1. Dish washing liquid and surface cleaner
As we started to logic check both our product and buying decisions against the #LiveKindly filter, we wanted to reduce or eliminate any products with harmful chemicals or (if possible) any non-organic chemicals of any kind. This exercise also made me aware of our generations incredible arrogance, as if we are somehow the only generation who ever needed to clean a dish, mug, glass, eating surface etc. I am a firm proponent of the school of thought that says the golden age of our species from a health perspective was just prior to the start of mass agriculture, around 35 000 years ago.
So we started to investigate what the generations before us did and, surprise surprise, there are countless ways that we can clean things without chemicals. Here is 1 that I love using the simple lemon as a potent organic cleaner. As with so many of the home hacks we will share, the key is PLANNING. This method takes 2 lemon peels, 1 cup of spirit vinegar + 2 WEEKS. If you are not present and switched on to doing things differently then the "fast and convenient" way will win. Hope you find this useful.
Replacing Dishwashing liquid
Outcomes
It may seem like such a simple change but even this one tiny step has some really positive consequential outcomes and knock on effects.
Its incredibly cheap. After 2 weeks of fermenting 2 lemon peels in 1 cup of spirit vinegar the resulting liquid will dilute into 5 L of water.
This potent cleaner adds no chemicals that add to the toxic load on our bodies. This toxic load is part of the tri-factor of root causal factors for chronic disease, 1. Chronic Inflammation 2. Oxidative Stress and 3. Environmental toxicity
As our dishwater now contains only food waste we can recycle that water and use it on compost heaps and plants. This means we reduce the amount of water we use and allows us to grow more of our own food, ticking the Self Sufficiency box. We also tick the Bio-diversity box because we don't kill the insects and organisms we need to balance the food chain. Super Simple, cheap and easy - just plan well.
The simple reality is that the inter-connectedness of things can have positive impacts across so many systems. Next time we will discuss lemon based surface cleaners using other important ancient elements like lemongrass and cinnamon.
Jenny & Steve
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