organizing

Top 7 Tips to Green Your Refrigerator

edahmen — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 01:00:00 -0400

My current refrigerator is a mammoth energy sucker that came with my rented apartment. Now just because I’m not in a position to replace it, does that mean I’m doomed to wastefulness and inefficiency? No way! And neither are you! Here are 7 affordable ways to green your existing refrigerator from the inside out. These steps will help you conserve energy, time and our favorite kind of green…money!

1. Label containers, not people
2. Bin it to win it
3. Don’t hide your veggies
4. Freeze before you lose
5. Shop with a green plan
6. Cut the Clutter
7. Clean it green

1. Label containers, not people!
Have you ever put your leftovers in a container, sealed the lid and then shoved it in the back of the fridge? Of course you have. Now, have you ever found that container 3 months later, wondered to yourself what could possibly be in there, and then opened it up to find a science experiment in its final stages of growth? Of course you have. Labels can help prevent that kind of wastefulness!

I know it can be hard to start a new habit, but make it simple by keeping a roll of masking tape and a pen on or near the fridge. When you’re about to store new leftovers, write what they are and (most importantly) the date on the tape, tear it off and stick it on your container. This will help you keep track of what leftovers you should eat, and the order in which you should eat them. If you do let them sit past their pull date, at least you’ll know exactly what to expect when you pop the lid!

2. Bin it to win it!
If you share your refrigerator with other people make sure that everyone has a bin to call their own. The bin should fit on a shelf, be open (no lid) and should be able to easily slide in and out of the fridge. When everyone’s food is jumbled together it’s easy to lose track of what belongs to whom, and that’s when food spoils.

Label each bin with names for easy identification. Bins can also reduce the amount of time spent in front of the fridge because instead of rummaging around with the door open (and letting all the cold air out) you can just grab the bin and sort through it on the counter. If you live alone you can use bins to help organize different items (cheese, spreads, greens etc.) so that you always know where they are. Save energy, waste less!
The Container Store has some great bins like these

Or these with handles

3. Don’t hide your veggies!
Many older refrigerators encourage you to hide your fruits and vegetables in a drawer at the bottom where you will immediately forget about them. Forgotten vegetables are extremely sensitive and they express their resentment by molding at the exact moment you remember what you bought them for and go to retrieve them.

Solution? Keep your veggies in sight and put your non-perishables (like salad dressing and ketchup) in that drawer. But isn’t that drawer specifically designed to keep my vegetables fresh? Your vegetables will be fine outside the drawer, I promise. But if you’re worried, purchase a few Green Bags and keep them on hand for bagging your delicate leafy friends.
Learn more about Green Bags (they’re pure genius)!

4. Prevent waste: Freeze before you lose!
You bought those expensive organic red peppers because they looked so delicious. Visions of salsa swam in your head, but then life got in the way and you just didn’t have time to cook, and now they’re starting to look wrinkly. Another couple days and they’ll be inedible. Just thinking of the waste of good healthy food makes you depressed.

But fear not! Take 5 minutes, cut them into spears or dice them, put them in a container and toss them in the freezer. They won’t be great for dipping, but they will be perfect and fresh tasting for soups and salsas. Smile, you saved your peppers and your money!

5. Shop with a green plan.
This is basic to anyone who has lived on a budget, or tried to. Keep your grocery list near the refrigerator, or use a magnetic list like this and make sure there’s a pen near by. I just tie one end of a string to a clip magnet and the other to a pen so it’s always handy.

Jot down what you run out of and make notes of what you’d like to have more of. Let your impulses happen in the kitchen, not at the grocery store! Impulse buys in the grocery store cost more money and can lead to overstocking and even wasted food. Remember that time you lugged home 2 pounds of heirloom tomatoes home only to discover you were really in the mood for asparagus?

If you are a cook and thrive on being inspired by what you see when you’re food shopping, consider only buying your staples at the grocery store, and leaving your impulse buys to the farmer’s market! Click here to find a farmer’s market near you!

6. Cut the clutter – Buy only what you need for the week…or two.
A cluttered refrigerator leads to wasting food and money. If you overstock your fridge so much that it’s difficult to access the contents, you will end up losing track of perishables. Also, because you can’t see what’s in there you may overbuy things you already have. Wasteful!

Keep clutter at bay by sticking to your grocery list (see step 5) and shopping on a regular (I prefer weekly) basis. The key here is to really only buy for the week. If you come home and have trouble finding room in your refrigerator for all of your new items, you bought too much.

I challenge myself to buy conservatively, eat everything I buy and then go shopping again when I need to. This is challenging because our culture encourages overstocking and impulse buying.

7. Clean it green!
Absorb odors
Maintenance is key. An open container of baking soda is a great non-toxic and biodegradable way to absorb fridge odors. But if you have something rotting in the depths of your fridge, or something that leaked and never got wiped up, no amount of baking soda will help you. You must scrub!

How to scrub it green!
First, unplug the fridge and empty everything into a big bin or a couple of cardboard boxes (keep everything together and it will all stay cold while you clean).

Next make a soapy solution of hot water and a biodegradable detergent, I love HomeSoap by Lifetree a wonderful green product!

Grab a cellulose sponge and a scrub brush and have at it! DO NOT use a cleaning product that contains chlorine bleach. Not only is it a bad choice for the oceans, it’s toxic and shouldn’t be used around food. Also, do not use an abrasive sponge on any clear plastic components of your fridge because they can scratch.

I like to remove all of the shelves and drawers (when possible) and scrub them down in the bathtub so that I get all the nooks and crannies. For a final disinfecting punch, spray down the inside with a solution of 2 cups water and 25 drops of tea tree essential oil, or a solution of equal parts white vinegar and water. Let it sit for about 10 minutes. You do not need to wipe it off. The vinegar smell will go away as soon as it dries.

Now put everything back and plug the monster back in.

Clean your coils
Any machine that sucks air in and blows it out somewhere else needs to be maintained correctly or else it will clog and stop working efficiently. Forced air refrigerators (most likely the kind of refrigerator you have) move air over a series of coils. These coils are dust and grime magnets, but they can be cleaned with a vacuum!

So twice a year, make a date with your refrigerator and clean your coils!! For more coil cleaning details go to Don Vandervort's HomeTips!

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CHECK OUT the GREEN EYE VIDEO -- Watch Liz work her magic greening up a not-so-green home.

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REUSE REUSE REUSE RECYCLE! The NEW 4 R's!

edahmen — Mon, 26 May 2008 00:00:00 -0400

We all understand the importance of recycling, but there's an extra little step we can take with our recyclable materials on the way to the recycling bin to help reduce our waste even more! To master this new technique we must ask ourselves this question, “How can I use this item again before I recycle it?” The answer will have you reducing waste and getting organized at the same time!

Here are a few fun examples to help you get started!

Tea-boxes as drawer organizers?
I enjoy a yummy Yogi Tea every now and again. The boxes are recyclable, but I’ve discovered that by cutting off the top of the lid they fit snugly in my kitchen drawer and I can use them for organizing twisty ties and rubber bands. If they start to look old you break them down and put them in the recycle bin and replace it with a newer box.

Glass jars for my cleaning pastes?
You may not be used to green cleaning, but a lot of green cleaning methods involve making a paste out of baking soda and water, or oxygenated bleach cleanser and water. I find that reusing glass peanut butter or jam jars are great for this purpose.

Salad boxes for organizing outdoor party supplies?
Many organic salad mixes come in PETE plastic #6 boxes made from corn, like these from Earthbound Farm. While these can be recycled (though many cities won’t take #6’s) they work amazing as containers for organizing outdoor party supplies. I like to separate plastic utensils (that we will re-use, not dispose of!) into these boxes. It makes it easy for guests to find the utensil they need and it allows me to store them clean and separated during the winter. These boxes are lightweight and surprisingly durable, you can also use them for organizing anything from colored pencils to batteries.

Wine bottles in my toilet tank?
Ok, this one does sound funny! But a lot of people are getting wise to the fact that their toilet tanks use way more water than necessary. However, we can offset the water in our tank by putting an object inside that is dense enough to displace the water. Filling a wine bottle with water, sand or pebbles and placing in your toilet tank is a great way to re-purpose a recyclable wine bottle. You can also use recyclable plastic bottles for this as well. For more info on how to do this, click here!

Plastic bags in my purse?
The greener you are, the more you probably HATE the ubiquitous plastic bag. You try to BYO-bag as often as possible, but they just keep multiplying under the sink, don’t they? A little known fact is that plastic bags (when left alone) will breed, especially if left in dark areas. Be that as it may, it is impossible to deny the gazillion uses you can put them to before you recycle them. Here are a few of my favorites.

First, fold them into little triangles so they don’t take up more space than necessary. Instructions on how to do that are here.

For wet umbrellas, keep a triangle in your purse so that when you come into work/ a store/ the car from being out in the rain you can bag it and not worry about making a puddle. This won’t work for long handled umbrellas, but why you’d want to carry around a long handled umbrella is beyond me.

For packing cushion, wad them up and use them instead of bubble wrap or peanuts.

For travel, use them to separate socks and underwear or to store groups of soft items. Once items are in a bag, squeeze all the air out and it will save you space in your luggage. They will also keep your clothes clean in case something from that darn bath bag you had to check leaks!

For when you forget to BYO-bag. Keep a triangle in the bottom of every purse or bag you have. That way when you forget a reusable bag (or) just need an extra one you don’t have to take a new one from the store.

And that’s just the tip of the ice…bag!

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Green Housekeepers

edahmen — Thu, 01 May 2008 18:29:45 -0400

So you’ve already started making greener housekeeping choices. That’s fantastic! But there’s something missing, isn’t there? You want to stay green, but clean faster, smarter and better don’t you? Adopt these 7 habits and you’ll be green cleaning like a pro!

1. Practice Daily Maintenance

If you clean a little bit every day, you will not be overwhelmed at the end of the month by your own filth and clutter, and (more importantly) you will not feel like you need to break out the toxic cleaners to get the job done.

2. Keep cleaning supplies organized

Do you have 13 spray bottles under your sink that all do basically the same thing? The list of necessary green cleaning supplies for the average house is surprisingly short. Limit your cleaning supplies and keep them clearly labeled and in one place so they are always there when you need them. Plain Jane has a great list that you can view and purchase if you need help streamlining your green cleaning stores.

3. Resist Clutter

A cluttered home is difficult and inefficient to clean. All green housekeepers understand this and resist clutter by not buying things they don’t need, returning and recycling unwanted gifts (yes, that means risking offending friends and family by getting rid those amazing things they decided you needed), and never shopping without a list.

4. Multi-task

Being green is about being efficient. The highly effective green housekeeper is a master of doing two things at once. And sometimes the greenest way to clean something may take a little extra time. So it’s important to find tasks that work together and do them in pairs. For example, right before you hang up your laundry to line dry, put a paste of oxygenated bleach cleanser on your grout…by the time you’ve hung up the laundry, the grout will be ready to rinse.

5. Recycle “outside the bin”

We all need to recycle. However most of us live in areas where only a limited amount of recyclables will be picked up curb-side. Another key to staying green and efficient is to have a place to sort all of those recyclables that may require a special trip. A small container under the sink for dead batteries will keep them handy for your next trip to Ikea. Did you know Ikea will recycle batteries and CFL light bulbs for you? Also, a sturdy bag in your laundry area is a good place to collect clothes you want to donate.

6. Never clean on an empty stomach

Really Liz, really? Yes, I tell you! If you start a cleaning task on an empty stomach I assure one of two things will happen. You will either get so grumpy you can’t stand what you’re doing, or you’ll get so tired you give up before you’re finished. Effective green cleaning means seeing your job through to completion, so start strong and end satisfied.

7. Reward Yourself

You can argue that cleaning your house in a way that doesn’t harm your health or the environment is reward enough, right? Well, be that as it may, effective green housekeepers know that we work best when we have some incentive to look forward to. A fancy meal or a joyful walk in the park, any reward will work as long as it’s something you will look forward to.