How do we Make Permaculture Work Inside the Home?

I have made permaculture a part of my personal life, most of my life. It just wasn't called permaculture back then.

As you go about your daily routine does permaculture affect your home?

From what I have learned about permaculture, it is about creating a system that works.

Is it easy to make your household routines work for a more functional home?

Some of the ways I use permaculture in my home is to use safe products to clean my house.

I don't spend a lot of money on buying green products.  I clean my whole house with two products:  Baking soda and vinegar. Lemon juice is an alternative for the vinegar that I use.



In the kitchen, I clean my counters, stovetop, and even windows with vinegar.  I clean my oven with baking soda.  I use it just like those cleansers or scouring powders are used like Bar Keepers Friend that you sprinkle on.  Once a month, I flush my drains with hot water, then use 1/2 Cup of baking soda followed by 1/2 vinegar, then flush with more hot water.  This helps to keep from having clogged or stopped up drains.



Clean a Kitchen




Clean an Oven


In the bathroom, I clean the sink by sprinkling on baking soda and give it a little scrub. I even follow up with some vinegar.  I use vinegar to clean the mirror. For the toilet, I might use either one.



Clean a Bathroom

How do you use permaculture to clean your home?

Here are some other threads that you might enjoy related to a home:

Washing Dishes By Hand

https://permies.com/wiki/108334/pep-nest/PEP-Badge-Nest

Make a Rag Bin

Nest Badge

Great post, is that your kitchen?  It is beautiful! I love the open cabinets and large stove top.

To feel a lil fancy, I place lemon rinds in my vinegar.

Still looking for a good permie solution for laundering work pants.  
The method I tried with borax and washing soda does not get the dirt or mud out all the way.

Thanks, Michelle

Its pretty isn't it.  No, its not mine, it is from the link on "Clean a Kitchen"

For lazy man's maintenance I splash some vinegar into the toilet bowl to help with the hard water build up. Ideally, remove some water first so the main hard water ring will be exposed to vinegar and not just water.

For a more thorough clean, do the same then follow up with a some elbow grease and a pumice stone!

Besides the way we clean our home, there are many ways to use permaculture in the home by using sustainable furnishings.

Making a sustainable home by having a home that has the least possible negative impact on our environment.

One way would be to decorate with organic fabrics and low water plants.

By buying or using recycled furniture or furniture made from recycled materials.

These are just a few that I can think of.

What have you done to make your home more permaculture friendly?

I had rubber mats made of recycled tires that were 4x8 I was planning to put in my free running gutted motorhome I picked up, but the test chunk revealed that the cold cracks the rubber despite being protected inside, so it got relocated to cover my 60-70 year old cheap 1/4" 4x4 plywood sub flooring that is nailed down and requires regular hammering in the spring and fall (and sock darning)

Being black it's terrible for showing the dirt but I think my place fits in that kitchen so there isn't a lot to keep clean!

I use 8% cleaning vinegar, citric acid, and baking soda, plus a biodegradable dishsoap, which I also use for hand washing clothes, and One+, a biodegradable shampoo/body wash combination. Apart from that, on occasion I take clothes and towels to a laundromat and bring my biodegradable laundry soap, and can't stand dryer sheets. I clean the car with baking soda and vinegar too

I don't know if having used biodegradable shampoo since I was in grade 7 has anything to do with me having almost no gray hair at 60 something

Thank you for putting this subject in the Daily-ish! It gave me the nudge to finally do the cleaning of the inside of the oven. Using only baking soda and vinegar, and a lot of elbow grease.   (-:

I think the best way to consider your house's sustainability is either in terms of inputs/outputs or in terms of the life cycle of your home/belongings.

Inputs: What does your house use/contain? How was your house built? How much water and electricity do you use? Am I buying things to keep up with my neighbors materially or because I want/need those things for myself?

Outputs: How much waste are you generating? Is that waste being reused or composted? Can you harvest rainwater or install solar panels? Are you growing some of your own food (or perhaps extra for your neighbors too)?

Life Cycle: Am I buying/replacing things too often? How were the items made? Who made your stuff? Are the products long lasting and high quality or a fad that you'll replace in a month since it's not well built? What happens when you get rid of an item (it doesn't disappear)? How long will my house last? Am I going with the latest home decor trend that I'll replace in a year or am I buying something that I'll use for decades or even pass down?

The theme is more about using sustainable products rather than having a sustainable built house.

Most folks have to deal with what they have though living a clean life is achievable ...

Anne Miller wrote:The theme is more about using sustainable products rather than having a sustainable built house.

Most folks have to deal with what they have though living a clean life is achievable ...

Yes, I live happily in my rented ground-floor apartment, built mostly of concrete, not sustainable at all. But still there are many things I can do to follow the permaculture principles in my daily life. It has to do with what I buy, what I don't buy and what I make myself; what products I use to clean (the interior, the laundry and myself); where I get my food and how I prepare it, etc.