Clean & Green: The Complete Guide to Nontoxic and Environmentally Safe Housekeeping

With an ever increasing sensitivity to chemicals, fragrances and dyes, this book allows a reduction in some of those noxious things by giving specific recipes to make your own.

If you wonder about household product and their impact on the environment... If you want to improve the world by changing some useless and bad habits... This book is perfect for you! I learned a lot with this book and I won't use commercial cleaning product. I will be aware of what I'm buying and I will look for green product, environmental alternative!

[I'm amending my review because I recently read the following in the summer '08 "Wise Traditions" journal: "Beware of suggestions that you keep it simple and natural by using Borax. Never expose yourself to boron-containing solutions repeatedly or for extended periods of time. People have died from overexposure to boric acid..." It should be noted that many of the recipes in this book rely on Borax, and though I have not researched Borax toxicity, it's worth noting; also, I don't recall any suggestions on avoiding skin contact when using the pure 'n natural cleaning solutions, though it's been awhile since I've read the book.] You need this book, even if-like me-you really don't clean much at all, because you spend all your time with your intense, mess-creating toddler instead. If you're pregnant or have small children at home, this is the book you've been looking for. If you employ a cleaning service, you still need this book. If, like me, you say to yourself-why do I need to make my own cleaning products when I can now buy earth-friendly toilet bowl cleaner at my local discount chain store?-you still need this book. I love this book. What I like best about the book is Annie Berthold-Bond's aesthetic sensibility; one can tell that (prior to pesticide exposure and her new activist role) she was an artist. She writes lovingly of how using her favorite furniture polish (1/8 cup linseed oil, 1/8 cup vinegar, ¼ cup lemon juice) induces daydreams of favorite 19th century novels. Berthold-Bond's excellent little book makes me daydream of novels, too, the type where the fortunate heroine hires some worthy, stout-hearted local matron to keep house and always returns to a freshly-scrubbed kitchen and a pot of boiling hot tea. Uh-huh. The other day I had one of those days where the toddler didn't nap and I never got a break, but somehow I managed to mix olive oil, vinegar and a drop of essential oil and polish the kitchen table (lovingly-believe it or not-with a great leopard-print rag made from an old dress), all the while talking to the toddler and her puppets. The polish felt good on my hands. That same day I did a load of laundry in castile soap and strong rosemary tea, which smelled divine. Secret indulgences of the at-home mom! The book tempts me into philosophical reveries about the sacramental possibilities in routine tasks-to a point, and then my feminist ire rises, since house-cleaning has always been one of those knotty war-of-the-sexes issues in my marriage, which we've generally solved by not cleaning at all. But if the lion's share of cleaning is mine, that's OK, because my husband's Calvinist upbringing means he'd not easily relinquish toxic petrochemicals. (Oh the irony of an inherently messy and Dionysian man who inoculates grape juice with yeast for a living but fears microbes like sin.) Another point: I realized after reading this book that I really never knew how to clean a house. Berthold-Bond discusses procedure

I only bought this book a couple of weeks ago, and have already put many of the recommendations and recipes into practice. It offers easy to understand and implement alternatives for those who want to use enviromentally-friendly alternatives for their home. Also offers a large resource guide for where to find what you need.

Annie Berthold-Bond's recommendations for cleaning recipes are compact, exact, and varied. Recipes are included for nearly every cleaning situation encountered in households today. The book may seem short and lacking the discussion typical of many "stay green" books. Don't let this fool you. When you just want to choose a good cleaning recipe (they're conveniently ordered by type of cleaning situtation) using ingredients you probably already have in your home, then this book is the one to choose.