OK, Earth Day...

Earth Day really meant something a few years back when not everyone was aware of it but now just like Mother's Day, it has been commercialized. That is the direct opposite of the Earth Day philosophy. Hey, buy more stuff to show your support of Earth Day. More synthetically made, pollution producing, landfill filling stuff for Earth Day. Sure the stores are selling recyclable, more sustainable items, that you really don't need in the first place!

Do me a favor, celebrate Earth Day by not doing anything unnecessary today. Period. And do this everyday.

A Little Greener with Starbucks

Starbucks is launching a program to get its customers to bring in their own reusable cup for coffee. It's called "The Big Picture." By bringing in your own coffee mug you can save trees. Now you probably think, "What does it matter if only one person does this?" Well, at their website Starbucks shows you how over time you too can help save trees and make the air better. For me, it comes to something like 18,000 trees over 50 years. That's not bad with just one little difference. And Starbucks also says they will give you a 10 cent discount on coffee thereafter if you bring in your reusable cup. I know 10 cents off $5! They're too generous. Don't do it for you or Starbucks, do it for your kids and grandkids who deserve a cleaner world.

Even if you don't go to Starbucks use your mug elsewhere too! Coffee, tea, and soda all taste just fine in your handy dandy enviro mug!

Don't forget to keep you reusable bags in your car and purse! They are so in vogue and handy too!

My Dad Is Green and Doesn't Know It

My dad is 70 years old today. He could care less about polar bears or what's in his drinking water but he is one of the greenest person's you will ever meet. Why? He is cheap.

Part of being green is about buying only what you need. And that is what my dad does. Growing up with him was a pain, he rarely splurged and there had to be a coupon involved. He is still this way.

I remember my mother getting angry with him for not turning on the heater in the winter. And god forbid he bought a car with air conditioning. Our house was always black at night because he would walk behind you and turn off the lights. He owns a very small, very fuel efficient car. He loves to walk and will if he can. He rarely eats out. And never wastes food. Only drinks water from the tap. He rarely shops and when he does it is for necessities. His shoes last him years. His couch is going on 35 years old and I'm sure his bed and dressers are also. He owns one TV, that he has had for 20 years. He doesn't own gadgets like a computer or PDA or iPod. He never travels. I would bet his carbon footprint is neutral.

I look back and disliked living with him as a child. He was so annoying! And so cheap! I froze my butt off every winter. But now in my adult years I look to him and I am proud. He does not even realize it but he is an eco-warrior. I know, he isn't an advocate for fighting global warming or ridding harmful chemicals in what we eat and drink but I still consider him very eco-friendly.

My dad one of a kind. And doesn't even know it.

I love my dad. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

I Can See Clearly Now

Back in August I complained about streaks when I clean my windows and mirrors. I have been going about my cleaning, streaks or no streaks, but I found the answer. The problem seems to stem from the commercial cleaners. The cleaners, over time, leave a waxy build up on your windows and mirrors. The vinegar/water solution is not sufficient in cleaning this. The solution: a little bit of liquid soap in the vinegar/water solution will take those streaks away. I tried yesterday! It works! No streaks.

http://www.vinegartips.com/

Have a green day.

Uh Oh! Water Shortages?

Yesterday I wrote about the beautiful weather we are having but it could be detrimental to our water supply. Well, this morning on the news there is talk about Sonoma County (just north of San Francisco and north-west of me) is considering water rationing. The article states that water levels in their local lake, Lake Mendocino, is at its lowest in 20 years. I bet all lakes and reservoirs in California are low. Are other counties rationing this year? We'll find out come spring.

In the mean time, cut those showers short, don't run the water when you brush your teeth and run around town in a dirty vehicle. Read some of my resources below:

Robin Shreeves: 10 Easy Ways to be More Sustainable with Your Water

100 Ways to Conserve Water

Be Green

My Jeans

(That's not me, but those are my jeans.)

How many more days until the Big "C"? I think I am done shopping now. I can finally rest and just wrap gifts and bake cookies. This is when I start to put on the pounds, when I stop. I was just thinking yesterday that my jeans still fit me. I guess I better break out the sweats. Ha ha. Anyway, my green goal for this season is to not gain weight. Why is that green? First, I don't consume as much so less product is bought and less product needs to be grown and less travel to the supermarket and less pollution. Secondly, if I gain weight I will need to buy new pants in a larger size which is more product made and placed into society. The basic premise here is to comsume less-food and items- and the world will be greener. We'll see, that chocolate chip cookie dough calls to me every night after the kids are in bed...

Green Holiday Guilt

(Our crabapples withering away in the cold.)

I feel so guilty this morning. Every post I read on my favorite green blogs is about how they are greening the holidays. I have not. Well, I have made an effort to buy less, recycle and upcycle anything I can but when I have been buying gifts I haven't been buying green. I take that back I bought recycle cotton socks at Target, yes Target. I bought some great palm oil candles from my mom. She is a seller for Aloha Bay Candles and these candles and salt products are great! Some of their items are organic and/or fair trade. The scent coming from the candles is far superior than petroleum based candles and they last 3 times as long. And I am going to try and find some java logs to burn in our fireplace.

Other than that not much greeny going on with me. So you see my green guilt. I can admit much of the non greening going on is from my husband the light and fire guy. He bought all new lights for the house and loves to have a fire every night. I don't blame him, he loves this time of the year and so do I but I should have found greener alternatives for him.

I can say I tried some. I did look for recycled wrapping paper and found it more expensive. I am cold right now because of the thermostat being turned down. I do walk around in the dark to save energy. But I feel I have strayed from my green goals.

Next year: bake mostly organic cookies, find organic turkey and trimmings, and replace broken and burnt out lights with LED lights.

I am going to start in spring and look for greener alternatives to our favorite holiday traditions. I will set a date on my calendar so I can remember. (That's how I remember most of my life, ha ha.)

Is it me or is there more advertisement for "green" products? I have been seeing more commercials for hybrids, green carpet cleaning, green landscaping, anti-water bottle (from Brita) and just more environmentally friendly business all around. With the economy taking a downturn I thought for sure "green" would be put on the back burning. I guess I was wrong.

My home page is MSN. Just about everyday they have a green feature story. Today is "What are Heritage Turkeys". Don't know? Go see or read Animal, Vegetable, Miracle and you will find out.

MSN and Yahoo both have a green sections. There is a green channel on cable and it features well-known personalities like Emeril and Adrian Grenier (hello? Entourage) and Tommy Lee (like him or not). There is an awesome story on what to do with that pizza box there today and so many more useful articles. Or you can watch Bill Nye tell you how things happen. I love Bill Nye. I remember his show "Bill Nye, the Science Guy".

I am ecstatic over the fact that we seem to be moving to greener lifestyles. The only problem is much of it is driven by money, of course. Right now being green makes money. (Us greenies know it can save money too!) Let's hope this movement results in new ways of life and more break throughs in green technology.

GSG: Brew Your Own

I am uber busy today. I have so much to do my head is spinning. So I was going to just come in and say have a nice, green day see you tomorrow. But before I did that I checked on Robin's blog and had the most pleasant surprise this week. She wrote about brewing your own coffee. How perfect for me! It is a great follow up to my post from yesterday, Eat at Home.

Robin has a great story about brewing coffee at home and how much it saves money and the environment. She mentions buying fair trade coffee and organic milk to put in it. I would have written the same post except I use Silk Creamer in my coffee. (I wish they sold it in more enviro-friendly containers but I needed to give up my non dairy creamer and this is where life took me.)

Don't like coffee? I'm sure you are brewing your own tea at home. Just don't forget to look for the same great green standards you would with anything else you eat. Look for fair trade, organic, loose-not in bags and try to find it local, well, at least a local seller.

Have fun today. I am off to walk my dog and plan for my cub scout meeting I have this afternoon.

GSG: Eat at Home

(My local meal from this summer.)

We all know eating at home saves you money, that is the given here. We also know eating at home, with your loved ones, promotes family togetherness. And we all know that it is healthier, if you don't fry everything you eat and bring lots of veggies to the table. But greener? Is it really greener to eat at home. Yes.

Having your meals at home is a lot greener than eating out. Let's start with the basics.

• Less air pollution. You don't have to drive to the restaurant. But, you say, I have to drive to the grocery store. Yes you do but you can do multiple meal shopping while there.
• You have more opportunity to choose organic, fair trade or local. More and more restaurants are providing greener options but not like your local grocery store is. For instance, I like to go to Panera Bread for lunch at times. They offer organic peanut butter and organic milk for the kids to eat but my meal is not. But if I eat something similar at home I can bring home an organic salad with homemade soup made from organic vegetables.
• Less waste. This mostly applies to fast food where you are served on disposable containers. At home we can eat on reusable glass plates and glasses. And cook in them also.
• Less pollutants. This can cover so many areas I don't think I can list them all. But one that comes to mind is your cookware. If you cook without Teflon, say glass baking dishes or cast iron, you know your kitchen is environmentally friendly. But what does your favorite restaurant cook with? Who knows. Maybe we should ask.
• And lastly, you have better portion control thus not wasting food. How many of you eat half of a hamburger at a restaurant and just leave it there to be thrown out? I am guilty of that sometimes. This is wasteful on many levels. But if you eat at home you can have half a burger and refrigerate the rest for tomorrow. I know, you can bring food home in a doggy bag. One, better bring your reusable container to do that. And two, who really brings home a full hamburger and then eats the mushy lettuce and soggy bread later? At home you can easily store everything separate and eat non-soggy leftovers later.

I know I probably missed a lot of reasons eating at home is just generally better than eating out but you can add those in the comments. I think my readers got the idea.

Oh, one more thing, eating at home does not include delivery. That is more expensive and is still non-green. So make your own pizza with the kids.

GSG: Do Buy This

In a previous post I talked about the best thing you can do to be green and save some green is to just don't buy things you don't need. But what if you do need something, like furniture. Buy used, eh, previously owned.

Buying used not only saves you money but it also saves the environment. How you ask? Buying used saves new resources from being cultivated like trees or metals. No need to cut down new trees or mine for new metals to make anything. Also, it takes a lot of energy to make new stuff. Much of the energy in the United States is produced by burning coal (which was mined, destroying the earth to leave it barren) and this pollutes our air and soil. The used item is just being recycled to a new owner.

Here is a list of items that you can buy from someone else at a much cheaper price and what I have learned about them.

• Books. My favorite thing to buy used. It is easy to buy even from Amazon but you can find used books all over the Internet, just Google search it. Caution: When ordering the book request homes that do not smoke or maybe have animals, the smell will travel with the book.
• Clothes. This can be fun. You can find name brands for less than a quarter of its original price. Search for Goodwill stores, thrift stores or even consignment shops. Caution: Same as books. Also check the item for discoloration, missing buttons, rips etc.
• Housewares. Cast iron pans are environmentally great and if the previous owner took good care of the pan and seasoned it well you have a jewel in your kitchen. You can also find glassware for cooking or eating, jars for preserving, cloth napkins, blankets. You name, you can find it.
• Furniture. This can save you a lot of money. I have not personally bought used furniture except for small pieces like a lamp or book shelf but always look for the same quality you would look for in a new piece. And again check for smells. Garage sales are great for finding these deals. Caution: When buying mattresses and couches or anything with a filling try to buy from someone you know and/or trust. These items can bring mold or microorganisms into your home. And sometimes bedbugs.
• Vehicles. If you have the cash this can save you a load of green. The original hybrids are now selling used at great prices. Beware of smog regulations for older cars and outdated cars can be huge smoggers. Loans on used cars tend to have a higher interest rate so you end up with paying the same amount you would with a new car in the end; go in with cash. I have not had the pleasure of owning a used car because my knowledge of cars is very limited but if you have that knowledge go for it.
• House. I can say we bought a "used" house. We know this saves trees and building materials because new homes are not produced using pristine resources, but how does this save money? When my family was in the market for a house the new and used were about the same price, it seems you pay for the neighborhood and the homes features. BUT we saved our money by not having to landscape and get window coverings. Those are huge! Our home was not very old when we bought it so our immediate costs and short term costs were minimized. Over the years we had to replace a water heater and paint but you do that for any house that you live in long term. (Not to mention we scoped out the neighbors that were already established and we loved them, and still do. In new neighborhoods you have no clue to who your neighbors will be.)
• Other things to get used: your bike, kids' toys (classic wooden ones are great or electronic ones work just fine), plants or trees (sometimes people relandscape and if they take the plant out properly you can snag these for free), appliances (watch for energy saving and cleanliness)
• Things maybe you should not buy used: underwear (yuck), pillows or hats or stuffed animals (may have lice, unless you know how to get rid of this problem, I just avoid them), old computer software (usually outdated, but if you don't mind then buy it)

Remember to always check the item, thoroughly. Are there leaks, rips, smells or discoloring?

Buy here: EBay, Craiglist, PaperbackSwap, consignment shops, thrift stores, garage sales, estate sales or just search the internet.

Do you have any other ideas? What is your story?

GSG: Bank Online

I know talking about banks is a sore subject right now but overall banking online is still safe, easy, cheap and green.

I have been banking online for many years now and I truly love it! I check my balance, pay my bills and have even paid my dentist with online banking. It actually makes dealing with my bills fun. Just kidding but it is faster and easier. Here is why you save money and time with online banking with personal accounts:

• Most banks offer free access to your accounts, checking and savings.
• They also offer free bill pay.
• You save stamps. I pretty much only buy stamps at Christmas time for sending greeting cards to friends and family.
• You save time. Once all your accounts are entered all it takes is a click to pay them. No more check writing and mailing.

But how does this save the environment?

• No more checks, envelopes, and stamps. Saves paper. Thus saves trees. (Some bills may require the bank to send a check to them but many institutions have set up electronic bill pay accounts with banks.)
• The check doesn't have to travel to its destination. Saves gas. Thus less air pollution.
• You can ask your bank to stop sending paper statements and you can view them online.. Saves trees. Some of your creditors and utility companies have started this practice also, call or go online to find out more.

If you are worried about the security of the online banking call your bank to find out what steps they take to secure your money and information. I have done online banking for over 10 years now and not one negative incident has occurred. Knock on wood, now I have cursed myself, ha ha.

Online banking is easy. Try it.

GSG: Turn Off the Lights

(Image snagged from Treehugger.com, go read.)

There are so many ways to save on your electric bill and the environment that I could write for days on the subject. And if you are an avid green blog reader you already know what to do. If you don't here is a helpful source for you at Mr. Electricity.

What I found was it is so easy to do everyday saving for the planet and your bill with the appliances you already have at home. Turn them off or down. Over this last summer I turned up my A/C and saved an average of $150/month. I asked if I could compare my bill to my neighbors' bill. Her electric bill in August was over $300 and mine was $160. I could have done better, and I will next year. I also turned off lamps in rooms I wasn't using at the moment, shut down my computer at night, kept curtains closed. and washed with cold water. The biggest energy hogs in my house are the KIDS. They leave lights on everywhere. I had to follow them around, and still do, to turn off lights. It is tiring work. I even let my hair air dry to avoid the hairdryer. (This is huge for me, hee hee.)

Simple solutions. I wish I could go solar but money is tight so we won't be buying any solar panels at the moment. I also tried to convince hubby to look into electric companies that use alternative, cleaner sources of energy and he wasn't ready for that yet. So I did what I could to help my pocketbook and the planet.

GSG: Don't Buy That!

(I stole this picture from ShirtWoot.com.)

I have a secret. Don't tell anyone! It is the ultimate secret to being green and, wow, it saves a bundle of cash! Here it is: don't buy what you don't need. Simple isn't it? Logically green. If you don't buy crap, and I mean useless crap, you won't need to throw it out and it won't end up in a land fill. And if we stop buying what we don't need the raw resources and energy it takes to make crap is lessened. Thus, Green. Don't buy a new purse just because it is fall, buy a good quality one that is eco-friendly because you need it. Do you really need a new car? Sofa? Shoes? Twinkies? Come on ladies, our rear ends don't need Twinkies (sorry Hostess). That also applies to the air conditioning (read Robin's take on this), turn up that thermostat and sweat just a little more. Before I buy something I always think, "do we need this to live and be healthy?" You will be surprised how many times the answer is no.

Oh, don't get me wrong, I enjoy Ben and Jerry's Chocolate Fudge Ice Cream every once in a while. And, yes, I do buy things on occasion if I don't need them but I take care of it after and I don't abuse what I consider a privilege of today's standards. If it were 100 years ago many of the modern conveniences we have were not around and people survived. Change the way you think and life will uncomplicate itself and you'll find you are a greener, happier person. And have more in the bank (or under the mattress these days, hee hee.)

Ok, you bought crap. And you need to remedy yourself of it. Don't throw it out if it is still viable. Give it away, yardsale it, trade it or freecycle it. Here are resources you can use to get rid of your crap:

• Freecycle- find someone local to give it to


• Salvation Army or Goodwill- they may pick it up


• Trade your books, CD's and Dvd's at Swaptree or PaperbackSwap


• Buy used books at Half Price Books
  

And you can also buy from any of these locations. I found a great Limited Too jacket at Goodwill for my daughter and you can't tell anyone wore it. That helps to keep items out of landfills and no new resources are needed in the creating of these items.

Don't forget your new reusable bag when you shop!

How do you refrain from buying useless stuff? Do you have a favorite place to buy "recycled" clothing? Have you joined a challenge to buy nothing on another blog?

Green Saves Green-BYOB

Good Day! October is a great month to review what is green that saves you green, money that is. The weather is changing and the stock market is looking pretty bad so let's see what we can do to not only save money but the environment as well.

Robin has started off our journey with a great green term, stewardship. Her post today rings true for all of us in that we need to take care of our earth and our money.

With that in mind I am going to talk about my favorite way to save money and the environment. Back in April 2008 (yes, barely this year) I was tooling around the internet and discovering all these nifty ways to be green. I was amazed at how much more I could do besides just recycle and throw trash in the garbage. Thus I started my new quest in life to be as green as possible to myself and my environment. I started reading bloggers like Life Less Plastic and Fake Plastic Fish and these women inspired me to review my plastic usage. One simple way to curb the use of plastic was to BYOB. No, not your own beer! Your own BAG!

I had been practicing this concept for many years before I read about this with some very sturdy canvas bags I bought for 20 cents when Montgomery Ward went out of business. But I would only use them when I would remember (almost never) or when it was convenient for me (not embarrassing). So I decided to make it convenient and not embarrassing and left them in my car all the time.

Soon it was a no brainer. Safeway, Target, Trader Joes, Goodwill, Farmer's Market, wherever I shop I take my bags. Since then I have expanded my bag army to include ones that fit in my purse (above), Trader Joe bags and my favorite "Plastic Bags Blow" bag (below). Not only that but the kids get reusable lunch bags and I buy the best purse so I only need one for years (there are purses made of seat belts now, awesome!). I have actually had the clerk take my food out of the plastic bag and use mine. So what, he should have listened when I said, " I have my own bags." And the clerk at Kohl's gave me the funniest look when I handed her my bag. But I bet I was the topic of conversation with her friends that day. The word gets out in any way. I have gotten to the point where I don't like the feel of plastic anything-bags, cups etc.

Why should you take your own bag? Duh!? Because plastic bags kill animals. They pollute. They are toxic when breaking down. They are ugly. They produce toxins when made. You can read a little at ReusableBags.com (and buy a bag while you're there.)

So how do plastic bags save you green? One, many grocery stores will give you 3-5 cents back per bag you use. Not much, I know. Two, is an indirect answer. Retailers have to buy those plastic bags that everyone uses. They just pass the cost to you. If everyone started to bring their own bags that cost could be minimized. BYOB saves in clean up costs around the world. And it saves in animals lives. Not to mention, to clean up the animals is not free either. Many times saving animals is run by volunteers but where do they get the tools to clean the animals? They have to buy them or they are donated, both cost money. So you may not see the savings directly in your pocket book but you will see it in a more beautiful world.

P.S. While you are shopping for that perfect bag, look for recycled and organic materials made where labor laws are good and local.

(I do not get any money from ReusableBags.com, I just like them.)

Tubing for Greenies

Green and Clean Mom has a video of herself on her blog and it is so cute. She is featuring the 4Real food she bought. Go check it out. But that is not why I am writing this post. I am writing because she posted her video on Go Green Tube. This is like YouTube but green. Duh, I'm sure you figured that out yourself. But nothing like pointing out the obvious on your own blog, hee hee.

So. For the lazy reader and sit-on-your-butt-computer-geek (me), this is a great resource. Just sit back and watch how to be green or get your green news. Awesome! I know some action needs to take place eventually but take a break and go check out Go Green Tube, now.

Rebutal to Myself

Yesterday I ranting and worried over our nation's fiscal dilemma possibly resulting in our green ways being compromised. Some of it may come true on a large scale like oil drilling for a profit. As voters and citizens we can try to stop things like that from happening. But I am here to argue against myself and say that our green ways don't need to be left behind because gas costs more or our money market account is taking a downward spiral. Fight it. Everyday you can do things that are not only green but cheap! It proves, actually, that being greener is cheaper.

Robin suggested that October be "Green Saves Green" month. That sounds handy! I love that idea. So for the month of October, hopefully everyday, I will post one idea that you can implement during your normal daily routine that will not only be green but inexpensive. You can play along also. Now, since we all read each other's blogs there will be repeats but that's o.k. because we all have our own take on being green everyday. What can be done, to make the idea unique, post the idea then how do you use it or a story behind it. For instance, if you ride your bike then write about something funny that happen to you while riding or what inspired you to start. And posts pictures, those are always fun to see.

We have 12 days...

Be Green.

Morning Walks with Liquid Rock

Creek in the winter.

I try to walk everyday since the kids have gone back to school. I do belong to a gym but I have been enjoying the outdoors lately. So for now I will wait until the weather turns wet to go to the gym.

I find myself very lucky to live within a block of a creek and trail that follows the creek for a couple of miles. And I also have a nice neighborhood that is easily walkable. Yesterday I made a short trek to the supermarket for bread and soy french vanilla creamer. I grab my iPod ready to listen to More Hip Than Hippy or Armstrong and Getty podcasts, hat, sunglasses and a smile to tell people along the way "good morning". I am blessed to be able to start my day so pleasantly.




You are wondering why I am telling you about my walking every morning. Well, I use Kiss My Face Liquid Rock Unscented Deoderant and, frankly speaking, I have sweaty, wet armpits the whole time. Now, I am walking by myself, I don't smell and I just lift my arms to dry off. No big deal. But I always wonder, "What if I was going to a job interview? My pits would be all wet! And possibly my blouse would have a nasty armpit stain." The horror! I guess in that case I would find a solution. But right now I don't need to worry about that.

If you wear all natural deoderant you should never find anti-persperant. The anti-persperant mechanism in deoderant is never natural. You want your body to sweat, it's natural and your body is getting rid of waste, you don't want to keep waste. Luckly, as a female I sweat very little so it dries fast. And I can say this deoderant does a fine job at keeping me from being stinky. Also, when I put it on in the morning it does take a while to dry on my skin but from what I remember most roll-ons do.

So that's my monday morning and every morning. Do you want more to read about keeping your armpits fresh feeling? Grist has an informative article called "Scents and Sensibility". And you can always read up on the best deodorants at the EWG's Skin Deep Site, starting with my deodorant.

Be Green.

What is MSDS Report?

An MSDS report describes the properties of a particular substance, such as household products.

"A Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) is designed to provide both workers and emergency personnel with the proper procedures for handling or working with a particular substance. MSDS's include information such as physical data (melting point, boiling point, flash point etc.), toxicity, health effects, first aid, reactivity, storage, disposal, protective equipment, and spill/leak procedures. These are of particular use if a spill or other accident occurs." (ILPI.com FAQ's)

The MSDS report is mostly used by workers or employees to reference the report in case of an emergency. But for greenies this report is a handy resource to find out if your favorite household product is toxic or not. The report will list the ingredients of the substance and then you as the green consumer can take those ingredients to the EWG Skindeep Database to find out how toxic they are to your health. Handy eh?

To find the MSDS report for a particular substance simply type in your search engine "MSDS brand name here". For example, I searched "MSDS Tide" and got this report. I can now read the report, which is a lot of scientific stuff, and found the ingredients, among other facts, and then took the individual ingredients to EWG's Skin Deep website to look up each one. (Green Disclaimer: I don't use Tide anymore but it was an easy example.) Wah Lah!

Some substances may be hard to find so here are some websites that may help:

• http://www.ilpi.com/msds/- Great resource! Very informative.


• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Msds- Of course, I always reference Wikipedia. And they have an international section also.


• Department of Health and Human Services Household Products Database-they might not be as critical as the EWG but it can be a good start.

Be Green.

Vinegar

Yesterday our friends were coming over and I had to tidy the house up quickly because we were running late. I had to pick up shoes, vacuum, mop and clean the windows. I recently ran out of Windex so I poured about 1/2 vinegar and 1/2 water into a bottle to clean our mirrors. Do you know how much longer it takes to clean mirrors with vinegar than it does with Windex? Now I know why Windex is a superior mirror cleaner, it practically dries by itself without streaks! Vinegar and water on the other hand, OMG, you need to wipe and wipe and wipe until the mirror is not only dry but streak free. My right arm got a workout, that's the good part.

Now, I won't stop using vinegar to clean the mirrors but did I do something wrong? Is my vinegar to water ratio wrong? I don't get the newspaper so I reuse an old clothe, does that make a difference? Or does washing the mirrors (and windows) just take good old fashion elbow grease to get the job done?