Simple natural cleaning devices.

Hi there, 

the other day, when I have been exercising by scrubbing the bath tub I must have spilled a little of the bath cleaner on my paths and within seconds the cosy pants I have been wearing were damaged. The spot where the cleaner dropped onto was bleached within seconds. My partners favourite cosy pants, which he bought in China and thus for him was like a souvenir was ruined and he was not amused. This made me thinking, if the cleaner finds his way that quickly through a pair of pants, what would it do if it touches my skin, and to the fish in the sea, where it will end up eventually?

So while I have been looking for alternative products, I came across baking soda, vinegar and lemon! In my opinion, these natural ingredients work well for common household cleaning situations. They kill bacteria,leaving a clean, sparkling surface and you do not have to deal with the artificial smell anymore.

While baking soda makes a great scrub for situations where an abrasive cleaner is needed, the combination of baking soda and vinegar is great for a drain cleaner (just let it sit for 15min before flusing). Vinegar by itself works wonders for glass surfaces. But for me the best discovery has been to apply lemon. Since I do like to use lemon for cooking and to give my hot or cold water a little bit of a extra twist, there is quite some squeezed out lemon leftover. So far, it always went to the composter, but now I am applying it on my kitchen and bath surfaces first! You can use the inside of the squeezed out lemon as well as the outside for a little more persistent spots. Just let the rubbed lemon sit for a minute or two, and wash it away with water. It has a descaling effect, which is a blessing for such hard water as we have here, and leaves a clean, germ-free, sparkling surface that also smells really nice!

Process.

For a while now I am trying to organise, declutter and reduce my lifestyle. I say lifestyle,
because it is not just (but mostly) my belongings, which I am trying to reduce to only the
necessary ones, but also my behaviour, thoughts and life itself.

Things:
My idea is to come out with less, reduce waste, chuck and enjoy the few little things you
own even more, since the distraction by owning too many things is gone.

You do not necessary need to have a lot of money in order to pile up a lot of things, which
in fact you do not really need but ones thought there are a cool/fun/cute thing to have, and
so you treated yourself for that. Sometimes we receive these things as a present and do not
want to be disrespectful, thus keeping them even though we do not really have any need for
them. Other times, you discover that for many years you have stored something neatly away
but totally forgot about it until you happen to rediscover. And here it is: a big box of things
once dear to you but then out of side and forgotten so that now, a couple of years later, you
do not really have any use for them anymore. Whatever it is, most people do find themselves
owning so many things - it would take them days or weeks to display all of them for the
photographer Peter Menzel who has taken pictures of families and their belongings around
the world (https://www.pinterest.com/pin/112027109456180155/).

Behaviour:
However, once you are hooked by the thought of reducing and de-owning, I found that it is
easy to extend this idea further: do you really need to order the big portion you never manage
to finish? Is it possible to take the leftover with you, which makes for a nice lunch the next
day? Does that coffee has to be taken with you in a take-away-cup or can you probably just
stay a couple of minutes longer and enjoy it in a nice coffee mug instead? Or take the idea
even further: the cafe around the corner might be fine to pour your cappuccino in your travel
mug instead if you ask them nicely.

Life:
Also, probably many of you share the need to do a lot of great things in life! Hell yeah!
After all, we live only once and want to make the most of it, right? Travel to great places,
eat delicious food, meet fun and inspiring people. Often, there are so many options and you
find yourself overwhelmed, not sure for what idea to go for or whom to meet this evening,
since you might be missing out on all the other options. I am experiencing that we are trying
to keep all options open. While there is nothing bad about flexibility, I do not like my free
time to also be stressful in any way - at least not by a too big amount of great options! Instead
I like to recharge my batteries, treat my body and soul nicely, and enjoy life at the fullest.
The concepts of "once at a time", "do not look back with regret" and "after all it is all about
great relationships with friends and family" work rather well for me at the moment.

Thoughts/Mindfulness:
I am having a hard time on this one. It is difficult to keep your thoughts clear, for me at least.
So I am practising mediation through yoga nowadays, which does a great job to calm the mind
for the moment. However, I am still searching for ideas to calm, order and clean the mind on a
long term basis. Well, change is always a process, isn't it? There are days of great success and
others of setbacks - but it is the process itself which I believe it the interesting part really! ;-)

Death-clothes.

The fact that clothes are offered for a bargain in stores of "the western world" are undeniable at the expense of the garment
workers has been recognised ever since the terrible accidents in Bangladesh have drawn attention at the latest. Still, many of
us find ourselves challenged to take these circumstances into consideration when we are shopping for clothes. On the one hand,
there is only a handful suppliers offering "fair clothing", which limits the range of products on offer by quite a bit. On the other
hand, we might have a restained budget that limits our choice of purchases.
The obvious choice would be to buy less, but better. However, this, too, is not possible for everybody.

So if you find ourself in a similar struggle, why not taking into account end-of-season-sales of the shops that incorporate social
and environmental concerns? It is a bit of a hassle but this way you can make sure to not compromise your values for clothing
and fashion.













After all, wouldn't you agree that it is much nicer to
have a clear wardrobe of good, high quality clothes
rather than a stuffed one of cheap "death clothes",
which does not allow you to keep track of what you
actually possess? The first scenario sounds much
more satisfying to me. 
















(picture:avenuelifestyle.com)

Background: starting with yourself

My wish for a transformation has started with my realising that the world is not perfect. There is unfairness,
suffering and the like we cannot turn a blind eye to. I am conviced that our happiness is directly linked and
thus dependent on the wellbeing of our surrounding, amongst other factors, i.e.
myhappiness = f (world's wellbeing)
It is thusly that we cannot fully ignore the bad practices around us, even if we wish to. Therefore, some of us
feel the urge of making the world a better place.

In order to contribute my share to the improvement of the existing structures, I engaged politically at first but
got discouraged seeing that we progessed rather slowly, before I decided to align my career towards to huge
topic of "sustainable development". With the proper degree from a reputable university at hand I came to
realise that still it is not quite that easy to get started, no matter how bad to want to be engaged. There are
not that many organisations out there who are in for true sustainability, even though there are a few that like
parts of the idea, nor are there many such jobs. So what I did is, I have started at the very smallest possible
entity for any change and improvements: I started with myself.

Nowadays, I think it is the only possible way to get started. If you want to change the world, start with yourself.
Try to live life to your own standards. It sounds easy while in fact it is challenging! Where you aware of how
high you have set your standards? Start with small steps applying your ideas and ideals to your everyday's
life. One after the other. The longer I think about it I came to realise an actually very simple truth: doctrine
is not guaranteed to be a longlasting approach, especially if people feel forced into any change. Exemplifying,
however, could be. That is, if people get impressed and hooked enough so that they want to try out, and
eventually even adopt, some of these ideas or practices themselves.

Happiness: There's no fate other than what we make for ourselves.

It has been pretty quiet around here. Please accept my apologies for that.*
Lately, I have found myself engaging more with those things I am really passioned about. It is basically:
good living, interiors and sustainability. I believe, those are the secret to -at least my- happiness.
You might have heard by now that "happiness comes by choice and not by chance". It is up to us and us
alone whether we find appreciation for our lives, what we are and what we do, and if not so it is also our
responsibility finding the strength to make changes accordingly.

I have started this process - a little unconsciously and a little deliberately - and I am going to share my
experiences for it is worth it if only one or two readers take inspiration from that.
So, if you are interested I am looking forward to keep you updated with inspirational mail!







*As I have mentioned before, last year I have put myself into a situation where I found myself drowning in
work for about a year now. It has been not easy for my mind and body and the people close to me. Fortunately,
I have made it through this challenging year, facing now challenges of another nature, but probably that is
just how life goes? Throwing situations at you in which you can explify how strong you are. But then again:





































So let's get the adventure started!

Merry Christmas!

Nature.

I love nature. Well, who doesn't, right?
For me, however, it is a really big part of my life. I believe, spending time outside in an untouched
environment is one of the best things to do to find inner peace. It is stunning how I at least always need a
few minutes to adapt, calm down and put all the thoughts and sorrows aside, while start watching how busy
life is out there. Even at the highest spots I have been, there were always some small insects or birds
fighting their way through. It is funny how it seems so much easier at first, but in fact, it always makes me
realize that this is, what it is really all about. Surviving, in the first place, and enjoying life at the fullest,
followed right after!

At the moment I am fighting a battle trying to be join an awesome trip through the artic north. Unfortunately,
I signed up late, so there is only one week left to compete with all the others. I do not really expect to win.
But a girl can dream, right? And if I make it, I will be fighting the cold and make it all the way through!

Any support would be highly appreciated!
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