Green Cleaning

Earth-friendly Oven Cleaning

It's pretty easy to clean your stove top or microwave in a way that's not a health or environmental concern.  However, a regular oven can be a real problem.  Most of us have generally turned to caustic chemicals.  If you've ever used too much and spent an afternoon feeling light headed, or found that all the food baked in your oven tasted like oven cleaner, you know what a problem these products are. There are lots of harmful substances in regular cleaners.  They start out in plastic and steel cans, and contain substances like diethylener glycol monobutyl ether - a VOC that's not good for the waterways, monoethanolamine or MEA - a toxin harmful to fish, butane - yet another fossil fuel, and sodium hydroxide - lye or caustic soda.  This is a very caustic chemical that must be used with care, and is hard on the eyes and skin.  It also alters pH levels in waterways.  In small amounts and with the right usage, lye isn't so bad, but there's a lot of it in oven cleaner. Of course, if you want to avoid environmentally harmful products, you're still going to need to clean your oven.  There are a number of ...

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Organic & Earth-Friendly Tips with Vinegar

Many people use a variety of chemicals in your home, but there are alternatives.  You can use vinegar, which is cheap, common, and environmentally friendly instead of using chemicals that are toxic and bad for the environment.  Not sure where to begin using vinegar?  Here are some great tips that will help you to make the most of vinegar within your home. First of all, you may want to know a bit about vinegar.  For many years, actually tracing back to the ancient Egyptians, vinegar has been used.  When alcohol is oxidized in products that are fermented, vinegar is what is created.  There are several different types of vinegars, including malt, red wine, white, apple cider, and white wine vinegar.  Of course, the one that is most versatile happens to be white vinegar.  Now that you know a bit more about vinegar, here are some handy tips that you can use around your home. Dealing with calcium buildup on your electric jugs or kettles?  If so, vinegar can help.  Simple boil with some white vinegar and then allow it to soak.  Rinse away the vinegar with some water, then boil water again, and you should eliminate those calcium deposits. Tired of odors in ...

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Health-friendly Ways to Deal with Mold in Your Home

Attacking Mold Did you know there's a more ecologically and health-friendly way to deal with mold in your home?  Most of us run right to the chemicals to get rid of mold before it spreads.  However, these chemicals are bad for us, and they're bad for the world around us.  You may find that after you've used a heavy dose of mold killers, you feel sick or "off" for a few hours to a few days. Commercial mold killers contain sodium hydroxide - lye, and sodium hypochlorite - bleach.  These are chemicals that can be very useful and not terribly environmentally damaging in small amounts and when used correctly, and extremely damaging in large amount or when used wrongly. They're both highly corrosive, and can actually dissolve skin.  That's why it's a good idea to use cleaners of this strength only when you have to.  Mold killing in the bathroom really isn't a time when you need them.  Let's take a look at some of the other options you can use to kill mold. Borax and Dishwashing Detergent Use a gentle, environmentally friendly dishwashing liquid - one teaspoon mixed with one teaspoon of borax and a quart of warm water can be used to soak ...

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Going Green - Spring Cleaning Report

After a long winter, it's that time once again.  Every year, we all have to cut through the dirt and get organized.  Thorough spring cleaning is a great idea if you've been shut in all winter.  You'll feel better, your home will look better, and guests will feel more welcome.  Cleaning is a great way to celebrate spring and feel better about yourself and your home.  There's a reason we have a tradition of doing it in the spring, after the long, dim winter months.  It can really help you feel more alive. However, many mainstream cleaning products and techniques aren't so environmentally or health friendly as we might like them to be.  Dangerous and harsh cleaning solutions are bad for the world around us, and they're not so great to get on your skin, breathe, or otherwise be exposed to.  This is even more of a concern if you've got small children or free roaming pets in the house who might come into contact with cleaning chemicals. The good news is that a healthier, more ecologically friendly spring clean isn't hard to do.  You won't have to worry as much about kids getting into the cleaning cabinet.  Here are some tips ...

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Soap - How it effects the Environment

It’s surprising that the very product we use on our bodies to keep ourselves clean could actually be causing so much damage to not only the environment and aquatic systems, but also to our own skin. When we bathe, most of us use a regular bar of soap bought from the store.  After lathering up your body and cleaning away daily grime, you rinse away the soap to run down the drain.  The object of this ritual is supposed to keep us clean and smelling nice. Unfortunately, most commercial soaps contain harsh chemical additives to make them lather properly.  They contain perfumes and fragrances that are known to cause irritation in some people.  These lovely smelling fragrances aren’t extracted from naturally aromatic pretty flowers from out in the field.  They’re produced chemically using cancer-causing chemicals so we can smell good. Soaps hold their nice bar-like shape because of ingredients like animal tallow, paraffin wax and other crude oil derivatives.  Studies have also shown that some of the chemicals used in soap fragrances can cause skin diseases, birth defects and even liver damage in animal testing. Another chemical found in commercial soaps is TCC or triclocarban, which is known to disrupt endocrine production and promote ...

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