Seventh Generation

As nice as it is to be able to have home-made cleaning products ( because they are so cheap ) sometimes it is just easier to buy products already made up and packaged. I am really liking Seventh Generation and Method products right now.

I purchased SG dishwashing detergent and Method triple concentrated liquid laundry detergent a few weeks ago and have been really pleased with both of their performance. The dish detergent has gotten all of my dishes clean; sparkling even! I have found also that I don't have to use as much of the powder as I had to of the 'gel' I was using before. As for the laundry, the soap has gotten stains out, has a nice scent and uses SO LITTLE to clean. These products are a little pricey but to me, the value is in the performance and earth friendliness of the cleansers.

Affordable Solar Power!

I get an e- newsletter everyday from the Sierra Club updating me on all things green. I love opening the email to see what interresting things they have to say today. Sometimes they are useless to me, others are very practical. Just like everything in life, you take the good with the dumb : )
Today's news had a link to a very cool new product called a HYmini. It is a solar and wind powered battery charger for your cell phone, MP3 Player, PDA, hand-held games, etc. Pretty much any 5V appliance you have can be recharged using this little device.
First, you charge the battery of the HYmini. There are a few ways to charge it such as setting out the solar panel ( looks about 3x5 in), setting the device out in the wind ( it takes about 9mph wind to start generating a charge. You can also strap it to your arm when you run, hook it to your bike when you take a ride somewhere which as we know will create wind resistance ) or you can plug it into the wall. When the battery has enough charge you can hook up your appliance to it and recharge away! This is portable, so it would be great for camping or people who are always on the move.
Recharging our 'stuff' takes quite a bit more electricity than we think it does, and then the tendancy is just to leave the charger in the wall ( like I used to do with my cell phone ) which leaches more electricity. This little power generator which is about $80 for both solar and wind capabilities (including adaptor accessories) could easily pay for itself over the course of a year. Not to mention being able to charge your phone or MP3 player ANYWHERE you go! For more information go to hymini.com.

Martha Stewart's Green Pan

Call me a geek, but for my birthday I asked for a skillet. Not just any skillet though, the new Green Pan from Martha Stewart's line at Macy's. This new pan is non-stick without using Teflon. In the last few years a lot of noise has been made about the toxicity of Teflon especially when at high temperatures. Being an EXTREME violator of the temperature standards for this product ( I like things to get hot and cook fast! ) I thought maybe this pan would be a great alternative to my Wearever pan and also be a lighter option to my cast iron skillet. Needless to say I love it! The enamel coating on the heavy aluminum is as non-stick as you can get. Food just slides around in the pan making it healthier fat wise too because you don't have to use oils. The construction of the pan also makes it cook evenly and is oven safe to 650 degrees.

It is a thing of beauty! : ) For under $40 you can get this GREAT pan at Macy's and feel better about what you are cooking your family's meals in. I also recommend the trusty old cast iron skillet that I mentioned earlier. It takes a little finesse to use cast iron, which is why I would say to use this pan if you are a novice chef, but if you can get a good season on your cast iron it will work just as well as the Green Pan plus you get the added benefit of small amounts of iron leaching in your food ( this is a good leaching! ). If you are in the market for a new pan, looking for a wedding or housewarming gift this pan is perfect. Even our cooking utensils can be environmentally friendly!

Old Fashioned Fashions

During our last 'heat wave' we took advantage of nature's gift and hung our laundry outside. I had bought this laundry rack a few months ago getting prepared for such warm weather. Coincidentally we also got our natural gas bill during this same time. YIKES is all we could say!! We found out that not only are our fireplace and water heater gas, but our dryer is too! We devised some plans to help cut down on our gas usage and one of them was using the drying rack whenever possible. Hopefully this will save us money by lessening our electricity and gas usage in our laundry drying.

Grandma had a good thing going when she put the clothes out on the line!

Handy Recycling

Living in an apartment has it's advantages ( I don't have to do my own yard work, maintenance or pay for water/sewer/garbage or cable : ) ) but one of the disadvantages is that the recycling bins are all the way down at the garbage corral at the end of our building. Me and my roomies wanted to start recycling but were a little put off by having to walk a quarter of a mile to take a can out. While you may not have to walk this far, is the location of your recycling bins/cans keeping you from recycling as much as you could?

I purchased these bins from Target for $15 in order to aid in our recycling. It resides on our patio just outside of the dining room. The location is convenient as well as the fact that it has wheels that make it easy to move. The lid is nice too so that you can store things on top. I also like that they are plastic and smaller than traditional bins so it makes them easy to clean!

If you are looking for a simple solution that can be placed in your pantry, outside the garage door or on the patio, I recommend these bins!

Back in the game again

Hello! I have finally been able to get back in to Blogger after having some more 'technical issues'. I decided to write a little bit about my recent experiences with my local farmers market.

First off, I love the farmers market! In Vancouver we have one that begins in the early spring and ends in early fall, giving us plenty of opportunities to support local agriculture and crafts vendors. Being 'green' isn't all about just going organic and recycling; it is also about supporting local economy by buying from the 'little guys' whenever you have a chance. There is also a great dietary benefit from shopping locally. You get to eat fresher foods, and a greater variety than you would find in the grocery store. There will be varieties of peppers, eggplant, zuccini, apples, tomatoes that you have never seen. Buy some and try them out! You never know what you will enjoy until you try it!

Here are some tips for shopping an outdoor market:

• Take cash. Most of these guys don't accept plastic, so you will need to stop by an ATM on the way over.


• Leave your purse at home or in your trunk. Take as little with you as possible ( so just your ID, cell phone, keys and cash) because you have to haul all of your purchases out.


• Come hungry! There are always a lot of samples to try and yummy food vendors.


• Get to know the vendors/farmers who are set up. Are they there every week? Are they just 'seasonal'? What crops/items will they have in the future? This will not only allow you to make a new friend, but gives you insight into what you can expect from this person down the road. I found a farmer last year who didn't have much to offer in the spring, but told me that his summer and early fall crops were his biggest and best. I kept on going back and sure enough - he had the best peaches, berries and apples of all the market!


• Talk to people along the way! Step out of your comfort zone and meet some new people. Word of mouth is the best advertising!


• My dog Maggie loves the market. If you have a four legged friend who is well behaved and walks well on a leash, take them with you! They will have fun eating scraps of food off the street and making friends of their own.

Here is a little sampling of what I got last week at the market:

Hydroponic, organic tomatoes, rhubarb, chinese broccoli, sweet onion, organic asparagus, and the hugest carrot I have ever seen : )

I hope you will look in your community for opportunities to visit a farmer's market. Have fun shopping and trying new things!

Container Conundrum

After reading my last blog about cleaning, my friend Rachel commented about shopping in the bulk section of the grocery store. This is truely a money saving tip, as well as a green one. By purchasing from our bulk sections, we are getting the things we need without all of the unnecessary packaging. Think of the packaging that you see in the supermarket - styrofoam, plastic, metal, cardboard, celophane, etc. Some of these things cannot be avoided because you cannot purchase them in bulk or are 'impossible' to make from scratch. However, if you take a good look at the offerings in the big bins you may find that many of the pantry staples are right there. Of course what comes with buying in bulk and passing on the excess packaging is the need to contain the product somehow. Rachel told a story of her pickle jar experience, and this sparked my curiosity into what I already have in my house. I have started my own collection of butter, sour cream, cream cheese, spaghetti sauce and baby food containers. I wash out the containers ( and in the case of the spaghetti sauce, rinse with baking soda to get rid of the herb smell ) and put them right into the cupboard with the other food storage items. This will help me to avoid buying plastic containers ( though the plastic containers ARE recycleable, why buy something new when I already have a glass or plastic item I can use? ) and use two of the three R's of environmental stewardship - Reuse and Reduce. I encourage you to look around your kitchen to see what containers you can reuse for storing extra food or bulk items. Here's to being creative, frugal and resourceful! :)

Green Cleaning

Hello! I am back to blogging after an unanticipated break ( I had trouble logging in to the site ). I wanted to share with you some ideas for greener cleaning in your homes. Often we think of a 'clean' home, we think of a home that 'smells clean'. What you are actually smelling is chemicals. These chemicals are often blamed for asthmatic conditions, red itchy eyes, and skin irritations. Even the warnings on the side of the bottles tell us to use in well ventilated areas. They are obviously not good for us, so why do we think this 'fragrance' is so great? It is simply the association of having clean surfaces with the odor of the products that got them clean. What we need to do is recondition ourselves to think of clean as the absence of dirt and the absence of odor.
The first time I cleaned my apartment thouroughly with natural products I was left with a void. I was looking for the odor of my favorite bathroom cleaner and the fragrant residue of my beloved floor cleanser. I literally had to tour my home and convince myself that things were clean. After this experience, however; I realized that clean is not a smell and clean does not have to be expensive.
Here are a few of my favorite house cleaning tips using CHEAP and NATURAL products ( that you already have in your home!)

Floor Cleanser:
Fill your sink or bucket with 2 gallons of hot water
2 cups of white vinegar
1/4 cup baking soda
The baking soda and vinegar will fizz ( remember making volcanoes in elementary school? ), but I have found that the baking soda cuts down on the quickly evaporating 'pickle' smell of the vinegar. It also helps to clean and deoderize. The great thing about vinegar is that it is all natural. It is actually fermented alcohol, which is why it kills bacteria and mold. The smell of straight vinegar will evaporate once the liquid evaporates from the surface you are cleaning so don't worry about your house smelling like a pickle jar. Besides, even if it did, at least you would not be breathing in something dangerous. :)

Shower Cleanser:
Baking soda
Vinegar
Spray bottle
Salt
Lemon oil
Wet down the walls of your shower. Make a paste in a bowl or right there in your shower of baking soda and water. With a sponge, apply the paste to your shower. This is abrasive enough to get the soap scum and gentle enough to not scrape the finish on your fiberglass walls. Dont rinse the walls just yet though.With the spray bottle half full of water, half vinegar spray the walls. This will fizz a little, which will aid in the cleansing and washing away of the 'shower grime'. Scrub down the surfaces, then wash off with water. If you have persistant spots that need more attention, pour a little salt on your sponge and use that to scrub. When everything is cleaned to your satisfaction, dampen a cloth with lemon oil and apply a thin layer to all surfaces EXCEPT THE FLOOR OF THE TUB/SHOWER. This will help soap to just run off into the drain so that your shower stays cleaner.

All surface spray:
Spraybottle
Water
Vinegar
Fill the bottle with half water, half vinegar. If you would like, you can add a few drops of essential oil of your choice for fragrance. This can be used for all smooth surfaces from your kitchen counters to your fridge to your bathroom. It kills germs, disolves grease and is safe for use around your children and pets.

Remember, vinegar and baking soda are in all kinds of food items so they are safe to use in our homes. There is a reason no one has made a Clorox brand bundt cake!!

Stay tuned for more cleaning tips!

Plastics: Revisited

A little more info on plastics and recycling, courtesy of the Recyclenow.org website:


Plastic #1: Polyethylene Terephthalate (PETE)Common uses: 2 liter soda bottles, cooking oil bottles, peanut butter jars. This is the most widely recycled plastic and often has redemption value under the California "Bottle Bill."
Plastic #2: High Density Polyethylene (HDPE)Common uses: detergent bottles, milk jugs.
Plastic #3: Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC)Common uses: plastic pipes, outdoor furniture, shrink wrap, water bottles, salad dressing and liquid detergent containers. Please note that plastic bags are not accepted for recycling curbside. However, Safeway Stores, Alberton's Food and Drug, Raley's, Ralphs Food Companies, and G&G Supermarkets accept plastic bags for recycling. Please remove food waste and receipts.
Plastic #4: Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE)Common uses: dry cleaning bags, produce bags, trash can liners, food storage containers. Safeway Stores and Lucky Food Centers accept HDPE (#2) and LDPE (#4) plastic bags for recycling.
Plastic #5: Polypropylene (PP)Common uses: bottle caps, drinking straws. Recycling centers almost never take #5 plastic.
Plastic #6: Polystyrene (PS)Common uses: packaging pellets or "Styrofoam peanuts," cups, plastic tableware, meat trays, to-go "clam shell" containers. Many shipping/packaging stores will accept polystyrene peanuts and other packaging materials for reuse. Cups, meat trays, and other containers that have come in contact with food are more difficult to recycle. If you have large quantities call the Eco-Desk Hotline at 707-565-3375.
Plastic #7: OtherCommon uses: certain kinds of food containers and Tupperware. This plastic category, as its name of "other" implies, is any plastic other than the named #1-#6 plastic types. These containers can be any of the several different types of plastic polymers. Recycling centers cannot recycle plastic #7. Look for alternatives.

I looked around my kitchen and found a mix of several of these plastics. I was especially intrested to learn that my Starbucks waterbottle was a #7 plastic so when I am done with it, it'll just have to go to a landfill...

Waterbottle Wariness

There is a lot of hoopla out there about waterbottles for a variety of reasons. The cities of Portland, Or and Vancouver, Wa for example have banned waterbottles from city council meetings citing the wastefulness of it. They are not the only ones concerned about the amount of waste all of these 'single use' bottles create. The following information is from the Container Recycling Institute:

• Approximately 9 out of 10 waterbottles end up in landfills, never to be recycled ( 30 million bottles per day )
• The amount of petroleum product it takes to manufacture enough bottles to supply us with water is around 1.5 million barrels of oil per year. This is enough oil to generate electricity for 250,000 homes for one year, or enough fuel for 100,000 cars per year.
• 22 million tons of bottled water is shipped from the US to foreign countries per year

However, just making sure that you are recycling these bottles is not the complete answer. Over time, plastic looses it's flexibility and ability to be reproduced into another product. Heavy amounts of dyes and pigments ( like Dasani bottles ) make it difficult for the plastic to be recycled.The metals and chemicals added to plastic to make it stable are also dangerous for us.

So, if the best choice is to not purchase these bottles to begin with, what are we supposed to do? Purchase softer plastic, glass or metal waterbottles. Look for bottles that do not smell 'plastic-y' and are not made of PET ( it will be stamped on the bottom of the bottle ). These bottles are potentially dangerous for children, pregnant and nursing moms and those with developing endocrine systems. Some research even links this chemical ( along with bisphenol -A BPA as you may have seen it ) to breast cancer and chromasomal deficiencies in human eggs ( research published in the 4/2003 issue of Current Biology ). Also look for the label on the bottom of the bottle denoting the type of plastic it is made of. Preferable labels are #2 HDPE and #4 LDPE for recycling purposes and to avoid leaching of chemicals. These plastics tend to be the cloudier kind...think milk jugs and Sunny D containers.

All in all, if you are going to carry a waterbottle, be sure to use a good plastic and wash it everyday ( by hand is best ) to avoid the potential downfalls of portable beverages.

A Simple First Change

The first simple change I recommend making is buying some reuseable grocery bags. Did you know that it can take over 1,000 years for a plastic bag to biodegrade, and 97% of plastic bags end up in landfills? Paper is a better option than plastic because it will biodegrade faster, but it takes 1.4 trees to make 1000 bags. All of that is not even taking into consideration the amount of energy and fuel to make these products ( only for us to throw them away ). I purchased 4 bags from Fred Meyer for 99 cents each. They are a recycleable material so that when they do break down I can dispose of them properly. They are larger than you would think, too. I can fit into these four bags what I used to use about 7-9 plastic bags. Eventually they will pay for themselves at the checkout stand because I get 5 cents off of my bill for each bag used. If you are not using reuseable bags already, I highly recommend getting some. Next on my list of purchases is a produce bag so that I will not have to use the plastic bags in the produce section.