Going Green

Chlorine is an inorganic substance that chemically bonds to proteins, leaving your hair dry and brittle as well as leaving your skin itchy and red. Chlorine was removed from drinking water due to the effects it showed on the elderly, children and people with chlorine sensitivity.

Chlorine is used when making paper. The process is called organchlorine. Organchlorine presist in the environment and are toxic in samll quanities. THe paper industry produces the largest amount of environmental harming dioxins. As humans we get 90% of the organchlorines in our bodies. People ingest 80 times the amount considered “safe”.

Chlorines effects on humans is very harmful. From skin penetration, inhalation, to contaminats overall.

*Ways you can avoid chlorine*

*Using a filter on your tap water and drinking bottled water that hasn’t had chlorine added to it.

*Purchase a water filter for your shower head. Carbon based filters and KDF filters made of copper and zinc both help to remove chlorine.

*Don’t use chlorine in your swimming pool.

*Don’t use bleach in your laundry or use it to clean. And don’t use products that contain bleach.

*Read all labels, on food, cleaners, everything. If they have been cleaned with chlorine or contain chlorine in any form- DON’T BUY IT!

*Going Green Tip: Always use nontoxic cleaning alternatives in your home and your everyday life. Some great homemade alternatives include: Baking soda- which cleans, deodorizes, softens water, and scurs. Borax - (sodium borate) cleans, deodorizes, disinfects, softens water, cleans wallpaper, painted walls and floors. White Vinegar - cuts grease, removes mildew, odors, some stains and wax build-up. Cornstarch - can be used to clean windows, polish furniture, shampoo carpets and rugs. Using these products will not only be easy, but safer to use around your family nd pets.

If you have ever wanted to green you home, in more ways then one, but don’t know where to start, there is help out there.
Green Home- the environmental store- can give you tips on every room in you house, from the children’s rooms to the basement.

Here are a few examples I just love:

Children’s Room: Polyester is a plastic that does not absorb perspiration and permanent press sheets are often treated with formaldehyde. Green Home suggests replacing polyester, polyester blend, or permanent press bedding with 100% organic cotton that has not been chemically treated. “Click Here For More.”

Bathroom: Conventional cotton towels are produced using 24% of the world’s chemical pesticides and fertilizers, yet occupies only 3% of the world’s farmland. Green Home recommends using towels made from 100% chemically untreated cotton. “Click Here For More.”

Green Home has all types of articles on greening your home, your pets and your car. Check out these other links to help you green up.

Yard & Garden

Garage

Bedroom

Office

Living Room

Dining Room

Kitchen

Laundry Room

Basement

Attic

*Going Green Tip: Always wash your clothes in cold water. The most energy that your washer ever uses is heating the water up every time you wash. If you always wash your clothes in cold water, the less energy your washer has to use to get that water hot. Some stains call for hot or warm water, but if you use a pretreater, most stains will come out with cold water.

After sitting through an instruction class given by the Oregon Environmental Council held at the Oregon Garden, I soon realized that cleaning doesn’t have to be a health risk.  I think the hardest thing about cleaning your home is breathing in all the toxic fumes given off by the cleaning agents you are using to clean with.  Thanks to the instruction class I now have a better way of cleaning and it’s a greener one at that.  Here is a few better cleaning practices I have now adopted thanks to the class.

1.  All-Purpose Cleaner:  Many all-purpose cleaners on the market contain either a bleach or ammonia and you don’t need either one to get the job done.  Instead is you mix 1/4 cup white vinegar, 2 tsp. borax, 3-1/2 cups hot water, 1/4 cup liquid castile soap, and a few-20 drops of your favorite essential oil together you can have yourself a great all-purpose cleaner that is better for you and the environment.  Mix all the ingredients together and add the castile soap last.  Spray in surfaces such as your fridge, counters and even on the kitchen and bathroom sink.

2.  Carpet Spot Removers:  We all have seen the dreaded spots on the carpet in the most eye catching places in out home, but the cleaners that are on the market don’t’ offer a very planet and lung friendly spray or scrub.  Instead is you blot the spot immediately with water and sprinkle a bit of baking soda, cornstarch or borax on the area and let it dry, you will end up treating the stains just as a toxic cleaner would.  Rinse the spot with club soda and then vacuum up.

3.  Stopped-Up Drain:  This one is a tricky one, because many of us are impatient and don’t want to wait for the drain to be unclogged, but if we just gain some patience we can have an unclogged drain and a mixture that isn’t damaging on the environment either.  Sprinkle a generous amount of baking soda in and around the drain opening.  Follow with a cup of white vinegar, wait about 10 minutes then flush with boiling water.  Repeat until the drain is unclogged.

These tips are just a few that were covered in the instruction class.  To learn more visit the Oregon Environmental Council’s website here.

Clorox® has been around for centuries and has become a household name through its products, one popular product being their brand of bleach.  But, with bleach being one of the earth’s harming chemicals because it contains CL (chlorine).  Chlorine isn’t as harmful to the earth as the bleach with the chlorine in it is.  Read more about this here. 

With Clorox® being one of the main companies behind distributing CL containing bleach, they have also been one of the main companies shunned by many environmentalists.  With Clorox’s® new brand of “natural” cleaning product they are hoping to change their image in the eyes of naturalist everywhere.

The Green Works™ line ad states they are a proud supporter of the Sierra Club and are now on the bandwagon to helping save the environment, as well as protect and preserve it too.

There are a few skeptics that think Clorox® is just trying their hand in grabbing onto the consumers in order to boost sales.  They still continue to carry their CL containing bleach, but yet have better cleaning products that are supposed to be green.  It’s a confusing mess for Clorox® to be leaning toward both directions.  Maybe Clorox® will go greener with all of their products in the near future.  What do you think?

When I was just out of high school I got two jobs in order to try to save up enough money to move out of my parent’s house. One of those jobs was working at a children’s center and I was in charge of cleaning up and watching the two and three year old classes while the teachers for those classes took their breaks. Even though, at that time, I knew nothing about how to tend to children, I was pretty good at cleaning up spills and sanitizing the toys at the end of the day.

One of the main cleaning agents this child facility used was chlorine bleach. At the time I would stick the toys in the bleach, it would coat my hands and I would even touch my arm and my face not knowing exactly how health-effecting it really was.

The Health Department requires cleaning with the chemical because it was the only thing at the time, which was 12 years ago, that would kill germs and bacteria. So with this knowledge of bacteria-killing properties, parents would use the cleaning agent in their own homes as well. But, since that time when chlorine bleach was the number one bacteria-killing choice, there have been some drastic developments and a lot of facilities and even households have stopped using it. But, where does a parent turn if they still want to have a germ-free and sanitary environment for the children and their toys they play with everyday. Here are some other sanitizing toy suggestions without having to bring in deadly chemicals into your home.

1. Prevent and get rid of Smells: Place a stuffed toy into a plastic bag with a few tbs. of cornstarch and shake. Dust the cornstarch off the toy and the smell has disappeared. If the smell is heavy, continue till it is gone entirely. 2. Prevent bacteria and get rid of dirt: Run plastic toys such as action figures, toys cars and even baby rattles through the dishwasher on the upper rack. You can also throw stuffed or cloth toys into a pillowcase and run through the washing cycle, then in the dry on a low setting till almost dry then hang to dry the rest of the way.

3. Soak the toys to kill germs: Instead of the more popular known method of soaking in chlorine bleach, soak the toys in one part distilled white vinegar and 1 part water for about 20 minutes or overnight if need be.

Going green is actually pretty simple. The simplest way to prepare for change is to change within your home and then work out from there.

Just simple changes like “cleaning habits” are a great way to start. The first step you want to take is to throw away any products that aren’t considered biodegradable back into the earth. Many chemicals and metals that are organic come straight from the earth, so bringing them back to where they started is a natural process.

There are many products on the market that offer biodegradable options, but there are also items right in your own cabinets that can be used as cleaning products as well. Items such as baking soda, for scrubbing, vinegar for your windows, or even peroxide for a natural bleaching option just to name a few.

Once you make the change, it will become so easy to stick to. With a bit of elbow grease you can clean almost anything with vinegar and baking soda.