There are a few brands that I vouch for and one of them (if you have been following this blog for a while now), is Electrolux. Way before I partnered with the brand, I’ve been a believer because of its excellent after sales service. Check here for the story. They didn’t even know I was a blogger back then. This time around, I am even more giddy with Electrolux’s #DoMoreWithLess campaign. This advocacy happens to be very close to my heart. It’s like being in a foreign land and you find someone who speaks your language. The foreign land that I speak of is our consumerism-filled culture and #DoMoreWithLess is the language I share as I feel that I have one heart in this with Electrolux.
In a nutshell, what I’m really trying to say is it is such joy to partner with a brand that encourages households to do something that has always been a predominant theme in our family. I remember publishing Frugal is cool! back in 2010 and I have transitioned forward to becoming even more practical, eco-friendly and better steward of the resources that we are blessed with. Allow me to enumerate some of the ways.
Homemade Laundry Detergent Powder
Since I started making our own laundry detergent powder, I have also learned to make my own castile soap. It’s what I use instead of buying a bar that I use in my recipe. This takes away the need for me to buy castile soaps, which can also be pricey, considering there are no local brands and its limited supply.
Homemade All-Purpose Household Cleaner
Since I’ve started making my all purpose household cleaner in late 2011, I have come up with an even better recipe. Just tea tree oil and water! It’s so easy I didn’t even feel the need to blog about it! Maybe I should, for the proper ingredient proportions. I have never bought a bottle of cleaner for so many years now. 🙂
Our home is exclusively lit with LED bulbs. 🙂
When we shopped for our lighting fixtures in 2013, towards the home stretch of our house expansion, we carefully considered the wattage and accumulated consumption they will add up to. It wasn’t long after we decided to use LED bulbs on our lighting fixtures instead. It’s crazy that the default bulbs of the lighting fixture in our walk-in closet was 40-watt each. It practically feels like being roasted alive. The cooler light of LED was more than just savings to our pockets but actually made us feel more comfortable. From a total of 120-watts in our closet alone, down to 9 watts (3 watts x 3 LED bulbs). All the lamps in our house, each armed with 1-watt LED bulb.
To give you an idea how much we are paying the metro’s over charging electric company – summer time in its scorching high, with the air conditioner on and off through the night. On and off because even our a/c is on timer. Depending on how unforgiving the temperature, I strategically set the timer to be on for 30 minutes, then automatically turn off for 30. Then on again the next 15 minutes, off for 30 and so forth until 6am the next day. Fan is on throughout. Totally works for us. 🙂
Aside from making my own soap, laundry detergent, all around home cleaner, I also make my own insect repellent, tooth powder, mouthwash, I also use laundry balls and every other choice towards frugal domesticity. And it totally makes sense. Spending more than we have to just don’t feel right.
And while my passion for herb gardening was reignited (hubby and I are actually considering aquaponics), I upcycle eggshells and remineralize our garden soil with it.
When I have extra time, I ground them to powder form and sprinkle the soil with it. Otherwise I bury them in my compost where I also throw in vegetable and fruit peels. This doesn’t just do my garden soil good, it’s also an excellent way to keep rubbish off our already overflowing landfills.
Used Coffee Grounds? I use them to replace my soap! I love how it scrubs away impurities. It’s so much fun as the moisture stays in even after rinse. Truth be told, it so fits me since I don’t fancy applying lotion and moisturizers after bath. Coffee scrubs is said to also take care of cellulites. Sweet way of indulging our mommy skin. 🙂
In my kitchen corner, having last night’s dinner incorporated in today’s viand is not an uncommon scene. My boys never notice since for them it’s brand new because of its whole new taste. Take the above photo for instance – on the left was the left over liempo from the night before (check out the hardened oil around the pork. I used them to cook my son’s all time favorite “Pork Sinigang.” Only better since it’s essentially an upgraded one – “Sinigang na Liempo.” 🙂
I can honestly go on forever on Doing More With Less since I’m passionate about this. But I’ll wrap it up here. As I do, I’m reminded of this verse on stewardship, “And if you are untrustworthy about worldly wealth, who will trust you with the true riches of heaven?” Luke 16:11
To do more with less shouldn’t be so hard. Start small, look around the house, before you jettison the next thing to the trash, do a quick research on how to recycle or upcycle. We aren’t actually just doing these things out of being frugal, it is also for the love of the generations after ours. 🙂
For more information on the Electrolux Do More With Less campaign, visit www.facebook.com/thelittlewhitebook or follow @ElectroluxPH on Twitter and Instagram.
