are also required to have a fire barrier. Fire barriers are a good thing and you can be sure that all mattresses have them. Have you ever stopped to wonder how the fire barrier is made? Yea, I never thought about it until recently either, so don’t feel bad if it hasn’t been at the top of your priority list. Basically, most fire barriers are made by treating fabric with chemicals. Some of those chemicals are toxic. The more you can avoid chemicals, the better off you are.

Now that we’ve covered what’s wrong with a lot of mattresses; I’ll quickly explain what constitutes a natural crib mattress.

First, the mattress should have a cover that is made with 100% organic cotton or some other renewable fabric that isn’t treated with chemical. Bamboo is also a great choice.

Second, the fire barrier should either be made of wool, which is a great fire retardant, or treated with non-toxic chemicals. Obviously, wool is better as no chemicals are required.

Last, if you can find a crib mattress that utilizes any recycled material, that’s a good thing. For example, if a mattress has steel springs, check to see if they are made with recycled content.

Now that you know what a natural crib mattress is, you’ve just got to figure out where to buy one. Unfortunately, my favorite eco friendly mattress company, Keetsa, doesn’t yet make crib mattresses. If you’re in the process of making a baby, and you’d like to do it on an organic mattress of your own, be sure to check out my post on Keetsa mattresses.

Back to finding a natural crib mattress, the best one that I have found is the Naturepedic Organic Crib Mattress.

Naturepedic Organic Mattress

It’s a bit pricey at almost $350, but it meets all of the criteria needed to be considered a true natural crib mattress. It also has 242 coils (made with 70% recycled steel, no less!), which is well above the suggested amount. Last, it’s extremely well-made and high quality.

If you are looking for a less expensive mattress, check out the Affordable Organic Cotton Crib Mattress. It’s a bit more reasonably priced at $259. The trade-off is less coils. The coils in this mattress are not made with recycled steel, but if you can give that up, it’s a great buy for the price and it’s still an eco friendly option.

Affordable Organic Crib Mattress

Are you using a natural crib mattress? Which one? How do you like it? Share your experiences here!

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Bamboo Sheets

By now, you’ve probably heard of Bamboo flooring, and maybe even Bamboo counter tops, but have you heard about Bamboo Bedding? It’s available and there are so many advantages to bamboo that I don’t even know where to start.

Probably the best thing about bamboo is that it has some property that makes it antiseptic. Without going into all the scientific details, back in 2003, there was a test done on bamboo sheets. Basically, they added bacteria to the sheets and then tested to see how much of the bacteria was alive after 24 hours. This is where it gets cool, 99.8% of the bacteria had been killed! What that tells me is that bamboo sheets are extremely healthy. I mean, I’d still throw them in the wash if my kid had the flu or something, but it’s one heck of a good selling point!

Bamboo Crops

The fact that bamboo is naturally resistant to bacteria means that bamboo crops don’t have to be sprayed with pesticides and other harmful chemicals. Add to that the fact that bamboo is extremely renewable – some types grow up to a foot a day, and you’ve got an extremely sustainable product.

Manufacturers started to realize the benefits of bamboo some time ago and started making flooring and counter tops with it. More recently, some manufacturers have started using the fiber to make bamboo bedding. Bamboo sheets are extremely soft and silky without being slippery.

If that’s not enough to get you to give bamboo some serious consideration as a bedding choice, consider this:

~ Bamboo in naturally insulated, which means that the sheets will help to keep you cool in the summer and warm in the winter.

~ Bamboo bedding is basically affordable. 300 thread count sheets start at about $30 for a set. Like any other sheet, they go up in price depending on a number of factors, but they’re not any more expensive than say, cotton. Sometimes buying eco friendly products can be difficult because of the increased cost of many products, thankfully, that’s not the case with bamboo.

~ Bamboo sheets are available in a wide range of colors, you can buy them to fit your current color scheme.

If there’s any drawback to these sheets, it’s that bamboo is, for the most part, grown in China. This means they do have to travel a long way to make it to a store shelf in the United States. After carefully weighing all the pros and cons, I decided bamboo sheets were still an extremely green choice! You’ll have to make that decision for yourself.

For more information about Bamboo sheets visit:

Bamboo Sheets

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Your home is where you spend a lot of your income, so it makes sense to be spending it as efficiently as possible. You can start to go green in your home by insulating the house. Loft insulation, wall cavity insulation, double or even triple glazing – it will all make a tremendous difference. Yes, there is an investment to consider, but you will save in the long term, and save a lot too.

We all use too much water. Go green in the home by cutting back as much as you can. We could all, collectively, save one billion gallons of water a year by changing our old flush toilet cisterns. The old ones use three and a half gallons per flush and the new high-efficiency ones use just over one and a quarter gallon. It makes a big difference! If you did only this to go green in the home you would save 20,000 gallons of water every year, and pay a lot less in water bills.

The standard light bulbs that most homes have are very inefficient. Compact fluorescent light bulbs burn around 5% of the old bulbs and they last 10 times longer. They may cost slightly more to buy initially, but this is an obvious way to go green in the home and save a bundle in the long run. But you can do even better, The new LED lights are almost twice as efficient as even the compact fluorescent light bulbs, and they will last even longer too.

Heat leaks out of a house in winter and into the house in summer. Better insulation all round is a great way to go green in the home. Look at your loft, your wall cavities, your windows and your doors. Sort out all of these and you can go green in the home and really save too.

Home utilities are a drain on energy. Did you know that modern washing powders are so good that they don’t really need hot water? your washing machine uses most of its energy heating the water, so wash your clothes cold. They will clean great while you go green in the home. You may think your dishwasher is also an energy drain, Strangely, it isn’t. If you use it fully filled it uses less resources than if you wash by hand. Once you know these little tips and tricks, it’s easy to go green in the home!

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Green Cleaning with Lemon

Tons of the harmful chemicals that are used in homes come from the products that we use to keep our homes clean. That doesn’t have to be! There are many green cleaning options available and many of them are less expensive than the cleaners that you may be used to. On top of that, a lot of green cleaning options work just as well, or even better!

One of my favorite green cleaning products is lemon juice. Yep, just plain old lemon juice that you squeeze right from a lemon. There is so much that you can do with lemon juice – all of it really green!

Get a lemon and let’s get green cleaning!

~ By simply cutting a lemon in half, you can use it as a great cleaner for laminate counter tops or cutting boards. Simply add a little salt to your lemon half and scrub. You’ll get rid of stains and disinfect at the same time.

~ Add 1/2 cup of lemon juice to a sink of water and soak any white clothing or linens before you wash them, with the notable exception of silk. You can also add lemon juice directly to your wash. This is a great trick for getting curtains looking (and smelling) fresh again.

~ Mix lemon juice with cream or tarter to make a paste and use it to rub on stubborn stains. They come out amazingly well.

~ Use lemon juice to soak toothbrushes – it will sanitize them.

~ Use lemon juice to clean real copper and brass, but make sure that the copper or brass you are cleaning is real!

~ Mix two parts olive oil and one part lemon juice to make a great furniture polish. Put it in a spray bottle and then spray and wipe with a microfiber cloth.

~ Lemon juice can also be used to get rid of stains in plastic storage containers, like Tupperware. Just use half a lemon with some salt sprinkled on it and rub the stained area. You’ll disinfect and get rid of the stains at the same time.

~ Lemon juice can also be used to disinfect toilets, garbage cans, and showers or bathtubs.

~ Combine lemon juice with baking powder to unclog drains while leaving them smelling nice and fresh.

Green cleaning is the best way to clean. It’s better for the environment and it’s better for your family’s health. Use lemon juice to help keep your home clean and fresh!

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Green Cleaning with Vinegar

In my never-ending pursuit to learn about more ways to “go green” I’m always looking for ways to replace my commercial cleaners with more eco friendly methods of cleaning.  I’ve been using lots of lemons for cleaning lately.  I’ve also started using vinegar around the house and have found lots of great ways for cleaning with vinegar.

It’s eco friendly and much cheaper than all the commercial products that you are probably purchasing now.  Here are 10 of my favorite uses for vinegar around the house:

1. Got a mess in your microwave?  I used to spend lots of time and lots of cleaners trying to get my microwave clean after my daughters made snacks in it.  No more!  To clean a microwave quickly and easily, simply fill a microwave safe bowl with half water and half vinegar.  Turn the microwave on for 4 – 5 minutes until the liquid is boiling. Now all you’ve got to do is wipe the inside clean with a damp cloth. The best news is that it gets rid of smells too!

2. Do your kids use a lunch box?  Have you ever noticed that it starts to smell after awhile no matter what you do to clean it?  Simply take a piece of bread and soak it in vinegar.  Set it in the lunchbox overnight.  Clean it with dishsoap and water the next morning and the lunch box will smell good again!

3. Another great tip for cleaning with vinegar is to use it on stainless steel. Add about a tablespoon of salt to 4 tablespoons of vinegar and use it to scrub soap scum and other build-up from stainless steel faucets.

4. Do your sponges smell like mildew?  Are you throwing them out as quick as you can start using them?  Save money and your sponges by soaking them in water and about 1/4 cup of white vinegar overnight.

5. White distilled vinegar works great for cleaning countertops. Mix equal parts of vingar and water and use it to wipe down all counter tops.

6. Vinegar works great for killing germs. You don’t need all those heavy cleaners in the bathroom.  Simply put straight vinegar into a spray bottle and use it around the bathroom to clean up and kill germs at the same time.

7. Vinegar works great on tile, linoleum, and other no-wax floors. Simply add a cup of vinegar to warm water and mop your floors.  Much better for the floor and your indoor air quality than any commercial cleaner on the market.

8. Vinegar also works great for cleaning walls.  Just pour white vinegar directly on a rag and wipe down the walls in your home. It will also get rid of stale smells. It’s a great way to get your house smelling fresh again after winter is over.

9. If you’ve got kids, white vinegar works great for cleaning and disinfecting them.  Simply add some vinegar to soapy water and let the toys soak. This works with plastic toys, but watch for stickers that will come loose in water.

10. Vinegar can often be used to remove stains from carpet.  Just create your own cleaner by adding 2 tablespoons of white vinegar to 1/4 cup of baking soda. Rub the paste into the stain and allow to sit overnight.  Just vacuum the next day. If the stain is lighter, but not gone – repeat again.  You may want to try this on an area of carpet that no one will see first as it can lighten some carpets.

There are literally thousands of other cool cleaning with vinegar ideas that you can use around the house.  Watch for more coming soon.  If you have a great idea for cleaning with vinegar, let us know so others can use it as well. You’ll find that you save money on commercial cleaners and you’ll be glad that you aren’t breathing in all of those harsh chemicals as well.  Plus, if you buy a large bottle of vinegar it’s really cheap.  If you belong to Sam’s Club or Costco, pick up a huge jug the next time you are shopping!

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Well, I recently came across green pillows from the same company, Keetsa, that makes the eco-friendly mattresses that I like so much.  I picked up a few of their down-alternative memory foam pillows and I’m loving them.  If I’m being completely honest, I don’t think that buying a green pillow has any real effect on your health.  I bought my pillows from Keetsa mostly because I really love their mattresses and wanted to support the company again with a pillow purchase.  I like what the company stands for and I figured if I was going to purchase new pillows, I might as well make them as green as possible.

They actually have a while line of eco friendly pillows.  We chose the down alternative option because I’m addicted to down.

Wondering what makes their pillows green?

First, they use something that they call EverGreen.  It’s made with real green tea extract and isused mostly for odor control. They use the same product in many of their mattresses. Keetsa also uses a memory foam that they’ve developed that replaces a percentage of the oil that’s used in the production of traditional memory foam with castor bean oil, which is natural and much more eco friendly than other oil typically used.

In addition, their bio-foam has no formaldehyde and no VOCs.  Both formaldehde and VOCs have serious health risks – so that’s actually a pretty big selling point.

I’m planning to purchase a few more as mine seems to end up in my 5-year old daughter’s bedroom ever single night.  Seriously, I can’t blame her for stealing it – these pillows are seriously comfortable.

For the first 32 years of my life, I only slept with a feather pillow.  It’s sort of embarrasing, but before my recent purchase, I actually had the same feather pillow since I was 10 or something (I still haven’t been able to make myself throw it away). When I bought these pillows I really didn’t expect to like it because I’m such a baby about my pillow – I used to travel for work and my feather pillow had it’s own suitcase…really.  Clearly, for me to say good things about a pillow, it’s got to be one heck of a comfortable pillow! The fact that it’s a green pillow is just icing on the cake!

Make sure to check out the pillows and the Eco Friendly Memory Foam Mattress
the next time you are in the market for a new pillow or mattress – they’re really worth every penny you’ll spend.

Green Pillow

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In my mind, there are many compelling reasons to consider the purchase of an eco friendly mattress. I’ve talked about the hazards of traditional cotton production in my organic cotton clothing post recently. If I don’t want to wear cotton that’s been doused in pesticides, I certainly don’t want to sleep on it. It’s also important that I’m conscious of the environment as I make my buying decisions.

Which leads me to my search for the perfect new bed. When I really started to think about it, I wasn’t sure, but I had a sneaking suspicion that the manufacturing process used to make traditional mattresses probably wasn’t the most eco friendly in the world. It also bothered me that almost all the mattresses that I was looking at were completely covered in plastic that would have to be dumped in a landfill. And, I was concerned about all of the material inside of my mattress – I really had no idea what I’d been sleeping on.

After lots of searching, I found the eco friendly mattress by Keetsa. I didn’t know what exactly what I was looking for; I just knew that I wanted an organic cotton mattress. My main concern at the time was the exterior of the mattress.

What I learned is that there are some companies that are going much further than just the mattress cover in their efforts to create an eco friendly mattress.

Keetsa for example, uses wool as a fire barrier, as opposed to material that’s been treated with chemicals. They also use something called “biofoam” in their memory foam mattresses. You know that memory foam that’s gotten to popular lately? Well, basically all memory foam on the market is made with 100% petroleum oil. That sort of bothered me. Keetsa however, uses castor bean oil. They aren’t able to completely replace the petroleum oil, but it makes me feel good that they are doing something.

I really liked what I was learning, and when I realized that they compressed their mattresses into recyclable boxes for shipping, I was sold.

The company also offers something like a 20-year warranty on all of their organic cotton mattresses, which I like. I’m a strong believer that anything made well is inherently more eco friendly than things that are not – simply because they have a longer life cycle before they end up in a landfill.

Keetsa isn’t the only company that is working to manufacture eco friendly mattresses, they just happen to be the company I chose. When it’s time for you to purchase a new bed, I encourage you to check out the organic cotton mattress and eco friendly options offered by – as well as other manufacturers to see what’s best for you.

Do you already own an eco friendly mattress? I’d love to hear what you own and how you feel about it!

Amazon has great prices and a wide selection of Keetsa mattresses.
You can check them out here; Eco Friendly Memory Foam with Spring Mattress the Keetsa Plus Queen 9inches Height Organic Cotton Castor Bean Oil Based Bio Foam

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So here’s a breakdown of volatile organic compounds in common English.

In short, VOCs are just gasses that are emitted from substances that contain carbon. For example, paint contains carbon. As the paint dries, a gas is emitted. That gas contains volatile organic compounds.

You are most likely to hear about VOCs in paint – however there are lots of other household items that contain them as well. Many paint strippers, sealers, glues, and even some household cleaners contain VOCs.

As consumers, it’s important to know what ingredients are included in the products that you are using. It’s especially important to know if the products that you are using contain volatile organic compounds because there are many health risks associated with breathing them in.

The health risks vary greatly depending on how sensitive you are and the level of VOCs present in your home. Immediately after painting or using paint stripper, the level in your home could be more than 10X that of what is in the air outdoors. Some people can experience eye, nose, and throat irritation. Some people can even experience headaches, dizziness, and nausea. Basically, one person in your home could not be outwarly bothered by the presence of VOCs while another could be very affected.

While it’s impossible to get away from them completely, it’s definitely wise to know what they are and to do what you can to reduce your exposure to them. Luckily, there are lots of companies that are providing alternatives that have reduced or even no VOCs.

As you look for home products and cleaning goods, especially paint, paint strippers, and cabinets and other items that contain glue – take the time to ask about volatile organic compounds. The lower the levels, the better.

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Low VOC Paint

We recently decided to paint a few rooms in our home, and during my research, I learned that indoor air quality is 5x worse than than the air quality outdoors. That’s slightly concerning, since many of us spend the majority of our time indoors.

As I researched more, I learned that paint is one of the biggest contributors of poor indoor air quality. Traditional paint, the kinds you’ve likely been using, has extremely high level of volatile organic compounds, or VOCs. Those VOCs aren’t only a problem when the paint is applied…they “off-gas” for up to 5 years and have been attributed to a multitude of health problems.

But you’ve got to paint, right? The best alternative on the market today comes in the form of eco friendly paint. There are a few quality eco friendly options on the market today, and I suspect as demand for them increases, the supply will as well.

Here’s a brief overview of the options that are available to you RIGHT NOW:

Low VOC Paint

In order for a paint to be marketed as low VOC, it must meet EPA standards of having less than 200 VOCs per liter. Be very careful when selecting Low VOC paint, though. Yes, all of it is better than “regular” paint, but there can be a large difference in the VOC content of even low VOC paints. The best option is to choose paint that carries the green seal standard. Paints that meet the green seal standards have less than 50 VOCs per liter for flat paints, and 150 VOCs per liter for non-flat paints. These are the friendliest of the low VOC paints.

Zero VOC Paints

Zero VOC paints are now available on the market as well. The EPA also regulates what paints can be marketed as zero VOC – basically, they have to contain less then 5 grams of VOC per liter. Some well respected paint manufacturers are now making zero VOC paints. The major downfall to these paints is that they are more expensive than traditional and low VOC paints.

For those who are really sensitive or just want to choose natural paints, there are options available for you too. We’ll cover natural paint choices in another post on My Lil Green Dress.

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