Green Cleaning Mom

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As a little girl, I always dreamed about having a home of my own, with a couple of kids, a dog, the whole scene. Well, I've been fortunate enough to see that dream come true -- but no one ever told me about the nightmare messes that go along with my living Dreams Come True.

I've always advocated shopping and sourcing locally, and supporting environmentally friendly products and companies. No dangerous fumes or chemicals in my home, thank you, especially with all the traffic I get here. So I've been sending Steve and Melissa notes every time some of the more unpleasant things have crossed my path -- and how I've gotten rid of them with Citra-Solv.

After lots of correspondence to Steve & Melissa, they finally said to me, why don't you write a blog about your experiences. By profession, I'm a journalist who likes to keep current on what's happening on the environmental front, so they asked that I include relevant information and tips, too.

So that's where we are now! With much thanks and respect for my Citra-Solv friends, I look forward to sharing my stories and suggestions with you -- and we want to hear back from you, too!

Play Ball! (just the kids, please)

Going to take a bit of a break here from planet and ecological issues to talk about something a little closer to home. My son’s Little League team is back in full swing now (pun definitely intended). Having previously raised a child who had no interest in team sports, this is all new territory for me. While I first bristled, I’m now getting used to hearing parents yell at their children, and coaches reprimand their players. I’ve also noticed that ultra-competitive parents — and grandparents — keep a close eye on the number of pitches, swings, strike-outs, etc.

Studies conducted by the National Youth Sports Coaches Association showed that nearly three out of four children in organized sports programs drop out between the ages of 8 and 13. The two most common reasons? The sport was no longer fun and players felt abused by their coaches.

Maybe I’m guilty of being too indifferent, but my sideline yells consistent of things like, “just try to make contact, honey!” and “you look really cute!” He is, of course, sufficiently mortified, but fortunately has enough self-confidence to just roll his eyes and play. I’m making a conscious effort to be a Silent Sideliner.

With spring games at their peak, let’s all just try to appreciate our children, not live vicariously through them, and let them enjoy their youth. We’ve already had our turn.

Oil & Water Don't Mix

There was no cry of “Eureka!” upon the discovery of the disastrous oil spill in the Gulf Coast this week. The environmental catastrophe is threatening fragile ecosystems, fisheries, and even tourism. The cleanup could take years.

Environmental groups are screaming at BP, the gazillion-dollar company that owns the oil spewing well, and are urging a demand to stop drilling. While there is a temporary ban on new drilling permits, it seems unlikely that it’ll stop altogether. After all, the country needs oil — and a lot of it. According to the US Department of the Interior, over 1.7 million barrels of oil are produced each day. And it just doesn’t seem to be enough, at the rate our country consumes it. The United States is still the world’s top oil consumer.

The awful situation down south reminds us — yet again — that we need to find acceptable alternatives to fossil fuels. In the meantime, the overwhelming cleanup and a desperate attempt to stop the spewing continues.

(And just to give a shameless little plug to my favorite product, I’d like to see them use a plant-based, natural cleaner/de-greaser like Citra Dish, which is safe for the environment, and offers a little aromatherapy!)

image courtesy LA Times

Ashes to ashes

Apparently Iceland’s most famous export is no longer Bjork, the trumpet-toting indie rocker. It’s the ashes from the unpronounceable volcano Eyjafjallajokull. The magnificent structure unleashed its fury, with miles of smoke and ash in its wake.

The news has been dominated by reports of the havoc the volcano has caused with European airspace. Millions of travelers have been displaced and inconvenienced because planes cannot safely fly through the thick clouds created by the tiny ash particles.

Having just experienced a 2 1/2 hour airport delay myself, I can’t even begin to imagine the disappointment and chaos across the pond. However, I can’t help but marvel at the magnificence of nature’s ability to make us all stop what we’re doing and take a look at what the Earth can do. As John Lennon said, “life is what happens when you’re making other plans.” The most incredible news of all is that there have been no fatalities or major injuries from Eyjafjallajokull.

My sympathies go out toward the disappointed and seriously inconvenienced travelers. And although we’ve heard about all the financial fallout, I’m looking forward to learning about the ecological repercussions of the volcanic outpouring.

In the meantime, let’s stop for a moment and look at the photos, appreciate the situation, and take time to stop and smell the roses — or the ash clouds, in this case.

Coming Clean on Soap Ingredients

“Antibacterial.”

It seems that’s the hot word in the battle for good health these days. Especially with this year’s flu scare, antibacterial soaps, gels and wipes are everywhere you turn.

But the Food and Drug Administration just announced that recent research raises “valid concerns” about the possible health effects of triclosan, an antibacterial chemical found in many liquid soaps, hand sanitizers, dishwashing liquids, and even personal items.

According to the CDC, the antibacterial substances added to household cleaning products are similar to antibiotics. “When used correctly, they inhibit bacterial growth. However, their purpose is not to cure disease but to prevent transmission of disease-causing microorganisms.”

Antibiotics are critical to the treatment of bacterial infections. However, after years of overuse and misuse of these drugs, bacteria have developed antibiotic resistance. Like antibiotics, products with triclosan can develop resistant strains, too.

The bigger concern is, why do we even need these products in a relatively healthy household? In most cases, simple soap and water on your hands, and a natural cleaner are more than sufficient.

(Check out my post about hand washing — and thanks to Mother Earth for the photo!)

Sugar Coating the Truth about School Lunches

Poor Jamie Oliver. As the saying goes, “no good deed goes unpunished.” The famed “Naked Chef” has been working with school children in Huntington, West Virginia, allegedly the obesity capital of the world, to reform the town’s school lunch program. A TV camera crew is capturing it all on film, in a reality series called “Food Revolution.”

What Mr. Oliver is finding is that we Americans are a tougher lot to convert than his British counterparts back home. He’s dealing with small school dietary budgets, widespread ignorance about nutrition (most of the kids could not properly identify vegetables), kids who think it is normal to eat pizza for breakfast, and a general negative attitude towards the project.

My son’s elementary school is attempting the same endeavor. His lunch menu now has items such as “egg salad over mixed greens,” “whole grain cheese dunkers” and “seasoned broccoli.” Great concept, but he tells me he doesn’t know anyone who’s actually buying the stuff.

To paraphrase the New York Times, if Mr. Oliver wants a real food revolution, he’s going to have to look beyond West Virginia.

It’s great that the First Lady launched the Let’s Move initiative, and that Congress is considering legislation to toughen rules that regulate school lunch and increase funding for better food.

But there are several more barriers that need to be broken (like the little mashed potato wall my son likes to build to make sure his vegetables stay separate from his meat). We need to start at home with parents who care about what kids eat, and then work within the school, getting teachers, food service workers (formerly known as “lunch ladies”) and school administrators to care.

And things need to change now: this is the first generation of children who aren’t expected to live as long as their parents.

(Sign Jamie Oliver’s online petition for fresh foods in school, and for fun reading, take a look at this.)

Food, Glorious (clean) Food

I propose a toast: let’s raise our glasses of organic grape juice and drink to the US Department of Agriculture, who announced that it would begin enforcing rules requiring spot testing of organically grown foods.

In other words, some of the shifty manufacturers/growers can no longer just slip an “organic” label on their products anymore. Big Brother is testing for pesticides.

Spot testing has actually been required since 1990, but unfortunately, no one was really doing it. There has especially been a lack of policing organic growers overseas.

According to the New York Times, the Dept of Ag will also require unannounced inspections of organic producers and processors. Remember those elementary school days when the principal would come into your classroom to observe? It’s kinda like that, only better.

They’re still working out details, but the first targets will probably be growers whose risk of pesticide contamination is highest, like organic fields that are cultivated next to nonorganic fields, or farms that raise both organic and nonorganic crops.

In the meantime, educate yourself, eat lots of fruits and veggies — but make sure to wash everything first.

Chicks with Chicks

I don’t homeschool my children, but I have done some tutoring in writing, so if you’ll indulge me, gentle readers, I’d like to offer you an English lesson in the new verbiage of today (and I don’t mean Urban Dictionary). Today’s lesson is about food labels:

Flexitarian – someone who is most often vegetarian, but enjoys an occasional bacon cheeseburger. Most often, these people choose high end, grass-fed, local, sustainably raised meat. Newsweek magazine recently ran a story about lapsed vegetarians who are now running butcher shops. According to the article, some of these people rationalize that “eating meat is not ethically wrong, eating ethically wrong meat (cheap, mass-processed, hormone-stuffed burgers and steaks) is wrong.”

Corpsevore — Carnivores who only eat the flesh of animals that died of natural causes. Thus far, I have yet to find anyone fitting this description, other than Grizzly Adams and other fictional characters.

Femivorism — the principal that knowing how to feed and clothe yourself and your family in a self-sufficient, sustainable manner — regardless of your economic circumstances –is one of the best ways to be financially safe. In other words, you can’t just buy your eggs from a local farm. You have to have your own chickens, grow your own vegetables, can your own peaches… you get the idea. Femivores believe in autonomy, personal fulfillment and feeding their families clean, flavorful food, all while reducing their carbon footprint. More power to these incredible women, whose ranks I will regretfully never be able to join.

That’s it for today’s lesson, kids. I’ve gotta go find a local chicken to lay eggs for me.

Red Carpet, Green Dress

So, like the rest of America – actually, make that the world – I’m watching the Academy Awards. Of course I’m interested in who wins what, but honestly, I’m tuned in to see who’s wearing what. (And let’s face it, many of us are hoping for a glaring fashion faux pas, like that glorious swan dress Bjork wore years ago.)

The pageantry has been very impressive so far, but I’m especially intrigued by the dress worn by Suzy Amis Cameron, the wife of James Cameron. Anyone who saw “Avatar” knows that the environmental message therein is anything but subtle. The Camerons apparently practice the eco-philosophies they preach and try to live environmentally friendly lives. In fact, Mrs. Cameron recently held a Red Carpet Green Dress contest for designers to create a “green” gown for her to wear to the Academy Awards.

According to Treehugger, the winner of the Red Carpet Green Dress competition was an apparel and textile design student at Michigan State University, Jillian Granz. She designed a gown that used sustainable, waste-free materials and techniques.

The dress is beautiful and certainly eco-friendly, but as “green” as it is…. it’s Avatar blue.

One final note: regardless of how you feel about Mr. Cameron and his film, the message he conveyed tonight is a winner: the world we live in is as beautiful as the world he created for us.

Ice, Ice Baby

There are serious traffic issues in Antarctica – the Antarctic Ocean, that is. A giant iceberg rammed into another giant iceberg, causing a piece the size of Luxembourg to break off.

Even the Titanic would’ve seen this one coming.

The Mertz Glacier helps drain water/ice from the East Antarctic ice sheet. The piece that broke off, the “tongue,” is now floating somewhere in the Southern Ocean.

What’s the big deal about floating icebergs, you ask? Even though they’re not coming out and saying it, I have to believe this is a result of global warming.

Scientists also say that this little fender bender could seriously affect ocean circulation patterns.

According to Rob Massom, a senior scientist at the Australian Antarctic Division and the Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems Cooperative Research Center in Tasmania (can you imagine his business card?), oceans help control the planet’s climate by shifting heat around the globe via currents above and below the surface.

“Removal of this tongue of floating ice would reduce the size of that area of open water, which would slow down the rate of salinity input into the ocean and it could slow down this rate of Antarctic bottom water formation,” he said.

There’s also a risk both icebergs would become grounded, disrupting the creation of the dense, salty water and the amount that sinks to the bottom of the ocean, he said.

I’m sure we’ll be hearing more about the ramifications of this incident.

Possums and squirrels and mice, oh my!

The other night I settled into bed, eager to delve into my book, when I heard noises coming from above me. I thought I was imagining things, but then the scratching and squeaking and squealing continued. I looked over at the dog, who was sleeping contentedly, unaware of the commotion above (great watchdog that she is). I frantically woke my husband, who replied that it was probably just mice and that I should “call the guy tomorrow.”

What guy? Mice? EEK!

I sat with the covers pulled up to my chin, listening to my new boarders, waiting for them to come crashing through the ceiling like that scene in “Ratatouille” until I finally fell asleep.

Don’t get me wrong: I love living creatures, big and small… as long as they stay out of my house. Of course my husband thinks it’s one big joke; he wanted to know if we get a tax deduction for having another family living under our roof.

He didn’t think it was so funny when “the guy” gave me a quote of several hundred dollars. But there’s a difference between “pest control” and “pest elimination,” and very often, that difference involves some greenbacks.

I’ve had bats in the house, spiders the size of compact cars, and yes, mice. But I don’t know what was in my attic — and I still don’t want to know. I just hope that it – or they – are resting comfortably.

I am!

Green Cleaning Mom

Archives

Prologue:

Blogroll

Play Ball! (just the kids, please)

Oil & Water Don't Mix

Ashes to ashes

Coming Clean on Soap Ingredients

Sugar Coating the Truth about School Lunches

Food, Glorious (clean) Food

Chicks with Chicks

Red Carpet, Green Dress

Ice, Ice Baby

Possums and squirrels and mice, oh my!

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