We've all heard about spring cleaning, but what about the season that comes before it? We're talking about winter housekeeping, and if you've never heard of such a thing, you're not alone! Most people aren't aware that the arrival of snow and cold brings with it the need for new approaches to maintaining our homes. During the winter months, our dwellings are bundled up against the cold. This is an ideal situation where energy consumption is concerned. But tight, well-insulated homes aren't letting much fresh air enter, and that's a situation that can rapidly lead to an unhealthy environment.

With the exception of natural products, virtually all scented household cleaning product use artificial scents because they are cheap and easy to produce. Pound for pound, a natural scenting agent can cost as much as four thousand times its synthetic version!

Spring is nature’s season of rebirth. Of course, the natural world isn’t the only place where renewal can be found these days, for spring is also a time when many of us undertake the ancient ritual of spring cleaning.

There's perhaps no month as filled with ritual as October. As we make our annual journey across the weeks between summer and winter, there are gardens to put to bed, leaves to leap in, pumpkins to carve, and homes to ready for the coming cold. For many of us that means sealing windows, adding weatherstripping to doors, and adopting other strategies that tighten our dwellings to better hold their precious warmth. That's a good thing where energy conservation is concerned, but a well-sealed home traps more than heat ― it can trap odors, stale air, and other olfactory nuisances, too.