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Homemade Goes with Green.
Catina Schmidt • Sep 12, 2021
How Green is your Laundry?
Living off-grid I often think of all the things I have lost and left behind in California and I am going to be honest with you and say that I miss Trader Joe's and Lunardi’s. I miss foggy mornings and the smell of the salty sea air from the Pacific Ocean that envelops the San Francisco Bay area and our old neighborhood. I miss being within a 10-minute drive to the local Target, Starbucks, and Staples. However, through this new journey God has opened my eyes to recognize the natural blessings he has laid out in front of me that truly blesses my family. One of the blessings is doing laundry! I know you do not believe me, but it is true.
When I first purchased my clothesline from Ace Hardware you would have thought it was my birthday. I had looked in every hardware and general store. I searched Lowes, Home Depot and to no avail came up empty handed. Finally, my last call was to Ace, and they had the last umbrella clothesline in stock. I drove 90-minutes from my house and bought it! I felt like a child on Christmas morning. As soon as I got back home, 90-minutes later, my husband cemented the clothesline into the ground. I had to wait an entire night's sleep to wait for the cement to cure. The next day I did my first batch of laundry. I celebrated not having to go to the laundromat anymore. For months while living off-grid I hauled our laundry 40-minutes away to our nearest town. I learned a lot about the town from meeting new and interesting people every week, but I was tired.
My first load of laundry was calming, a sense of stability and security came over me. Like I often do in my daily activities I would imagine both my grandmothers and great-grandmother doing their laundry. Singing old gospel hymns as they did their daily chores. My thoughts were clear now. My husband even asked me one day,
"You really enjoy this?" I had to say, "Yes, I do."
I determined that by doing laundry, utilizing well water from the ranch, and our sun to dry the clothes I was reducing my carbon footprint. Every load I washed I no longer aimlessly through in load after disgruntled load as I did in my "perfect" suburb. I thought of the amount of water I used, the type of detergent and chemicals that my family's clothes were washed in. I could feel good about our choices. my children were in sync with our planet. My thoughts were no longer shielded by city noise. With every load I found extraordinary joy in praying for my children simply by cleaning their stinky socks.
With additional time on my hands from living off-grid I began to make everything homemade. LOL! From salad dressings, to skincare, room, and linen sprays; you name it I have a recipe for it! Tune in on a future blog on how you can obtain a jar of my laundry detergent and let me know how you kindle joy in your daily lives.
Sending love and light.
Catina
From City Life to Off-Grid Living.
ASC Building Products: An Eco-Friendly Choice! Living on an off-grid ranch comes with its delights and difficulties. It is reassuring to know that ASC Building Products are a go to source for dependable, strong and environmentally friendly steel components that I can choose to build many projects on my ranch. Reasons I would continue to offer my business to ASC Buildings is the following: American made products. Durable and dependable Metals can easily be repurposed and recycled. If you are like me and my family, we look for quality products that are also good for our environment. ASC Building Products is a great choice for our off-grid homestead.
Off-Grid Solar System