Posts Tagged eco-friendly house cleaning
Posted by Candice on April 16, 2010 at 16:31 pm
Friday's Eco-Friendly Find
Earth Day 2010 is coming up soon – on April 22nd to be precise. In preparation we looked for some resources for Earth Day information. The Earth Day Network (Earthday.net) is ground central for Earth Day – their mission is to power the environmental movement and ensure a healthy and sustainable planet for all of us. They do this by helping to mobilize communities, implement environmental education programs and support Earth Day events and actions around the world. Their aim is to galvanize millions to make personal commitments to sustainability.
The Earth Day Action Center (Earthday.org) is where you can go to find out about Earth Day events and to create your own action campaign or have a look at what others have committed to doing. Some examples are the 100 Miles Food Challenge and the Walk For Water.
Other ways to get involved are by creating a petition or making a pledge. Your pledge could be as simple as opting to use eco-friendly and green cleaning products in your home or to support a local green cleaning company if you hire a regular maid service – use our Green Cleaning Calculator to get bids from a local house cleaning provider if you don’t already have one. Each small undertaking is a contribution to a wider drive to improve our world.
If you’re unsure about where to get involved you can browse the ‘Core Issues’ section of the site. These include Climate Change, Conservation & Biodiversity, Energy, Recycling & Waste Reduction and Sustainable Development. Stop by the Action Center today to see how you can make a difference.
Last year we blogged about Earth Day 2009.
Posted by Candice on February 19, 2010 at 14:34 pm
Friday
Today’s web find is a wonderful source of information on natural health, living a naturally healthy lifestyle and integrating natural, organic and green products into your life. We are beginning to understand more and more how harmful preservatives, food coloring, harsh chemicals, growth hormones and/or pesticides can be linked to degenerative diseases such as cancer, heart disease and diabetes. It is becoming more important to be informed about new research on these and on how to protect yourself and your family. The Naturally Savvy website is a great place to start.
The focus at Naturally Savvy is on Food and Nutrition, Health and Wellness, living mindfully and naturally green. Resources include Savvy TV, Savvy Forums, Savvy Blogs and an Ask The Experts form. The experts in this case are Andrea Donsky, Registered Holistic Nutritionist (R.H.N.) and co-founder of NaturallySavvy.com with Randy Boyer, Lisa Tsakos, NaturallySavvy’s very own Registered Nutritionist and other contributors on topics ranging from sports nutrition to pet care.
In the category of most interest to us, green cleaning, the focus is on “teach[ing] you how to scrub your home inside and out without hurting the environment or your family.” Recent posts include “Cleaning Naturally Improves Indoor Air Quality” and green floor cleaning and an interesting one on UV-C Light Technology, although you won’t be using this in your home any time soon.
Visit today and you will find lots to enjoy.
Posted by Candice on October 23, 2009 at 15:16 pm
Friday
GoodGuide provides the world’s largest and most reliable source of information on the health, environmental, and social impacts of the products in your home. There is definitely a growing interest in the impacts of the products we buy – on our health, on the environment and on society. There are more people buying organic and more people who can tell you what fair trade means and why it is important. Sometimes though, unless you’ve got a Ph.D, it is almost impossible to wade through the marketing speak to determine what the impacts of the products actually are. That is where The Good Guide comes in.
Read More
Posted by Candice on September 9, 2009 at 10:30 am
Eco-Friendly Move Clean Up
We all have one eventually – moving day! Whether it is moving out of your parents home to your first apartment or taking the big step of first time home ownership moving day is usually a time for great excitement and lots of work. One of the big jobs associated with moving in or out is the clean up that goes with it. When you move out of a home you tend to ‘spring clean’ and get rid unnecessary ‘stuff’ and when you move into a home you will have a lot of used packing materials once you’re done unpacking. So how do you make sure that your moving day is eco-friendly.
Read More
Posted by Candice on August 27, 2009 at 17:38 pm
House Cleaning - High Efficiency Appliances
When it comes to cleaning I certainly would hate to have to live without my washer, dryer and dishwasher. In my quest to be more eco-friendly though I am aware that doing these things the old fashioned way, by hand and with elbow grease, would probably be more environmentally responsible. All things considered I’m not quite ready to go to that extreme so what is the alternative?
The major appliances we have in our homes are refrigerators, washers, dryers, dishwashers account for the biggest environmental impact aside from our trusty whole house ACs. In many cases these appliances are more than a decade old and by all accounts are completely inefficient compared to new models. If you have old appliances you are spending much more on energy … and water … than you need to be. Changing to a newer, energy efficient model can result in savings in the hundreds of dollars range.
Read More
Posted by Candice on August 25, 2009 at 17:47 pm
Green House Cleaning Pantry
Borax is a naturally occurring mineral composed of sodium, boron, oxygen and water. It’s also an ingredient in cosmetics, medicines, ceramics and building materials. It is included in our green cleaning pantry because it is more environmentally friendly than your typical commercial cleaners and is very inexpensive. We do add the one caveat though that you should store it where it is not accessible to your pets and children. Ingesting even small quantities can be toxic to animals and children while larger quantities will be toxic to adults.
Read More
Posted by Candice on August 21, 2009 at 16:14 pm
Friday's Eco-Friendly Find
Known as the “green living source for today’s conscious consumer”, TheGreenGuide.com shows people how to make small changes that add up to big benefits for their wallets, for their health, and, of course, for the health of the planet. The Green Guide was acquired by National Geographic Society in March 2007 and is available in book and magazine format aside from online. The main goal is to provide simple, useful tips with achievable steps for going green. The focus is on affordability and practicality.
The Green Guide also has a buying guide which features over 2 million products with everything from personal care products and clothing to refrigerators and cars. The goal is to help eco-aware consumers find information of the greenest and most cost-effective products. The products featured are chosen by Green Guide editors and the Evo partnership provides the ability to immediately purchase any of the featured products. The Green Guide point out that they receive no revenue for their endorsements of products.
Featured categories are: Summer Guide, Home & Garden, Personal Care, Kids, Travel, Food and Go Local.
We were of course happy to see that they have a section on Cleaning in their Home & Garden category with the obligatory information on green home makeovers, DIY household cleaners and which toxic ingredients to avoid. if you’ve ever wondered about enzyme cleaners then look no further because Green Guide has the 101. Philip Dickey of the Washington Toxics Coalition, “enzymes allow a product to be effective without the use of harsh solvents.” However, they do this by biomimicry which still sounds a little too scientific to be entirely “natural”.
A very useful feature is the Green Glossary where you can lookup all the alphabet soup chemical ingredients in the products you use in your home as well as all the buzzwords and certifications related to the organic or green supply chain. There is also a great Q&A section where you can ask your burning questions – we of course looked at the Home & Garden Q&A first. For example: “Are there organic or natural methods to clean slow drains?” or “Is it better to unplug or reboot?” Don’t expect in depth analysis because all you’ll get is a quick one liner.
The Green Guide is well worth adding to your green bookmarks but it doesn’t require a daily visit. Weekly or monthly to catch up would probably be fine.
Posted by Candice on July 24, 2009 at 23:35 pm
Friday's Eco-Friendly Find
These days just about every news website has a green section and Time.com is no exception. Visit the site at Time.com/time/goinggreen. What you will find is coverage of the political issues around the environment like the recent move by the Obama Administration to upholds Bush’s last-minute changes to the Endangered Species Act to include the polar bear. There are interesting side bar additions to the story like a photo slideshow and information about extinction.
Time’s Going Green section is not the place to go if you are looking for quick hits and tips on green information – the focus is more on issues whether they be political in nature or related to different philosophies or methodologies for going green. There are investigative stories on biofuels and alternative energy along with more topical stories about celebrities going green or ordinary people doing extraordinary things in their efforts to go green.
Stop by a take a look – you’ll certainly find plenty of good solid reading matter.
Posted by Candice on July 17, 2009 at 16:37 pm
Friday's Eco-Friendly Find
As a parent I can honestly say ecochildsplay.com is one of my favorite blogs. There is always so much interesting news, reviews of products I can really use and ideas on how to help my family live a more healthy and eco-friendly life. Our daughter recently transitioned to a big girl bed and we went through the process of trying to find a reasonably priced organic mattress. An impossible task it seems so their post on using an organic mattress topper was of great interest to me.
Other pertinent posts have been ‘Green Cleaning Recipes Galore‘ and the review of dishwasher products. We use and love the Ecover brand but after reading their review I am definitely going to try the pink Method option. I know my daughter will love that they are pink!
And speaking of pink … I just have to try the pink pancakes made with beet because I know a special 3 year old who will think pink pancakes are the best thing ever and at least I’ll know they are packed with unhealthy ingredients and artificial flavors like Red #40!
Stop by ecochildsplay.com if you have time – you’ll definitely find something of interest there! Also for eco-friendly sites visit our green directory on bidmycleaning.com and to find eco-friendly house cleaning.
Posted by Candice on July 16, 2009 at 15:12 pm
Green Cleaning with Tea Tree Oil
Let me start by saying that if you’re a cat lover you should skip this post since tea tree oil is toxic to cats. Some people can also be sensitive to it and it is important to keep it away from kids since it should never be swallowed – but it is a worthwhile addition to your green cleaning pantry if you can use it.
Tea tree oil is a colorless or pale yellow oil from the leaves of Melaleuca alternifolia (Australian Tea Tree). It is is a broad spectrum germicide, fungicide, and bacteriacide and It’s natural solvent properties make it an wonderful biodegradable cleaning product and deodorizer.
Read More
« Older Entries
BidMyCleaning.com