Savvy Brown » Home Tips

10 Easy Earth Day Ideas

Savvy — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 20:54:14 +0000

Recycle – Yep. You know how to do it, but do you actually do it? The easiest way to recycle is to make sure you have a designated area to do so. Need ideas? Check out these nifty ideas:

How to Set Up a Home Recycling Station that Works

Martha Stewart Recycling Center

Hidden Kitchen Recycling area
Upcycle – I love doing this. Seriously. And I don’t mean doing the crazy stuff, like turning a car into a refrigerator or something. I mean simple things, like reusing binder clips, or embroidery hoops, or even litter boxes. For more Upcycle ideas check out my Upcycle Pinterest page.
Lose/Recycle the plastic Bags – Ok, I will admit, that I have some fabulous reusable grocery bags, that often stay inside of my house, or in the glove compartment of my car. But what’s great is that many local stores like Target are now accepting plastic grocery bags and recycling them.
Ban Junk Mail – In the US we receive approximately 100,000,000,000 pieces of junk mail every year. Tired of getting all those random catalogs? Don’t have time to sit down and call all those companies yourself? Use a service to do it for you! Try out Catalog Choice also check out the National Do Not Mail List. Make sure that when you get your credit report, you opt out of receiving mailers or becoming part of any surveys.
Reduce Your Use of Plastic Bottles – A simple solution is to buy your water in a glass bottle, like Voss because glass is recylable. (I use these bottles as vases too!) If you need to carry water with you then try the Bobble Plastic Water Bottle. It’s BPA-free, and has it’s own filter! Which is perfect for when you’re parched and can’t identify how pure your water source is. (Like at the park.)
Stop Using Regular Laundry Detergent – Not only are the surfactants in most detergents unsafe for the environment, they’re harmful to humans as well. If you suffer from asthma or eczema, you may be able to reduce or even eliminate most if not all of your symptoms by using a more natural detergent. You can make your own detergent like I do, or you can use things like soap nuts, or castille soap (although if you have excema you may need something a bit milder). Don’t want to DIY? Then check out the following natural detergents. Need fabric softener? Try this instead.

Ecos Liquid Laundry Detergent – $6.80

Dropps Laundry Detergent Tabs – $7.00

BabyGanics 3X Concentrated Laundry Detergent – $12.99
Save Water In Your Bathroom- Check for leaks under your sink and toilet every season. Convert your toilet to a Dual-flush. Basically, it uses a little water when you “do a#1” and more water when you “do a #2”. There’s a switch or button to differentiate between the two. You can buy simple DIY Dual flush Kits here. In an apartment? Keep a bucket in the bathroom and fill it when your letting the water run to get warm. Then save it to feed your pets, water your plants, or even clean with it!
Give Up Paper Napkins and Paper Towels – It’s really not as hard as you’d think. And yes, it still can me sanitary. I use a mixture of cloth napkins, microfiber towels, cotton rags and Skoy Cloths around my house. I have a little bucket I keep on the counter in the kitchen and in some of the other rooms where the dirty ones go. Then I just toss them in the laundry and repeat the next week. To learn how I did it, check out this post.
Switch to Recycled Toilet Paper - Nope, I’m not ready to give up toilet paper either, BUT there are new brands out made from recycled paper that don’t feel like your wiping your bum with tree bark. Seriously. Also check out “camping toilet tissue”. That stuff was created for portable toilets and is easier on septic systems too. Check out some of these brands:

Small Steps

Seventh Generation

Coleman
Use a Rain Barrel In Your Garden – Buy a Rain Barrel for your home so that you can catch water naturally and use it to water you plants without touching the tap from your house. Almost all of them have a spigot on the front so that you can attach a standard hose.

What are some your green tricks and tips?

How to Unclog a Drain Without Killing Yourself… I am really scared of the ingredients in things like...
Review: Bona Hardwood Floor Cleaner and Mop Our house is over 100 years old, and the oak...
Cheap Green Way to Clean Up Pet Hair I have a love/hate relationship with my two cats. They...

Cheap Dresser Drawer Organization

Savvy — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 14:01:12 +0000

So the next stop on my Spring Cleaning journey is my bedroom dresser drawers. They were a mess. And it always takes me forever to find stuff anyway, so I hunted around for things to use as drawer dividers or some type of separation tools.
As I’ve mentioned before, the best thing to do is to start by shopping your home first. So I poked around my basement and the back of one of my closets, (I’ve got to put that one on the list!) until I found these spring loaded drawer divider things that I forgot that I had!

Then, my husband had some of these IKEA SKUBB fabric storage boxes left over and I snagged some of those too!

So here’s what the lingerie drawers looked like before:

And here’s what they look like now:

Like you stepped into Victoria’s Secret right?

Yeah. Ok but you know what I’m going for.

Cost? $0

Being able to find a matching set of underwear in less than 15 minutes? priceless.

I love that.

Here’s where you can find the same/similar items:

Whitmor Drawer Organizers

Progressive Drawer Dividers

IKEA Skubb Fabric Box Set

Cheap Green Way to Clean Up Pet Hair I have a love/hate relationship with my two cats. They...
Savvy DIY Cable Organization In my continuing quest to organize stuff in our home,...
Upcycled Linen Closet Redo I hate parting with well-made pieces of furniture that I’ve...

Cheap Green Way to Clean Up Pet Hair

Savvy — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 15:56:18 +0000

I have a love/hate relationship with my two cats. They are fun and affectionate and really don’t care what I look like, or how off-key I sing or if my socks match, as long as I feed them. (I have a couple of friends like that too). But their hair gets everywhere, and although I have hardwood floors, it can be a real pain to keep the furniture clean.

My pet spongeworks pretty well, but has seen better days and I was at a loss when a friend asked if she could stay at my place for a couple of days while she was traveling.

Of course, she’s allergicto cats.

Sigh.

Manny

So I trolled the web for all kinds of do-dads and devices that I could run out and buy real quick to give the sofabed (that she would subsequently be sleeping on) a thorough cleaning. One of the things I found was a $30 rolling device that claimed to pick up pet hair at an amazingly efficient rate, plus it could be rinsed off as opposed to those glorified-masking-tape-sticky-roller-thingys that you have to keep peeling off and throwing away. With a little research, I found out that the reusable roller was made from silicone, latex and rubber.

The same material that my yellow kitchen rubber gloves are made out of.

Houdini

Huh.

So I ran to the kitchen, opened the cabinet under the sink, grabbed the bucket, dug out the gloves, ran back to the living room and proceeded to rub my gloved hands

vigorously and toroughly all over the microfiber couch like a cheap date. (Needless to say, my cats were alarmed). This is what happened:

Are you SEEING this?

I used a hand vac to suck up the hair as I gathered it up. The great thing about the gloves is that I could get in all the little crevices and places that the [pet sponge] normally couldn’t reach. (Coincidentally, the pet sponge is made out of the same material).

I hopped back on the web and found out that tons of people clean their furniture with rubber gloves like this, even wetting them a bit makes the hair come off even faster.

WHY WAS I NOT INFORMED?

Anyway, I tried this on microfiber, denim, and cotton and it work well. The microfiber worked the best though.

So for a really cheap easy way to clean up pet hair off of fabric surfaces, pick up a pair of good old fashioned rubber dishwashing gloves like these and clean away.

How do you clean up pet hair?

A Cheap Easy Way To Clean Sterling Silver I watched my brothers do this once at my mom’s...
How to Unclog a Drain Without Killing Yourself… I am really scared of the ingredients in things like...
My New Natural Poo Method I’m excited about my new shampoo reggie because it’s saves...

Savvy DIY Cable Organization

Savvy — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 19:47:47 +0000

In my continuing quest to organize stuff in our home, I had pushed cable organization to the top of the list. Both my husband and I have a couple of laptops, not mention various video game systems each with its own set of cables. I was tired of not being able to find the correct cable when I needed it, or resorting to a dusty game of twister when something blew behind the TV and spending an hour trying to find the right cord, before I could troubleshoot the problem. These ideas helped us, and maybe they’ll help you too!

image from unpluggd

Cables Under the Desk – You know those little plastic thingys that keep the bread bag closed? Well they make EXCELLENT cable holders/labelers! Put one near the outlet and another up near the top of the cord at the back of your monitor, computer, drive, cable box, video game…whatever. This negates the need to play cable roulette whenever you have to move a drive or find out why the XBox isn’t working.

image from diyphotography.com

Cables On the desk – I use binder clips for everything as you can see from [this post]. But they’re really come in handy when I’m trying to organize the cables up on my desk. Just clip one to the back or side of your desk and snake your USB, fire-wire or even your phone charger cable right through it. That way it’s always within reach, and you can avoid c”able yoga”" trying to reach around and under the desk plugging things in.

image from lifehacker aus.

Cable Storage – I’ve been using empty single toilet paper rolls for awhile now to hold the cable for the iron, the hairdryer and the toaster. But I never thought of collecting a few for multiple cord management! Take multiple empty toilet paper rolls, (or cut a few paper towel rolls into thirds), and fit into a shallow box. Like a shoebox. Fold up each cable and push through the rolls, label each roll accordingly and place in the box. We currently have an ugly wall hanger full of a spaghetti full of cables for all kinds of things. I might get another box just to hold all the game controllers. I can’t wait to try this!

What are some your cheap/handy cable storage ideas?

Review: Bona Hardwood Floor Cleaner and Mop Our house is over 100 years old, and the oak...
Green Clutter Busting Every year I try to downsize and re-organize a bit...
How to Unclog a Drain Without Killing Yourself… I am really scared of the ingredients in things like...

Why I Put Foil in the Dryer

Savvy — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 17:30:34 +0000

“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, the green thing to do is to hang all of your clothes dry. And…well.. We’re working on it. Right now I would say about 30% of our wardrobe gets hung dry.

The rest do get thrown in the dryer along with various implements because, well, fabric softener is kind of toxic and dryer sheets are messy, (not to mention a fire hazard). And I figured I could live with a little static cling. That is until the day the kitten decided to hop into a fresh load of warm clothes, only to get zapped so badly, his hair stood on end and he shrieked.

I’ve shared a few of these tips on the Savvy Brown FB page, but I thought I’d do a little post outlining how we dry our clothes here at the House of Brown.

Dryer balls – I love these things! They’re basically rubber balls with little round spikes on them that knock around the dryer along with your clothes, softening them up as they go. They help a bit with static cling too. You can buy some here if you can’t find them where you are.

Damp Scented Rag – I came up with this on a whim. I really like the smell of lavender in my clothes, so I took a washcloth, wet it just so it was evenly damp, and then poured about 6 or 7 drops of lavender essential oil across it. I wet it a little more and wrung it so the oil was evenly distributed and tossed it in the dryer with my sheets. They smelled heavenly, and while the dryer was running, the house did too! I use microfiber towels like these cut in half.

Aluminum Ball – Apparently, aluminum helps attract static electricity, so throwing a crumpled up ball into the dryer helps get rid of all of those socks sticking to your blankets. (I’ve been trying to find another use for the leftover aluminum foil in my house anyway, so this was the perfect excise.)
The best part about the dyer balls, the rags and the aluminum ball is that they’re all reusable!

What do you throw in your dryer?

I ♥ Dryer Balls There’s nothing like a set of big, round, strong… lint-removing...
Savvy Mailbag: Another Way Dryer Sheets Can Be a Fire Hazard This week’s mailbag post comes from artist and my Savvy...
Green Clutter Busting Every year I try to downsize and re-organize a bit...

How to Unclog a Drain Without Killing Yourself…

Savvy — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 17:16:08 +0000

I am really scared of the ingredients in things like Liquid Plumbr and Liquid Snake and some of those hardware store chemicals out there. Almost all of them contain sodium hydroxide (a.k.a.-lye) which is highly toxic if it comes in contact with your skin, hair, eyes or breathing passages. Not to mention what it does to the environment once it’s out of the house, it basically kills all kinds of wildlife in its path and alters the ph balance of rivers and streams.. Some of the chemicals always come back up into the sink or tub and inevitably make it’s way on to our skin or into the air of the bathroom. Not.taking.that.chance.

For everyday sink, tub and shower clogs we do the following at the House of Brown:

1. Snake it out – The #1 cause of clogged drains in my house is hair. Mine, usually. Cuz well I’ve got a lot of it. Every now and them we take a wire hanger to the shower, tub and sink and pull out whatever is stuck there. This usually makes a difference almost immediately. A plunger or actual snake is effective as well. This is also a good way to get the water to drain so that you can treat the pipe with one of the below methods.

2. Hot water – sometimes it’s just a bit of stuck on shaving cream, lotion, toothpaste or hair product that is blocking the passage, that’s when this method works best.

3. Baking Soda/Vinegar Mix - This is what I use the most on slow drains and it’s very effective. Pour 1 cup baking soda down the drain followed immediately by 1 cup of white vinegar. The resulting chemical reaction will make the baking soda bubble and safely scour what’s around it. Leave the mixture to bubble in the sink for about 30 minutes while you go and boil some water. Next pour the boiling water down the drain to remove the excess baking soda and to clear through anything left over. This method is especially good to use for maintenance. done once a week, your drains can stay clear for quite some time.

4. Cream of Tartar Mix - Many times kitchen sinks need something strong enough to cut through grease and fat. Mix 1 tbsp cream of tartar (you can find this in the spice section of the grocery store), 4 tablespoons of baking soda, and 4 tbsps of salt in a jar and shake to mix. Then pour the mix down the drain, followed by at least a 2 quarts of boiling water, followed by cold water to rinse.

NOTE: NEVER MIX VINEGAR OR BAKING SODA WITH COMMERCIAL DRAIN CLEANING PRODUCTS. THIS COULD CAUSE A BAD CHEMICAL REACTION AND PERSONAL INJURY.

*Do you clean you drains naturally? What do you use?

Resources:

http://www.ehow.com/way_5435559_homemade-drain-cleaner-declogger.html

http://factoidz.com/go-green-with-diy-drain-cleaners/

Cheap Green Way to Clean Up Pet Hair I have a love/hate relationship with my two cats. They...
Review: Bona Hardwood Floor Cleaner and Mop Our house is over 100 years old, and the oak...
Upcycled Linen Closet Redo I hate parting with well-made pieces of furniture that I’ve...

I ♥ Binder Clips

Savvy — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 15:17:57 +0000

I love binder clips! They’re cheap, come in all kinds of sizes. and can be used for EVERYTHING! I was just noticing the other day just how many ways we use them around the house. There are a million and one uses for these things, but here are 12 of my favorite…

Holding snack bags closed
holding the ends of my twists when I’m styling my hair
Keeping a towel on my shoulders when I henna my hair
Cord keeper
Put at the end of the toothpaste tube so we get out every last drop
Holding photos
Hold hair accessories together when traveling
Clothespin
Keeping index cards organized
DIY money clip
Book mark
Keeping my ID/Train pass handy

Lifehacker even showed a video of a guy who made an iPhone dock out of binder clips check it out…

How do you use binder clips?

Grocery shopping @ Marshalls?! I love when I can find products with all natural...
Why I Put Foil in the Dryer “Hey babe? Have you seen an aluminum foil ball about...
How to Sanitize Your Sponges and Wipes If you’re trying to cut back on using paper towels,...

How to Scrub a Dirty Sink Naturally…

Savvy — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 05:41:29 +0000

I get busy. Sexy and I are BOTH busy. And sometimes the dinner dishes don’t get done till the next morning. (We’re human, it happens.)Last week I picked up my cast iron skillet which had been left in the sink from the day before and the sink looked like this…

eeewwwww.....

Now I know what most of you are thinking… there’s no way those “natural” cleaners she’s always talking about are gonna REALLY clean THAT!

Think again my friend

First I sprinkled the area with baking soda

sprinkle baking soda over the area...

then I poured some vinegar over the whole area and let it bubble up and sit for about 5 mins.

...then add vinegar and let it bubble

Then I came back and sprinkled more baking soda and used my Skoy cloth to scrub the sink until it was clean.

After 5 mins scrub clean

So for all of you who are on the fence about the strength of “green” cleaning, I give you Exhibit A.

Exhibit A

I rest my case.

What are some of your “green” cleaning recipes?

Stainless Steel Sink Cleaner Instead of using Ajax or Commet use one of the...
Moisturize Your Skin Naturally with Homemade Body Oil This is what I do instead of wearing lotion. Right...
Homemade Brown Sugar Body Scrub When I discovered that body scrub is so ridiculously easy...

Organize Your Life Like You’re Getting on a Plane

Savvy — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 21:31:39 +0000

The night before I go on a trip, I check the weather for the destination’s forecast, and plan my outfits for the whole week. I narrow down my footwear to what I’m going to wear on the plane, a pair of sneakers, 1 pair of heels, and a 1 pair of black flats. I decide what size suitcase and what carry on to bring, and what will go into each. I stay up late planning, and prepping, and funneling various oils, creams and conditioners into travel-size containers with the precision of a chemist. I try to get cash and packets of oatmeal ahead of time, so I won’t have to deal with the high prices of food and $5 ATM fees at the terminal, and I reserve a parking space near the airport. This process usually works out pretty well, and I get to my destination ready to relax or work or whatever. Pretty savvy right?

BUT…

For some reason, getting up, working out, and getting out of the house and to the office by 9am on a daily basis completely eludes me. I don’t hear the alarm, nothing that I want to wear (or can fit comfortably) is clean, I can never find at least one of my shoes, my phone isn’t charged, I forget to feed the cat, (who in protest, has thrown-up on my yoga mat). Sexy is ALWAYS telling me to slow down after hearing me yelp out in pain from accidentally slamming one of my appendages into a stationary object. I walked halfway to the subway once when I realized that I still had 3 twists in a roller in the back of my head, I forgot my earrings, and the alarm company was calling me because the alarm was going off because I’d left my keys in the door and it had swung open.

Then it dawned on me.

Why not approach every (week)day as if I had to be on a plane, leaving at 9am? Hmmm. With some modifications, this just might work.

So here’s my top 10 list of how to get through the week a bit smoother. I have tried this and it actually works!

1. Plan what to wear for the week – Plan your clothes for 7 days like you would if you were going on a 1 week vacation. Check the weather, and decide what to wear. Take into account all the things you need to do for the week: Meetings, going out with friends, yoga class, running gear, the kids soccer game, etc. It’s fine if you swap things around on your list as your week goes along, but a little planning goes along way.

2. Layout what to wear the night BEFORE – If you can’t bring yourself to plan for the week, at least do this step. If it’s not clean, wash it, if it’s a new outfit, try it on. Hang the outfit up on hangers and put your shoes below it. I even hang my earrings, necklaces, bracelets and scarf on the same hanger sometimes. It’s also a good idea to plan a backup shirt or blouse in case you spill something on yourself. SAVVY TIP: No matter what you feel like in the morning, or what you think you look like, do NOT change your outfit.

3. Rewear some items – Don’t freak out. I’m not asking you to turn your underwear inside out or anything. But think about it. Why is it ok to wear the same pair of jeans twice when you’re on vacation, but not at home? Wear those jeans or denim skirt twice and quit making more laundry for yourself. You’ll save time, water and money. (You may even realize that you can give some things away after all).

4. Plan what you’re going to eat for the week – Plan your meals as if you were taking a one week road trip. Meal planning is NOT just for moms anymore (but it helps). Think about it, some of the most successful diets out there (NutriSystem, The Zone, Jenny Craig) all deliver pre-planned meals to you for the whole week. Figure it out on Friday, go grocery shopping on Saturday and cook and plan on Sunday.

5. Organize your breakfast the night BEFORE – If you have to have your steel cut oats, then stick them in a pot to soak overnight so that they cook in 5 mins in the morning, and not the 30mins it usually takes. If you want fresh fruit, cut it up and put it in a container for the morning next to the yogurt. If you have to have your coffee, then invest in a programmable coffee maker so that it’s ready when you get up.

6. Make your lunch the night before – Do this while you’re readying your breakfast. It is definitely more cost-efficient to make your lunch, especially if you’re on a diet, but it’s time-efficient too. Put everything together in a recyclable bag or pouch like XXXXXX, or just a plain brown bag and leave it in the fridge or on the counter. Keep it simple. Pretend that you have to carry that food to the airport in a carryon.

7. Put your keys in the same place ALWAYS – We have a key rack by the door, and I always put my keys there….when they’re in my hand.When you get home take your keys from wherever they are and put them on a hook, or a dish or whatever’s convenient.

8. Put all electronics in one place -At night, I put my laptop and my phone in my laptop bag or purse with their chargers attached. I put the bag or purse on a chair near an outlet and then I plug them in. When it’s time to leave in the morning, I just unplug everything and drop the phone charger in the bag and go.

9. Give yourself REAL reminders – It doesn’t ,ake any sense to do all this work just to leave your laptop on the chair and your lunch in the fridge. I put a post-it on the last door I walk through to leave the house, at eye level, with “YOGA MAT, MAIL, LUNCH” on it in big black letters. Never fails.

10. Keep things simple – Do you really need every piece of makeup that you own just to go to work? I buy travel-sized containers and use them everyday. Makeup in one pouch, and contact lens solution and case in another. Put your sneakers in your gym bag and put one of those travel sized lint rollers in your purse or bag, in case your pet decides to shower you with affection right before you leave the house. I even keep an extra pair of hoop earrings in my purse just in case I walk out without earrings that day. (Nobody’s perfect)

A surprising side-effect of putting this into practice is that I’ve realized that I don’t use half of what’s in my fridge,my closet or my bathroom! This helps when you’re trying to downsize your life like I am.

What are some of your tips and tricks for getting out the door in the morning?

Coupon Sherpa’s Eco Frugal Life Guide I mentioned Coupon Sherpa in another post this week 15...
Life Star Beauty Health and Hair Challenge 2010 Vida Starr, a fellow blogger from Life Star Beauty contacted...
DIY Wall Jewelry Organizer Since spring has hit, I’ve been bitten by the DIY...

Clean Your Clogged Drains with Baking Soda solution

Savvy — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 22:54:08 +0000

Thrifty Jinxy posted this tip this week, and it’s right up my alley! Several of you have also commented that you do the same thing. Just mix Baking Soda and vinegar and voila! Clear Drains! For the details, click here.

How to Clear a Clogged Shower Head With Vinegar I had company recently who kindly pointed out that my...
A Better Way to Clean House There is a real fear out there, (as well there...
A Better Way to Clean There is a real fear out there, (as well there...