Being  a child of the 1980’s, I was a huge fan of “The Karate Kid”. Recently Youtube released a TV show as a sequel to the “Karate Kid” series called “Cobra Kai”. Now, if that interests you, please check it out, but it isn’t the show I’m talking about, it was just one thing that happened in the show that made me do research. In the first episode every car the main character sold he gave them a free bonsai tree. They looked so cool, so I wondered what’s the info on them. Turns out they are very ECO-FRIENDLY!

Wiki says:

Bonsai (Japanese: 盆栽, lit. ‘tray planting’, pronunciation (help·info))[1] is a Japanese art form using cultivation techniques to produce small trees in containers that mimic the shape and scale of full size trees. Similar practices exist in other cultures, including the Chinese tradition of penzai or penjing, and the miniature living landscapes of Vietnamese Hòn Non Bộ. The Japanese tradition dates back over a thousand years.

The purposes of bonsai are primarily contemplation for the viewer, and the pleasant exercise of effort and ingenuity for the grower.[2] By contrast with other plant cultivation practices, bonsai is not intended for production of food or for medicine. Instead, bonsai practice focuses on long-term cultivation and shaping of one or more small trees growing in a container.

A bonsai is created beginning with a specimen of source material. This may be a cutting, seedling, or small tree of a species suitable for bonsai development. Bonsai can be created from nearly any perennial woody-stemmed tree or shrub species[3] that produces true branches and can be cultivated to remain small through pot confinement with crown and root pruning. Some species are popular as bonsai material because they have characteristics, such as small leaves or needles, that make them appropriate for the compact visual scope of bonsai.

The source specimen is shaped to be relatively small and to meet the aesthetic standards of bonsai. When the candidate bonsai nears its planned final size it is planted in a display pot, usually one designed for bonsai display in one of a few accepted shapes and proportions. From that point forward, its growth is restricted by the pot environment. Throughout the year, the bonsai is shaped to limit growth, redistribute foliar vigor to areas requiring further development, and meet the artist’s detailed design.

The practice of bonsai is sometimes confused with dwarfing, but dwarfing generally refers to research, discovery, or creation of plant cultivars—especially coniferous subjects such as juniper and spruce—that are permanent, genetic miniatures of existing species. Bonsai does not require genetically dwarfed trees, but rather depends on growing small trees from regular stock and seeds. Bonsai uses cultivation techniques like pruning, root reduction, potting, defoliation, and grafting to produce small trees that mimic the shape and style of mature, full-size trees.

There’s a lot more information after that if you want to check it out.

Now the Eco-Friendly Fun Part!

These trees are great for the environment. And your home is your environment. The crazy thing is these little trees are also good for you!

Health Benefits of Growing a Bonsai Tree

• Growing and tending to bonsai trees is a wonderful hobby and a great stress reliever.
• Bonsai trees require proper water, care, trimming, and fertilizing to be healthy. Constantly caring for your plant can help develop your patience.
• Working with nature, including bonsai trees, can help you become a more peaceful person.
• Indoor plants, including bonsai, can clean and help purify the air in your home or office.
• Bonsai can help you get over your cold. Plants grown indoors can help fight fatigue, coughs, and sore throats.
• Successfully growing and caring for a bonsai tree can leave you with a great sense of accomplishment which is very good for your health.

Who knew a small little tree from Japan could be so useful, Eco-Friendly, and in my opinion, so much fun?

I purchased one to test it out, and now I have three. I highly recommend , if you are eco-friendly, to try this. Growing them is very calming. Trimming them into the shape you want is exciting. And the compliments of guests is great.

Take Care!

Our couches get a lot of love in our house… some days a little TOO MUCH! Juice spills, sticky hands, and yes, even my beloved red wine. With a busy family like mine it’s hard to keep up on each time a new stain appears, and had no idea how long some of them had been there. I was a religious user of stain removal chemicals before I found out how harmful they can be for my family and pets! I said, “bye-bye” to those right away, and began researching safe and effective ways that I could treat my couch with!

These are six of my favorite tips I learned along my eco-friendly journey! Before you begin make sure you vacuum the surface so nothing gets ground into your couch!

1) Red Wine

Believe it or not the answer is Hydrogen peroxide! First blot up as much as you can with a paper towel. Then mix a teaspoon of dish soap with a cup of hydrogen peroxide. Continue blotting on the stain. This also works on carpets and clothing! I’ve pulled red wine out of my favorite white top!

2) Coffee Stains

This one I was very skeptical of at first! Simply mix an egg yolk with lukewarm water, and rub it on the stained surface!

3) General Stain Remover

Whipped detergent works well for any type of stain. Fill a container with half dish detergent, half water, and use a hand mixer to whip it up. Use a rag to rub the froth into the spot, and then rinse the area with water.

4) General Stain Remover

Another general stain remover can be made using shampoo mixed with water! Yes! That’s it! You can use whatever type of shampoo you have laying around the house.

5) General Stain Remover

STEAM CLEANING! It does use electricity, but the only component used to do the cleaning is water! This method is great to pull out those stubborn stains!

6) General Stain Remover

If you have tried everything and it still isn’t coming out, it may be time to call the professionals. I personally have never had to do this, but one of my good friends has! The process is called Chem-Dry. It uses carbonation to clean upholstery without solvents, enzymes, harsh chemicals, and with very little water.

Try these six tips the next time your couch come in an unfortunate encounter! You won’t regret it!

We don’t always sanitize the things that we should be. Not because we don’t care, but we simply don’t think of them! There are germ filled things that surround us on a daily basis that lead to illness. Get your disinfectant ready (there are many eco-friendly options as well)!

Here are 6 things that should be cleaned way more often!

1. Shared Computers

Even if it’s only used occasionally by a couple people in the home, it’s important to wipe it down before each use with an alcohol-based towel (They make special ones for electronics). The keyboard and mouse are in direct contact with hands and fingers that are full of germs, and then you touch your eyes, nose, or mouth. This can pass around illness throughout the home.

2. A Refrigerator Door

Once a week at least, or daily if you someone in the house or workplace is sick, wipe down the entire surface of it with a disinfectant wipe. Make sure that you get into all of the nooks and crannies! These get a lot of action throughout the day, and can even have bits of food on them, ultimately feeding the bacteria and virus.

3. The inside of the car

You don’t always think to the inside of the car when you think about cleaning your car. You should run a disinfectant along your dashboard and cup holders weekly. This is where germs accumulate because of the heater or AC blowing them there, and the food residue lining the cup holders. (If you have a child’s car seat make sure you wipe that down too)

    4. Remote Controls

We have all heard the stories about how gross hotel remotes are, but even the ones in ours home are germ filled as well. This is actually one of the grimiest surfaces in the home. Everyone in the home touches it all the time even sometimes when eating. This causes the remote to be full of bacteria and virus growth. This is something that should be wiped on at least once a week, if not every day!

   5. Your purse

This was one I didn’t think of right away! Your purse sees store counters, car floors, and even restroom floors that are full of germs! You are also constantly touching the handle and strap which picks up bacteria as well. The purse then comes into the house and spreads the germs inside. Spray or wipe your purse down daily. Use a fabric-safe sanitizing spray and paper towel. Hang it on a hook and let dry.

6.Your cell phone

This one is begging for a weekly cleaning! It is handled all day long by germy, food filled hands that bacteria thrives on! Cleaning with an alcohol-based cleaner is meant for digital devices.

These are some of the things that we have been neglecting! I know I won’t be forgetting these items anymore. It’s important for not only for your health, but for the health of your family and friends as well! Happy cleaning!

Let’s face it, children are fantastic at making messes and not very good at cleaning them up! They bounce from one activity to the next! The trail of toys they’ve left behind doesn’t bother them especially when they know we are right behind them carefully putting each thrown object back in its home! It needs to stop. We are responsible for guiding them through life, teaching them right from wrong, and showing them how to be responsible for cleaning up their belongings!

Here are 8 tips to help our kids take responsibility for their messes:

1) Resetting The Rules:

Sometimes we all need a reboot. Explain to your children that you have made some new rules about cleaning up. Let them know that you are telling them this so they understand the decision and the consequences that go along with it. “When you are finished playing with something, it is very important to put it away where it belongs. I will remind you one time to put it away, and it doesn’t end up back in it’s home, it’s mine for a week.” MAKE SURE YOU FOLLOW THROUGH! If you tell them the new rules and let them get away with not listening they will not take you seriously!

2) No new toys can be taken out until the last activity is COMPLETELY put away:

Give them a little reminder if they try and sneak away without cleaning up, but no not clean up the mess for them. This will teach them if they whine and complain long enough that you will just do it for them. They will never learn responsibility that way. Tell them that you understand that they would rather not clean up. By letting them know this it will make them accept that it must get done.

3) Avoid turning on “mom and dad TV”

We’ve all been desperate and used this one! These shows are typically drama filled and can contribute to the misbehavior at hand. It just fuels their resistance.

4) Whenever possible, make cleanup fun:

Most children will be much more willing to participate in game. So make it fun! Like “Who can clean up the most toys before the timer goes off. Or time them and see how fast they can do it!”

5) Add energizing music to the mix:

Again, add a little fun and goofiness to the cleanup routine! “Can you put all your dolls away before the song is over?” This will help your kids stop fighting you on cleaning and instead motivate them to clean because to them this seems like a game!

6) Show them a positive and cheerful attitude when you are cleaning:

If you are constantly complaining about the cleaning in your house, this will eventually rub off on your children! They will see cleaning as something that should be avoided at all cost! That will lead to one tough job convincing them that cleaning their room isn’t that bad!

7) Don’t start your request with, “ I need you to…”

Don’t come across as needy! Speak to them with confidence. Don’t ask them at the end of your request with an “ok” this is symbolizing that they have an option about what they are suppose to be doing.

8) Break down the large jobs into smaller steps:

Don’t give them too big of a job, break it down into increments that are manageable for them! Have them start by cleaning up all the toys that are a particular color, size, or category! This will teach them that they can tackle a large project in smaller steps. This is a life lesson for many parts of life.

Taking these simple steps with your children will really change clean up time in your house while teaching them life lessons. We can all use a little change when it comes to our tactics of motivating our kids in a manner that is great for them, and in the long run a game changer for you!

It’s not so bad.

You can easily and effectively combat spots, stains, odors, and more with green carpet cleaners! Here are a few tips to help cleaning.

They don’t have scary toxic and harmful chemicals like their conventional counterparts do, so you won’t feel like you’re treading on chemicals instead of your carpet. In addition to some do-it-yourself techniques, which use things such as distilled white vinegar, baking soda, and castile soap, why not try these ready-made, earth-friendly, and safe…MORE

Arm & Hammer Baking Soda

This old-time favorite is a fantastic, all-natural green cleaner that you can use to easily clean and deodorize your carpets. Simply shake it on, let it sit for as long as you like, and thoroughly vacuum it away! Learn how to make your own naturally scented baking soda cleaner in “Make Your Own Eco-Friendly Lavender Rug & Carpet Freshener.”

Begley’s Household Stain & Odor Remover

Leave it to Ed Begley, Jr., actor, author, and environmentalist, for putting together this non-toxic, natural cleaner containing an uplifting medley of aromatherapeutic essential oils, enzymes, and plant-based, sustainable ingredients that will clean not only carpets and upholstery but hard surfaces, too! Use it confidently to remove tough pet stains, smoke odors, and more.

Better Life Natural Stain & Odor Eliminator

Combat pet “oops! moments,” nasty food stains, and horrendous odors with this effective and powerful botanical deodorizer that can be used on carpet, laundry, sports gear, furniture, and more! It’s also effective at removing tough stains like blood.

Biokleen Carpet & Rug Shampoo

This plant-based cleaner with enzymes powers through dirt on your carpets, but yet is gentle on carpet pads and backings and won’t leave any harsh residues behind. It can be used in any type of carpet cleaner for an eco-clean carpet! Because it’s 3x concentrated, it reduces wasteful packaging and saves valuable resources like energy and fuel.

Citra Solv Natural Cleaner & Degreaser Concentrate

This eco-friendly concentrate with an uplifting lavender-bergamot scent is great for adding to carpet cleaning machines as a “shampoo” when you need to thoroughly clean your carpets and cut through grime, oil, dirt, and more! It’s also great on upholstery and has many other uses as well. Plus, it’s available in many different sizes.

Earth Friendly Products Concentrated Carpet Shampoo

Tred more gently on the earth, but don’t worry about being too hard on your carpets because this ecologically sound cleaner with bergamot and sage scent contains powerful plant-based, replenishable ingredients that will remove the toughest dirt, grime, and odors! It’s intended for use in hot or cold water extraction machines with enough product to clean up to 8 rooms in your home.

Martha Stewart Clean Carpet Stain Remover

Why not let Martha lend you a hand with cleaning your carpets? Her all-natural, biodegradable cleaner is 99+% plant- and mineral-based with no synthetic additives of any kind. The hydrogen peroxide in the formula gently acts as a safe agent to lighten stains. Plus, it has four third-party product certifications, including the U.S. EPA’s “Design for the Environment Program” and Leaping Bunny, so feel rest assured it’s gone through plenty of scrutiny!

Matt by Eco-Me Natural Carpet Freshener

Get some help from a new friend, Matt from Eco-Me, with freshening your carpets in an environmentally friendly way! Simply sprinkle this completely all-natural cleaner that is Leaping Bunny certified onto your carpet and later vacuum it up. It’s great for pet beds, too! The cornstarch in the formula absorbs any lingering dampness; the essential oils combat bacteria and the baking soda absorbs odors.

Naturally It’s Clean Carpet Spot-Treat

Obtain super clean carpets, naturally, with this lemon-scented, plant- and enzyme-based cleaning formula that helps break down any oils, dirt, food substances, or odors that may be lurking in your carpet. It’s also great for cleaning up pet messes and even getting rid of things like rust stains! And since it eliminates stains and doesn’t “cover” them up, it leaves your rugs and carpets fresh smelling.

Simple Green Naturals Carpet Care

Cleaning your rugs is a simple and green affair when you spray them with this earth-friendly cleaner. It works on colorfast upholstery and fabrics, too! It’s 100% naturally sourced, biodegradable formula, which is Green Seal certified, contains plant-based ingredients, minerals, and a non-chlorine oxidizing agent that breaks down and oxidizes proteins.

I hope these tips are as  helpful for you as they were for me! Good luck cleaning!

It makes complete sense that cleaning the environment should start in the environment you live in; your home. Through my journey into a greener way of living I have run across key products that are a staple in this lifestyle. I hope you either are doing this already, or interested in starting. All these products are great, inexpensive and freshen the place you live.

Distilled White Vinegar

Use distilled white vinegar in a spray bottle to sanitize kitchen and bathroom surfaces, prevent or remove hard-water scale from the coffee pot, tub and toilet, as a window cleaner, and to remove labels from products or stickers from walls. A couple of tablespoons of ordinary olive oil in a cup of vinegar works well to dust and polish wood furniture.

Baking Soda

Especially in combination with salt, baking soda works well for scouring sinks and tubs, wiping down and deodorizing the refrigerator, removing smells and stains from carpets and upholstery Rub in, leave for an hour, shake or vacuum out.

Lemon Juice

Sprayed or rubbed on, lemon juice removes stains from countertops. Clean toilets with a paste of baking soda and lemon juice. Half a cut lemon left on a shelf will deodorize the fridge. Sprayed or rubbed on, straight lemon juice will remove mold and mildew from many surfaces.

Table Salt

One part table salt mixed with four parts each of borax and baking soda makes a good scouring powder for tubs, sinks and toilets. Adding a little vinegar to a teaspoon of salt makes a good scrub for removing coffee or tea stains from mugs and cups.

Borax

Borax helps clean the tub, remove tough stains in laundry. I add it to baking soda and salt to make a general purpose scouring powder.

Wood Ash

In a paste with a little water; wood ash cleans glass! Sprinkled on and scrubbed into pavement, bricks, and stone, it will help remove oil stains.

When you come up against challenging cleaning or deodorizing tasks, try one or more in combination and you’ll probably find something that will do the trick. There really isn’t a wrong way to go.

Check out our homepage if you are looking for a cleaning service in Denver!

Time to clean! But it’s easy! Sounds like a lot, but in one day your are done. Check it out!

Bedding

Don’t you want the space where you sleep to be as clean and serene as your best dreams? Regular cleaning will help cut down on the dust mites, sweat, debris, allergens and even  fungi that can build up from the constant contact with slumbering bodies.

Sheets

It makes sense that the items closest to your sleeping self would need cleaning the most often. Make sure to wash sheets once a week in hot water and dry on a hot cycle.

Pillows

Even though they’re protected by pillowcases, you’ll still want to clean your pillows a few times a year about every three to six months – to prevent the build-up of things we’d rather not think about while trying to sleep. Throw them one (if king-sized) or two (if regular-sized) at a time into the washer on the gentle cycle with liquid detergent, run the rinse cycle twice, and dry on low with two clean tennis balls.

Mattress

This big item doesn’t have to be a big job, especially when you only need to do it every six months. Simply vacuum the top, using an upholstery attachment, and remove any stains with a cold, lightly-dampened cloth, using a little upholstery shampoo if you want. Rotate it head-to-toe for even wear, and you’re all set! Also remember that a quality mattress cover or pad can protect it from dust mites and other allergens.

Appliances

We use them every day without thinking too much about them, but the appliances in our lives need and deserve regular cleaning, especially the ones that come into contact with our food or that we trust to clean everything else in our homes!

Oven

We love a good self-cleaning oven, but not all of them have that setting. If yours doesn’t, you’ll want to schedule a cleanse every six months. Take out the oven racks and soak in hot water and liquid detergent, and spray the oven – both the inside and the door – with oven cleaner. Put some newspapers under the door to catch any drips, and let everything sit overnight. Meanwhile, run any removable knobs through the dishwasher. The next morning, wipe everything clean with warm water and a rag, and scrub any non-removable knobs with dishwashing liquid and warm water. Voila! Make sure to wait a few days before cooking a big meal, as the smells of chemicals and food can combine rather unpleasantly.

Dishwasher

Don’t you want the appliance that cleans your dishes to be spotless? Luckily, it’s an easy once-a-month task. Just put an upright cup of vinegar in the empty top rack and run a full cycle on hot.

Washer and Dryer

We trust our washers and dryers to purify our grimiest things, but it turns out some of our linens are actually turning these machines into breeding grounds for things like salmonella and E. coli. Horrifying! What to do? Whenever you clean underwear, kitchen towels, or anything you would put in the “whites” category, clean with hot water and bleach to sanitize both your laundry and your machine.

Computer

You might not think of your computer as being particularly germ-infested, but anything touched by human hands as much as keyboard is touched is bound to be a prime spot for bacteria. As needed, disconnect the keyboard and the mouse and wipe down with a clean rag and rubbing alcohol, using a cotton ball to get into the deep crevices.

Windows

Let the light in by cleaning your windows twice a year, inside and out. Make your own cleaner by mixing five drops of liquid dish detergent and one teaspoon rubbing alcohol in two gallons of water. Use a sponge to clean the whole window, followed by a lint-free cloth or coffee filter across a 1-inch strip at the top of the window. Squeegee in smooth, slightly-overlapping strokes. Make your strokes horizontal on one side and vertical on the other to quickly find and correct any streaks.

Window Screens

It wouldn’t make much sense to clean the windows without cleaning the screens too, now would it? Once a year, scrub them down either in your yard or in your bathtub. If you’re lucky enough to have some good green space, spray the screens with a garden hose, followed by a gentle scrub with a one-part ammonia, three-parts water solution. Rinse and let dry in the sun. If you’re going the tub route, lay down a drop cloth or old blanket and put the screens under the shower head, cleaning with window cleaner and letting them air-dry.

Carpet

Of course you’re vacuuming regularly and spot-cleaning as needed, but try to deep-clean your carpets once a year. Opt for the steam-cleaning route after vacuuming off surface dirt, spritzing the cleaning solution directly onto the carpet with a spray bottle and using only clean water in the extractor in the steam-cleaner.

Grout

The place where you clean yourself should be pristine. Obviously you’re cleaning your bathroom regularly, so do a deep clean on tile grout about once a year

Wood Furniture

Keep your wood furniture glowing with a once-a-year polish. Wipe down your furniture with a damp cloth, followed by a dry one, then apply wax with the natural botanical carnauba in a circular manner. Let it sit for a few minutes, then remove with a dry cloth in the direction of the wood grain until the cloth slides.

Get cleaning! It’s not as bad as you think!

I’ve really learned to love to clean things in an eco-friendly way. I use lemons for pretty much any surface. I can tell tales of how many things distilled white vinegar can clean. Though when it comes to my laptop computer, something I use everyday, I don’t clean it in a eco-friendly manor. Why?

I haven’t got a clue. I guess just because we are always told this is how to clean them, than that is the way to go. I mean I can’t imagine trying to clean my computer with a lemon, but I guarantee there is a solution out there. These are my thoughts as I researched this. I found some good ideas, some good products, and some good suggestions. Also, things I thought that were okay that simple were not.

Alcohol Swabs.

You know the kind the doctor wipes on your arm before giving you a needle? I’ve seen plenty of colleagues use them to clean their keyboards. I even seen some use them to clean their screens. I learned THIS IS NOT A GOOD IDEA. Some sites swear by it, but after doing some digging. The alcohol can eventually break down the letters on your keyboard. They may fade or completely disappear. As far as the screen goes, the alcohol can break down the coating on the screen. Also, this means stay away from Windex like products, and nail polish remover. You get the idea.

Instead, I found some natural spray cleaners for screens. I’m not endorsing any of these products; I’m just going to talk about a couple of alternate options for eco-friendly cleaning.

One spray I found was on Amazon. It’s called EcoMoist.

It’s a natural organic screen cleaner. It comes with it’s own micro-fiber cloth. It’s runs just under ten dollars. I ordered it to give it a try. For being eco-friendly, I thought it did just as good of a job as any of the major products out there that don’t boast about being natural.

The next spray I found was sold at Staples. This one is called TechTonic 2.

It is non toxic, alcohol, and ammonia free. Complete with a antibacterial fiber cloth. It runs for just under fifteen dollars. I bought a bottle and tried it on my work computer. Once again, I can’t say it works any different than the major brands. It did exactly what it was supposed to do.

There are quite a few more eco-friendly screen sprays on the market, but at this point I already found what I was looking for. I had run my small experiment, and was happy with the results.

As far as a comparison between the two I tried. It’s kind of a wash. I liked them both for the same reasons. They both did their job, and were both eco-friendly. If I was forced to give an answer, I’d say EcoMoist, but that’s like comparing an apple to an apple.

Next up is the keyboard. I solved the screen problem, but the keyboard is just as important. Now, for those of you who have a touchscreen keyboard, then the above already solved that problem. I admit, it’s on purpose, I haven’t switched to touchscreen.just because I’m so used to using a keyboard. Though, this is coming from a person who has no problem using a touchscreen phone. Anyway, the keyboard can be wiped down with the screen cleaner, but in my opinion that’s like washing your hair with soap, when shampoo exists. The screen gets attention, why not it’s friend the keyboard?

My first thought was the duster. Obviously, the aerosol air duster we’ve used all these years to clear our keyboards of daily debris isn’t eco-friendly, just based on the aerosol alone. That’s not mentioning the countless other chemicals and gases in those products.

The first eco-friendly keyboard duster I came across is called O2 Hurricane Canless Air System.

This thing looks pretty cool, however, I can’t give a review from using this product. The Hurricane costs between eighty to one hundred and fifty dollars. Thus, I would have loved to buy it and try it out, but just price wise I couldn’t. Now, with that said, if I owned an office building and this thing did what it says it does, then I’d have one on every floor. The way is works is like a reverse vacuum. It doesn’t have to be used just on keyboards. You can blow the dust off things in your home, or even inflate balloons with it. No chemicals. It’s all just the natural air you breathe. It runs on electricity, but I couldn’t tell if you charge it, or have to use it while plugged in, and I couldn’t find that information on the site. Good news is, there is an eco-friendly keyboard duster out there.

Next, I came across the e-cloth.

A general purpose cloth. Also eco-friendly. The company makes many e-cloths for different cleaning needs. I found the electronics version of the product on Amazon. I was able to purchase it for around seven dollars. It claims it will clean the debris off your electronics and give it a shine. It did what it said. My keyboard did look better. Cool thing is is that to clean the cloth all you need to do is toss it in the washing machine. Nice thing is it cleans the dust off the screen as well. I still think the sprays worked better on screens, but you can be the judge.

There were a ton of products I came across as I researched. There really is a demand out there for eco-friendly products like these. These were just a few examples. Look around and see what is your best fit.

The best part about all of this, for me, is I see other people have an environmentally friendly conscience like myself, and are creating new and inventive ways to keep the world we live in as clean as possible with more and more harsh things coming onto the market everyday!