The laundry room was always a place I knew I could improve my living habits, but felt rather helpless at first. Over time, I've come to develop a method for how to efficiently do laundry and not be so wasteful.

Pay Attention to the Size of Your Loads.

I used to never pay attention my loads of wash, I'd just fill the washer to the brim and that was it. I never came downstairs to a flooded basement before, but I should have...it's easy to get reckless. Large loads are always the way to go, but not overloaded.

Let me clarify here: Fill your washer until your clothes are up to the water level, but not going over. I like to peek into my washer once the cycle starts to see if anything is above water. If you have a side loader, good for you. This is definitely better than a top loader. I can't wait for my washer to die so I can get one of those and really reduce my impact. Also, if you have a small load of wash, wait it out until you have more wash to do. If it's an emergency, ensure you adjust for less water to be used. The clothes need to be able to shuffle around freely in order to get clean, and they don't need excess water, either.

Use Cold Water Whenever Possible.

This one may seem obvious, but I definitely recommend it. You won't need to worry about shrinking your clothing, and you won't be using as much energy. Cold water gets the job done just like warm or hot water does.

Also with regards to temperature, I recommend keeping your laundry room a bit warmer, or at least not so humid if possible. Luckily for me, since I have a studio in my basement I need to keep it dehumidified anyway. A cold and damp room will definitely degrade your washer and force it to work way harder than it needs to.

My Favorite: Make Your Own Detergent!

At first I thought this would be hard, but detergent is more or less soap and water. You will save more than 75% on your washing costs just by using your own detergent. Even better, it's simple to make and your clothes will be all the same.

For some reason, my mother likes to give me bars of soap...I think she's trying to tell me something. For personal hygiene, I use liquid castile soap (Dr. Bronner's, of course!), so up until recently all of these bars of soap had no purpose for me. All you'll need is a 5 gallon bucket, your stove, a bar of soap and a box of washing soda. I'll keep this simple: Heat up 4 cups of water in a pan to near-boiling and shred an entire bar of soap into the mix. This will get super bubbly and awesome, but shouldn't make a mess. Put three gallons of hot water into your 5 gallon bucket, then add your soapy solution you just made and stir. Finally, add the washing soda and stir some more.

That's really all there is to it...you just made detergent with less chemicals and for next to no cost. I don't add borax to the solution, since it's not very eco friendly and I don't think it's necessary at all. Give it a shot.

With these simple tips, you'll notice a few things: Cleaner clothes, serious money saving, less energy being used. I think this is one area where anyone can employ these tips immediately and see serious benefits right away. I bet your friends will be impressed and hopefully you will encourage them to do the same.

Obviously, these tips are just the beginning of an eco friendly green cleaning program. Once I started seeing the effects of putting these techniques in place, I got really into subbing out all the store-bought cleaning chemicals in my house and making my own varieties. I honestly believe that the do-it-yourself green cleaning lifestyle is the wave of the future, and that it's extremely satisfying.

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