I was mopping the floors on Monday night when it finally occurred to me to wonder: I've been using an O-mop and the Method Wood for Good cleaners for a year. How does a year of this compare to a year of Swiffering? Let's assess the material and financial costs.
I dry-mop weekly and full-on clean the house's hardwood floors once a month. So let's assume 36 dry cloths and 12 wet cloths as a baseline. Let's throw in the typical life-happens stuff -- weather-related mud or dust, OCD hostess cleaning before wingdings, three months of contractor-generated dust all over, the cats vomiting hairballs all over the place at least once a week -- and double that. So, with the Swiffer system, that's 72 dry cloths and 24 wet ones. They come in packs of 32 (dry) or packs of 12 (wet), so an average year sees me buying three dry packs @ $11.26 and two wet packs @ $4.29. It costs me approximately $42.36 per year, and I toss out 96 wipes over the course of the year.
Back in April 07, I bought an O-mop starter kit ($30) and an extra microfiber mop pad ($6). About two months ago, I had to buy a bottle of floor cleaner ($6). All told, it will cost me $42 to clean my floors this year. So could you argue that financially speaking, it's not cheaper to be green?
Maybe not in the short term, but in the long term, it will be. After all, $36 of that $42 I spent is on reusable equipment I only have to buy once. I figure in year two, I'll have to buy two more bottles of cleaner, so the cost drops to $12 per year. Best of all, I'm not using up wipes.
What other green lifestyle options have turned out to save you both money and resources?
Oh, well, loads of things, really. Commuting via public transportation, using space heaters instead of the furnace, line-drying, CF lightbulbs--oh, and I'm about to go buy only my second box of pads in, like, two years. I've always been really good with that sort of thing--it's the stuff that actually costs you more, like buying organic, that took me a while to do.
But I should say that I was really annoyed to discover that the way they do my water bill, I basically don't save any money for conserving! I didn't realize how stupidly they price water here until I installed my super low-flow toilet and opened my water bill in eager anticipation, only to wonder if there was something wrong with the meter. But my parents live in the desert of central California, and my mom was saying that their water use doesn't affect their bill either, which is just insane.
Posted by: Polly | 2008.02.07 at 13:53
The biggest saving has come in cloth diaper wipes and cleaning cloths. I also made my own swiffer cloth with microfiber towels. On my next cycle, my Diva cup will break even (I use handmade pads as back up). And I use a vinegar, borax, essential oil cleaner from an online recipe. Good stuff.
Oh, um...hi. Surfed in from Wifestale.
Posted by: Heather | 2008.02.08 at 18:49
Heather -- thanks for stopping by! I am always glad to hear new commenters (and where they come from). If you're still reading ... can you provide some DIY instructions on the cleaner and the homemade cloth?
Posted by: Lisa S. | 2008.02.09 at 18:07
Why, yes, ma'am! I used the basic recipe that is found here: http://www.anyclean.co.uk/articles/natural-cleaning-recipes.html for the all-purpose cleaner. I use vinegar as the acetic acid (instead of lemon.) I have used all lavender to scent it, but I like playing with scents my favorite right now is about fifteen drops of mint essential oil and five drops lime (I call it Magical Mojito, which says a lot about me, I think.) For polishing wood, I mix about a fourth of cup of Murphy's Oil soap with 24 or so ounces of water and several drops of cedar essential oil. (This is also great in the car, btw. It makes everything all shiny!)
Cloths: The diaper wipes are just 8 by 8 squares of flannel that I zigzag stitched to keep from fraying. You can usually find flannel remnants for cheap at department or fabric stores. (You can use any bits left over as makeup removers.) You can fit about 36 or so in an old wipe container. Over this I pour a combo of a pint jar of tap water with maybe a teaspoon of Dr. Bronners, four drops of lavendar oil, and a drop or two of tea tree oil. The bonus here is that if you change a poopy diaper, you can leave the container open for a few minutes and it will clean the air with no chemical yickness. I'm going to be sewing more wipes tomorrow to stash an extra box in the bathroom so I can wipe up the counters and toilet at night--lavender and tea tree oil are both antibacterial. I've also used a double-folded flannel wipe for a panty liner.
My cleaning cloths are just cheap washcloths that I bought 12 for $5 at a dollar store.
Yeah, and so now I've written a whole post for a comment. Yikes.
Posted by: Heather | 2008.02.11 at 18:37
Heather, this is great! I really like the "Magical Mojito" idea.
Always into the mojitos ...
Posted by: Lisa S. | 2008.02.12 at 10:11