Going Green At Home

Easy ideas and clever crafts can make cleaning, conserving fun

By Leslie Garisto Pfaff
FamilyFun Magazine

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Whatever your decorating color scheme, your house probably could benefit from a little more green. Small, eco-friendly changes — reducing waste, cleaning without toxic chemicals, cutting energy use — can help you save money, keep your family healthy and make the world a better, safer place to live. So, how can you inspire your kids to get in on the act? Get crafty. Here you'll find a collection of super-simple projects, ranging from cleansers you can mix yourself to a dangling doorknob decoration that will help you save electricity. Made with recycled materials, these projects are all designed to encourage budding conservationists to be cleaner and greener while having fun in the process.

1. DUST BUNNIES

These bushy-tailed mitts just might turn dusting into your kids' pet project — and they'll definitely cut down on the use of disposable cloths. Simply use dimensional fabric paint to draw bunny faces on anklet-style socks. Use fabric glue to attach button eyes (if you like) and pom-pom tails. When you're ready to put your dusters to work, lightly spritz the bottoms with water.

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2. GREEN CLEANERS

Unlike harsh chemical products, these homemade cleaners are easy on little hands and lungs, household surfaces, and the environment. The scrub works great on sinks and pans (just dampen the surfaces first); the squirt cleaner, on counters and tile.

For the scrub: Stir six to seven drops of lavender or eucalyptus essential oil into ¾ cup of baking soda. Transfer the mixture to a recycled container with a twist-on cap (for easy dispensing, use a nail to poke a few holes in the cap beforehand).

For the squirt cleaner: Dissolve 2 tablespoons of baking soda in 2 cups of water, then stir in 4 drops of essential oil. Pour the mixture into a recycled dish detergent bottle. To use it, shake the bottle and then squirt small amounts on a dampened sponge.

3. COMPUTERSIDE RECYCLING BOX

Between newspapers and junk mail alone, it doesn't take long to fill most paper recycling bins. For convenience's sake, make an extra collection box to stash beside the biggest paper consumer in the house — the computer. Simply label a cardboard box with letters and arrow shapes cut from old magazine pages or newspaper comics.

4. LIGHT SAVER

Conserve energy with a doorknob decoration that reminds you to turn off the lights when you leave the room. Cut a light-bulb shape (about 3½ inches wide and 6 inches tall) from scrap cardboard (we used a cereal box). For the base of the bulb, cut out a cardboard strip (about 1½ inches wide and 3 inches long), wrap it around the neck of the bulb and glue it in place. Paint the light bulb and, once it dries, use a marker to draw threads on the bulb base and to print your conservation message. For a hanger, tape a loop of ribbon to the back of the bulb.