Eco-friendly cleaning detergents are the next frontier in the green evolution. But stroll down any supermarket aisle in the cleaner’s section, you will find that the ‘green’ ones are also the most expensive ones. You are now torn between saving the planet or saving your money. As we are now in the recession, you will probably go with the second choice.
Hold on, what if there’s a third choice? And that third choice is the best of both worlds – you get to save the planet and your money.
Sounds good to me, you say. But how do we do that?
As advocates of the environment, D’Jungle People is always looking for new ways we can help Mother Nature. So with a little ingenuity, here’s how – by using fruit skins! We made thisinto our little project to create a green and clean detergent for our new bungalow cum office.
Citrus fruits are the best because of the smell they emit. However, you can also use other fruits like watermelon and papaya.
Here’s what you need:
1) Fruit skins, separated by type for scent management if you wish
2) Sugar : (Volume of water (in ml) / 14) = X gms of sugar
Volume of water is determined by the container that you are using.
3) Water :
X gms of sugar x 10 = y litre of water
The first thing you need to do is slice your fruits skins into smaller pieces.
Slicing the fruits skins into smaller bite size pieces.
We used skins from honeydews, oranges, mangoes, papayas and watermelons. Then we piled them up nicely according to fruit types so we can organise according to scents.
On the right we have the watermelon corner, on the left - honeydew.
Fill up your container with water and pour in the approximate amount of sugar inside. Use the formula above to calculate. We used a 5 litre container. So the calculation should go something like this:
Amount of sugar to put in:
5000 ml / 14 = 357 grams of sugar
Amount of water to put in:
357 x 10 = 3.5 litres of water
So we filled up our container with 357 grams of sugar and 3.5 litres of water. After that, drop your fruit skins inside the container.
Drop your fruit skins inside until it is about ¼ of your container.
This is for our orange peel container.
Once you are done stuffing in the skins, close the cap. Make sure that the cap is air tight. Shake the bottle vigorously until everything is thoroughly mixed. The solution should look something like this:
Orange peels waiting to be fermented in its own juices.
The rest of the pack. The solution will take 3 months to be fully fermented before it is ready to be used.
Once you are done, keep the container in a cool, shady place for the next 3 months. Fermentation is a slow process of breaking down molecules into simpler forms and in the process also releases gas. So you will need to open the cap and release the gas at least once a week. For watermelons, you may need to do it twice a week as the fermentation process for melons are naturally more gaseous.
We tested out the solution on the kitchen floor. Squeaky clean, with a hint of orange peel! If used in the long term, this all natural organic solution will repel the usual household pests like cockroaches, lizards and rats. More effective than any other chemical solution out there in the market!
This is one of the earliest projects we have in our new office store. It was so much fun getting our hands dirty, doing something for the environment. This is so easy to do and the main ingredients are free, this could be a home project for family households. Not only will you have fun doing it, but also help Mother Nature and save your pennies as well. We hope that this blog entry has inspired you to work on your own ‘eco-projects’.
