Here’s another review for you lovelies! Once again, for those of your who don’t feel like making your own dishoap, here’s a product that you might want to try. The great thing about Method Pump Dish Soap is that you can also purchase refills which saves you money now, and landfills in the future. Here’s my review.

Method Pump Dish Soap 18oz. $3.99

Ingredients: Plant Based and Biodegradable Surfacant Blend, Corn Alcohol, Glycerin, Citric Acid, Table Salt, Light stabilizer, Fragrance, Color, Preservative (under 0,1%), Purified Water

I picked up this dish soap over a month and a half ago and the 18 oz. container is still over half full. I’ve used it on

For those of you who are not keen on making your own dishwashing powder, or have allergies that prevent you from using powders in general, this product is probably for you.

Method Smarty Dish Dishwasher Tabs $5.99 (20 tabs) Freeclear (no Fragrance)

Ingredients: sodium disilicate, hydroxypropyl- methycellulose,2-methyloxirane; oxirane, sodium citrate, imino disuccinate, sodium carbonate peroxide, organic acid salts, tetra-acetyl ethylene diamine, protease, amylase, sodium polyaspartate

This stuff cleaned everything from the glassware to the ceramic plates (which had crusty food on ‘em) and even 1 of my small pots really well. I did add vinegar (as I usually do), to the rinse dispenser. The clear glasses didn’t have any film on them and the cermaics were squeaky clean!

“Hey babe? Have you seen an aluminum foil ball about yea big?” I gestured with my hands as my husband looked at me blankly and shook his head.

“Where was the last place you had it?”

“Oh, it was in the dryer. Have you seen it?”

eyebrow raise. blank stare. smirk.

“Uh..no.”

Sexy is pretty much used to my crazy household experiments, so nothing really phases him anymore. Now, obviously,

Want to be more eco-friendly? Want to lower your heat or gas bill?

Wash your clothes in cold water. Seriously.

About 85% of the energy used to wash clothes goes entirely to heating up the water. Not the movement of the drum or even turning the thing on take up as much energy as heating the water pouring into it. Most clothes don’t require hot water to clean them. It’s true. We still wash the sheets and towels and dirty rags in hot water, but everything else gets washed in cold.

Hotter water doesn’t get the ring around the collar out of my husband’s shirts. Soap and a scrub brush does. Heat doesn’t

I remember when I had my garbage disposal put into my new kitchen years ago, I thought that I was doing something “green”, my food waste was NOT going to waste carbon emissions being trucked off to some some landfill somewhere, and would return to the earth’s natural resources to fertilize the soil and feed Bambi and the kids.

Um…not.so.much.

Apparently, when food goes down the disposal, water is whisked out and yes, that is a natural substance and not harmful to the environment, but the solid waste leftover is screened out at your local water-filtration plant and is sent where? You guessed it to the landfill.

So what? It’s organic material right?

Well… yes and no.

Don’t you hate those annoying coffee, tea and even hot chocolate stains that end up on your mugs and teacups? They could be porcelain, clay or glass those stains can be troublesome to remove. I went searching for a solution and was shocked to read about people using things like bleach to clean things that they drink out of! Below are a few ways to clean them easily, and they’re safe and cheap too!

Method #1 – Baking Soda

• Make a paste of 1 tablespoon and water. Rub the paste with a cloth, sponge or a toothbrush on the stain until removed. Rinse thoroughly.

I had company recently who kindly pointed out that my water pressure was low, and sure enough when I turned on the shower, the water just came out in a trickle. But the pressure in the tub was just fine, which led me to one embarrassing conclusion…

The shower head was clogged.

I have used CLR in the past to clean clogged shower heads, but I had also heard the vinegar was just as effective, and since some of those chemicals pour on you after a shower head has been soaked in chemicals, I thought I’d give it a try.

Here’s what I did.

Clearing a Clogged Shower Head with Vinegar

Tools:

• White Vinegar- at least 1.5 cups of (you may need more if you have a really big shower head)
• Freezer bag- (you know the ones that are nice and thick)
• 2 or 3 thick rubber bands

Directions:

You know that wonderful feeling that comes from a perfectly clean living space? Everything in its place, cabinets neat and tidy, clothes all washed and put away, fridge perfectly clean with not a single unidentifiable-science-project-disguised-as-a-leftover in sight? Bathrooms so sparkling you can see yourself in the floor from daily cleaning? Recycling bins neatly stacked and ordered by the door? Perfect hand-knit throw draped from the arm of an equally clean couch, remotes neatly arranged in the basket by your feet. Even the cat is happy and neatly curled up by the fireplace?

Nope? Me neither.

I am NOT (contrary to what this blog might have led you to believe), a neat freak. I try. I really do. And I do love organization, but as a verb. It’s an ongoing process in our household (and we don’t even have kids yet.) Although I wish I could get all of my shelves to look like this…

Many amateur cooks (like myself) loved non-stick cookware, because well…food doesn’t stick to it. Which means we don’t have to use as much butter or oil to cook, which makes it low fat. But awhile ago, after looking at a pretty scratched up Teflon pan that had seen better days, I decided to do a little research. Apparently some non-stick isn’t really healthy.

Teflon dangers

The problem with Teflon coated pans and utensils is that the coating itself, when heated on high for more than 5 minutes, breaks down and gives off a harmful toxic gas. Which…(wait for it)..kills birds.  Yes. It actually KILLS them.There is a deadly aviary ailment called Teflon Toxicosis and it’s a pretty painful and nasty death too. Don’t care about birds? Well the Teflon gases are also toxic to humans, but since they’re not fatal and only cause cold-like symptoms called polymer fume fever, apparently the government still classifies Teflon coated cookware as safe.

If you have natural hair, or you are striving towards natural living you should definitely check out Kinky Hair Chick. Lily Ashe has tips on hair, eco-freindly fashion, green product reviews and her very own podcast! Lily interviewed me for her podcast last week. I talked about some of the natural recipes and hair ideas I’ve shared here on Savvy Brown as well as what propelled me to make healthy changes in y life. Check it out by clicking the link below!