A primer on natural products was created to be packaged inside the cleaning kit sold by this retailer of environmentally-conscious home supplies.
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Green Depot is committed to building a better planet, one home at a time. Our goal is to give you the tools to live in a practical, well-designed space that does not compromise your health or the environment. Everything we sell undergoes a rigorous screening process by our in-house team to ensure it meets our green specifications and carefully established standards for quality, efficiency, functionality, design and innovation. It all works beautifully and looks just as good.
In addition to unique and groundbreaking products, Green Depot offers our version of many household basics. The Natural Cleaning Solutions Kit is a perfect example of the way we get the job done. Using time-honored classics of the domestic landscape—baking soda, white vinegar and hydrogen peroxide—we’ve created a toxin-free, environmentally friendly workhorse that tackles the dusty, the rusty, the musty and even the downright filthy. Armed with these fragrance-free, cost-effective ingredients, a few essential accessories and the many recipes contained in this booklet, you can achieve the safe, sparkling and sweet-smelling home we all deserve.
“Let everyone sweep in front of his own door and the whole world will be clean.” Goethe
Our country is rooted in innovation—flashes of brilliance and the dogged perseverance that brings them to life. From Ben Franklin’s kite-&-key experiment to George Washington Carver’s ingenuity with the peanut, we’ve always taken what’s familiar and accessible and transformed it into the next wave. Sound judgments and simple truths are a wonderful legacy upon which Green Depot can continue to build. Join us as we follow our common sense, trust our instincts and empower people to create a bright, shining future from the ground up.
BASIC PRIMER ON GREEN INGREDIENTS
BAKING SODA
Also known as sodium bicarbonate or sodium hydrogen carbonate, baking soda is a component of the mineral natron and, in its natural state, is found dissolved in mineral springs. This chemical salt—a white crystalline solid that often appears as a fine powder—has been known as a cleansing agent for millennia. (The ancient Egyptians used it for soap!) Its name comes from its modern incarnation as a leavening agent when, in combination with a liquid and an acid, it releases carbon dioxide bubbles that cause dough to rise. Baking soda is weakly alkaline so it also neutralizes acids and breaks down proteins. It is this property that acts on acidic scent molecules and makes it a highly effective deodorizer. Because of its finely gritty texture, baking soda is an excellent gently abrasive cleaner. It is safe for nearly every household surface and is a paragon of versatility in the arsenal of natural cleaning solutions.
DISTILLED WHITE VINEGAR
The word vinegar comes from “vinaigre,” French for “sour wine.” It is a liquid processed from the fermentation of ethanol in a process that yields its key ingredient, acetic acid. White vinegar can be made by oxidizing distilled alcohol or with a solution of acetic acid and salt in water. Undoubtedly discovered thousands of years ago after a cask of wine had gone bad, vinegar was used by the Babylonians to preserve food, as a beverage in ancient Rome (Helen of Troy supposedly bathed in it) and as a cure for scurvy during the American Civil War. Environmentally friendly and free from harmful toxins, vinegar’s many uses extend from eliminating soap scum and restoring shine to removing lime deposits and wine stains.
HYDROGEN PEROXIDE
Discovered in 1818 by Louis Jacques Thénard, hydrogen peroxide has been used as a bleaching agent, anti-microbial disinfectant and rocket propellent (don’t ask). Essentially a water molecule fused with an additional oxygen atom, hydrogen peroxide releases its extra oxygen when exposed to heat, light or organic material, thus producing pure water and oxygen. Generally available over the counter in a diluted 3-10% solution, it comes in a brown bottle that helps prevent its exposure to light and keeps it from deteriorating. Hydrogen peroxide is excellent as a mild laundry bleach, for sanitizing high-traffic areas and even as a support to plants.
