how to buy really green

How do you know if what you're buying is really green or not? My favorite eco-friendly consumer advocate, Debra Lynn Dadd, has written a new book that answers exactly that question. Really Green covers easy green principles that anyone can learn, to help each of us understand the kinds of things that really DO help health and the environment.

It contains all the information you need to be able to tell the difference between products with real environmental and health benefits and those with misleading green hype. In this book, you will learn:

* What "green" really means
* The true foundation for defining green products
* The life cycle of green products
* The eighteen basic principles that define what's green
* The five basic types of green products
* All about green packaging
* Various shades of green products
* The cost of green goods
* How to spot misleading "greenwashing"
* How to change your buying habits to be green

Click on this link to find out more and buy the book today!

the story of stuff

I gave a talk last night on the subject of green organizing to the North GTA chapter of Professional Organizers in Canada. Today's post was going to be an overview of the points I covered in my talk, but then another organizing colleague of mine sent me a link that takes precedence - and actually explains - even better than I could - some of the ideas I was trying to share last night.

Check out the twenty-minute animated video on this website called The Story of Stuff. It's entertaining and extremely informative. I'll add my own two cents in a day or two...

dr. oz on oprah: de-tox your home to turn back the clock on aging

Do you want to clean green?
Dr. Oz from the Oprah show thinks eco-friendly cleaning will increase your lifespan. I just finished watching the second part of Dr. Oz's two-part series on You: Staying Young - his new book on anti-aging, and he spent one segment talking about how improving the air-quality and toxicity in your home can add years to your age. Check out some of the details from the Oprah.com website, here. Apparently Dr. Oz's new book will also be featured on the Discovery Channel tonight.

I'm so excited to think that the eco-friendly cleaning message is being spread to such a large audience. Cleaning green will not only improve your quality of life - it will help save the planet for generations to come!

the best kept secret

Do you want to clean green?
I'm happy to announce that a series of my articles on eco-friendly home cleaning will be appearing on thebestkeptsecret.ca - a Toronto-based information website for women 40+ - during the month of November. The first article begins with an introduction to my story and why I use eco-friendly cleaning.

You can also sign up for their weekly newsletter, which is packed with interesting articles and stories.

Enjoy!

20 things worse for your children than lead in toys

Do you want to clean green?
I saw this story mentioned in Debra Lynn Dadd's most recent newsletter, and thought it was worth posting here. The article mentions several hazardous household products, including air fresheners, dryer sheets, and fire retardants.

The mainstream media is amusingly irrational when it comes to reporting scare stories. The latest example involves the lead content of Mattel toys made in China. The Consumer Product Safety Commission has issued a third recall of Mattel toys involving over 700,000 toys containing unacceptably high levels of lead paint (over .06 percent lead). Irrational parents are rushing back to retailers in droves, turning in their Mattel toys to "save their children" from the dangers of lead paint. Mattel, for its part, is being rightly blasted in the media for selling shoddy products made with toxic heavy metals.

But here's the interesting part in all this: Parents directly poison their children every day with products far more dangerous than Mattel toys. Don't believe me? I'll name twenty things in this article that are far more dangerous to children than Mattel toys. It doesn't mean Mattel toys are safe, of course. They apparently do contain unacceptably high levels of lead, and there's no question about the toxicity of lead. But children don't eat toys nearly as often as they eat some other toxic substances given to them by their parents, and even as parents are herding back into retailers to refund their toxic lead-laden toys, they're returning home and poisoning their children with many other products that are far worse.

The press, of course, reports nothing about these other toxic products. And why? Because they're made in America.

Read the entire article here.

laundry

Do you want to clean green?
This post was first published on my blog an organized existence (April 21, 2007).

I've been watching with interest as many businesses have been jumping on the "green" bandwagon. Just today I was grocery shopping at Loblaws and noticed a large display of their new President's Choice Green products, including eco-friendly cleansers for laundry and bathrooms.

I bought a bottle of their President's Choice Green Coldwater Laundry Detergent. I've been using eco-friendly laundry cleansers for years, and I'm happy with my current methods, but it's always nice to try something new and be able to give people feedback about the products that are on the market.

Many people don't realize how manufacturers have manipulated our opinions about cleaning dirty laundry. We've become convinced that our clothing is full of dirt and germs, and nothing short of the most powerful cleansers, bleaches, and fabric softeners will give us the brightest, whitest and fluffiest results.

The truth is, we don't really need their products. In many cases they actually make our clothes dirtier, or wear out our fabrics faster. Most people, for example, add too much detergent to each load of laundry. It can't be properly rinsed away by the end of the cycle, and when you add liquid fabric softener to your wash, or throw fabric softener sheets in the dryer, you create a waxy build-up on the fabric that attracts even more dirt.

Try a simple experiment. Take some clothes straight from your dryer and stick them back in the washing machine with a tablespoon of TSP (trisodium phosphate), which you can find at most hardware or paint stores. Run the load again without adding any detergent or bleach, and have a look at the water after the machine has begun to agitate. The water will be a dirty, scummy mess. And those were your "clean" clothes!

The biggest problem with most laundry detergents is that they are made from petrochemicals, which use non-renewable resources in their manufacture, and pollute our waterways when they are sent down the drain after each load of laundry. They are mildly caustic, and are a frequent cause of household poisonings. The residues they leave on our clothing can cause skin and respiratory irritations in people with chemical sensitivities to the dyes, fragrances, or surfactants they contain. Many detergents also contain chemicals that are suspected carcinogens.

There are plenty of sustainable, non-toxic alternatives to conventional laundry detergents. A quick look through the organics section of most grocery stores will reveal a range of choices, including Nature Clean and Seventh Generation products. I've been using Nature Clean's All-Purpose Cleaning Lotion for years. I love it because it's multi-purpose - it does everything from dishwashing to general household cleaning to laundry. When washing my clothes, I add about a tablespoon of the cleaning liquid to a full load of laundry, and add vinegar to the rinse water to soften the clothes, which I then hang to dry.

When washing linens (i.e my sheets and towels, which are white or natural 100% cotton), I use a combination of washing soda and TSP, and again add vinegar to the rinse. I would use washing soda for all my laundry, except it can occasionally leave a powdery residue on dark fabric - especially if it's washed in cold water. When buying washing soda, avoid Arm & Hammer if you are sensitive to fragrances, since they scent their product.

copyright 2007, Michelle Lynne Goodfellow

rags

Do you want to clean green?
In previous posts (here and here) I've mentioned how much I love my cleaning rags. I switched to rags from cellulose sponges (which are made from wood pulp, and therefore natural and biodegradable, but manufactured) when I realized how difficult it was to keep sponges sanitary - after using them to clean toilets, for example. I didn't want to risk cross-contaminating different surfaces within a client's home, or between clients' homes.

What do you use for your own cleaning? Be aware that some sponges are made from petrochemicals. Kitchen sponges especially are a breeding ground for microbes. Paper towels are more hygienic, but their one-time use makes them wasteful. (If you must use paper towels, buy the highest recycled-content ones you can find. In Canada, Loblaw's President's Choice Green paper towels are made from 100% post-consumer waste.)

Rags are a great way to recycle old clothing and household linens. The best rags for cleaning (with a few exceptions) are made from 100% cotton or linen. Old sheets (especially flannel ones) and old t-shirts make great dusting cloths, and old terry towels are my choice for general cleaning. I find used towels at yard and rummage sales, for anywhere from 50 cents to a dollar apiece. (In a pinch, you can also buy new fabric rags at hardware or home improvement stores, but they're usually very poor quality, and fall apart after a few washings. Not to mention the fact that they're brand new, and usually covered with fabric finishes that make the rags less absorbent.)

I cut towels into pieces the approximate size of a facecloth, and finish the edges with a wide zigzag stitch on my sewing machine so that the rags don't fray in the laundry. If you don't finish the edges, the rags won't last as long. (It's not as crucial to finish the edges on non-terry rags).

Old t-shirts are a great substitute for microfibre cloths, as long as they're 100% cotton. And old linen tablecloths with holes or stains make great dishtowels if cut to the appropriate size and hemmed.

The more worn the original fabric is, the better rags you'll have. If the fabric has been washed often enough, the finishes will have been washed out, and the fibres will have softened and become more absorbent. When a thick terry rag gets too thin for general cleaning, I use it for more specialized purposes - attaching it to the bottom of my Swiffer drymop, or using it for finer cleaning jobs or quick hand-drying.

I go through a lot of rags each time I clean. When I had my cleaning business, I could easily use 30 terrycloth rags at a single client's home. I keep a basket of them in my kitchen for everything from dishwashing to wiping counters to lifting pans out of the oven; once they're dirty or wet, I hang them to dry on a wooden drying rack and store them in a large pail until I have enough rags to make a full load of laundry. (That's my pail full of rags in the photo at the beginning of this post.)

I wash windows or mirrors by wetting a clean rag, wringing it out, and wiping it across the entire glass surface. I then use a dry rag to wipe off the water, replacing the rag whenever it gets too wet.

In bathrooms I start by cleaning the mirror, then take the wet rag and clean the rest of the fixtures, either ending with the toilet, or doing the toilet separately at the beginning with other rags. More clean rags are used for wiping the fixtures dry and polishing the faucets. I finish by throwing another clean, wet rag in a bucket of water to wash the floor, and if I want a clean shine I also dry the floor with more clean rags.

As I mentioned in another post, you shouldn't use fabric softener (liquid, or dryer sheets) when laundering rags. It will leave a waxy residue on the rags that will cause smears when you're dusting or cleaning glass. To wash my rags I just use hot water and a quarter-cup of washing soda with a tablespoon of TSP crystals. If you can let the rags soak in the washing water before agitating, even better. A half-cup of vinegar is added to the rinse water. If you've got the space, hang your rags to dry. One of my favorite memories is the smell of line-dried rags in the summer. Otherwise dry them under the normal setting in the dryer.

have you got green cleaning questions?

Do you want to clean green?
If you don't see something mentioned on my site, feel free to send me an e-mail (click on "View My Complete Profile" in the sidebar at right to find my address) and I'll try to answer your questions.

There's also a great eco-friendly Q&A blog by eco-consultant Debra Lynn Dadd - find it here. If you're looking for information on a particular topic, click on the large purple "Search" button in her site's right-hand sidebar, and you will likely find what you're looking for. The great thing about Dadd's blog is that readers can respond to the questions of other readers, sharing practical information and tips based on their own experience.

A great resource!

services

Do you want to clean green?
I wear many hats: I'm a professional organizer, freelance writer and editor, artist and fibre artisan, and student of the Alexander Technique.

But I'm also deeply interested in sustainable living, and I love to share my knowledge about eco-friendly cleaning with others. I offer lectures, workshops and consultations on eco-friendly cleaning for groups and individuals. I can show you how to green your cleaning routines. I can train your cleaning staff in eco-friendly techniques. I can bring along eco-friendly products and demonstrate their use. I can equip you with the basics to get you started on your green cleaning journey.

As my schedule allows, I also offer one-time eco-friendly cleanings ("spring"/"fall" or move in and move out cleanings) for homes and alternative health spaces in the Greater Toronto Area, London, and Barrie.

why eco-friendly cleaning?

Do you want to clean green?
It's not my intention with this blog to delve too deeply into the hazards of standard commercial cleansers. Suffice to say, most of them are made from non-renewable petrochemicals, and are toxic in their manufacture, use or disposal. There's a lot of reliable information out there for those who are interested, and I encourage you to explore the links I've listed in the sidebar to the right.

As consumers, you should beware of products which are labelled "natural." There are many cleansers on the market now (such as Method products) which claim to contain natural ingredients, but also contain scents, colours or other ingredients from petrochemical sources. (For a more in-depth discussion of Method products, see this blog post by consumer advocate Debra Lynn Dadd.) They may be preferable to traditional commercial products, but certainly don't go far enough in their attempts to be truly "green."

Read your labels well. True eco-friendly companies readily list all ingredients of their products, and often indicate sources for each ingredient. Look for ingredients that are vegetable-based whenever possible. Avoid artificial perfumes and colours.

Why go eco-friendly? It may be better for your health, and the health of your family and pets. Children and small animals with their lower body weights can harbour greater concentrations of toxic chemicals in their bodies. They also spend a lot of time on the ground, putting all sorts of objects in their mouths.

If you or someone you love suffers from allergies or chemical sensitivities, switching to eco-friendlier products may alleviate some of the symptoms.

Finally, using non-toxic products that are natural and renewable is better for our environment.

what's eco-friendly?

Do you want to clean green?

There's a great article in the July/August 2007 issue of Natural Home magazine. It's called "How Do I Know I'm Buying Green?" and should be required reading for anyone interested in sustainable living and negotiating the current retail/business "greenwashing" of products and services.

A sidebar to the article discusses the life cycle of concrete, but the points made could be applied to any product.

The truth is, there are probably no perfect products or materials. Everything has positive and negative environmental aspects. Ask yourself some basic questions, and weigh the pros and cons before making a personal choice.

1. Where does the material come from? If it's a naturally-occurring material, that's good. If it's a renewable resource, even better.


2. What are the byproducts of its manufacture? Vinyl is made from petroleum, which is a naturally-occurring resource, but not renewable. Its manufacture, however, puts it squarely on the negative side, since it releases toxins into the environment.


3. How is it delivered and/or installed? If a product has to be shipped thousands of miles from its source to be manufactured or used, that's not as good as something which is locally available.


4. How is the product maintained, operated or used? If it doesn't outgas toxins or pollute the environment, that's good. If it lasts a long time, that's also good.


5. How healthy is it? If it doesn't create health problems in humans, animals, or eco-systems, that's good.


6. What do we do with it when we're done with it? If it can be reused or recycled, all the better. If its disposal doesn't pollute the environment, bonus.

Take baking soda as an example. Baking soda is commonly recommended as a great eco-friendly cleanser - it's a good abrasive, and has a myriad of other household uses.

Baking soda is made from soda ash, also known as sodium carbonate. To make baking soda, the soda ash is mined in the form of an ore called trona. The soda ash is then dissolved into a solution through which carbon dioxide is bubbled, and sodium bicarbonate precipitates out, forming baking soda. (For a more detailed explanation of the source and manufacture of baking soda, read this online article.)

So baking soda comes from a natural source, albeit a non-renewable one. (But the article I cite above indicates that the trona deposits in Wyoming are large enough to supply the world with baking soda for thousands of years.)

The trona ore is mined from extensive tunnels, so it's not as damaging as strip mining. There are two processes for precipitating the sodium bicarbonate, one of which is more toxic than the other. So sometimes the manufacture of baking soda is less than eco-friendly.

Baking soda has to be shipped from Wyoming to wherever it is used, so it's not locally available in most of the world.

Baking soda is used in powdered form or dissolved in water. It is non-toxic to humans (as long as it's not consumed in huge doses), and its crystals are non-irritating either as a powder or solution. (In fact we regularly eat baking soda in baked goods, and it's even recommended as a treatment for mild skin irritations.)

Baking soda is generally not recycled, but allowed to be washed away into sewage systems, and from there possibly into natural waterways. In large amounts, it is conceivable that it could adversely salinate (i.e. make salty) water systems and disrupt ecosystems.

So what's the verdict? Yes, baking soda comes from a non-renewable, non-recyclable resource. It is energy-intensive in its manufacture and transport. But its manifold household uses in the face of much more toxic commercial alternatives still make it a preferable alternative.

So there you go. Use your head. Ask questions. Seek better solutions. And at the end of the day, be content with the best that you can do under the circumstances.

my journey in eco-friendly cleaning

Do you want to clean green?

About twenty years ago I first became aware of the "green" movement as it grew popular in the media. I was young (twenty) and cared about my planet. I became interested in sustainable living, and over the course of several years I did a lot of reading and a lot of experimenting on my own - with everything from diet to cleaning, reducing, reusing and recycling, and consumer practices.

In that time I found some great resources that have become my "bibles" for sustainable living and eco-friendly cleaning. I've listed some of them below.

Debra Lynn Dadd is one of my all-time favorite eco-friendly authors. I read a book of hers called Non-toxic, Natural, and Earthwise which changed the way I looked at consumer products. I believe it's now out of print, but it's worth getting used if you can find it. She explains the hazards and alternatives for all sorts of household products, breaking them down by the categories "natural," (i.e. found in nature) "non-toxic," (i.e. not hazardous to human health) and "earthwise" (i.e. sustainable in their manufacture or use).

Dadd has revised and updated her most recent book, Home Safe Home, which also explains the hazards of and healthy alternatives for household products. I highly recommend it as well.

Dadd used to write a column for the magazine Natural Home, which is a great resource if you're interested in greening your home. I've subscribed to it for several years, and keep all my back issues. The magazine offers articles and news tips on topics that include green renovation and home building, eco-friendly cleaning, green gardening and green decorating.

My other favorite book on eco-friendly cleaning is Annie Berthold-Bond's Clean and Green. Her book is full of wonderful recipes for eco-friendly home cleansers, and I still use some of her favorites in my own cleaning.

I started using eco-friendly products because I was concerned about the health and environmental effects of modern commercial cleansers. I would use a popular spray tub-and-tile cleanser and wonder why my breathing felt so congested afterwards. The strong perfumes and odours of many commercial cleansers left me with migraine headaches, nausea and dizziness. I got contact dermatitis from using commercial cleansers without gloves.

When I first started eco-friendly cleaning in my own home, I was pretty clueless. I read that borax was a good cleanser, so I'd sprinkle some on a sponge and try and scrub a toilet with it. After a lot of trial and error I realized that some eco-friendly cleansers work better than others, and many of them don't act at all like the modern commercial cleansers we consumers are used to.

When I started my cleaning business there was never any doubt that I would use eco-friendly cleaning techniques and products. I was exposed to the cleansers eight hours a day, five days a week, and I refused to do anything that I feared might endanger my health. The few times I gave in and used a product that a client preferred, I always regretted it. In the end I used eco-friendlier products and techniques exclusively, and was much happier for it.

Switching from regular commercial cleansers to eco-friendlier alternatives can seem like a daunting task, which is why I've created this blog. I want to encourage people to try different things, and see how much better they feel afterwards. Like me, I'm sure you'll never want to go back.