Our eco-friendly resource section is where we share information we find on green cleaning and other topics related to greening your home or your lifestyle. We find many great eco-friendly websites so we have included a green directory which we hope you'll find interesting and useful.

If there you have a question or would like to suggest a topic for us to cover let us know at feedback@bidmycleaning.com.

5 Easy Steps to Going Green In Your Home

1. Green Cleaning Products
   Since house cleaning is our business, this is an obvious one for us. The easiest way to do this would be to use Bidmycleaning.com to find a maid service in your neighborhood who uses only green and eco-friendly cleaning products. Our bid calculator allows you to specify this as a requirement in your search. Other easy ways to green your cleaning are; use natural cleaning solutions like vinegar and baking soda instead of the chemical-based products. Dust with a damp cloth to avoid stirring up household dust which can contain accumulated toxins from the air. Always remove your shoes before entering your home and ask guests to do so too. This is a simple way to reduce the toxins entering your home and will also mean less cleaning to remove tracked in dirt and dust.
2. Green Your Dishwasher
   Now this doesn't mean you should paint your dishwasher green - it means you should choose an energy efficient model like EnergyStar. Your usage of the dishwasher can also make a difference, for example, only run the dishwasher with a full load and do not use the heat dry but rather open the door and allow dishes to air dry. Don't pre-rinse the dishes because this will waste water - rather scrape off food remnants and then place into the dishwasher. The dishwashers these days will clean dishes perfectly without pre-rinsing. Finally, use an eco-friendly dish cleaning product - our favorite is Ecover Dish Tabs.
3. Green Your Utilities
   If you can, choose a utility provider that is able to offer clean, renewable energy but if you are stuck with electricity then you can reduce your consumption. All you need to do is turn off all the appliances and technical gadgets in your home when you are not using them, this includes TVs, DVD players, game systems, cellphone chargers, computers, printers. Appliances like toasters, coffee-makers, hairdryers and others consumer 1000 kW hours per year in standby mode. The average household can have as many as 50 of these power-sucking appliances and electronic items so it can be quite cumbersome to switch them all off. An easy way to do this is to plug several in a close vicinity into a surge protector power strip. Also remember to turn off lights when leaving a room.
4. Green Your Laundry
   Again, when it comes to your washing machine and dryer, choose energy-efficient models. As with your dishwasher, only wash when you have a full load. If you've been using a hot-hot cycle to wash then switch to cold-cold or warm-cold. If every household in America did this we could save enough energy to offset 100,000 barrels of oil a day. Other simple ways to green your laundry are to choose eco-friendly laundry detergent, clean your lint trap regularly and air dry your clothes.
5. Green Your Household Consumption
   One of the main tenets of going green is the often quoted 'reduce, re-use and recycle'. This applies to almost every aspect of your household. Reduce your use of energy and water, reduce your use of plastics, reduce your use of disposable items like paper towels, napkins & paper plates/cups. If you do purchase plastic water bottles or paper plates and the newspaper be sure to recycle them. You most likely have some glass containers in your typical grocery purchases so be sure to recycle these too. For those grocery purchases remember to use reusable shopping bags and just say no to paper or plastic at the store. When it comes to re-use think of creative ways to re-use anything you would normally throw away. An old t-shirt can be cut into cleaning rags, re-use gift bags and re-purpose containers. If you don't have a use for something think about if someone else might need it and donate it to an organization like the Red Cross or Goodwill.