A person on the Journey to Zero-Waste group just asked for ideas on how to keep her house fresh-smelling in a way that is not wasteful or harmful to people and pets.
My answer: Keep the windows open as much as possible. (Which for me is just about always, except on the few coldest days we have here in Florida.) Scrub the sinks, tub & toilet w baking soda plus a few drops of whatever scent of essential oil I want. Burn incense when I want extra scent. And, my linen-closet is scented by a bunch of tissue-wrapped herbal soaps I’ve gotten as gifts – whichever ones I have not used yet. Sometimes I put a soap in the stack of sheets or towels.
And if you love tips like this, on every possible area of life, I really encourage you to check out the J2ZW group! Also linked in my sidebar, J2ZW is one of my top go-to’s. Tens of thousands of people, from all over the world. The many perspectives are so liberating. You really learn which products/chores are essential, and how much of what we do and spend (in the hyperconsumerist industrialized countries) is just a product of cultural indoctrination.
To tell you the truth, part of why I like the group so much is that I can honestly share about my household practices, and have people value my comments as being eco-friendly and practical, instead of having them look at me like I’m some kind of cave-dwelling savage 😉