This is always the best hour in my Holiday!

Ringing the bell for the Salvation Army is the highlight of my Holiday! It was really cold, but we had lots of layers and laughs. My son even agreed to the antlers!

If you'd like to donate you can call 1-800-sal-army.

They do great work! Merry Christmas!

A green Christmas idea with no carbon footprint!

Here is a last minute idea for those wanting to share green things with friends, but don't want to leave a carbon foot print. Try downloading your favorite book as a PDF, then attaching it to an email and send it off to a friend. No paper, No shipping- No carbon foot print at all!

If you want to share my e-book with a friend, I'm offering a $5 off coupon since I'm joining Coach DQ on WNRI this morning. She is giving my book, The Joy of Green Cleaning, away for her Holiday gift give-away.

Since there is only one winner, I have a coupon so you can download my e-book for only $5! Attach my book as a PDF to an email and send to all your friends. What a great way to save money, time and the planet.

Join me for Coach DQ's Holiday give-away! Don't worry if you can't make it, you can use the $5 off coupon to download my e-book. Here is the link - http://bit.ly/8qmEUC and just use code:CGOJT

Green cleaning in a pinch

Sometimes you have to hear if from someone else. This is from Liz R. Thought you might like to hear how simple things do really work!

"I have a funny story for you. Last weekend we ran out of dishwasher detergent and Hubby wanted me to pick some up when I was at the store. Because I'm cheap, I told him we could make our own from the recipe in your book. He was skeptical, as usual. I made the batch as per the recipe in your book (The Joy of Cleaning). We ran it with the load of dishes in the dishwasher and voila! Sparkling clean dishes. The Green Cleaning Diva strikes again in converting a skeptic to use natural ingredients for cleaning! We'll never go back to Cascade dishwashing detergent again! Thanks ;)"

If you want to see how to make the dishwashing soap she's talking about you can watch this video for the directions. Give it a try- it really works!

Thanksgiving Laundry

That's really an oxymoron- Giving thanks for laundry! Never! But this year we have found some great green laundry detergents to help keep the laundry clean and green. Here are some of the new detergents now available.

Charlie's Soap

Charlie's Soap comes in a powder and a liquid. You only use a teaspoon for an entire load. This bag does 80 loads of laundry! The other neat thing is that you don't see a lot of bubbles. I know this can really make you feel like it's not cleaning, but it does a great job and rinses totally out of you clothes. It's great for people with skin allergies and sensitivities. This bag retails for $14.99

Mrs. Meyers

Mrs. Meyers Laundry Soap is nice if you like a scent. This bottle does 64 loads in an HE machine. I personally like the smell of the Lemon, but they tell me the Basil is the best selling scent. Another great green alternative. This bottle is also $14.99

Persil

This box of Persil is very familiar to anyone that lives in Europe. Persil is the European choice for front-loading washing machines. This box does 80 loads and I love the way it leaves your clothes smelling fresh and clean. This box retails around $65.00

Soap Flakes

These soap flakes are the main ingredient in my Great-Grandmother's laundry soap recipe. If you want to try to make your own laundry soap just go to my book site for the free recipe and then buy a bag of this soap. You will be very surprised how well it works- and to make it a liquid, all you need to do is add some boiling water. This bag is only $9.95

Now there's a thought...

I was getting ready to set my oven to "self cleaning", and thought- why can't I put my BBQ grates in there too? I looked it up and guess what- The Handyman actually recommended this tip in their October 2009 magazine as a way to clean your BBQ! Great minds think alike.

One thing I'm going to do is scrap off as much of the excess grease before putting them in the oven. I was thinking it would be really bad if the grease caught fire like it does on my grill! But if it works, my grill will look great for Thanksgiving. I decided to make grilled veggies and since the rest of the kitchen will be crowded- I'm going to step outside, catch some fresh air and grill the vegetables! (maybe with a glass of wine!)

Finish up the floors without a bucket

Whenever I clean I always leave the floors for last, and since today is our last day to clean, -let's finish up with the floors. Tip: Do any last minute dusting now so the dust will land on the carpet or hard wood floor.

Hardwood floors and tile are really easy if you use a microfiber mop and a green floor cleaner. We don't have to waste water and cleaner in a bucket either. Instead you dilute the cleaner in a spray bottle and spray it directly to the floor. Then, wipe it down with a dry microfiber mop. Your floors will come out sparkling and you don't have to throw all that dirty, chemical filled water down the drain! A green way to clean the floors!

When vacuuming a room of carpet, always pick the spot opposite the entrance and vacuum around the outside of the room first. Then I vacuum my way out of the room and don't leave anything but "Vacuum Tracks" as Tim Allen used to say. His wife liked the marks the vacuum made so he spray painted them on the carpet so he could "get them right".

I want to wish you all a very Happy, Clean and Stress-free Thanksgiving. You now have two days to concentrate on the food, fun and family. Happy Thanksgiving to you all and know that I'm very thankful for all of you!

Surprise- Today is not the last day!

Our goal was to have the entire home clean a few days before Thanksgiving so you could concentrate on the food and the fun. But today is not the last day. We aren't going to clean today, we are just going to check on a few things.

The first thing is the light bulbs. Make sure all your light bulbs are bright and working. If you need to replace some, remember you should recycle the old ones. You can either take them to Home Depot or look up your recycling program at http://www.earth911/. Just plug in your zip code and it will tell you where to go to recycle anything!

Guest towels - If you are having overnight guests, make sure you have enough and they are in great shape. You can add a scent of essential oil on a cotton ball inside them so your guests will feel special.

Fresh Flowers - Think about buying some fresh flowers in the next few days. Or get a few Poinsettia plants and place them around the house. This is a great Feng Shui idea that will make your guests feel more comfortable. And it will naturally cleanse the air.

Check things outside - You might want to check on your front door mat. Do you think you need a new one? And do some little things around the outside of your home like fill the bird feeders and make sure the trash cans are put away. You want your home looking it's best - inside and out.

Check on your front hall closet - Make sure you have enough room in your closet for your guests' coats and more than enough hangers so you don't have to hang their coat over a chair. You want them to feel that their belongings are just as important as they are!

Just take a "walk" around your house as if you were a guest and see what your guests will see. I suggest starting from your car in the driveway, walk up the walk and then into the front entry way. Today is a great day to see how welcome they will feel.