Thinking of the environment

These days I am trying to think about the environment and my own health more. I am worried that I am using too many chemicals.

One thing I've done is to stop buying various cleaners and just buy big bottles of good quality dish washing detergent. It can be use for everything! For example:

- washing dishes and cleaning the kitchen. Just use hot water and detergent, you don't need strong cleaners. If you put some baking soda (= bicarbonate of soda = jusou) on the sponge, you have a gentle but effective cream cleanser. This is wonderful for cleaning china, making glasses shiny and cleaning the cooktop without scratching it. And baking soda has the effect of making more bubbles, so you need less detergent.

- cleaning the bathroom. I don't want to take a bath after I have used a strong bathroom cleaner. They smell and even if you rinse the bath carefully, I am sure some chemicals remain. Dish washing detergent is just as effective and much safer!

- removing stains from clothes. If you have a new stain on your clothes (curry, tomato sauce, etc) put a little dish washing detergent directly on the stain before adding the garment to the laundry as usual. It is also perfect for putting on the collars of white business shirts!

- for washing the car
- for washing windows
- for washing the floor
- for washing your hands

By the way, I usually buy some detergent with antibacterial ingredients but never buy ones with added oils like orange oil. I have tried 100yen shop detergent but it wasn't so effective.

Finally, these days I use plain unbleached toilet paper. I used to use nice patterned white rolls with pretty flowers on them to match my toilet! And the paper was also the thick type especially made for 'washlet' toilets. I have kept a few of the nice rolls for when guests come but for daily use the cheap one is fine, AND it is better for the environment.

Basically I think that modern consumers have been fooled by large companies. We can see many advertisements showing the latest cleaning products but they are probably not much better than regular soap or detergent. Our grandmothers would be shocked at the variety and range of cleaning products that are available now. Worse still, the chemicals they contain are killing us and the environment!