The Highlands at Langley incorporated low-impact development, builds home to the Built Green standard and includes a guide entitled Living Responsibly in a Green Community. Along with developing rain gardens to handle storm water run-off, avoiding pesticides and herbicides, homeowners will want to use non-toxic products to keep the interior of their homes clean and safe, too! There are many resources available to access such information, my favorite is Green America! A recent article summarized using natural, household products for cleaning;

The Basic Ten

Stock your cupboards with these ten products, and you can clean just about anything:

1. White vinegar: An anti-fungal that also kills germs and bacteria.
2. Baking soda: Eliminates odors and works as a gentle scouring powder.
3. Borax: Borax, the common name for the natural mineral compound sodium borate, eliminates odors, removes dirt, and acts as an anti-fungal and possible disinfectant. Use with care around children and pets, as it can be toxic if swallowed.
4. Hydrogen peroxide (3% concentration): A great nontoxic bleach and stain remover, as well as a proven disinfectant.
5. Club soda (fresh): A stain remover and polisher.
6. Lemon juice: A pleasant-smelling nontoxic bleach, grease-cutter, and stain remover.
7. Liquid castile soap: An all-purpose cleaner, grease-cutter, and disinfectant. “Castile” means the soap is vegetable-based, not animal-fat-based.
8. Corn meal: Great at picking up carpet spills.
9. Olive oil: Makes a wonderful furniture polish.
10. Pure essential oils

The Basic Ten at Work
Now that you know what products you need, grab a few clean, empty spray bottles; some rags and sponges; and a bucket of water, and you’re ready to clean your house the green way.

All-purpose cleaners: An all-purpose cleaner is just that-something you can use for just about every surface in your home, from kitchen counters and appliances to bathroom surfaces and walls. Clean House, Clean Planet author Karen Logan offers this recipe for the all-purpose “Alice’s Wonder Spray”: Put 2 Tbsp. white vinegar and 1 tsp. borax into a 16 oz. spray bottle. Fill the rest with very hot water and shake to blend until the borax is dissolved. Add 1/4 cup of liquid castile soap only after you’ve completed the above steps. If you want to scent your spray, also add 10-15 drops of an essential oil, such as lavender, lemongrass, thyme, eucalyptus, rosemary, rose, or clove. The spray will keep indefinitely. For an even simpler solution, try cleaning with two cups of club soda in a spray bottle.

Hard floor cleaner: Healthy living editor Annie Bond (a.k.a. Annie Berthold-Bond) recommends this solution for all hard floors (except when directed by the manufacturer to avoid even mild detergents): Combine 1/4 liquid castile soap, up to 1/2 cup white vinegar or lemon juice, and 2 gallons of warm water in a large plastic bucket. Use with a mop or sponge.

Carpet cleaner: To clean and disinfect your carpet, the CHEC recommends blending 1/2 cup baking soda, 1 cup borax, and 1 cup cornmeal. Sprinkle mixture over rug and rub with a cloth. Let rest for several hours or overnight, then vacuum. To remove stains from your carpet, Logan advises mixing 1/4 cup liquid castile soap and 1/3 cup water in a blender until foamy. Spread the mixture on the carpet and let sit for a few minutes, then scrub the stain with a brush or clean rag. Also, club soda will remove many acidic stains, like coffee, wine, or juice. To deal with big carpet spills, pour cornmeal on the spill, wait 15 minutes, then vacuum.

Glass cleaner: To make your windows shine, you can simply use club soda in a spray bottle. Add 1 tsp. of lemon juice to increase your window cleaner’s degreasing power. Logan recommends using a terry-cloth cotton rag for best results.

Bathroom surface cleaners: You can use the all-purpose cleaners recommended above or, for even simpler bathroom cleaning, use baking soda or borax as a scouring powder. For a softer scrub, Bond says to combine 1/2 cup baking soda with enough liquid soap to achieve a frosting-like consistency. You may want to add 5-10 drops of an essential oil for fragrance. Club soda works wonders on plumbing fixtures.

Toilet cleaner: Sprinkle baking soda or borax, or pour white vinegar into the toilet, and let sit for a few minutes. Scrub with a good toilet brush. oven cleaner: Cover the oven floor with baking soda, spray with water until very damp, and let set overnight. Spray with water every few hours before you go to bed to keep damp. In the morning, clean out the baking soda, and the stuck-on gunk will be loosened and ready to scrub off.

Mold remover: Bond recommends combining 1/2 cup hydrogen peroxide or white vinegar with 1 cup water. Spray on mold and do not rinse. She also recommends treating mold with a spray mixture of 2 tsp. tea tree oil and 2 cups water.

Wood polish: To polish wood furniture, dab olive oil onto a soft cloth and rub.

Germs and Other Concerns
You may be worried about do-it-yourself green cleaners not being able to kill germs effectively. Researchers at Tufts New England Medical Center, on the other hand, worry that we’re killing too many microorganisms, saying that disinfectants found in household cleaners may contribute to drug resistant bacteria. The CHEC says that ordinary soap and water do the job well enough to keep our families safe, barring someone with a seriously compromised immune system.

For most of us, the best way to prevent the spread of harmful microorganisms is to wash our hands frequently. Also, disinfect any sponges you’re using weekly by boiling them in water for three minutes and then microwaving them for a minute or two. Launder dish rags every week.

Built Green, Sustainable Housing and Low Impact Development (LID) are the goals of home builders in Langley and throughout the construction industry. The Highlands at Langley incorporated these components in their development starting on the ground with Low Impact Development.

Low impact development manages storm water to imitate the natural hydrology (or movement of water) of the site. In a mature Pacific Northwest forest, for example, rainfall or snow melt disperses along the forest floor, where it infiltrates into the ground, is taken up by the roots of plants and trees, or evaporates. About less than one percent becomes surface runoff. But storm water runoff increases to as much as 20-30% when forests and natural open spaces are cleared for buildings, roads, parking and lawns, carrying pollutants to nearby waters.

Call me about living in the Highlands at Langley!