spring cleaning, two ways.

Spring is here, even if it hasn’t quite gotten the memo that that might mean bringing warmer temperatures along with it. (I walked to to work with my socks off last week and nearly froze to death, so you know.) Still, in recognition of the shift in seasons and the accompanying yen for a fresh start, here’s a little post about welcoming Spring with an eye toward being good stewards of our planet and ourselves.

Freshen your sheets, two ways:
+ Consider investing in a new thoughtfully made set. 
+ Stick a lavender sachet into the place where you keep what you have. We store our sheet sets in bags and or pillowcases to keep them organized (you might recall), and I recently started tucking lavender sachets into each bag for seriously good smelling sheets.

Clean your fridge, two ways:
+ Examine the shelves on your fridge door. Throw away what’s nasty, keep what you love (and pledge to use it). Add something yummy.
+ For just a week, challenge yourself to buy nothing at the grocery store that comes in a plastic package. See what you come up with and what your stumbling blocks might be. (For me, it’s dairy. Always.)

Wash your face, two ways:
+ Book yourself an appointment at Heyday—or at a place nearby to you—and treat yourself to a clean face, courtesy of an expert.
+ Go through your cosmetics bag and get rid of anything that’s expired, grody, or otherwise unloved. Try something new. (And swap your disposables while you’re at it.)

Scour your sink, two ways:
+ Consider a special sink scrubber set to make the job a little more—dare I say?—fun.
+ Break out the baking soda and a lemon. Coat the kitchen sink in baking soda, douse it with lemon juice, scrub it all into a paste, make yourself some tea, come back later to rinse. Admire the shine.

Brighten your evenings, two ways:
+ Nights are getting shorter, but you still might want to read by lamplight. Try swapping incandescent bulbs for LED ones. I’m curious to try these LED Edison bulbs.
+ Try star gazing instead of phone gazing. Thanks to light pollution, we can only see twelve stars from Faye’s bedroom window but you better believe that we hunt them all out every single night.

Purify your water, two ways:
+ Make sure the stainless steel water bottle you tote everywhere is clean. Let it sit overnight with hot water and baking soda. Scrub in the am and drink cleaner water.
+ If your water’s tasting funky, try a purifying pitcher, or, you know, a hunk of charcoal.

Sweep under your rug, two ways:
+ Roll up your rugs. (Try not to get too grossed out by what you find underneath.) Give them a good beating (or throw them in the wash) and lay them back down on a freshly cleaned floor. 
+ Invest in a moody broom.

Filter your indoor air, two ways:
+ Track your indoor air quality with a fancy new device aimed to teach you more about what you’re breathing in.
+ Get a potted plant—like a snake plant or a peace lily—known for removing indoor air toxins.

Bring in blooms, two ways:
+ Cut a forsythia branch or a cherry branch or a dogwood branch (or any flowering branch you can find), mash up the end of it with a hammer or a pair of clippers, stick it in water so it can drink its full, and watch those buds unfurl over the next few weeks. (City slickers like me can often luck out at the farmers’ market. Head to the fruit sellers to see if they sell their extra shoots.)
+ Rest your head in a flower meadow.

Mind your flower pots, two ways:
+ Prepare your flower pots for a little seasonal planting by taking a scrub brush and hot water to the insides to get rid of last year’s gunk. (If you’re feeling especially ambitious, rinse them with white vinegar and water solution to get them extra sparkly.)
+ If you buy plants in plastic pots from a farmers’ market or nursery, bring the pots back that way after planting. Growers can reuse them (and a lot of municipalities can’t otherwise recycle them).

What about you? Favorite ways to welcome a new (warmer) season?