Small Steps Matter
10 small steps towards a greener home
At The Nature of Things we are passionate about helping to protect our planet. We believe by making small changes to how we live our life, collectively as a society, we can help tackle some of the serious challenges facing our environment. We like to call it ‘Small Steps Matter’.
To guide our journey to living a greener life, we have created 10 Small Steps. This is a simple list of natural recipes that can be used at home to replace many of the ingredient and packaging heavy cleaning products that we use to clean our homes.
Notably, many of these products did not exist in our grandparents or parents’ times – yet, they were able to keep clean and fresh homes. This inspired us to ‘spring clean’ our cleaning cabinets and look to see which products we could replace with more simple and natural solutions. In tandem, we wanted to also help reduce our reliance on unnecessary packing and save some money. Both welcomed at a time of increased waste and rising costs in nearly all aspects of our lives.
These recipes are fun to create and hopefully will motivate people to look further for simple ways where they can reduce their reliance on ingredient heavy products and packaging.
Together, our Small Steps Matter.--
Our 10 Small Steps Recipes
Ingredients you will need:
- Essential Oils: in our recipes, we have used our new Purity blend – a gorgeous blend of 10 essential oils with an uplifting fresh natural scent and antibacterial powers. Alternatively, you can create your own simple blend using your favourite essential oils: bergamot, cardamom, clove, cinnamon, eucalyptus, lavender, lemon, lemongrass, rosemary, tea tree all have antibacterial powers and have a fresh and clean scent.
- water
- baking soda
- white wine vinegar
- liquid soap: preferably neutral Castile soap
- alcohol: can be found in pharmacies
- citric acid: can be found at a health store
- cornstarch
- beeswax or a vegetable wax: can be found at a health store usually
- vegetable oil (rapeseed, sunflower, olive oil)
Tools you will need:
- kitchen tools: measuring spoons and cups, double boiler, mixing bowls, spatula and mixing spoon, ice cube tray
- cleaning tools: bucket and mop, wipes, sponges, kitchen cloths
- spray bottles in two sizes: ideally one larger (500ml) for surface cleaning and one smaller (100ML or so) as a freshening spray. We recommend using/cleaning existing spray you probably already have in the kitchen or bathroom.
1. Fresh & Natural Room Spray
To a 50ml spray bottle, add 35ml of alcohol and 5ml (1 teaspoon) of the Purity blend. Mix well. Then add 10ml of water. Mix again. You now have a fresh and natural room spray to use around the house. Enjoy that ‘I have just spring cleaned my house’ smell!
2. Fresh & Natural Aroma Diffusion
In our Maël or Solenn Diffuser, add 10-20 drops of Purity blend to a full load of water (200ml). Place in the hallway or any living space where you want to gently diffuse an invigorating and fresh scent. For other diffusers, follow the manufacturers instruction.
3. Kitchen surface cleaner
To a 500ml spray bottle, add 250ml of water, 120ml white wine vinegar, 120ml alcohol, 1tbsp corn starch and 12-15 drops of the Purity blend. Mix well. To use, spray on sink or counter surface then wipe with a kitchen cloth. Avoid wood and stone/marble surfaces.
4. Toilet Cleaning Pods
In a glass bowl, add 130gr baking soda, 65gr citric acid and 30 drops of Purity blend. Mix well so that the essential oil blend is evenly distributed. In a small bowl or spray bottle, mix 1tbsp (15gr) neutral Castile soap and 50ml water. Moisten the powder mixture and mix until you have a rough paste that can hold its shape but is not wet. Using an ice cube tray as a mold, fill each section about ¾ full. Allow to dry overnight. To use, simply drop a pod in your toilet and let it fizz. Scrub the toilet with a brush as you normally would.
5. Drain Deodouriser
In a bowl, mix 200g of baking soda with 15–25 drops of Purity blend – according to your preference. Pour the mixture directly into the kitchen sink drain. Then add 200ml of white vinegar and let it fizz with the baking soda. Wait at least 5-10 minutes before using the sink again.
6. Floor (Tiles) Cleaner
In a bucket, add 1 gallon of hot water, 1 cup of white wine vinegar, 20 drops of Purity blend and a dash of neutral Castile soap. Mix all the ingredients. Mop the floor as you would with any other floor cleaner. You can also add a cup of alcohol for a more sparkly finish.
7. Window Cleaner
In a spray bottle, mix 120ml water, 30ml vinegar, 60ml alcohol and 10 drops of Purity blend. Mix well and spray onto your windows and wipe clean with an old newspaper.
8. Wood Polish
In a double boiler, melt 15gr of beeswax with 90gr of rapeseed oil or olive oil. Remove from heat and add 10-12 drops of Purity blend. Stir well and pour in a small jar and let it cool and harden. To use, put a small amount of the golden balm on a piece of cloth and apply to your wood surface. For a more traditional woody scent, we recommend trying our Atlas Cedar Essential Oil.
9. Carpet Freshener
In a cup, mix 15 drops of Purity blend with 200gr of baking soda. Sprinkle on the areas of your carpet that need a refresh and let the powder do its work for an hour before vacuuming. Keep any unused powder in an airtight container.
10. Shoe Freshener
In a small cup, add 2 tbsp of baking soda and 5-10 drops of Purity blend. Mix well ensuring there are no lumps. Put one tbsp of the mixture in each smelly shoe and spread inside without rubbing. Leave overnight and then remove the powder for a fresh clean smelling pair of shoes.