Saving Yamuna: natural cleansers
My ‘act local-change what you can’ take on an article on the Choking Yamuna TOI a few months ago. Recirculating it for the benefit of our new friends on the group. Detergents effluents, industrial waste, sewage… all offered to the holy river.
The horrendous images of the frothing Yamuna (during Chhath Puja), millions of rupees from the taxpayer’s money being spent on cleaning it, and contamination of the groundwater feeding our ecosystem are a few of the by-products of household cleaning detergents being used in our homes. Lizol, Mr. Clean and Phenyl are all culprits to name a few. So there, we are ALL to blame for the state of our rivers today, for the growing level of contamination in our food, and for the high levels of sickness around us.
Have been a householder for 15 years and a little more but can confess to never having used cleansing detergents in our mopping water in all these years. And almost always, the water goes to the plants after the floor has been mopped. Dust goes to dust and water where it’s needed. Can also boast that my sons have had near 100% attendance in school every year and we have never had to take leave from work due to ill health from infections caused by poor sanitary conditions in our home. And none of us have contracted any allergic asthma/bronchitis due to the pungent and strong chemicals in our immediate surroundings.
On days we have loads of visitors, with the floor left awfully dirty, a few spoonfuls of salt are added to the mopping bucket. Maybe once a year, a little white vinegar is added, while lemon also makes an excellent cleanser. This water is then used to wash the front or back yard and does not go to the plants.
We all know how powerful advertising can be in brainwashing us to believe that if we are not adding any one of these detergents to our water, our living conditions are unhygienic – please do not fall for this!! Please stop buying multiple bottles of disinfectants from supermarkets. Believe me, your conscience, your shopping basket and your wallet will all weigh light… we need to be mindful of the products we consume – do we really need them or are we goaded by peer pressure, advertising and mindless convenience?
Hope this note will inspire some of us to abandon superficial cleaning and work towards a deeper cleansing of our world.
Make your own BIOENZYME CITRUS CLEANER (from a resource that could be a potential waste)
Proportion is 1:3:10
100 gms jaggery/gud
300 gms citrus peel (orange, sweet lime, lime, pineapple. Wash the peels once, and if, possible blend in the blender)
1 litre water
Mix all three in 2 lt PET bottle or any plastic container with a lid. (Lid is required to keep insects out). Please put a sticker with the date on the bottle so that you remember when you started.
Keep in a cool dark place. Stir every day so the gas can escape. Open it at least once a day for the first month.
In 3 mths it is ready when it stops releasing gas and you can see the peels turned to pulp.
Strain clear liquid and store in a plastic bottle.
The pulp can also be used for adding the next lot of peels to work as an accelerator.
Uses of bio enzyme
- Accelerator in composting or bio digestor process.
- Ceramic, steel surface grease, and grime remover (bathroom or Chimney cleaning)
- Toilet cleaner, tile cleaner, stains on clothes, very dirty clothes by dilution 1:10 with water
First posted on 18 November 2015
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