by Marissa Lenting

Cleaning green.

These days everyone is cutting back on extra costs in their lifestyles. Keeping your home clean shouldn’t cause a pain in your wallet, but the cleanliness of your home shouldn’t suffer either.

A great new way to clean your home is through these handmade recipes, and there is no chemistry set needed! Just mix a few simple ingredients together and you’ve got your very own green-clean team! It is a great way to look out for the environment and your family, as they are kid and pet friendly! These homemade recipes are also a lot more cost effective than your typical chemical-based cleaners.

Try using vinegar for many of your home cleaning remedies. Don’t worry about your home smelling like vinegar, the smell disappears when it dries. A bottle of vinegar will cost around $3.80 for 128 oz. and a 26 oz. bottle of window cleaner can cost $4.79! That’s more than a $20.00 difference! Some simple and common uses for vinegar are:

Bathroom - Clean the bathtub, toilet, sink, and countertops. Use pure vinegar in the toilet bowl to get rid of rings. Flush the toilet to allow the water level to go down. Pour the undiluted vinegar around the inside of the rim. Scrub down the bowl. Mop the floor in the bathroom with a vinegar/water solution. The substance will also eat away the soap scum and hard water stains on your fixtures and tile. Make sure it is safe to use with your tile.

Kitchen - Clean the stovetop, appliances, countertops, and floor.

Laundry Room – Use as a natural fabric softener. This can be especially helpful for families who have sensitive skin. Add cup of vinegar to the rinse cycle in place of store bought fabric softener. Vinegar has the added benefit of breaking down laundry detergent more effectively.

Use lemon juice to clean your surfaces and rid of smells. Lemon juice can be mixed with vinegar and or baking soda to make all sorts of cleaning pastes. A bunch of 5 lemons will cost you around $2.50 and one lemon can cover an entire house! A 12.5 oz. bottle of furniture polish will cost you $3.99 the savings are simple. Simple and common uses for lemons are:

Bathroom – Lemon juice can dissolve soap scum and hard water deposits. Soak your showerhead in a bowl of lemon juice or rub a mixture of lemon juice and water on your sink or bathtub.

Kitchen – A great way to shine brass and copper. Cut a lemon in half and sprinkle baking soda on the cut section and scrub dishes or pans. Put a few slices of lemon in a bowl of water and place in microwave. Cook for 2 minutes and remove bowl. Then easily wipe off any food particles or grease from microwaves surfaces. Put a whole lemon peel through the garbage disposal, it freshens the drain and the kitchen.

Baking soda can also be used in an all-purpose way of cleaning. Mix it with vinegar or lemon for an abrasive super cleaner! An all-purpose cleaner can cost around $3.00 for only 32 oz., while a 48 oz. box of baking soda costs $2.25 and will last you a lot longer!
If you really want a great way to freshen up your home, add a few drops of lavender essential oil to your cleaning mixture, a 10ml bottle goes for $5 – $10, and can last you a year.

Here are some more really great recipes and ideas for all your homemade cleaning needs!

Furniture Polish: Combine 1/4 cup of olive oil, 1/4 cup of distilled vinegar, and 2 tsp. lemon juice and shake well. Dip a clean and dry cloth into polish and rub wood in the direction of the grain. Refrigerate any remaining polish.

Toilet Bowl Cleaner: Sprinkle bowl with baking soda and drizzle with white vinegar. Let soak 30 minutes, and scrub with toilet brush. For tough stains, let soak overnight.

All Purpose Cleaner: Combine 2 cups of white distilled vinegar and 2 cups of water. Use on counter tops, kitchen floors, windows, mirrors, and any other hard surfaces. For tough jobs, warm the cleaner in the microwave.

Happy Cleaning!

BE PART OF THE SOLUTION!

Original Article:  http://earthorganization.com/clean-green

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This post was first published on The Green Bean Blog. To continue reading, please visit Cheap, Clean and Green! is a post from:

Ten Simple Steps to Greener Living

As awareness of the civilization’s impact on the environment increases, people are becoming more willing than ever before, to accept clean lifestyles. But some aren’t exactly sure where to begin.

One doesn’t have to start out with leaps and bounds.  Installing a full solar power system on one’s home or switching to a hybrid car would be great. But large steps require planning and financing.  Small steps can be taken right now.

In some cases, your choices might depend on several factors: where you live, the natural resources available to you, your lifestyle, and others. Therefore there is probably no “one-size-fits-all” solution to going green (or at least, greener).

But there are many simple things you can do to live a greener life, through your day-to-day activities, and most of these apply to just about anyone.

1. Learn more about sustainable living

This is the first and most important step in going green. You should read up on the subject of environmentalism, and how your personal carbon footprint can affect global pollution levels. There are plenty of resources available online, and you can visit your local library for books on related topics.

2. Save energy

The most effective way to cut down on your carbon emissions is to conserve on energy in your home. Install energy-efficient appliances and light bulbs, turn off the lights when they aren’t in use, ensure your house is properly insulated and windows are properly sealed, and keep your energy consumption to a minimum. You will save energy and money at the same time.

3. Conserve water

Every drop of tap water you use consumes energy – for transport, filtering, and purification. It might just be water, but a lot of fossil fuel is consumed in processing it. In some places, water itself is scarce. You can turn the tap off while brushing your teeth, switch to more efficient washers and dryers, and collect rain water for use in your garden.

4. Use less fuel for transport

If a hybrid car is not an option at the moment, you can take other steps; walking or biking to work, or whenever you have to travel a short distance. If your work place is too far for a daily bicycle commute, consider using mass transit. You can carpool with a friend or coworker if that works. For long trips, consider the fuel efficiency of your different options.

5. Eat greener food

Eating is one thing everyone has in common. But did you know that eating the type of food can make an impact in the environment? The food industry contributes substantial carbon emissions in the process of shipping their products around the world. When you eat seasonal, local, and organic food, you help to conserve the environment – as well as improve your own health.

6. Buy smart

Instead of buying brand new wooden furniture for your home, you can search for good used furniture online, or even visit garage sales to find what you’re looking for. Think before making a purchase, no matter how big or small it is. Buying grocery items in bulk can save money and conserve on energy and packing materials. Also, be sure to buy high-quality products that will last for a long time and not just wind up in a landfill a year from now.

7. Shop Online

Shopping online is another good way to conserve on fuel. When you receive a purchase by post, the amount of fuel used to ship that purchase is no where near the amount of fuel you would have used to drive to a store and buy it offline. Furthermore, you can also save a considerable amount of time and money by shopping online, and many online stores offer free shipping.

8. Proper waste management

Years ago, many considered waste management to be the main environmental issue of concern. As long as you reduced, reused, and recycled, you were a friend of the environment. Things are not that simple these days, but waste conservation is still a big part of living green. It takes a lot of energy to process and dispose of waste, whether it’s recycled or dumped in a landfill. So conserving on waste is important, even if you do recycle. You should also compost your biodegradable waste materials.

9. Wear the right clothing

Your choice of clothing can make a big impact on the environment. One of the most heavily sprayed crops across the globe is cotton. Chemicals which are used as insecticides harm the environment, and harm people’s health. Fortunately, there are other alternative fabrics available in the market; such as organic cotton, hemp, bamboo, and flax. Try to find and purchase clothing that uses these natural and nontoxic materials. Wearing such clothing is also better for your health.

10. Avoid toxins and chemicals

If you look carefully at many of the products you use every day, such as cleaning and personal care products, you might be quite surprised at the harmful chemicals they are made from. Use products made from natural and nontoxic ingredients.

They aren’t hard to find – even Amazon has an entire section dedicated to green products. This section is called Amazon Green and it includes many household, personal care, home improvement, office, clothing, and grocery items. By shopping at Amazon Green you can find nontoxic and environmentally friendly products more easily, while also saving money and conserving resources by doing your shopping online.

This post was first published on The Green Bean Blog. To continue reading, please visit How to Go Green in Your Day-to-Day Life is a post from:

Everyone knows that kids can be really picky about what food they eat. They usually don’t choose to eat fresh fruits and vegetables on their own. So how can we get them to eat a healthier diet? Take them out to do the foraging and collecting themselves.

Growing up, many kids go to the grocery store and see the stacks upon stacks of fruits and vegetables but they have no real concept of where all that food comes from. They’re missing the joy of walking through blueberry fields early in the morning, or apple picking in the fall. Kids are much happier to run around and eat fruit directly from the tree it was grown on than to eat it when it magically appears at the dinner table.

So, whether it’s taking your child to the local CSA to pick carrots and to see the farm that their food comes from, or picking fresh blueberries and making pie, show your child the value of farms and local food. After all, there isn’t much that is better than eating a fresh strawberry in the summer, or harvesting local tomatoes. And you’ll be teaching your children how important local, organic produce is while they run around and have fun.

Whether it’s a natural return to our hunting and gathering origins, or just the simple joy of being in nature, kids are sure to love the adventure of picking fresh produce. And hey, you just might get them to appreciate where their food comes from and to actually eat their fruits and veggies.

This post was first published on The Green Bean Blog. To continue reading, please visit Teaching Kids to Love Fruits and Vegetables is a post from:

You may be hearing a lot of buzz about your favorite restaurants going ‘green’ by having more locally-sourced, sustainable food. But how green are the rest of their practices? Did they choose sustainable furnishings, are their refrigerators energy efficient, do they compost? A non-profit called the Green Restaurant Association can help address all these issues, and is pushing the food service industry to truly go green.

One of the first things you can do to be a more environmentally-conscientious consumer, is to look up Certified Green Restaurants™ in your area. Check out the Green Restaurant Association’s searchable database and see which of your favorite restaurants, coffee shops, and bakeries have already made the commitment, and which are still lagging behind.

For those restaurants that haven’t taken the plunge to become Certified, why not send them a little note of encouragement to go green? The GRA has printable suggestion cards on their website which you can slip in with the check or a sample email which you could modify and send to the manager of your favorite restaurant.

So what does it mean to be a Certified Green Restaurant™? You can think of it as somewhat similar to the process of earning LEED certification for green buildings. There are three types of Certifications – Existing Restaurants, New Builds, and Events. For each category, there are different point thresholds that must be met at a minimum to garner Certification. The businesses are given merits based on seven categories: water efficiency, waste reduction & recycling, sustainable furnishings & building materials, sustainable food, energy, disposables, and chemical & pollution reduction.

All Certified Green Restaurants™ must have full-scale recycling programs, be completely free of Styrofoam, and maintain an annual education program. In addition, they can gain certain numbers of points for practices under the categories listed above. For example, installing low flow faucet aerators in the kitchen sinks, dual flush toilets in the restrooms and reusing greywater for irrigation will all earn points in the water efficiency category.

A large goal of the GRA is to promote zero waste in the food service industry. As they point out, the average restaurant can produce 150,000 pounds of garbage per year. That includes organic waste, as well as recyclables. They suggest ways to divert waste from composting to making biodiesel from grease to finding vendors that will take back their own packaging to reuse.

The Green Restaurant Association also understands that restaurants may not have the time to sort out all of these green practices, even if they wish they did. So the GRA has implemented assessment and consulting programs to make it even easier and to see how sustainable practices can benefit the bottom line. Staff of the GRA will complete an environmental assessment to see where a restaurant is in relation to the Certification Standards, and consultants can suggest specific steps and solutions to gain more points. Consultants can help set up recycling programs, recommend green products, find distributors and even perform cost analyses.

For businesses in the food service industry, the GRA is a great resource to help find credible ways to be more environmentally responsible and the benefits are obvious. Not only are you making a difference for our planet, but improving the bottom line and creating a healthy and enjoyable environment for staff and customers.

Consumers are beginning to make smarter choices about dining out and research shows that people really do care what impact their favorite restaurants are having on the environment. So whether you’re thinking of opening your own restaurant, or just enjoy dining out, make sure that you choose the most environmentally responsible route and always dine green.

This post was first published on The Green Bean Blog. To continue reading, please visit Green Restaurants: Choosing Environmentally Responsible Restaurants is a post from:

Summer is the perfect time to enjoy a picnic. But how green is your picnic if you’re bringing virgin plastic cutlery, paper plates, and paper napkins with you? As many places implement ‘carry in, carry out’ policies, we have to think about the effect our disposables are having on the municipal waste stream and how we can better minimize our impact.

Branch, which offers sustainable products for daily life, offers a series of biodegradable plates, bowls and napkins. These are made entirely of bagasse , which is a sugarcane fiber, a byproduct of the refining process.  It is a renewable material, but is often burned as a waste product instead of reused. Branch sells bowls, plates, trays, and platters made of this material that are unbleached and FDA approved.

Now all you need is your cutlery, right? Well, Branch offers a sustainable solution for that too. They sell forks, knives and spoons made of potato starch and vegetable oil which are also completely biodegradable. Their website advertises that the cutlery will decompose in just 180 days in a composting facility. A plastic fork (depending on the kind of plastic) can take decades to decompose. Tens, or even hundreds of years versus 180 days?

Lastly, Branch carries a line of cold cups made from a polymer that is derived from corn and other renewable resources. These are said to break down within 90 – 120 days in a commercial composting facility. Not only are these decomposing faster, but they are reducing our dependency on oil and focusing on products that we can grow in the US.

In addition to these biodegradable options, they also sell 100% recycled paper napkins. If you have to have disposable napkins, these may be a good choice but we can also suggest bringing your own cloth napkins from home, as these leave less of a waste trail.

Branch carries some great products for a more sustainable lifestyle. The only caveat for those trying to buy sustainable and local, is that many of their products are made in China or Thailand. If we can manufacture compostable tableware in the US instead of abroad, we can begin to close the loop in production, which would stimulate the local economy as well as be an environmental gain.

Though there are many options out there for biodegradable and compostable tableware, I like the selection at Branch because they clearly outline what their products are made of and why that is a more sustainable choice than its traditional counterpart. They also offer smaller quantities for the every day user, instead of only selling huge cases (better suited for retail). It’s important that it’s not only the food service industry that has access and incentive to buy these products, but that they are marketed for the individual as well.

We need to think about the purpose of the products we use and how the materials suit the need. Many products generally outlast the purpose they are built for, which contributes to greater waste. Instead, we can use biodegradable options that can be thrown into the compost pile or completely recycled when they’ve served their original purpose.

This post was first published on The Green Bean Blog. To continue reading, please visit Biodegradable Tableware: How to Have a Green Picnic is a post from:

Good news! Tom’s of Maine has now added a 24-hour, long-lasting deodorant in recycled/recyclable packaging to their line. They have sold all-natural deodorant free of aluminum, parabens and PG for decades, but now Tom’s commitment to sustainability extends even to the packaging.

To begin with, the plastic is made of 40-70% recycled materials from industrial waste sources. And the whole container is made from one type of plastic, polypropylene, so that the shell, cap, and screw can be recycled together. Most other deodorant containers make the shell cap and screw of different plastics, making recycling the products very difficult. As it is made of fully recyclable number 5 plastic, it is a little more difficult to recycle in some areas.

Gimme 5 Drop Off Bins

However, the Gimme 5 program allows you to drop the container at your local Whole Foods or to mail it in for recycling. So the packaging goes easily from recycled to fully recyclable.

The deodorant itself, like all Tom’s of Maine deodorants, is 100% natural, vegetable-based, never tested on animals, and proven to stop the growth of odor-causing bacteria. However, this last fact has been a bit dispute. As the deodorant does not contain the aluminum used by other deodorants to inhibit sweating, it makes no claims to being an anti-perspirant, but more than one person has complained that it isn’t much of a deodorant either. However, for around $3.99, it is definitely worth a try, especially when you know it won’t cost the environment much either.

Those of you aware of the toxic chemicals and additives in most personal care products were probably already aware of Tom’s of Maine. They have been making all natural personal care products for almost 40 years and have demonstrated a commitment to social responsibility and environmental sustainability all along the way. Visit their site to see the full line of products and the full lists of ingredients, which specify both the purpose and source of those ingredients.

This post was first published on The Green Bean Blog. To continue reading, please visit Tom’s of Maine Long-Lasting Deodorant: All Natural and Recyclable is a post from:

So you’ve got your canvas grocery bag, and you’re off to the local farmer’s market to pick up some produce. You’re even biking there. You’re feeling good about reducing your carbon footprint when you grab a handful of leafy greens and suddenly realize you have nothing to put them in but a plastic produce bag. Luckily, instead of using those thin plastic bulk bags, it is easy to buy or even make your own reusable produce bags from organic materials.

There are several options on the market for small reusable bags. ECOBAGS creates several sizes of bags to suit any amount of produce. They are washable, and carry both organic cloth or organic net sacks, depending on the size and weight of the fruits or vegetables. ECOBAGS use cotton that is bleach-free, so the fabric is natural and healthy.

Reusable produce bags are also easy to make. If you’re not up for buying the fabric and sewing, you can buy handmade bags from ‘remarket‘ on Etsy. These particular sacks are made of nylon tulle, and are see-through. The fabric is light so as not to add an extra weight to the produce scale and see through for easy identification in the grocery store’s check-out line.

If you find yourself without reusable bags, or you stopped at the grocery store on a whim, you can still make sound environmental choices. Many retailers, including Whole Foods offer both brown paper bags and plastic bags. If you end up using these, make sure to keep them with your other grocery bags so you can reuse them the next time you’re at the store. Most plastic bags simply get thrown away after one use, which pile up quickly in the landfill and can have devastating effects on marine life. Reusing a plastic or paper bag will at least extend its life if you forget your cloth produce bags.

Many consumers have become accustomed to using reusable tote bags for their bulkier groceries, but it’s the smaller stuff that counts too. Soon we hope the question of paper or plastic can be entirely eliminated with the use of stronger, more durable cloth bags.

This post was first published on The Green Bean Blog. To continue reading, please visit Bagging the plastic bag: Reusable produce totes is a post from:

Any new parent has probably heard about the importance of buying BPA-free baby bottles from the latest news stories, friends, or other new parents. If you haven’t heard, polycarbonate baby bottles can leach bisphenol-A and can potentially have adverse affects on a newborn’s growth and development. That’s scary enough, right? Well, now consider all the other products your baby interacts with, particularly in their room.

When furnishing the baby’s room, there are several options on the market to create a healthy environment for your baby using organic materials. Vivavi, a company selling green furniture and furnishings, offers the Oeuf Crib, made of MDF board which contains recovered wood fibers. The lacquer finish and the wood stains are non-toxic, and the crib’s simple design looks as good as it is healthy for your baby. They also offer a crib mattress made of organic cotton and wool, which help to keep dust mites away. The organic material provides optimal comfort for the baby, as it wicks away moisture so the baby does not overheat or get too cold. The mattress provides additional assurance as it meets the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission’s guidelines.

Vivavi also carries cute blankets and floor pillows that are inspired by nature’s flora and fauna, and are printed with non-toxic water-based inks. The pillows are made of soft organic cotton and hemp, and are filled with fibers made of recycled plastic bottles.

As the kids grow up, Vivavi carries a line of hand painted step stools and kid’s sized chairs that will give them the boost they need to reach the bathroom sink, or help in the kitchen. The fun, brightly colored furniture is made completely of reclaimed and recycled wood, and finished with paints and adhesives free of any Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs).

In thinking about your baby’s health, it is important to think beyond the food they ingest and the toys they will play with. It is just as important to consider where your child will sleep and play and if those environments are safe and healthy. Products made of organic cotton, recycled materials, and non-toxic finishes and paints are better for your baby and for the environment.

This post was first published on The Green Bean Blog. To continue reading, please visit Furnishing a Green and Healthy Baby’s Room is a post from:

Whether a part of your morning routine, or an afternoon snack, many of us enjoy a yogurt from time to time. But when you’re finished what do you do with the empty plastic container? I always waiver between the commingling recycling bin or the trash. I never truly knew whether my community would and could recycle #5 plastic (polypropylene), which is what those yogurt containers and other plastics like containers for hummus or cottage cheese are made of. We’ve known for awhile that plastic bottles for drinks are recyclable, but usually curb-side recycling will not take #5 plastics. So what to do with them?

Preserve, a company that designs and manufactures 100% recycled goods has partnered with Organic Valley and Stonyfield to start a program called “Gimme 5“. You can drop off your #5 containers at many Whole Foods locations – look for bins usually near the entrance or exit – or if you don’t have access to Whole Foods, simply ship the plastics to Preserve. Preserve then recycles these plastics into household goods from toothbrushes to razors to food storage containers. Many of these products come in bright colors, and are sleek and as user-friendly as anything else on the market (if not better!).

If the idea of bringing your plastic containers back to a Whole Foods seems like more effort than you’re willing to make, consider the environmental savings that result from recycling polypropylene instead of manufacturing it. Preserve plastics require at least 75% less oil, 54% less water, 48% less coal and 46% less electricity than virgin polypropylene. These figures were derived using average data for the U.S. using the Life Cycle Assessment, which compares the environmental impact of the entire process from beginning to end. As we use up the global supply of finite natural resources, we need to find ways to wean ourselves off of coal and oil. Preserve is making this shift, and enabling us to divert more and more waste out of our landfills and back into our homes as new products.

This post was first published on The Green Bean Blog. To continue reading, please visit Recycle #5 with Gimme 5 is a post from:

August is the peak of the season for delicious fresh fruits and vegetables, whether from your own garden or from local farms. This abundance of summer produce is worth waiting for through those cold New England winters, but it also produces a true challenge to the many city-dwellers without outdoor space – how to compost all that organic waste?

Many cities will subsidize large composting bins for those who have backyards, and this truly is a great opportunity to reduce the amount of waste sent to landfills. However, for those apartment-dwellers, or for those who generally prefer not to trudge out to the back of their yard with their food scraps, there is the kitchen-composter produced by NatureMill.

Designed to do the rotating and the aerating often required by other composters, NatureMill is willing to do the work for you. You can add your vegetable scraps, your coffee grounds, even meat or fish – though perhaps decomposition creates enough odors without adding fish. The composter can handle up to 120 pounds of material a month and uses ‘hot composting’ to drive the process a bit faster than your backyard composter. No worms must be added, just the food scraps and off the little machine goes, decomposing your waste without the pungent smell. NatureMill does alert you that you may detect a slight smell (like mushrooms), but in weighing the smell over the emissions of methane from landfills, I’d take the smell. And hey, you can always keep the composter in the garage if it’s that bothersome. When you’ve added enough organic matter, the indicator light will tell you that your compost is ready – et voila, a great fertilizer for the garden or even for your household plants. If you head out on your summer vacation, you can set the bin to “vacation mode” and off you go.

Composting not only reduces the amount of waste each individual generates, but reduces the collective amount of trash generated, which drives down the number of trash collections needed, and the oil needed to power those vehicles. Such a small step such as putting your organic waste in a NatureMill bin instead of your trash can have huge impacts on the environment. According to the EPA, methane gas emitted from landfills is 21 times more potent than carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas. As landfill fees increase, as the piles of trash grow, as we send our trash overseas to other countries, it seems time to take control of our waste and recycle as much as possible. We’ve become accustomed to sorting cans and bottles, now on to corn husks and banana peels.

This post was first published on The Green Bean Blog. To continue reading, please visit Food Scraps to Fertilizer: Urban Composting is a post from: