As you start spring cleaning this season, consider more than just scrubbing away dirt and dust. For a healthier—and cleaner—home, rid your home of toxic chemicals. We’re talking more than just nixing the bleach or pesticides. Really, deep clean your home of chemicals. These five toxic chemicals don’t do your home any good—and they’re probably the ones you don’t even know are already there.

When you wash your clothes with conventional laundry detergents, you’re getting a lot more than just soap. Laundry detergents that claim to brighten clothes actually include optical brighteners, which are chemical residues that stick to clothes and make colors appear brighter. Often, there’s also synthetic dyes and fragrances, preservatives and other harmful chemicals in your detergent. The Environmental Working Group (EWG) recently released 10 low-scoring laundry detergents from its database of cleaners. Find out what makes these laundry cleaners the worst of the worst.

Once I graduated from college, I wanted that "adult" look for my home, but I was living on a peanut butter and jelly kind of budget. I began scouring garage sales, thrift stores, and Craiglist, and was surprised to find that, with a little bit of work, I really could have the look for less. The picture featured above will help you remember what to look for: furniture, frames, books, knick knacks, and lamps-- items that I look for every time I go to a secondhand store.

Who doesn’t love trees? They provide shade in the summer, beautiful, bright scenery in the fall and are fun to climb year-round (yes, even adults can have fun climbing trees). And now trees have gained another wonderful, positive point. Engadget.com recently reported that trees are now responsible for a new, clean fuel.

You can’t get more up close and personal than your clothes. If you wash your clothes with conventional laundry detergents, harmful chemical residues go right onto your skin—and into your body. Get your clothes fresh with a better laundry detergent. The Environmental Working Group (EWG) recently released 10 top-scoring products for doing laundry from its database of cleaners. Find out what makes these laundry cleaners the best of the best.

When it comes to washing dishes, what could be wrong with a little soap? The thing is, most conventional dishwashing liquids, soaps and detergents aren’t just soap. They’re filled with toxic chemicals and unspecified substances that are harmful to your health and to the environment. The Environmental Working Group (EWG) recently released 10 low-scoring dish-cleaning products from its database of cleaners. Find out what makes these dishwashing products the worst of the worst.

It's likely that while you may be investing in higher quality cookware these days, you've got some not-so-sturdy worn out pots, pans, dishes and the like. But don't simply throw them out. Some may have life left in them yet.

Whether you hand wash dishes or use a dishwasher, the soap, detergent or rinse you use to get them clean will go straight down the drain and into our waterways and environment. Cleaning your dishes with products free of hazardous chlorine bleach, ammonia, formaldehyde and phosphates is a must—for your health and for the planet. The Environmental Working Group (EWG) recently released 10 top-scoring products for cleaning dishes from its database of cleaners. Find out what makes these dish cleaning products the best of the best.

The time has come: spring cleaning! Your closet gets rearranged, your drawers get cleaned out... and your pantry should get the same treatment! After a whole year of accumulating different goods in your pantry, the time has come to set things straight. Here are our top three tips for making your pantry like new this spring.

It’s difficult not to fall down the rabbit hole of discovery while perusing Etsy. Crafty sellers populate the site with nifty, little trinkets and beautiful, unique creations. While there are many great Etsy shops out there, I’m particularly taken with Eco Etsy, Etsy’s membership-based group filled with sellers who make eco-friendly crafts.