Healthiness is Homemade

By Bria Jackson

People being stabbed over cleaning supplies and elderly women being bullied for the last pack of toilet paper are just a few of the things we’ve seen since the outbreak of COVID-19. Whether we want to believe it came from Asians eating bats, or that it’s been around (just not as significant), the fact of the matter is that it is spreading rapidly and it can kill. The thing about COVID-19 is that it targets the respiratory system; it includes symptoms such as dry coughing and sore throat. Although there is no cure, there are definitely some ways we can help keep germs away and take care of bodies right at home.

Seeing as though there can be difficulty when it comes to finding cleaning supplies, we’ve got a few at-home “recipes” that can replace your typical name brand cleaners. To start, there’s nothing like a good all-purpose cleaner to help get the job done. All you need is:

• ¾ cup hydrogen peroxide

• ½ cup distilled white vinegar

• 1 teaspoon unscented liquid castile soap

• 10 drops tea tree oil

• 20 drops scented essential oil (optional)

• 2 cups water

Just mix all of these together, pour the mixture into a spray, and voila, you now have your very own all-purpose cleaner. Easy, right?

Next, we have homemade cleaning wipes for those of you that have not been able to snag any from the stores. Cleaning wipes are just another way of ensuring all surfaces have a chance of being wiped down properly. For this, you will need:

• 1 lb. coffee canister w/ lid

• 1 paper towel roll

• ½ cup vinegar

• 1 knife

• ¼ cup water

• ¼ cup rubbing alcohol

• 1 teaspoon liquid dish soap

• 10 drops essential oil (optional)

• needle

• scissors

In addition to simply mixing our ingredients like the all-purpose cleaner, this product requires just a few more steps. For this, you will take the roll of paper towels, lay it on its side, and cut it with the knife right down the middle. Now take the half roll of paper towels and put it inside the coffee canister, leaving the cardboard center. Next, you'll want to mix the vinegar, water, rubbing alcohol, and dish soap in a small bowl. Although the essential oil is optional, please keep in mind that not only do oils help personalize your cleaner, but can also help boost its antibacterial power. Once you’ve mixed everything to your liking, pour your concoction onto the paper towels inside the coffee canister, making sure the paper towel roll is completely soaked. Now you can go ahead and slide the cardboard piece out of the paper towel roll and slightly pull a paper towel from the center. Moving on to the needle, you want to take this and poke a bunch of tiny holes in the lid of the coffee canister, using the scissors to then push the rest of the way through creating a hole that is just the right size to pull your new wipes out of.

Lastly, we’ve all realized how beneficial hand sanitizer can be around this time. Unlike hand soap, it’s easy to take on the go and stay sanitized wherever you are! Surprisingly, sanitizer is actually really simple to make. Three simple ingredients which include:

• 2/3 cup rubbing alcohol

• 1/3 cup aloe vera

• 8-10 drops scented essential oil (optional)

All you’re going to do is mix these the ingredients together and pour it into the container of your choice. This can be a spray bottle, a bottle with a pump dispenser, or even the small travel size lotion bottles.

These are just a few ways to make sure your home and surroundings stay clean as we go through this unfortunate pandemic.

As mentioned before, COVID-19 directly affects our respiratory system and can even affect organs like our throat through coughing. We want to make sure we are still taking care of our insides for a better chance of fighting this thing. There are some people that are now hesitant on purchasing fruits and vegetables from grocery stores during this time because these are products left out in the open. But have no fear, we have a list of herbs that can be grown right from your home. Respiratory System Lungs (specifically) Throat Eucalyptus Peppermint Marshmallow root Lungwort Eucalyptus Sage Oregano Vitamin D Apple cider vinegar Plantain leaf Green tea Honey Elecampane Whey protein Licorice root Peppermint Apples Lemon water Osha root Blueberries Ginger root tea Keep in mind that these are just a few herbs that, again, do not cure COVID-19, but can help keep our bodies healthy. Also, a lot of these herbs are multifaceted, meaning they can be used for more than one thing. For example, although osha root is listed in the “respiratory category," it also helps with sore throat; so it’s not subject to one category.

These tips should be helpful in not only making sure we keep our homes and bodies in tip-top shape, but also by helping us practice social distancing by limiting our number of trips to the stores. After all, healthiness is homemade!