Living Green > Getting Started: The Top Ten #7

7) Cleaning Green

Cleaning with green, natural products is so important, for many reasons. For one, I personally don't want those chemicals (like bleach, and sodium lauryl sulfate) getting into my body. For two, everything that we clean with, ends up in our water systems, affecting so many aspects of life.

All those household chemicals that you have to lock up from children, you lock up because they are hazardous to your health. If you wouldn't want your child getting into it, then you probably shouldn't be cleaning with it either! If you clean your floors with a cleaner containing sodium lauryl sulfate, and then your baby crawls across it, you are putting your child at risk for serious health problems and skin irritations.When you use a cleaner in your tub, toilet, sinks, laundry, even your floors, it eventually will make it's way back to our water system. When it goes down the drain, it goes to the water filtration system, and then right back into the water system that you use to shower with and brush your teeth. Now you wouldn't want to be soaking those chemicals up into your pores that you used to unclog your drain, would you? I know I don't! Also think about how that same water supply will makes its way into our streams and oceans. So many of our plant and animal life has disappeared from our eco-systems because of chemicals.

Collectively, we dump 32 million lbs. of toxic chemistry down our drains each day, just from household cleaning chemicals. That doesn't count what goes into our indoor air. Switching to green alternatives keeps those chemicals out of our bodies and out of our water supply.

So go through your cabinets and check the labeling. A good rule of thumb that I like to go by is, if you can't pronounce it, don't use or eat it!

Some natural cleaners I enjoy are:
Ms. Meyers
Seventh Generation
Dr. Bronners
Green Works

What you can do:
Some natural alternatives to chemical household cleaners are:

BAKING SODA (sodium bicarbonate): An all-purpose, non-toxic cleaner. Cleans, deodorizes, removes stains and softens fabrics.

BORAX (sodium borate): A natural mineral that kills mold and bacteria. An alternative to bleach, it deodorizes, removes stains and boosts the cleaning power of soap. Please note safety precautions at the bottom of this page.

CASTILE and VEGETABLE OIL BASED SOAPS: Cleans everything

CORNSTARCH: Starches clothes, absorbs oil and grease

HERBS and ESSENTIAL OILS: For disinfecting and fragrance

LEMON JUICE: Cuts through grease and removes perspiration and other stains from clothing.A bleach alternative.

SALT (sodium chloride): An abrasive

NON-FLUORIDE TOOTHPASTE: A mild abrasive

VINEGAR (acetic acid): Cuts grease, removes stains and is an excellent water softener.

WASHING SODA (sodium carbonate): Cleans clothes, softens water, cuts grease and disinfects. Increases the cleaning power of soap.

ISOPROPYL RUBBING ALCOHOL: is an alternative to harsh cleaners with bleach.

Homemade cleaning recipes
Sodium Lauryl Sulfate Info

Living Green > Getting Started: The Top Ten #6

6) Natural Lawn Care

Don't you just love summertime's, laying on your lawn, flowing your fingers through the grass?

I bet you would think differently if you knew what you were really laying on.

The average suburban lawn uses six times the hazardous chemicals per acre than conventional farming. Is this really safe? Or necessary? What about your children and pets who play on that lawn, how much of those chemicals are going into their bodies?

If just 10% of us switched to natural lawn care, over half a billion lbs. of synthetic fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides would prevented from entering the environment...and our bodies! When you use pesticides, fertilizers, and herbicides on your lawns and gardens, you cannot segregate what they kill from what you really want them to kill.

Some of the best fertilizer you could have is compost. While you mow your lawn, mulch! Leave the mulched clippings on your lawn and reduce the need for lawn fertilizer by 30% as well as help your lawn trap carbon. If you don't want to mulch, keep the clippings for compost. You can buy or make a fairly inexpensive, yet effective, composter that can sit in the corner or your lawn, or by your recycle bins. Keep all your scraps of food, and lawn trimmings to create beautiful compost that will fertilize your lawn naturally (and your plants will LOVE it). One of the benefits to using organic fertilizers is reducing the amount of toxic chemicals in our water systems, which in turn reduces the amount of toxic chemicals in our bodies.

Most people who have a garden struggle, at one time or another with unwanted insects. Take example from Mother Nature, use checks and balances! Instead of jumping to the easiest thing, sythentic pesticides, research the pest, and try to find it's natural enemy (a beneficial insects) to introduce into your garden instead. This is the most effective, and natural way to remove unwanted insects from your yard. In nature’s cycle we have predators and prey. Those nasty bugs that are making prey out of your prize roses are also a tasty snack to other insects. Introducing these beneficial insects into your garden can help control unwanted pests.

One very beneficial insect to introduce into your garden is the light green lacewing fly. Lacewings should be purchased as eggs which you spread around your garden plants. As soon as the eggs hatch the hungry larvae will eat caterpillars, moth eggs, aphids, mealy bugs and almost anything else that gets in its way.

Another beneficial insect is the praying mantis. Purchase praying mantis’s as eggs and place in your garden. When the praying mantis hatches he will eat beetles, flies, aphids, and many other insects. Your kids will love this one too, they are fun to have around, not to mention beautiful!

What you can do - 6 steps to a more natural lawn:

1) Switch to natural lawn care
2) Compost!
3) Use natural pesticides, like bugs!
4) Water less frequently and deeper
5) Mow higher
6) Choose the right grass for your region

Living Green > Getting Started: The Top Ten #5

5) Switching to Natural Personal Care

Using natural personal care has a double benefit-keeping toxic chemicals off your body and then keeping them out of the environment after they wash off your body. Remember, if you wouldn't eat it, don't put it on your body. You already know that anything you put on your skin, from soap to shampoo, moisturizers to hair dye, deodorant to sunscreen, will be absorbed. Chemicals in these products will be absorbed as well, and they can cause serious health problems. Read labels carefully and be aware that certain types of products tend to be worse than others.

Also remember that when you shower, your pores are absorbing things from the water as well, so anything that you wouldn't want your body to absorb, don't put back into the water. This goes from make-up, toothpaste, lotions, shampoo, conditioner; to dish soap, laundry detergent, car cleaning products, pet products, and even prescription drugs.

What you can do - 6 steps for sustainable personal care:

1) Choose natural, organic-fiber clothing
2) Don't compromise with your children's clothing
3) Find a greener dry cleaner
4) Buy safe personal care products
5) Filter your shower and bath water
6) Choose natural feminine hygiene

Some personal care items that I recommend are:
Jason Organics
Kiss My Face
Seventh Generation
Origins
Ms. Meyers

Living Green > Getting Started: The Top Ten #4

"There is a sufficiency in the world for man's need but not for man's greed."
Mohandas K. Gandhi
4) Denying Disposables

If we all just used a glass instead of a water bottle and a coffee mug instead of Styrofoam cup, we would save 244 billion bottles and cups made from petrochemical-based plastics from entering the U.S. waste stream each year. Purchase durable, long-lasting products that can be reused or refilled in order to decrease waste. Consider using a refillable razor, rechargeable batteries, and reusable containers to hold your lunch.

According to the Earth Policy Institute, the global consumption of bottled water reached 154 billion liters (41 billion gallons) in 2004, up 57 percent from the 98 billion liters consumed five years earlier. Even in areas where tap water is safe to drink, demand for bottled water is increasing—producing unnecessary garbage and consuming vast quantities of energy. Although in the industrial world bottled water is often no healthier than tap water, it can cost up to 10,000 times more. At as much as $2.50 per liter ($10 per gallon), bottled water costs more than gasoline.

Not only are people using more disposable water bottles, but companies are using more and more packaging on their products. Take for instance, if you were to buy an mp3 player, or a toy; there is the outer layer of hard casing plastic; then the individual parts are wrapped in a softer plastic; sitting on top of a piece of cardboard (for marketing and branding purposes) with an average of 2-4 paper manuals and booklets. Now that is just WAY too much packaging for one mp3 player. Or what about when you order something from amazon, and it comes in yet ANOTHER layer or packaging, the shipping box!

Now, it's not solely about over-production of disposable items, it's also about the transportation involved and the environmental damage that comes from that. When you get something shipped in an over sized box from Amazon, that box takes up more space in the shipping truck, causing more, and more trips to transport over-packaged goods.

So look around your kitchen, garage and bathroom, just to see how much disposable packaging has made it's way into your house. Then think about all the beautiful, and easy, ways you can either reduce your hand in that disposable waste, and/or reuse it in a creative way (donations to schools for craft projects are always good)!

Re-using cereal boxes
Re-usable products
Green household items