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.

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.

Goodies at the Goodwill Store

I was inspired by Beth at Coming Up For Air to go thrifting.

I haven't been to a thrift store for about 7 years. And the only reason I went 7 years ago was to look for a Halloween costume for my son and I was unsuccessful. Well, I lied, I guess the the Half Price Bookstore I frequent can be thrifty, some books are new and some used.

There is a small Goodwill store about 7 miles from me. I walked in and remembered the first reason I don't shop used- the old and musty smell. Once I got past the attic scent I headed straight for the books. This helped me to ease into the whole used shopping experience again. Books are ok to buy used, people don't mind, but most people frown on buying used clothes. (Reason #2-wearing some strangers clothes-yuck! I personally stay away from used underwear, t-shirts and socks.) I found 3 books, some silly chapter books for my son and Are You There God, It's Me Margaret, all for $1 each. For those of you on the male side of the hemisphere, AYTGIMM is reading right of passage for 12 year old girls. Although my daughter is a wee 7 I will have the classic waiting for her when it is "time".

Next I headed over to the linens area. The reason I came to Goodwill was to look for cloth napkins. Over at Going Green with Burban Mom she has challenged her readers to give up paper napkins. (She also has a Yahoo Group for more in depth discussion, I just lurk right now, hee hee.) I sneezed (reason #3 I haven't shopped thrift stores in a while-I am highly allergic to dust.) my way through blankets, pillow cases, sheets and table clothes to find no cloth napkins.

Then I ventured to the clothing. This was the hardest part for me. Touching, let alone buying, some strangers clothing! The thought of sanitizing everything ran through my head constantly. I found some shorts, they were too small after I tried to get them past my thighs in the dressing room. A little relieved but also flustered, I went to the children's area. I shuffled though a pile of clothes on a table to eventually find 2 very cute denim jackets for my daughter. I have to admit, I was looking at the tags. Anything I knew that was from Target, Kmart or Walmart was not taken only because I know they are cheaper made clothing that even at $3.99 I would be wasting my time and energy. One jacket was from Limited Too and the other from Papaya. I tugged on them for rips at the seams, checked for discolorations and missing buttons. I was proud of myself. I know these jackets were probably $50 each new and I paid $3.99 for them.

I also picked up some computer software games for my daughter to help her learn spelling for .99 each.

I did end up at Home Goods to find new cloth napkins. I know they are not used or organic. But I could have searched the internet for organic, pay a hefty price then have them delivered to my house (hello, carbon footprint) or I can go on the way home to Home Goods, buy them discounted and use the napkins until they fall apart on me. And, yes, I could have made them from old linens I had in the closet, but I am simply not that crafty.

Happy Thifting...

Update on My Green Life

Today in my neck of the woods it should only reach 90 degrees. At that temperature I don't need to turn on the A/C. I am glad for that. My husband makes fun of me because I like the heat and have acclimated to it over the years so in the Spring and Fall when we get 75-80 degrees outside I put my sweater on. (He's from Michigan and I am from Southern California, HUGE difference in weather.) He makes fun of me that I can't handle the "cold" weather. But I still wear my sweaters. So today I will wear my tank top and shorts and maybe get my butt up for a bike ride.

I may not be there yet...but I'm closer than I was yesterday.

As for the rest of my life, I am truckin' along, not achieving the green state I wanted to be in at this time but still working on it. As things run out I replace them with more earth friendly counterparts. Like my dish soap, dish sponge, or fabric sheets (many people use vinegar, I like baking soda in the rinse). I use Trader Joe's dish soap (pictured above), my dish sponges are natural vegetable fiber and no more fabric sheets. As for other household cleaning I use vinegar and baking soda as I run out of Comet, Windex and Fantastic. Sometimes I wonder if these products have had a negative effect on my health through the years. What's done is done and now I can make better choices for my family.

My dryer is lonely. I haven't used it for weeks. In my last post about hang drying I mentioned I don't hang socks, underwear or heavy jeans. Well, that stopped. Everything gets hung now. The socks are not crunchy but underwear are (that didn't sound good, "crunchy underwear", I'm washing them). The clothes almost dry as fast as a dryer would do it when it is 100 degrees outside.

My baby cantaloupe.

In other news, I had to tell my children no apples yesterday at Trader Joes, even organic. Those little gems were coming all the way from New Zealand and Chile! Talk about a huge carbon footprint on something I can substitute with our own fresh cantaloupe (from the backyard, woo hoo!) or make a smoothie from the fresh fruit I picked earlier in the season. I have, for the most part, cut out bananas too, they all come from way down south like Costa Rica. Don't get me wrong I have nothing against those countries, as a matter of fact I envy Costa Rica, they can eat bananas carbon free!

This last week I went to get my haircut with my hairdresser I have used for years. She has always made comments that I need to deep condition my hair. This time she made comments about how soft my hair was. She asked me what was I doing. I told her I wash it every 2-4 days depending on my activity level and rinsed with a solution of apple cider vinegar and water. And combined that with better eating habits. She was impressed. We always discuss more natural ways of managing your hair. She is a hairdresser at a nice salon so she has to sell the products there but she has learned over the years I don't buy them.

And last, but not least. Call it a small victory, but my husband agreed to no more buying individual water bottles. He drives more than I do and would easily grab one on his way out but he agreed to use a Sigg bottle or anything we have in the cupboard with a top.

Be Green.

Yah, Thursday

I made it! No Diet Pepsi yet. Yesterday I ended up making myself some Blackberry tea, added a little sugar and chilled it. It was yummy. And my spirits are better today because tomorrow is 4th of July. We will be celebrating it with friends and I can't wait to eat, drink and enjoy a great time.

I tried some new things this week that are helping me be greener. I baked my own bread, finally. I hung my clothes outside. I froze a lot of zucchini. Kept the A/C off. And I made zucchini muffins.

I baked the bread with King Arthur's Organic Whole Wheat flour (from Trader Joe's, of course) and used the recipe on the back of the flour bag (minus the nuts, my family would complain.) It was a dense bread but had a very good flavor. Isn't it pretty? This was my first yeast bread. I started it in the bread maker on the dough cycle, took it out, let it rise, then put it in the loaf pan and baked it. The house smelled really nice. I think I cut the slices too thick for sandwiches but we still ate it. Remember, if you bake fresh bread at home refrigerate it so it doesn't mold, there are no preservatives in it. (Beth, I went to the website for the bread recipe you directed me previously and it is gone.)

I started hanging my clothes outside. I hang everything except underwear, socks and jeans. I don't have a clothesline but I have 2 clothes racks like the one pictured to the left. It is warm, dry and breezy during the day here so they were dry lickety-split. They smell better than putting the clothes in the dryer. I saved my house from heating up. And I didn't use about 3 hours worth of dryer time. Not bad.

This is what happens when you leave unattended zucchini for just 2 days. They are worse than the kids! Notice the pen next to the largest zucchini. This is why you will be hearing me talk about which zucchini dish I made-AGAIN. I froze much of it. I shredded, chopped and sliced for a couple of hours. The shredded zucchini is flash frozen for a couple of hours then packed away using my new handy dandy Foodsaver. Any other types of cuts you need to blanch first, cool, flash freeze and let the Foodsaver do its work. Zucchini is juicy and that disrupts the sealing process of the Foodsaver so flash freezing it keeps the juices at bay. I am all ready to make soup, breads, cakes and casseroles this winter.

Thanks to Crunchy Chicken I am trying to cut back my A/C. I never officially joined her challenge but I am trying to follow her guidelines. I can say, so far it hasn't been hard. We are only in the mid to high eighties this week. It was hard to keep it off today because I made zucchini muffins. I used the same recipe from my mother-in-law but subsituted 1 cup of regular flour for 1 cup whole wheat. You can't tell the difference.

If you live in the states have a wonderful 4th of July and if you don't you can still have a wonderful 4th of July.

Be Green

Slightly Greener

Well, pat my back and call me a slightly darker shade of green. I am excited to share my green finds, buys and actions with you.

-My A/C was fixed on Monday by a very nice and local HVAC company. I am so happy to give a local guy my business. He is not only local but his kids go to school with mine. And he came recommended by 3 of my friends. I love to keep it local. (Ok, that wasn't green but he was local.)

-We have managed to keep the A/C off until about 30 minutes ago. We hovered around 92 degrees today and at the end of the day the house absorbed all the heat. My husband got home from work and wanted cool air after refusing to turn the A/C on in his truck to try and save gas.

-My garden, specifically the zucchini, is growing. I now have 8 bean plants now and every time I take a zucchini off the plant another one is there to replace it the next day. Wow! Zucchini bread for everyone!

-Because of the plethora of zucchini I am prompted to purchase a Foodsaver. I cleaned out my large freezer today and found some of my meats are starting to look rather unsavory. This year I want to start freezing more of my local finds to eat them over the non-growing season and hopefully the Foodsaver will keep my pretties well until I devour them.

-My new toothbrush is green, well actually pink but green. I found it at Trader Joe's. It is called the Preserve toothbrush. The handle is made from yogurt cups. And get this, when you are finished with the toothbrush you can send it back to the company in their pre-paid envelope to be made into park benches. Check it our at Recycline.com

-Meet my laundery team: Trader Joe's Laundry Detergent, Borax and Baking Soda. TJ's Laundry Detergent says it has no harsh or petro chemicals and is pH balanced. I did a little research on Borax and Baking Soda and they are better for the environment than the harsh alternatives. The detergent and Borax keep my clothes clean and the baking soda makes them soft. I do plan on trying to make my own detergent to keep my plastic use down but for now TJ's will do. And I only use 2 tablespoons per load because I have a High Efficient machine. Here are some other things Borax does. And baking soda.

-I finally hung my towels outside to dry. I usually only hang my delicates but the heat was calling to the towels. They were a little crunchy so I cheated a little and put them in the dryer for 5 minutes to soften them, that is better than the hour they would have been in before.

-As you have guessed I love Trader Joe's. They have great organic cottage cheese, the best, I mean best hummus and they always have samples. Anyway, I found some great dish sponges there. They are made from vegetable cellulose. No chemicals or synthetic stuff there. The only drawback is they are made in France. Boy is that a LONG way to travel but until I find a good alternative I will use these. They are firm and hold soap well for washing dishes and there is no smell.

-I have been trying to be more organic and fair labor in my clothing choices but that is a very hard place to go. Organic is expensive. I did manage to buy flip-flops for $25 a pair. I got them from Simple Shoes. They boast recycled this, vegan that. Just check em out for yourself. If you like flip-flops like I do and wear them even in the rain (on warmer days, of course) then you will like these. They are cushy.

-I found an awesome book at the library called Stocking Up by Carol Hupping. She writes about everything from freezing to canning to making fruit leathers. It is a great book and has helped me, the complete novice, learn so much about what to do with your fresh zucchini. I was also shown another book on Beth's site called Putting Food By. The only reason I don't have that book in my possession is the library didn't carry it! Can you believe it? So I will buy it from Amazon used.

I can smell the zucchini bread, gotta go.....

I apologize if the page loaded slower because of the pictures. I love pictures. I am not an eloquent writer and the pictures help to tell my story.

I would love some feedback from you guys. Please be honest, just not brutal. Does anyone have a Foodsaver? Do you like it? Any simple zucchini recipes? Do you have a green store you like?

BE GREEN!

CFL's: Good or Bad?

My friend (who is a democrat but not eco-minded) just sent me this video and it got me wondering if Compact Florescent Light Bulbs or CFL's are worth the effort. I am not saying I agree or disagree with the congressman. He just got my brain cranking. But I can say, I rarely trust republicans in matters of the environment.

We all agree CFL's save us money because over its life time it is more energy efficient than its counterpart, the incandescent bulb. We can also agree that in being more efficient they save greenhouse gas emissions from being emitted to our air. And not to mention, they are less effort to have in your house because you replace them less frequently. Therefore less driving to the store to buy them, thus even more saved greenhouse emissions.

BUT, they are made with mercury. If the bulb is broken it can leak mercury. Do you know what mercury does to a human if exposed? It is a neurotoxin that can affect babies and young children's memory, language and attention. (Not to mention what it can do to animals.) The glass that encompassed that mercury can have lead in it. Do you know what lead does to humans? It also can also cause neurological problems. That is why, when a CFL breaks, you MUST take special precautions to dispose of it.

And when the light burns out are you able to recycle it? Some locations do not offer this service or worse yet there are many people who don't care to recycle so that lead and mercury ends up in our land fills. And then into our soil, our air and waterways. Yummy, I didn't know mercury was a seasoning for fish. This is a HUGE concern of mine. Most people I know do not recycle CFL's, they don't care to or don't know how. (Yes, I let them know how, but that is all I can do.) What scares me also is the U.S. is looking to ban incandescent bulbs like Australia and Canada have already done. I am ok with that so long as EVERYONE recycles them. Oh, I forgot, most people don't do that.

So what do us Greenies and health conscience people do?

• Education. Do your homework. I know everyone reading eco-blogs, eco-websites, eco-books and eco-mags are doing their part. We need to help spread the word to recycle the bulbs the best way you know how.


• Buy the bulbs that boast less mercury and lead. Turolight and Philips both boast less mercury in their CFL's.


• Recycle them. Earth911.org can help you.


• Start a recycle drive. At school. At work. With your non-profit. Any group can help collect and recycle.


• Take them to IKEA.


• Contact your local government to find out if they are recycling. Call, email or look in yellow pages. If they don't recycle CFL's try to change their mind.


• You can also keep them until there is a hazardous drop off in your area or until better recycling of CFL is available.

Oh, did I mention most CLF's are made in China? The same country that poisoned our pets with contaminated pet food. The same country that makes most of our toys, made with lead. And then , of course, there was the toothpaste dilemma. Does China follow good human and environmental policies? We all know the answer to that. Is it worth it to contaminate China (and us for that matter) with coal (in manufacturing the bulbs), lead and mercury?

Just wondering....

What is your take?

Other Sources:

• Energy Star mercury fact sheet


• EPA- Basic Info on Mercury


• Lighter Footstep: 5 Ways to Recycle CFL's


• Global Alerts
  

Baking Soda Can Do What?

Sodium Bicarbinate. It almost sounds like a chemical we want to avoid. But if you are trying to be green and eco-friendly this is your best friend. It is baking soda. And with a little research, I mean barely any research, I found out that you can do everything but fuel your car with this stuff!
We all know you can deoderize your refrigerator and help bake your holiday cookies. But did you know it can also keep weeds out of cracks? Treat dandruff? Ward off diaper rash? Boost laundry power? Scrub away dead skin cells, even on your face?
Head over to the Arm and Hammer website to find out more and to signup for free e-newsletter and promotions. Reader's Digest has a list of things baking soda can do. And then I found a free web book that I have yet to explore more!
Oh, the things you can find in that little orange box!

BYOB

"Bring your own bag" or "bring your own bottle", it doesn't matter. I have been bringing my own bags to shop for a while now but I just received my Sigg drink bottles that are 100% reusable and 100% recyclable. I am so excited to have them. No more plastic bottles!! And the Sigg bottles keep my drink cold longer. You can see the kids have their own also.



On a sad note, when I received my shipment the bottles were wrapped in PLASTIC BUBBLE WRAP! The site I purchased the items from is an advocate for ridding our world of plastic bags. Now tell me that I can at least recycle the bubble wrap! I don't know. I expect a site that is earth friendly to pack there items in recycled paper, not plastic.


I have emailed the company and hopefully they can redeem themselves to me. At this time I will wait to see if I hear from them to reveal the name of the site. But I can say they really disappointed me, I may not shop there again.



ly

Happy April Fools Day

My blog post today has nothing to do with April Fool's Day but I thought I would wish everyone Happy April Fools Day anyway. But today is my dog Maggy's birthday, she is 3 today! And she has pledged to go organic, ha ha. She eats organic food now too! She is trying out Natural Balance Organic. And actually I think she likes it more than her old dog food. She is actually better than I am. I still cheat and go to Starbuck's every so often.

I am starting to get frustrated, though. I am in the bathroom this morning and I want so desperately to get rid of the shampoo, lotions, make-up and cleansers I have there but so many are near full because I not only want to be organic but I want to be frugal. I can't just pour the shower cleaner down the drain. I guess I will wait and finish it off, which may take me a year, and then clean the bottle out really well and replace the cleanser with vinegar and water.

And the same goes for my personal hygiene products. The shampoo is new and full because I don't wash my hair everyday and I use a very small quantity. I am dying to try Burt's Bees or other organic brands but it will be a while. I wonder if I can convince my hairdresser to switch?

Oh! I just want to feel good about what I use and I can't yet! I can replace my feminine products (sorry for being so personal with this subject). That is one product I have no control over the quantity I use. I was reading Allie's Green Answers (not me) this morning and I am glad because that time will be approaching soon. Her subject was which tampons were the safest. I will try her suggestions.