The Monday Garden, Eco-gardening at its best
September 11-18, 2005, Issue 178
Coming this week and next to The Monday Garden are a series of articles on “Living Lighter With Less”
I was drafting, for other use, a collection of thoughts on ways to keep a small home (mostly likely a high-rise apartment) reasonably clean in minimum time with minimum money while leaving a light footprint on the planet and not poisoning ourselves or our pets. Post-Katrina, I’m now rewriting and posting the material on inmygarden.org as this material might be useful to some of the thousands who are now rebuilding the basics. This material is for:
• those starting over from scratch on a minimal budget;
• those doubling and tripling up in a smaller space than they are used to;
• those downsizing from a detached dwelling to an apartment; and
• those who want a clean, attractive home with minimum effort and cost.
If you have a suggestion to add, please post it in the comments section following the article.
Picture: This bedroom is a mattress on bare floor, a screen and modular cubes for a dresser. Some re-finished storage baskets and a small reading light make the headboard. Colored-glass bottles (from recycling and the thrift store) brighten the window as do hanging vines. There’s a heavy short-pile rug at the door to trap dust and dirt before it gets in the room.
Here’s a taste of what’s to come:
• HOW TO COPE WITH APARTMENT AND MULTIPLE-FAMILY LIVING
• THE ONLY CLEANING PRODUCTS AND TOOLS YOU NEED.
• FURNISHING A SMALL HOME ON A SMALL BUDGET: A ROOM-BY-ROOM CHECK LIST
• CHOICES TO CUT YOUR CLEANING TIME IN HALF
• MAKE A HOME GYM THAT FITS IN A 24” BOX FOR UNDER $100.
picture: the essential "tool box" that actually fits in a box.
Photo credits: Sue Sweeney © Sue Sweeney 2005