July 28, 2007

I am trying to live a chemical-free life. No chemical cleaners on my floors where the dogs walk, or on my counters where my food goes. No toxic weed or insect killers in the yard. You would think that I had learned how to do this back when I was a hippie-chick, but in the intervening years I seemed to have forgotten a lot. I'm remembering slowly.

In the picture, lady bugs. I buy a bag of them once or twice a year. After I bought the most recent bag I found these LB's all snuggled up on a leaf together. They were gone by the next day, off to do their pest fighting duties where they were needed I suppose. I don't really have a big bug problem in my yard. Most likely because I don't use chemicals. There are spiders, birds, lizards. They all eat bugs. I buy lady bugs to encourage the business that sells them.

So, in the interest of promoting a chemical free lifestyle, here is the recipe for "Earth Paste". I use this for anything you would use Comet, Ajax, etc., on:

Earth Paste Recipe

In a bowl put:
1 2/3 cup of baking soda
1/2 cup of your favorite castile soap
2 tbsp distilled water.

Mix w/a fork until smooth.
Then add 2 tbsp of vinegar (the mixture will bubble).

If you want, you can scent this with a few drops of essential oil - I don't since I use a scented castile soap. (I use Dr. Bronner's Eucalyptus-it smells clean to me. And, some days it is better to smell clean than to be clean!)