I’ve been cooking a lot lately, but it was only when my husband thought it would be a good idea to throw all the excess cornmeal from our pizza making into the sink (there was a lot!) did I realize I really need to give my drain some love.

My husband eventually saw how all the cornmeal can really ruin our drain and tried to undo his mess. But there’s still a lot that gets into the drain even with our stopper on: random loose vegetable bits, coffee grinds, etc. Therefore, to help keep my sink from clogging, I give it a weekly “bubble bath” of baking soda and vinegar.

I read about this method in the book Organic Housekeeping. The best way to solve a clogged drain without using any dangerous chemicals is prevention. What the book recommends is to make a foaming mixture out of baking soda and vinegar to clean it once a week. I usually give my drains a cleaning like this once a week to once every other week pending on how much cooking I am doing.

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Vinegar is a natural disinfectant that will kill bacteria, mold and germs. It’s so much cheaper than any cleaner in the grocery store (I once bought a gallon of vinegar for $1 or so) and much more environmentally safe. For those concerned about the smell, it goes away in a few minutes.

What you need:

- 3 tablespoons baking soda

- 1/4-1/2 cup vinegar

- kettle full of boiling water

First take about 3 tablespoons of baking soda and pour it down the drain. Then, pour about 1/4–1/2 cup of vinegar down the drain. The vinegar should cause any baking soda to foam. If you listen closely, you should hear your drain and pipes singing with lots of fizzing and bubbling. That sound always comforts me to know that all the debris is loosening. After about 15 minutes (when all the fizzing sound quiets down), pour the hot water down the drain to give it a final rinse.

Now sit down, and reward yourself with a cookie for keeping a happy and environmentally friendly home.