And by deskunk, I literally mean how to get the skunk smell out if one of your pets (or god forbid, YOU) have tangoed with one of these smelly critters….its actually pretty simple, you just need 4 ingredients. White vinegar, baking soda, hydrogen peroxide and water. If your carpet or couch are affected, I recommend a steam-type cleaner, I used a “Little Green Machine,” made by Bissell.

For carpeting (or upholstery, I’m guessing), sprinkle a liberal coating of baking soda on the affected area….don’t be afraid to use too much…we’ll take care of it in a moment or two. Now, if you don’t have a carpet/upholstery cleaner…you’re going to have to let the next step dry for a bit before you can vacuum it up…but spray some of the white vinegar directly onto the baking soda. It’ll fizz a bit, maybe a lot, depending how much of each ingredient you’re using. My entire house reeked before we did this…and I think if not all the smell, we got most of the smell out in about 10 minutes.

If you’re using a carpet cleaner…spare yourself the spraying and just add as much white vinegar to the resivoir as you would use cleaning solution….fill to where its to be filled with warm water….and apply to the carpet. I recommend spraying it on and letting it do its thing with the baking soda for a few seconds before extracting it all.

For the pet who’s been affected….do this as quickly as possible after the encounter. However, I rinsed our dog w/plain water last night and some shampoo, just to make sure her eyes were ok, and left her sleep on the old couch in the garage….so about 7-8 hours had passed before we tried this….

Mix two quarts of hydrogen peroxide with 1/2 a cup baking soda and rub into the pet’s fur. Let sit for just a moment or two…as long as you can with a wiggly critter. Then, rinse them well, and voila! They’ll be clean and should be stink free. If it doesn’t work, its safe to repeat…hopefully you’ll be lucky like we were and not have to repeat a second time.

If you actually need these tricks….I’m so sorry. We discovered very quickly that its not a pleasant experience. Hoping you never need to know this stuff….. Diane

It’s a mystery in substance and in shape. The kids aren’t allowed to have food or drink in their rooms, so I’m really not sure what it could have been. The shape is quite interesting though, don’t you think? Not your standard roundish blob of a stain.

Anyway, I came into the kitchen and poured myself a delicious glass of baking soda. Yum. Okay, no. Not yum. I added a sprinkle of water to it–not enough to even make a paste, just enough to make a crumbly mixture. I took it and worked it into the stain with my fingers and let it sit overnight.

After using the brush attachment on the vacuum, I discovered this:

At least…I think that’s the right area. The stain was so completely gone that I was sure exactly where it had been. And that’s a good thing.

Never underestimate the power of baking soda. And rest easy knowing you green-cleaned your baby’s carpet.

Here’s my kiddo with his front 4 teeth all missing at the same time. You should see him try to eat a cheeseburger! HA! But he gets the job done.

Green thing about today’s post: Alex was thrilled to discover in the package’s insert that some of the Clone Wars toys are 100% recycled. The Mighty Muggs say they are “100% recycled AWESOME”. And I love that. It’s awesome.

Green wives often want to prepare their families food, whether it be mainstream, vegan or even just a snack, but aren’t sure how to “green up” their kitchens without going too far out of their way. There are several products that make being green in the kitchen a lot more convenient.

Using a dishwasher is a popular convenience that many enjoy. How in the world can this be a little greener? First, make sure you run the washer only with a full load of dishes. Take a moment one day and figure out how you can load your dishes most efficiently, so that the most dishes fit, yet still get clean. Another way is to find a naturally derived dish detergent, such as Seventh Generation brand. This detergent doesn’t have dyes or perfumes, and is naturally based, and biodegradable. This minimizes the chemicals in the waste water.

Paper towels can be a large part of a family’s routine. Because of the increasing cost of most items, they are also a somewhat unnecessary expense. “HOW can they be considered unnecessary, when I use them for everything?” Quite simply, replace them with a product such as an “unpaper” towel. “What is this,” you ask? Very often, it’s a layer of fabric, approximately the same size as a traditional paper towel, with one side being smooth, and the other being slightly “scrubby.” These “towels” are as absorbent as a paper product and wash up nicely with your regular laundry. They’re also much more durable than a paper product, so where several paper towels would be needed, many times one “unpaper” towel will do the trick.

Even opening a slow drain can be more environmentally friendly than using a bottled chemical product. First, remove any visible obstruction from the drain. Then, add about 1/8 to ¼ cup of baking soda, whatever brand you prefer, to the drain, as close to the pipes as you’re able to get. It’s recommended to remove any sink traps before beginning this. To the baking soda, add up to one cup of white, distilled vinegar in small increments. This will create a bubbling, steaming reaction (it can get quite hot, use caution). Very often, your drain will be open after this. For particularly stubborn clogs, the baking soda and vinegar procedure may need to be repeated.

Composting is a viable option for discarding scraps of food and leftover bits of food, even for those who live in small apartments! New York City is one of several cities that advertise its composting project, providing drop off sites for food scraps. Their website describes how to create a worm bin for those who wish to compost at their residence. The soil created from this compost can be used in window boxes, parks and many other places. It could also be used to fertilize indoor gardens and vegetable pots.

There are undoubtedly many other ways to be Earth-friendly in the kitchen. Won’t you share some of your favorite tips?

Where can I find the products mentioned in this article?

- Try your local grocery store. Many are beginning to carry brands such as Seventh Generation.

- DoodleBunz carries UnPaper Towels

- NYC and cities such as Vancouver provide residents with supportive websites and drop off sites for composting. Call your municipality and see if anything exists in your town. If not, encourage local education.

You know, these days linoleum is just not considered one of the more desirable flooring options available to homeowners. I think what pops into most peoples’ heads when they think of linoleum is the ‘avocado green’ or ‘harvest gold’ they remember from their grandmother’s kitchen.

However, I like to think that linoleum is making a comeback. My reasoning: it’s green. Linoleum is environmentally friendly and that makes me happy.

Turns out, the stuff is made from all natural products like linseed oil (hence the ‘lin’oleum name), wood flour, cork flour, etc. Therefore, it’s totally biodegradable and won’t leave nasty toxins in our soil once it’s in the landfills.

See, in our last house, we had lovely looking ceramic tile. It was very appealing, but I depised cleaning it. The grout just gave me the heebie-jeebies because I felt like it was a bacteria trap. I couldn’t clean the glazed tile with vinegar because the vinegar would eat through the glaze, causing the the tile to become more porous and open to dirt and germs. I didn’t like trying to clean with toxic products, so the cleaning process was very unpleasant for me.

I hope that the practicality and the Earth-friendliness of linoleum will help it make a comeback in homes everywhere.

(For more great info on this, click here)

Today is a bit of a rainy, dreary day, so with the exception of a couple of errands I just ran, I’ll be getting things done around the house today. I thought I’d share the little things I’m doing along the way that help make an average day’s activities a little greener….

I’m about to sit down and serge some cloth baby wipes. For months after I began cloth diapering, I just never switched over to cloth wipes. I thought that disposable ones were easier and just never went past that. However….I soon realized that picking used disposable wipes out of a poopy diaper is just not appealing. If you use cloth, you don’t have to bother with that…..they just go in the wash right along with the diapers. They’re handy that way. And they’re really soft and cute (see above photo). And….they’re green.

I have down a few loads of laundry today with my Purex Natural Elements detergent. It’s concentrated, so the bottle isn’t excessivly large. Its ingredients are Earth-friendly. And it smells veryyummy with it’s natural apple & melon scent! While I don’t find that it’s a great cloth diaper detergent, I love it for the rest of our laundry.

Later on, I need to clean my linoleum floors (which I recently discovered are relatively green themselves! But that’s another story for another day.). I absolutely despise mops, so when I clean our linoleum, I get down on hands and knees and scrub. I use cotton bar towels (love the natural fibers) and I just pour straight vinegar onto the floor. My floors have never felt and looked so clean as they do with a good vinegar scrubbing!!

So….what have you done today that’s green?

I love line-drying our diapers. There’s something seeing them hanging out there that makes me feel very peaceful. It feels good to know my clothes dryer isn’t eating up energy. It feels good to admire our beautiful collection of diapers. And it feels good to know that I’m not filling up garbage bags with disposable ones.

Do you line dry your diapers or clothes when the weather permits? I know some people dry in their garage or have other types of line drying systems set up. I would love to hear how you dry yours!

I’m looking sooo forward to my ooey gooey cheesey squash, fried okra, stuffed peppers and fresh, crisp beans. Oh, MAN, am I ready! There is just nothing quite like fresh garden veggies! Let’s just hope I’m able to keep them all alive and producing in this heat!

Oh…quick gnome update. I asked my neighbor if maybe the gnomes would like dinner as a thank you for tilling my garden. He said that they happen to LOVE my buffalo chicken strips, so it looks like I’ll be making lots of those tomorrow night!

On another note, I’m excited another auction that Diane from Pampered Bunz and I are doing this week. It’s a Mickey Mouse outfit this time and I’m going to have a really hard time parting with it! Here’s a little preview of my contribution to the set (Elliott thoroughly enjoyed modeling it for me!)…

Another random thought…my town is having a cajun festival this weekend and I’m kind of excited about that! That in itself is funny, because Shayne and I have really become pretty reclusive lately and the chances of us actually going and facing the crowd are pretty slim. Maybe I’ll just buy a box of Zatarain’s and call it a day.

***Pampered Bunz is now Doodle Bunz!

Our next door neighbors are a very sweet and wonderful couple. They are kind, fascinating, hard working people that I have tons of respect for. It’s a great thing to have good neighbors, you know it? We have lots of them. Mainly retired widows and retired lesbian couples.

But this particular non-lesbian couple have a love for gnomes. They collect them. There are gnomes of all shapes, sizes and expressions both in their home and in their yard. Ceramic ones, plastic ones, you name it. They’re cute little dudes that bring a smile to my face.

But, you see….the neighbors tell us there are other gnomes. Real, live gnomes. And they live in our two back yards. They tell us that they mainly protect us from bad spirits, sometimes they take off with toys and small items….and sometimes they leave surprises and do random kind acts.

This brings us to my garden. I had marked off the perimeter of my garden with the hoe. It isn’t enormous, but when you plan to turn the soil manually, the job can be very overwhelming. One evening, Shayne and I had begun shoveling and turning the soil and finished one small section before it was time to call it a night.

The next day, I went out to water the dirt and soften it up…..and what do I discover?

The area we had worked with the shovel was turned better. Deeper. And a larger area was done.

I convinced myself that I’m just crazy and that we either did more than we thought we did, or that Shayne had come back out and done more while I was busy with the kids.

Neither of these were the case.

Our neighbor saw me out there and said with a wink that he had seen gnomes in our garden and they were acting awfully suspicious! I told him what they had apparently been up to back there and he said that he really suspected that while we weren’t looking, the gnomes would be making another visit to finish off the job.

All the while, there’s a new, shiny tiller sitting about 10 feet behind him.

Hmmm….

I’ll just say….I really like having gnomes! They do good work! Just look…

While I was out taking pics of the gnomes’ handiwork, I thought I’d show you my baby zinnias, too. They are coming up beautifully. Zinnias are tough, tough flowers. They can survive the mean Texas heat and don’t need just a whole lot of water. These will be about 18 inches tall and just full of big gorgeous blooms…

And…my most producing little strawberry plant had a pretty little bloom on it this morning…blinding, really.

I’ve never been much of a green thumb, but I’m really giving it my best shot this time around. Wish me lots of luck, flowers, fruits and veggies!

Alex helped Grandma plant some black-eyed peas in her enormous garden. It’s so fun to put those seeds in and know that before long, we’ll all be eating fresh, yummy veggies. Her squash and green beans are already sprouting and promising to be a great crop! Alex looked like a natural out there.

Actually, he looked like a city boy stuck in the country and wanted his MP3 player while he worked. Mean ol’ Mommy did not allow it.

Then I remembered that I needed some hay to put around my strawberry plants here at home. Alex, in full swing of farmerhood at this point, got out of the truck, grabbed a pitchfork and went to town. He and Grandma successfully bagged up some hay for me. Elliott and I waited in the truck and I swelled with pride at seeing my little man use a pitchfork like a real pro. Something so wholesome about it. Something so…real.

Just when he thought his work was done and we were driving away from the hay, I glanced out the truck window and spotted a fine specimen of dried cow manure. I thought to myself, “What better way to organically fertilize our strawberries!!!”

I quickly stopped the truck and Alex got back out with a bucket and a pitchfork. He worked hard and fast (with Grandma’s supervision) and collected us a heap of cow patties.

Oh, the berries we will have!

After finishing up our visit over cookies and milk back at the house, we headed home. For 45 long highway minutes, we traveled. With cow poop in tow. Oh, the smell. Oh….the smell. Because, you see, I don’t drive a long-bed farm truck. I drive an SUV. Shewwwweeeeee!

Now…

Two things:

1) I am furious with myself for leaving my camera in Grandma’s house during our adventure. You can imagine the fantastic photo opps that were missed. I’m really very upset about it.

2) It sounds like I was being terribly lazy and making my 6-year-old son do all the work. I had 2 very important jobs, though. I was driving the farm truck and that’s a serious job. The other was keeping Elliott in the truck out of the wind. It was gusting terribly and brought a yucky chill with it. I worked hard to keep her protected. Worked hard in that warm, safe, windless truck.