Posts Tagged green cleaning
Posted by Candice on May 24, 2010 at 10:30 am
Green Cleaning For Your Kitchen
It is unlikely that anyone needs convincing anymore about how important it is to make the switch to green and natural cleaning. We’ve written in the past about
whether green cleaning can really beat the germs and have a whole series about how to stock your
green cleaning pantry.
Today we’ll share a few tips about how to attack some common household kitchen cleaning tasks using natural cleaning methods:
- To clean your microwave oven place 1/4 cup of baking soda mixed with one cup of water inside the oven and heat until steam fills the inside of your microwave. Then remove the dish and wipe down the oven.
- To clean your coffee machine just run a regular cycle using one cup of vinegar followed by two cycles of clean water to rinse the vinegar out.
- For a kettle a 1/4 cup of baking soda mixed with 2 cups of water. Bring to the boil and allow to sit overnight. Rinse well the next morning to remove any baking soda residue.
- To remove burnt residue from a pot or pan sprinkle a thick layer of baking soda over the burn area then add some water and place on the stove to hear. Let the baking soda sit overnight and then scrub to remove.
- To clean fresh produce use a sponge sprinkled with baking soda to wipe the fruit and/or vegetables before rinsing under running water. For produce that will not withstand wiping dip into a baking soda solution and then rinse well.
These are just some of the ways you can use baking soda and vinegar in your kitchen. They also have many useful applications in cleaning your bathroom and other parts of your home.
Visit Bidmycleaning.com’s Eco-Friendly Cleaning information page to learn more about green cleaning in your home or to find a maid service or house cleaning provider that can perform and eco-friendly cleaning service.
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 9, 2010 at 16:31 pm
Clearly Essential Natural House Cleaning
We’ve written many posts on this blog about how important it is to make the switch to using natural cleaning products in your home. We even have our Green Cleaning Pantry series to help you make your own cleaning products at home. However, if you’re like me, finding the time to do all that home brewing can be challenging.
We were happy to meet Lisa Thomas on twitter and to hear about how in a search for cleaning products that would be safe enough to use around her toddler, she created an all natural window cleaner that amazed her mother, husband and even Lisa herself at how well it worked. This evolved to the Clearly Essential Multi-Purpose Cleaner that Lisa found to be effective on spilled red wine and pic pen scribbles on the sofa.
Lisa’s range of natural house cleaning products has expanded to include Clearly Essential Multi-Purpose Cleaner, Toilet Solution, Extra-Strength Kitchen & Bath Cleaner, Lemon Scrub, and most recently Cinnamon Scrub. The line is based on Lisa’s secret blend of essential oils and basic natural cleaning ingredients.
From the Clearly Essential website; “Our concept is simple. When you develop a cleaning product made with ingredients so natural, so safe, and so effective… a product you could wash your face and hands with, yet clean your house or car with, you make it available to everyone. We all want what’s healthiest for our families. And you’re probably here wondering what we’re all about because you also want what’s best for the planet… its waterways, oceans, forests, fields, and all of Earth’s amazing creatures. We do, too.”
Lisa was kind enough to send us some samples of her product lin. Our favorite is the lemon scrub which smells just like lemonade. All the products are effective cleaners and Lisa has a great idea to cut down on plastic bottles. Once you purchase your first spray bottle, you can then buy small glass refills which you mix with water to fill up the original spray bottle. It’s really great when a green company goes the extra step to making sure their packaging and shipping is eco-friendly too. The eco-friendly packaging was a little messy but Lisa says they are still working on finding the perfect solution.
Visit their website to buy some cleaning products or just Google them to find one of their online retailers.
Posted by Candice on December 4, 2009 at 13:52 pm
Friday
The Good Human, a website founded by a guy called David, encourages people to be better humans through working to clean up the environment, being active in political issues and being more aware of one’s life and surroundings. David says “there are so many ways that we can all contribute to our existence here on Earth, and I found over time that mine was talking about environmentalism and sustainability issues.”
David covers a wide range of topics from solar energy to environmental impact of the fashion industry. There is lots to read about recycling, green washing, energy efficiency and other advice on how to “go green”. Of interest to us are the topics on natural cleaning. David has a comprehensive list of ways to use homemade cleaning products to tackle just about every cleaning task in your house. Many of them we’ve blogged about in our Green Cleaning Pantry series.
There is a series called ‘Greenwash of the Week’ and one example calls out SC Johnson on the Nature’s Source line which they claim to be simple, biodegradable, plant-based cleaner, however, David points out that they still contain non-natural ingredients including fragrances, dyes, stabilizers and preservatives.
The Good Human is definitely worth adding to your RSS reader or a quick browse now and then when you have the time.
Posted by Candice on October 13, 2009 at 10:00 am
Philadelphia House Cleaning
Bidmycleaning.com has been offering house cleaning services in Philadelphia since August 2008. Our Philadelphia location covers residents of Philadelphia, Bucks County and South New Jersey.
Property managers, Realtors and office managers will also be able to visit our marketplace to get instant bids on all their cleaning services and research the best local independent cleaners and cleaning companies.
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Posted by Candice on October 9, 2009 at 15:43 pm
Friday
Green Technology Daily is online news and information for everyday people seeking real-time information on what environmental responsibility and sustainability means to you or your business and how to apply to everyday life.
Green Technology Daily keeps you up-to-date on developing green trends, products and business practices with some examples being your carbon footprint, green products for your home, choosing a fuel-efficient car or learning about the current White House policy on renewable energy.
You can find topics of interest to you in the categories of Green Living, Green Policy, Energy, Environment, Technology & Investing and Transportation.
In their EarthTalk section, a recent question was about energy efficiency incentives for homeowners. If you’ve been considering upgrading your water heater to a more efficient version or installing solar panels then you’ll be interested in the response.
A recent article of interest looks at how the economic crisis has slowed climate change – finding the upside in the recession. Another looks at the growth in the market for organic coffee making it the single most valuable organic product imported into North America. We are a nation of coffee lovers for sure so this shift in demand can surely be seen as an indicator of a wider growth in demand for organic and natural beverages, foods and products. Even in the face of this tough recession people are prepared to pay more for organic.
News includes the passing of the nation’s toughest mandatory composting and recycling law by San Francisco which will require everyone to have three separate color-coded bins and sort their trash using blue for recycling, green for compost and black for trash. An interesting fact I learned from this article is that material like food scraps and plant clippings that go into landfills decompose to form methane, a greenhouse gas 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide … aside from the fact that they take up costly space.
Green Technology Daily isn’t as light and fun as some of our recent links but if you’re looking for the latest happenings on the green front with solid reporting then it is worth a visit.
Posted by Candice on October 2, 2009 at 14:25 pm
Friday
Billed as “The place where good lives – good news, good style, and good deeds…” Tonic.com‘s mission is to make it easy for people to do good things. To be narrow it down a little look to the definition of Tonic which is “anything morally, mentally, or physically inspiring”.
The good is categorized as follows: us / world / business / social responsibility/ technology / science / entertainment / life & style and travel. A little bit of serious business mixed in with some fun! There is a handy quick navigation list at the bottom of the page with sub-categories.
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Posted by Candice on September 30, 2009 at 17:04 pm
Green Cleaning Pantry
Cornstarch, or cornflour, is the starch of the corn (maize) grain. It has many applications in the home and is a useful addition to your green cleaning pantry. Some of the ways you can use cornstarch are to clean windows, to deodorize and clean carpets and rugs, polish furniture and several others.
One of the key ways you can use cornstarch is to cut grease because it does a great job of absorbing oil. When it comes to laundry – as it’s name applies – it is a great way of naturally starching clothes.
In the kitchen cornstarch is perfect for cleaning areas which becomes greasy such as stove tops, vent hoods and countertops where food prep takes place. To clean these surfaces create a paste of cornstarch and water and then use it like you would any regular commercial de-greaser.
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Posted by Candice on September 21, 2009 at 23:01 pm
Truth in Labeling - House Cleaning
Consumer demand for safe and eco-friendly personal care and home care products continues to climb. People rightly believe that they have aright to know exactly what is in the products they have in their kitchen or bathroom cabinets but this is certainly not the case. Most cleaning products do not include a complete list of ingredients as there are no government requirements for these products as there are for food products. Currently, the government only requires that ingredients which pose an immediate danger be indicated on a product label.
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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.
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