Organic Housekeeping; Chapter 1

This book has way too much information. So I'm going to have to do one chapter at a time. I finished chapter one, "First Things First." All about organizing. Ellen states, "It is vitally important to keep materials flowing into and out of the house at a nearly equal rate."

First, she suggests cleaning out. If it's really bad, have a cleaning out party, rent a dumpster or arrange for a recycling truck to make a special trip to your house. If it's not that bad, just go through one room or one closet or one cabinet at a time. I am going to try one room at a time.

Little hints that I liked: get plug in rechargeable flashlights for every room. Get clips that can hang on the front door, to hang things that need to be taken with you when you leave. This way you don't have to rely on your memory to grab the dry cleaning or the late movie or library books, or just to take out the mail. "Banishment does not agree with furniture. No matter how carefully you wrap it or how dry the outbuilding." Give it to someone, or donate it, or sell it while it's still in good condition. Buy in bulk, not individual packaged items. Be careful some bulk may come individually packaged and you will have more waste. Buy recyclable and reusable containers.

It takes 21 days to form a habit. You will have to consciously work at it for a month. Do not use a horizontal filing system, sort mail and file right away. Keep a notebook handy, to jot down notes right away, ideas and chores. Keep calendar up to date. Keep basket on stairs for things to be carried up and down and carry it every time you go up or down. Once your house is clean, do a few little things each day to keep up with it. Don't move things around, put them away. Enjoy your home, overly clean is intimidating and overly dirty is depressing.

Recycle and compost everything that you can. Recycle: glass, tin cans, aluminum, plastics (find out what plastics your local recycle company takes), paper and cardboard. Suggested paper companies to use: Badger Envirographic 100, Encore 100 and Eureka! 100 are all made from 100% recycled paper. New Life DP 100 is from 60% recycled paper. Don't use plastic grocery bags, always carry a cloth bag with you (I keep one in my purse). Electronics are recyclable, too. Try International Association fo Electronics Recyclers at www.iaer.org/search, National Recycling Coalition at www.nrc-recycle.org/programs/electronics, Carnegie Mellon Iniversity's Green Design Initiative at www.ce.cmu.edu/GreenDesign/index.html and Recycler's World at www.recycle.net/computer to find somewhere to take you old electronics. Ink cartridges is another thing that really should be recycled, some companies will pay you for them. Try www.empties4cash.com, http://www.fundingfactory.com, www.inkjetcartidges.com and http://www.c-rep.net. When you get new furniture delivered, ask if they can remove the old one, they probably have a recycling program already. And last thing, carpet. You can recycle this too. http://www.earthwquare.com, http://www.lafiber.com/sys-tmpl/recycleprogram, http://www.antron.net and http://www.infinitynylon.com. Oh, and don't forget to compost, which Ellen promises to discuss in a later chapter.

If this doesn't cut down on your trash, than you are buying the wrong stuff. We already recycle and compost. We still have too much trash if you ask me. So, I'm going to put more effort into it, and I'll let you know how it works out! And I developed a plan. One room a day 3 days a week. So it will take 2 weeks, but I'm not trying to over do, I'll get overwhellmed and won't get the work done. And hopefully tomorrow or Thursday, I'll get chapter 2 to you. "The Kitchen: You Are What You Eat.