Green Cleaning Au Naturale

Shrek the Third, Spiderman 3, Harry Potter 247 (at least it feels that way to some...sorry, Lyd!) Everyone knows that summer is the time of sequels. And why should it be any different at Green Is the New Pink? So, today, we're presenting our own sequel.

This is definitely a post you'll want to forward, bookmark, print and hang on the fridge, because today, we're offering tips on ALL-NATURAL, HOMEMADE ways to clean everything from stains, drains and furniture. Nothing to purchase, all the ingedients you have in your own house.

Sandra's Green Summer Cleaning Tips: Part Deux

If you’re interested in going back to basics and removing toxic and harmful ingredients from your home once and for good take a look at the recipes below and get to scrubbing. You’ll be surprised to find that you probably have most of these ingredients/items in your home so in addition to saving the Earth you'll be saving up for that new YSL bag as well (or Nintendo Wii). Also, I've stopped buying paper towels and instead have been using sponges and old towels instead.

PS: For those of you with the pitter patter of little feet around your pad, human or canine, using a these all natural cleansers are more important than ever to assure that your loved ones are safe and not ingesting toxic ingredients when they play with toys that have been laying around, lick their paws, suck their toes…you get the point.

So get out a spray bottle, a measuring cup, a sponge and get ready to clean!

All Purpose Cleaner (409)

• Mix equal parts salt with vinegar.Use a moisten spong to scrub solution on effected areas. Be careful using this on items that may scratch easily. OR...
• Mix 4 tablespoons baking soda with 1-quart warm water in a spray bottle. Spritz directly on dirty surface and wipe with a sponge.

Toilet Bowl Cleaner

• Mix 4 tablespoons baking soda with vinegar. Pur into toilet bowl and let sit. Scrub with toilet bowl brush. OR...
• Sprinkle baking soda inside the bowl as you would any scouring powder. Add a couple drops of soap in also. Scrub with a toilet bowl brush and finish outside surfaces with a rag sprinkled with baking soda.
  

Tub & Tile Cleaner

• Mix a 50-50 solution of water and vinegar in a spray water bottle. Spray directly onto tub or tile. Wipe off with sponge. OR...
• Rub baking soda on surface directly with a damp sponge. Rinse with water.

Drain cleaner

• Mix 1 cup of salt with one cup of baking soda and ½ cup vinegar. Pour down the drain. Then pour down a teakettle full of boiling water. OR...
• Pour 1/2 cup of baking soda down the drain first, then 1/2-cup vinegar. Let fizz for a few minutes. Then pour down a teakettle full of boiling water.

Window & Glass Cleaner (Sorry, Windex....)

• Fill spray bottle Water with 1 tablespoon lemon juice. Spray directly onto surface. Wipe with newspaper. OR...
• Put 1/4 cup of white vinegar into a spray bottle and fill to the top with water. Spray directly onto surface. Wipe with newspaper.

Blood Stain Remover

• Make a paste with cornstarch & water. Place on stain. Scrub.

Brass Polish

• Mix lemon juice with baking soda and dip a rag into the solution. Gently rub brass with moistened rag. OR...
• Mix salt with vinegar. Dip rag into solution. Gently rub brass with moistened rag.Or

Furniture Polish

• Mix ½ cup lemon juice with 1 cup olive oil. Dampen rag with solution and polish.

Copper polish

• Mix 1 tablespoon vinegar and 1 tablespoon salt and apply to the surface with a rag. Rinse thoroughly afterwards to avoid corrosion.

Silver polish

• Add 1 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon baking soda to an aluminum-foil-lined pan of boiling water. Dip silver in solution. Rub clean.

Iron cleaner

• To clean the plate of a clothing iron, sprinkle salt on plain paper and run a hot, dry iron over it.

Wood Floor Cleaner

• Mix oil and vinegar in equal parts. Dampen rag with solution and apply to wood.

Linoleum floor cleaner

• Add 1/2 cup vinegar to a bucket (pail) of warm water. (Don't worry, the vinegar odor will go away shortly after the floor dries!)

Oven Cleaner

• Mix 1 cup of baking soda with enough water to make a paste. Apply to oven surfaces and let stand a little while. Use a scouring pad to scrub.

Clothing Stain Remover

• Soak fabrics in water mixed with any of the following ingredients: borax, lemon juice, hydrogen peroxide, washing soda, or white vinegar.
  

Cutting Board and Chopping Blocks (you don't want to chemicals on the board and then in your food...)

• To sanitize, rub a cut lemon on them.
• To remove stains, rub in the juice from 1 lemon and let it stand 20 minutes. Rinse

So there you have it...cleaning "au naturale" no longer means scurrying through your house with a broom while naked....and besidesbeing better for the environment, these cleaning methods are better for your health, so go ahead and share with family and friends today....

Are Your Cleaning Supplies Making Your House Toxic?

Welcome to Part 1 of our 2-part Green Summer Cleaning Series by our guest author Sandra Sanchez! Here goes....

I was thinking about myself the other day (surprise, surprise) and I realized that while I have been making a tremendous effort to help mother nature and our environment (thanks, Green Is The New Pink) I haven’t been thinking about how some of my habits affect my immediate environment – and by that I mean my really cute apartment.

As a self-proclaimed neat freak, I use my fair share of cleaning products and am always buying the latest and greatest in scrub-free-soap-scum-remover or whatever the product du jour may be. However, I always got a headache after my cleaning sprees and I had to open all my apartment windows to eliminate the toxic fumes left behind. This revelation has prompted me to search for a better way to clean. Turns out every spritz of my window cleaner is causing harm to myself, my pets and our Earth!

Did You Know?

Most mainstream cleaning products contain chlorine, dyes, and perfume, which pollute during the manufacturing process and during and after use. Just think, that bleach that runs down your drain has to go somewhere, right? Also a lot of mainstream cleaners are major causes of the depletion of non-renewable resources such as petroleum.

Let’s look at some of the facts:

-If every US household replaced just one 32 oz. bottle of shower cleaner containing chlorine bleach, with hydrogen-peroxide based shower cleaner, we could prevent 1 million lbs. of chlorine from entering our environment. SeventhGeneration.com

-If every home in the US replaced just one 25 oz. of petroleum-based dishwashing liquid with plant-based product we could save 81,000 barrels of oil – enough to heat and cool 4,600 U.S. homes for a year. SeventhGeneration.com

-If every household in the US replaced just one box of 48 oz. petroleum-based powder laundry detergent with vegetable based product, we could save 96,000 barrels of oil – enough to heat and cool 5,500 U.S. homes for a year. SeventhGeneration.com

-17,000: the number of petrochemicals available for home use, only 30% of which have been tested for exposure to human health and the environment. treehuger.com

-100: the number of times higher that indoor air pollution levels can be above outdoor air pollution levels, according to US EPA estimates. treehugger.com

Eco friendly Cleaning Supplies:

But where do you find these chlorine-free, non-petroleum-based cleaners. Actually, just about everywhere. They're available online and at Whole Foods, Target and Restoration Hardware(just to name a few.)

www.seventhgen.com/

www.ecover.com/

www.bonami.com/

www.mrsmeyers.com/

www.vermontsoap.com/

www.fruits-passion.com/

www.bee.net.nz/ (my favorite packaging!)

I just want to hire someone else to clean my house...

And for those of you that are ultra-busy (or ultra-lazy, shhhh I won’t tell) green housekeeping is the newest trend in saving the earth. These companies pride themselves in using all-natural, nontoxic cleaning supplies, and you can find one in your area by checking your local listings.

Los Angeles – www.greencleanla.com

New York City – www.zenhomecleaning.com, www.greencleannyc.com,

San Francisco – www.greenwaymaid.com

Washington, DC - www.greencleanusa.org

Nationwide - www.greencleancertified.com

So whether you do it yourself or not, the bottom line is that green cleaning products are better for you and the earth....Check out next week's post where Sandra tells us some all-natural cleaning methods using ingredients in your own house....

Eat your way to a healthier planet: Summer Seasonality

Eating your way to a healthier planet is a 2 part process. It's as simple as eating locally produced and seasonal food, like in the olden days...

Part 1-

sea'son·al'i·ty (-zə-nāl'ĭ-tē) n. of or dependent on a particular season

Buying fruit and vegetables when they are in season in your area is one of the easiest ways to live a more eco-friendly lifestyle. Most fruits and vegetables only grow for a few month period every year.Because of global commerce and consumer demand we have apples and oranges and even mangoes that sit in the grocery store year round but that does not mean that that fruit is in season in your area. Berries in the winter and Asparagus in the fall are being shipped in from other countries and continents. All of that food transportation by trains, planes and automobiles puts a lot of CO2 into the atmosphere, which is one of the leading causes of climate change. (Want to read more on this issue? Read our first post on seasonality).

How do I know what’s in season?

Well, right now, it's summer so there is no seasonality sacrifices or skimping to be had, we are surrounded by a feast of beautiful fruits and vegetables. Peaches, Nectarines, Plums, Apricots, Cherries, Sweet Corn, Melons, Berries, Fresh Herbs, Avocados and … Tomatoes! And the beauty of seasonality is that this is the only time of year this food actually grows in North America meaning it tastes great and is delicious. Summer is the only time these specific summer fruit and veggies will taste so good so go ahead and gorge yourself on cherries and heirloom tomatoes and apricots, you deserve it.

Part 2-


lo·cal·i·ty (lō-kāl'ĭ-tē) A particular neighborhood, place, or district.

Fact:The average American meal travels 1,500-2,500 miles to get to your plate.

To reduce the "transportation/travel miles" of your food, try to buy food that is produced in your region or area. The easiest place to find locally grown/produced products is to your local farmer’s market for not only fruits and veggies but for the local vendors selling cheeses, olive oils, honey and baked goods. Click here to find a farmer's market in your area.)

Whole Foods now labels it's produce that is “locally grown”--look for the signs and try to buy your produce from that area of the store. If your grocery store is not as eco minded, you can ask your grocer to tell you what food they buy from local vendors or write a complaint card asking to know where your food is grown…The more people who ask the more of a response we will get.

Get to know the vendors in your area. Most specialty shops carry local products. Stock up on regional olive oil, home made cheese, wine, honey, jam and other treats while getting your goat cheese salads at Joan's on Third.

Frequent restaurants that use local produce and meat, they will say so on the menu or on the website. It’s a good way to support the locality movement.

Enjoy the feasting!

Easy Summer Energy Tips

Feeling Hot, Hot, Hot, oo-ooh! Yes, this song may be fun on the conga line around your cruise ship's deck as you shake your maracas on the way down to Cancun (key words: may be--like if the year was '91), but in general, feeling hot means feeling sticky and gross. Which we hate. But it’s summer time and that means it’s hot, hot, hot everywhere and that makes us all want to run for our air conditioners and frozen margaritas. Before you run up thousands in your electric bill, we felt this was a perfect time for some Summer Energy Saving Tips (you can keep the margarita…or at least a mojito.)

Keeping the House Cool

• Reset your thermostat. Please don’t tell us you’re turning it down to 65 and then putting your flannel PJ’s on and pulling up the covers! Dress cool, put your hair up and turn your thermostat up. Conventional Eco-wisdom dictates that we try to keep our thermostats at 78 degrees in the summer. And turn it off when you leave the house!!! It’ll be okay!
• If you have fans (ceiling or otherwise)….use them! Ceiling fans create enough air movement in a room to make it feel cooler by four degrees or more. They use only about as much energy as a 100-watt light bulb.
• Shade your place. Windows are one of the largest sources of heat gain in your home. Although not as effective as exterior shading, keeping your drapes and shades closed during the day helps keep unwanted heat out of your home.
• Use the evening breeze. If you live in the type of area that has cooler nights even after hotter days (like Cali), cut your cooling costs by opening windows when it's cooler outside than inside. In the morning, close up the house to trap the coolness inside.
• Shade your room air conditioner from direct sunlight
• Duh…but just in case your forgot…close all windows and doors when using your air conditioner.

The Great Outdoors

• Longer days mean shorter nights. Don't forget to adjust your outdoor lighting timers. You'll save money and extend bulb life.
• Low-voltage outdoor lighting systems are inexpensive, simple and safe…Another great option are the solar-powered outdoor lighting fixtures you can buy. Both are available pretty much everywhere—your local hardware store/Home Depot, possibly your drug store, Amazon, etc.
• Consider alternatives to grass (no, not ‘shrooms). If you have a lawn…Grass is a fast-growing, high-maintenance ground cover that "browns off" quickly in dry weather. Other ground covers such as clover and other low-growing, spreading plants require less maintenance and are more drought resistant. Your local garden centre can advise you on alternatives to grass that will thrive in your area.
• Use an Electic Mower. Gas lawn mowers are a major source of air pollution and smog in many areas. Electric mowers pollute less and are much quieter too.

The Pool

• Cover your pool. A proper pool cover can cut heat loss by 50 to 75% and can also reduce water loss by up to 90%.
• Reduce filtration time to six hours per day. You can save 50% or more of the energy used for filtration.
• Heat the pool only when you use it. If you only use your pool on weekends or special occasions, turn off the heater or lower the thermostat setting to 68 degrees during the week. You can turn on your heater the night before, or the morning of the day you plan to swim….or if you live in an area that’s hot enough (like the Valley…), you may not even need to turn the heater on at all. Just let the sun do it’s magic.
• Turn your pool heater off when you leave for vacation.
• Re-evaluate the frequency of backwashing. Most people backwash more than needed. Some pool filters do not have to be backwashed; they can be taken apart and cleaned. Be sure to follow the manufacturer's instructions.

Oldies But Goodies

• Turn off lights in unoccupied rooms.
• Do only full loads when using your dishwasher and clothes washer. Run your appliances during off peak hours or after the sun goes down.
• Unplug electronics (don’t be a victim to standby power)… power strips are still the easiest way to facilitate this…
• Replace your air conditioning filters once a month. Dirty filters restrict airflow and can cause the coil in your air conditioner to freeze up significantly increasing energy use. Saving up to 5% of cooling costs.
• Install compact fluorescent lights. We’re like a broken record with this one. But we’ll say it again—compact fluorescent lights use 75% less energy than incandescent lights. Yes, when you go to the store, they will be a few dollars more, but in the long run you’ll make those dollars back and then some on your electric bill.

Energy Investments—For the more serious Ecoist

• Get an air conditioner tune-up. An improperly charged air conditioner uses significantly more energy than one that is properly charged. Have a licensed heating and air conditioner contractor service your system.
• Shade your home and windows. Shading the outside of your home should be your first line of defense against summertime heat. Careful planting of trees, shrubs, vines and ground cover to shade your home and windows from the sun can really reduce your cooling costs. For immediate results, install patio covers, awnings, and solar screens to shade your windows. Energy savings can be up to 30 percent of cooling costs.
• Install a whole house fan. A whole house fan is permanently installed in your attic and draws cool air into your home through the windows and forces hot air out through your attic vents. These are used after sundown when the outside temperature drops below 80 degrees and in the early morning.
• Choose Energy Star^® appliances and electronics. When buying new appliances, choose Energy Star^®-certified models. For example, a new Energy Star^®-refrigerator uses about 20% less energy than a standard new refrigerator and 46% less than one manufactured in 1980. A new Energy Star^® clothes washer uses nearly 50% less energy than a standard washer uses.
• Seal ducts. Leaking ductwork accounts for more than 25% of cooling costs in an average California home. Consider hiring a contractor to test the tightness of your ducts and repair leaks and restrictions in your duct.
• Consider replacing your old air conditioner with an Energy Star ^® unit. New air conditioning units are available that use 40% less energy to cool your home than older models.
• High efficiency windows. If you are planning to replace your windows, choosing Energy Star^® windows can reduce your cooling costs by up to 15 percent.

In the peak of summer the energy supply is strained so do your conservationist part for the sake of the future of the environment and your pocketbook (then you can buy those Wedges your are coveting.)

For more info, go to the following sites:

http://www.pioneerthinking.com/summertips.html
http://resources.ca.gov/tips.html http://www.cpau.com/docs/factsheets/energy/summer_effic.html http://www.nstaronline.com/residential/energy_efficiency/spring_summer.asp