I'm lucky enough to be visiting home right now, and I was admiring the abundance of beautiful nature around the place where I grew up. What a great way to get inspired to be greener than ever! (I also might encounter some 17-year cicadas this week - well, not all nature can be as delightful as pretty trees! But we still have to take care of all of it.) (Also, I'm kind of a little excited for the cicadas, because my mindset hasn't progressed past age seven regarding them.)
Support:
Eco-friendly mascaras: This is a particularly good resource for me, because mascara makes me happy: find four great sustainable brands at www.theunprocess.com/2013/04/18/dry-eyes/. This blog in general has many great green living tips and links!
Organic baby clothes: My sister sent this to me as "what your future children will wear": www.cafepress.com/+become-carbon-neutral+baby-clothing. All of them are 100% organic cotton. Some are perhaps a little obnoxious for my taste (I'm personally not a huge fan of the baby-as-billboard), but some are really cute ("I'm Organically Grown," aw. Also the whale fin).
Everyday Living:
Unplug when not in use: Chargers do not have to stay in the wall! They can still draw up to 25% of the energy used to charge your electronics if you leave the cord in the outlet. Take it out! (I personally unplug everything I'm not currently using that won't need to completely reboot, so lamps, etc.)
More green renovation: Here's another great resource for all of your green home needs: www.ecooptions.homedepot.com. Eco Options gives you great resources for monitoring your home's energy and access to green products such as non-VOC paints, recycled flooring, and EnergyStar appliances.
Have a green summer with these unique tips: At tlc.howstuffworks.com/home/green-summer-bonus-tips.htm, there are seven tips/challenges for the summer. Not all of them are easy, but all of them are worth looking into. I'll definitely be doing the two-mile challenge! Also, even if no AC is impossible for you (for health reasons, etc.), the list gives you some tips on how to use it as little as possible.
More vinegar - this time with orange: I am DEFINITELY doing this, because citrus scents are my favorite: at fountainavenuekitchen.com/orange-vinegar-a-green-cleaner/, read up on steeping that miracle green cleaner, white vinegar, with orange peels to have a naturally great smelling cleaner (and reuse your food waste!).
Use dry shampoo: If your hair turning into a slick mess is holding you back from cutting your number of showers and saving water (as it has with me), you can make your own dry shampoo with equal parts rice flour, arrowroot, and corn starch, plus a drop of lavender or lemon essential oil. I'm excited about this one!
Waste time by being green: Pinterest is a great resource for all sorts of sustainable DIY products. If you're going to spend a while on there anyway, as those who have Pinterest tend to do, use some of that time to do your one green hour!
Sunday, May 26, 2013
Monday, May 20, 2013
Summer is Approaching!
Here are some ways to finish out the spring and step into summer as sustainably as possible!
Support:
FSC certified wood products: Making sure you aren't buying the remnants of a destroyed rain forest is a very good thing. The Forest Stewardship Council exists to do just that. Look for their logo - a check mark-tree outline with the initials FSC - or go to their website for a list of certified companies: chportal.fsc.org/PublicCertificateProject.
Speak Up:
Demand transparency: One thing that we can do as consumers is make sure we know what ingredients are in the products we buy, and if they are potentially harmful. Of course, not all companies want to make this information public. Lend your voice to a campaign that is fighting to make them! Here's one opportunity to do just that: www.womensvoices.org/campaigns/secret-scents/glade-stop-keeping-secrets/. Make sure Glade discloses what ingredients go into its fragrances!
Everyday Living:
Reuse yard waste: Instead of bagging up your grass trimmings, spread them on your garden. The grass will prevent weeds from growing, and it will help plants retain moisture on hot days.
Water prudently: Avoid watering plants at the hottest part of the day, because then the water will evaporate before it can be absorbed. This way, plants will need (and you will waste) less water. Also, be sure not to waste water by getting most of it on the leaves - make sure you get it at the base of the plant.
More sustainable traveling resources: Check out travelocity.com/TravelForGood/gr-directory.html for their Green Hotel Directory.
Plant lawns: If you have any ability to do so at home or even at work or in a community project, lawn planting is a great thing to do for the environment. No matter how small, lawns purify the air and make surrounding buildings cooler, lowering AC output.
Protect against insects safely: Summer is approaching, which means so are a lot of bugs. Wasps in particular can be both irritating and dangerous. However, that doesn't mean you have to wreck the environment to get rid of them! Check out eartheasy.com/live_natwasp_control.htm for a variety of techniques and products to safely repel wasps.
Support:
FSC certified wood products: Making sure you aren't buying the remnants of a destroyed rain forest is a very good thing. The Forest Stewardship Council exists to do just that. Look for their logo - a check mark-tree outline with the initials FSC - or go to their website for a list of certified companies: chportal.fsc.org/PublicCertificateProject.
Speak Up:
Demand transparency: One thing that we can do as consumers is make sure we know what ingredients are in the products we buy, and if they are potentially harmful. Of course, not all companies want to make this information public. Lend your voice to a campaign that is fighting to make them! Here's one opportunity to do just that: www.womensvoices.org/campaigns/secret-scents/glade-stop-keeping-secrets/. Make sure Glade discloses what ingredients go into its fragrances!
Everyday Living:
Reuse yard waste: Instead of bagging up your grass trimmings, spread them on your garden. The grass will prevent weeds from growing, and it will help plants retain moisture on hot days.
Water prudently: Avoid watering plants at the hottest part of the day, because then the water will evaporate before it can be absorbed. This way, plants will need (and you will waste) less water. Also, be sure not to waste water by getting most of it on the leaves - make sure you get it at the base of the plant.
More sustainable traveling resources: Check out travelocity.com/TravelForGood/gr-directory.html for their Green Hotel Directory.
Plant lawns: If you have any ability to do so at home or even at work or in a community project, lawn planting is a great thing to do for the environment. No matter how small, lawns purify the air and make surrounding buildings cooler, lowering AC output.
Protect against insects safely: Summer is approaching, which means so are a lot of bugs. Wasps in particular can be both irritating and dangerous. However, that doesn't mean you have to wreck the environment to get rid of them! Check out eartheasy.com/live_natwasp_control.htm for a variety of techniques and products to safely repel wasps.
Sunday, May 12, 2013
Back in business!
Welcome back to One Green Hour, where the blogger is mercifully finished with her semester! Here are the links people sent in to kick off the summer:
Everyday living:
Measure your energy output: Awareness is important, and there are a variety of products showcased at http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2417973,00.asp to help you monitor how much energy you use in your home, which will give you a better idea of the changes you need to make in order to lower those numbers. Obviously, these products cost money, though many are quite cheap. I will definitely have my eye on a lot of these. (Now that the semester's over, I can actually work more often! Looking forward to buying the green products in my bookmarks bar.)
For pet owners, salt is your friend: If you've got a pet who occasionally doesn't quite make it outside, pour regular table salt on carpets or upholstery they've urinated on and let it sit for several hours. Then just vacuum up the salt, which will have absorbed both the stain and the odor.
Recycle freezers and refrigerators: And get paid to do it! For New Yorkers, ConEd will reimburse you $50 to come and remove and recycle old appliances. Read about it here: http://www.coned.com/energyefficiency/residential_bounty_program.asp.
Buy green cosmetics and toiletries: Head over to http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/ for a huge database of cosmetics graded on their environmental friendliness. I know I'll be using this site before I buy anything ever again!
Use vodka for...everything, apparently: I mean, I understand if you want to save it for drinking, but if a memory of a particularly bad hangover has you eyeing your liquor cabinet with distaste, you can use your vodka for the following: polishing silverware, faucets, chandeliers, eyeglasses, as well as killing weeds without dousing the rest of your yard in soil-destroying chemicals. You can also use it to polish jewelry (but NOT pearls, opals, or porous stones) by letting jewelry soak for five to ten minutes.
Recycle your window blinds: I didn't know this one was possible, but I'm glad to hear it is! Go to http://www.treehugger.com/interior-design/you-can-recycle-window-blinds-yes-you-can.html to find out different options for blinds in various states of disrepair.
Dispose of medication safely: Look at http://www.fda.gov/forconsumers/consumerupdates/ucm101653.htm to find the best way to get rid of expired items in your medicine cabinet.
Get kids involved: Each generation is going to have to be greener than the last in order to bring the world into a safe future; that's just a fact of our world at this point. So if you have or know any kids, start them off early! At http://www.youthbeat.com/blog/bid/83877/five-ways-to-make-earth-day-fun?source=Blog_Email_[Five%20Ways%20to%20Make%20Ea, you can find ways to bring children to an awareness of green living in a fun way. These tips certainly didn't expire by Earth Day!
Unsurprisingly, Leah is doing this with her adorable son! She says: "We use the nearby bike path all the time and I'm always exasperated that people just leave their trash everywhere. Well, my son has been asking if we could clean it up a bit, and Earth Day was just the kick we needed. When we arrived, I realized it's a very big task for two people, since many more than two people made all that mess to begin with. So we decided to focus on recyclable materials. Armed with grocery bags and winter mittens, we spent about 15 minutes combing the grass for cans, bottles, and other items; some of our finds included a 40 gallon bucket and an empty bleach bottle. Three bags were all I could safely carry while holding my son's hand on the way home, but I could tell even that much was very gratifying to him. We brought our booty home to our own recycling toter. If we all bring a bag on walks around the neighborhood, even just once in a while, and focus on cans and bottles, we'll be cleaning up our communities and perpetuating the cycle of sustainability by recycling."
Everyday living:
Measure your energy output: Awareness is important, and there are a variety of products showcased at http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2417973,00.asp to help you monitor how much energy you use in your home, which will give you a better idea of the changes you need to make in order to lower those numbers. Obviously, these products cost money, though many are quite cheap. I will definitely have my eye on a lot of these. (Now that the semester's over, I can actually work more often! Looking forward to buying the green products in my bookmarks bar.)
For pet owners, salt is your friend: If you've got a pet who occasionally doesn't quite make it outside, pour regular table salt on carpets or upholstery they've urinated on and let it sit for several hours. Then just vacuum up the salt, which will have absorbed both the stain and the odor.
Recycle freezers and refrigerators: And get paid to do it! For New Yorkers, ConEd will reimburse you $50 to come and remove and recycle old appliances. Read about it here: http://www.coned.com/energyefficiency/residential_bounty_program.asp.
Buy green cosmetics and toiletries: Head over to http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/ for a huge database of cosmetics graded on their environmental friendliness. I know I'll be using this site before I buy anything ever again!
Use vodka for...everything, apparently: I mean, I understand if you want to save it for drinking, but if a memory of a particularly bad hangover has you eyeing your liquor cabinet with distaste, you can use your vodka for the following: polishing silverware, faucets, chandeliers, eyeglasses, as well as killing weeds without dousing the rest of your yard in soil-destroying chemicals. You can also use it to polish jewelry (but NOT pearls, opals, or porous stones) by letting jewelry soak for five to ten minutes.
Recycle your window blinds: I didn't know this one was possible, but I'm glad to hear it is! Go to http://www.treehugger.com/interior-design/you-can-recycle-window-blinds-yes-you-can.html to find out different options for blinds in various states of disrepair.
Dispose of medication safely: Look at http://www.fda.gov/forconsumers/consumerupdates/ucm101653.htm to find the best way to get rid of expired items in your medicine cabinet.
Get kids involved: Each generation is going to have to be greener than the last in order to bring the world into a safe future; that's just a fact of our world at this point. So if you have or know any kids, start them off early! At http://www.youthbeat.com/blog/bid/83877/five-ways-to-make-earth-day-fun?source=Blog_Email_[Five%20Ways%20to%20Make%20Ea, you can find ways to bring children to an awareness of green living in a fun way. These tips certainly didn't expire by Earth Day!
Unsurprisingly, Leah is doing this with her adorable son! She says: "We use the nearby bike path all the time and I'm always exasperated that people just leave their trash everywhere. Well, my son has been asking if we could clean it up a bit, and Earth Day was just the kick we needed. When we arrived, I realized it's a very big task for two people, since many more than two people made all that mess to begin with. So we decided to focus on recyclable materials. Armed with grocery bags and winter mittens, we spent about 15 minutes combing the grass for cans, bottles, and other items; some of our finds included a 40 gallon bucket and an empty bleach bottle. Three bags were all I could safely carry while holding my son's hand on the way home, but I could tell even that much was very gratifying to him. We brought our booty home to our own recycling toter. If we all bring a bag on walks around the neighborhood, even just once in a while, and focus on cans and bottles, we'll be cleaning up our communities and perpetuating the cycle of sustainability by recycling."
If this story weren't already wonderful, Leah also generously provided pictures:
Behold our green future!
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