Green Works Floor Cleaner - Green Cleaning - 2009.Jan.28

Green Cleaning.

Green Works Floor Cleaner.

I decided as products run out at my house that I would try out a green alternative. So, my floor cleaner ran out and that is a staple in my house as I try to mop my floor every night before I go to bed since I have a crawler, walker, eat anything off the floor baby/toddler right now.


They call it "Dilutable Cleaner" and says that it is 99% natural made with essential oils, no phosphorus or bleach, a coconut based cleaning agent. I have not tried it yet, but have started with my pledge in 2009 to move our family to the world of green.


I will also be trying some green cleaning alternatives like: using baking soda that you sprinkle on your carpet before you vacuum to freshen it up and deodorize it, using white distilled vinegar to remove soap scum and as a fabric softner in the rinse cylce of my baby's cloth diapers (yes, I use cloth diapers and have a wonderful easy diaper pail free system I will put in a future post !).


A truly healthy environment starts with your home. Most ordinary household cleaners are locaed with chemicals that just can't be good for you and your family. Your home is where you live, breath, eat, and sleep !

Send your kids outside for one "Green Hour" a Day - Green Nature - 2009.Jan.25

Green Nature.

Send kids outside to get close to nature and appreciate the world around them.

The National Wildlife Federation recommends that parents give their kids a "Green Hour" every day, a time for unstructured play and interaction with the natural world. This can take place in a garden, a backyard, the park down the street, or any place that provides safe and accessible green spaces where children can learn and play.

Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods, refers to this nature-child disconnect as "nature deficit disorder." One of the primary symptoms is the replacement of the green space by the screen space as the occupier of children's free time. Indeed, a Kaiser Family Foundation study found that the average American child spends 44 hours per week (more than 6 hours a day!) staring at some kind of electronic screen. Studies have linked excessive television viewing to obesity, violence, and even lower intelligence in kids. Now, a growing wave of research indicates that children who spend time outdoors are healthier, overall, than their indoor counterparts

Children who regularly spend unstructured time outside:

• Play more creatively
• Have lower stress levels
• Have more active imaginations
• Become fitter and leaner
• Develop stronger immune systems
• Experience fewer symptoms of ADD and ADHD
• Have greater respect for themselves, for others, and for the environment

SOURCE: http://www.greenhour.org/

TOP 15 Fruits & Veggies with Highest Levels of Pesticides - Green Food - 2009.Jan.24

Green Food.

Top 15 Fruits and Veggies you should buy Organic.

Should I buy organic fruits and vegetables ? They sometimes are so much more expensive. When I am doing my weekly shopping for fresh produce I am faced with so many decisions. I have started buying some organic produce for our family. My oldest is 10 years old, my second is 7.5 years old, and my youngest just turned 1 and wow have things changed since my oldest was just starting to eat "real people food". I am so concerned about all the food I feed my children and am trying to make good choices all the time, but I am especially concerned about all the new foods the baby is eating.

So, how do you know when to buy organic. I found this web-site that monitors the pesticide levels in fruits and veggies and below is a list of the 15 worst offenders for pesticides. I am going to print off this list and put in my purse when I go shopping and am faced with decisions about buying organic.

The produce ranking was developed by analysts at the not-for-profit Environmental Working Group (EWG) based on the results of nearly 43,000 tests for pesticides on produce collected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration between 2000 and 2005. A detailed description of the is available as well as a full list of fresh fruits and vegetables that have been tested at EWG's web-site.

The TOP 15 Fruits & Veggies with highest levels of pesticides:

1. Peaches - 100 (highest pesticide load)
2. Apples - 96
3. Sweet Bell Peppers - 86
4. Celery - 85
5. Nectarines - 84
6. Strawberries - 83
7. Cherries - 75
8. Lettuce - 69
9. Grapes - Imported - 68
10. Pears - 65
11. Spinach - 60
12. Potatoes - 58
13. Carrots - 57
14. Green Beans - 55
15. Hot Peppers - 53

EWG is a not-for-profit environmental research organization dedicated to improving public health and protecting the environment by reducing pollution in air, water and food.

SOURCE: http://www.ewg.org/

Mail in your polar fleece garments to be recycled into new clothing - Green Clothing - 2009.Jan.23

Green Clothing.

Recycled that Polar Fleece to be turned into New Clothing !

I just found out about Patagonia's Polar Fleece Recycling Program ! I am going to pull a Polar Fleece we have in the donation/Goodwill box downstairs and send it to Patagonia. They take polar fleece from any manufacturer and make them into new clothing. Here's the scoop from their site.

Common Threads Garment Recycling
Way too much of what is made these days ends up in the trash at the end of its useful life. At Patagonia, we're working to change that. In 2005, Patagonia launched the Common Threads Garment Recycling Program, through which customers could return their worn out Capilene® Performance Baselayers to us for them to recycle. They've since been able to expand the list of recyclable garments to include worn out Patagonia® fleece, Polartec® fleece clothing (from any maker), Patagonia cotton T-shirts, and now some additional polyester and nylon 6 products that come with a Common Threads tag. Through Common Threads they transform your unusable garments into new clothing, which gets them closer to a long-standing company goal of taking full responsibility for every product they make.

How to Recycle any of the above listed garments:
Simply wash them first and use one of the following collection methods:
1. Mail them to the Patagonia Service Center at
Patagonia Service CenterATTN: Common Threads Recycling Program8550 White Fir StreetReno, NV 89523-8939
OR
2. Drop them off at the neartest Patagonia Retail Store.

SOURCE: http://www.patagonia.com

Buy Local Office Challenge - Green Food - 2009.Jan.22

Green Food.

Start a Buy Local Eat Local 30 Day Challenge at your Office or School.

Want to start a challenge in your office to make a difference and Buy Loal Food for a month? -That is just what Vanguard Communications out of Washington DC did.

Vanguard Communications created its Buy Local Challenge in 2002 to “taste-test” social marketing strategies related to identifying, choosing and preparing food from local farms. This communications “incubator” was designed to help us and our clients identify barriers to consumer acceptance and demand for local food products. During that first Challenge, which took place in April, Vanguard staff, family and friends endured a trying month in which little but spinach and asparagus were available. Learning how to eat seasonally proved to be harder than it seemed. Now, buy local efforts are popping up throughout the country, and more and more consumers are discovering the joys and benefits of locally grown food.

SOURCE: http://www.buylocalchallenge.org/

Green Choices when Eating Out - Green Foods - 2009.Jan.21

Green Food.
How to make Green Choices when Dining Out2009 Restaurant Industry Fact Sheet

• 1.5 billion — Restaurant-industry sales on a typical day in 2009.
• 76 percent — Percent of adults who said they are trying to eat healthier now at restaurants than they did two years ago.
• 70 percent — Percent of adults who said they are more likely to visit a restaurant that offers locally produced food items.
• 69 percent — Percent of adults who said purchasing meals from restaurants, take-out and delivery places makes it easier for families with children to manage their day-to-day lives.
• 52 percent — Percent of adults who said they are likely to make a restaurant choice based on how much a restaurant supports charitable activities and the local community.

SOURCE: http://www.restaurant.org/ - National Restaurant Association

So, dining out is not going away. In fact, this is one industry that is expected to see growth even in this precarious economy. So, are you wondering how to eat more green when eating out. I found a web-site called http://www.dinegreen.com/ for finding Certified Green Restaurants. They not only have a directory of Certified Green Restaurants, they actually certify and monitor these restaurants for their green standards. You can search by State, City, Zip Code. It even tells you how many of their certification steps they have completed!

Certified Green Restaurants™ meet the following standards:

• Use a comprehensive recycling system for all products that are accepted by local recycling companies.
• Free of polystyrene foam ("Styrofoam") products.
• Commit to completing four Environmental Steps per year of membership.
• Complete at least one Environmental Step listed below after joining the GRA.

1. Energy Efficiency & Conservation
   Energy efficient technologies and conservation practices exist for lighting, heating, ventilation, air conditioning, foodservice appliances, office equipment, and transportation
2. Water Efficiency & Conservation
   Water efficient technologies and conservation practices exist for foodservice appliances, equipment, and landscaping.
3. Recycling & Composting
   Recycling services exist for many waste products such as glass, plastic, metal, cardboard, mixed paper, grease, ink & toner cartridges. Food waste can be diverted from landfills and made into nutrient-rich soil through the use of a composting service or an on-site system.
4. Sustainable Food
   Sustainable food products support the long-term maintenance of ecosystems and agriculture for future generations. Organic agriculture prohibits the use of toxic synthetic pesticides and fertilizers, irradiation, sewage sludge, and genetic engineering. Locally grown foods reduce the amount of pollution associated with transportation primarily by fossil fuels. Plant-based foods require fewer natural resources and create less pollution per calorie consumed.
5. Pollution Prevention
   Pollution prevention is achieved through source reduction, reuse, or improving operational practices.
6. Recycled, Tree-Free, Biodegradable & Organic Products
   Recycled products are made from materials that are collected from post-consumer or post-industrial waste sources. Tree-free products are made from alternative plant sources such as hemp or kenaf. Biodegradable products are capable of being decomposed by biological agents, especially bacteria. Organic products are grown without the use of toxic synthetic pesticides and fertilizers, irradiation, sewage sludge, and genetic engineering.
7. Chlorine-Free Paper Products
   Chlorine-free paper products are unbleached or whitened with alternatives such as hydrogen peroxide, oxygen, and ozone. The term Process Chlorine-Free (PCF) identifies recycled paper that is unbleached or bleached without the use of chlorine compounds. The term Totally Chlorine-Free (TCF) identifies virgin paper that is unbleached or bleached without the use of chlorine compounds. The term Elemental Chlorine-Free (ECF) identifies paper that is bleached without the use of elemental chlorine (but may use chlorine compounds).
8. Non-Toxic Cleaning & Chemical Products
   Non-toxic cleaning and chemical products are biodegradable, free of hazardous ingredients, and are safe for people, animals and the environment when used properly.
9. Green Power
   Electricity and power is available from renewable resources such as wind, solar, geothermal, small hydro and biomass. These energy sources cause dramatically less air pollution and environmental damage compared to fossil fuel, nuclear, and large-scale hydroelectric energy sources.
10. Green Building & Construction
    Green design and construction practices significantly reduce or eliminate the negative impact of buildings on the environment, occupants, and the local community.
11. Education
    Staff will receive GRA's book, Dining Green: A Guide to Creating Environmentally Sustainable Restaurants and Kitchens, which explains the environmental impact of the restaurant industry and a path toward ecological sustainability. Restaurants also receive signs for recycling, energy & water conservation, and to remind staff of the 4 Environmental Steps for the year.

SOURCE: http://www.dinegreen.com/

Celestial Seasonings - Green Beverages - 2009.Jan.20

Celestial Seasonings uses as little packaging as possible to market its teas. The company's unique pillow tea bag requires no strings, tags, staples, individual overwrapping, or foil envelopes. This results in keeping more than fifteen hundred tons of waste out of landfills each year. Tea bag papers are packaged in cardboard boxes made from 100 percent recycled paperboard, which is derived from at least 35 percent post-consumer waste. The boxes include resealable interior liners to keep the tea fresh. You can recycle the liners, box, and compost the bags:

SOURCE: "Big Green Purse" by Diane MacEachern, Page 140