Joe is really good at cleaning bathrooms. It is completely worth the 11 billion hours it takes him to get it done because you could seriously eat off the floors. A few weeks ago I chased B upstairs while Joe was up there cleaning. My nostrils were assaulted with the smell of the products he was using. Yes he was using the green cleaners for the counter, tub and toilet but he also added the traditional chemical cleaners he is used to (don't worry we both know chemicals and know what not to mix together - the plus side of having worked in the chemical industry).
I have been thinking about this since that day. Why was he using both the green and traditional cleaners? It is almost like he wants to believe that the green cleaners will work and actually do the job but that he doesn't fully trust them so he has to use what he knows works....the chemicals. I am sure I am not the first wife to face this. It isn't resistance to being green, it isn't stubbornness, it is reluctance to believe that something as simple as vinegar can do what Windex can do...or that it can do it even better.
Joe is trying and putting in some effort to make the change to green chemicals on his own terms. No it is not happening as fast as it happened for me but that is okay because we all have to come to conclusions on our own time. Joe thought I was crazy when I was using cornmeal to get rid of ants and vinegar to kill a vine but through trial and error very scientific methods I was able to show him that they work. My hope is that I can show him that the green cleaners can have the same if not better results in the bathroom that his traditional green cleaners can.
I'm learning to let Joey Go Green on his own terms.
I'm learning to let Joey Go Green on his own terms.
I have had readers email or tweet to me asking how to get their husband to buy in to a green lifestyle. Small steps my friends! Pick your battles and use methods that you think will work best with your husband. If they are big into research them give them articles or websites to read, if they are visual then show them the results, if they are all about the dolla bills then track savings from living the green life. But whatever you do do not push them. Let them use that sprinkle of Old Dutch in the toilet until they themselves become comfortable with the transition that you have already made.
But please do feel free to shut off the running water as you walk out of the bathroom they are cleaning ;)
And if you are wondering why we have cleaning chemicals in our house to begin with it is because they are left over from before we made the switch to green cleaners.
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Thank you for posting this! It really hits home with me. We also have chemical cleaners left over from pre-green days. And yes, my husband LOVES to use Chlorox powder, but he does some of the green cleaners. I agree, baby steps. I hope and pray that he learned about the nastiness of Chlorox the last time he tried to use it because he got a chemical burn on his face!!
ReplyDeleteIs he okay Katie???
ReplyDeleteI agree, on their terms. I do all the research and let him know what I find. He pretty much agrees with everything though. He just told me today once we leave Texas he will no longer eat meat/chicken that is not organic/locally produced. No more corn-fed animals for him, he said he would prefer wild game anyways. You should have seen the smile on my face. Before going vegan, I only ate animal products that I knew where they came from. So I barley ate in a restaurant. We never buy meat if we don't know where it came from, but when he would go to a restaurant he would eat whatever. he said he felt like a hypocrite because he advocates eating grass-fed beef, and sustainable agriculture and yet he is eating some factory farmed meat at a restaurant. I am one happy girl! So my guess is that he will be vegan in a few years,,,,,,lol :)
ReplyDeleteSmall victories!
ReplyDeleteThere is this fantastic restaurant here that says right on their menu which farm everything comes from. Love that idea.