Home & Garden

Eco-Friendly Christmas Stockings

jchait — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 16:58:46 -0500

It’s never too soon to start thinking about a green Christmas. Once fall hits Christmas can sneak up on you quickly and the more prepared you are the less stressful the holidays will be. Also, if you need special gear, like stockings, it’s good to have a chance to look around. It’s not easy to just walk into any store and find eco-friendly stocking options.

Following are some great choices for eco-friendly Christmas stockings:

Use what you’ve got: If you’ve been using the same old stockings for years, that’s actually a very nice tradition. You don’t need to buy new each year. I used the same stocking from the time I was born until my teens – my mom made it. Using family stockings is one of the best ways to keep it green.

Make your own: It’s easy to find a free stocking pattern online. Then simply use an eco-friendly fabric like organic cotton, felt, or bamboo to make it. See more cute DIY stocking ideas.

Buy one: If you’re buying an eco-friendly stocking it can pay to check out local crafty Fair Trade or eco shops. If you can’t find one locally there are some good options online.

ChunkiChilli Christmas stockings hand-knitted and hand embroidered in pure merino wool. MANY pretty styles to choose from.
Eco-friendly felt stockings from rikrak – lots of color and design choices.
Beautiful wool felt stockings hand made in Hungary by a womens’ cooperative that uses traditional appliqué techniques from Hable Construction – so many cool colors and designs to choose from too.
Adorable Recycled Sweater Personalized Christmas Stockings!
Amenity holiday stockings made with 55% hemp 45% certified organic cotton, and printed with non-toxic, water-based dyes.

Green flea prevention and treatment

jchait — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 21:29:57 -0500

If you’ve got a furry friend then more than likely you’ve dealt with fleas. Fleas are little trouble makers for sure, but before you resort to toxic treatments that can get all over your green home, try some natural prevention and treatment.

Prevention first: Don’t wait until you’ve got fleas to treat the issue. You can minimize or kill off flea problems with the following tactics…

Your pet’s diet and exercise routine - a healthy pet is far less likely to be flea affected. Feed your pet like you feed yourself, healthy whole food based meals that are pesticide-free. Try pet food like Natura Pet or Newman’s Own pet food. Give your pet plenty of exercise as well and play often.

Healthy supplements - Talk with a holistic vet about healthy supplements for your pet. You can also try giving your pet dog garlic which has a scent that repels fleas - grate fresh garlic into his food. Brewers yeast is noted as being a good flea repellent supplement for kitties.

Groom tactics - frequently brush and bath your dog - frequently brush your cat as well, although slipping your kitty into a bath could prove more trouble than it’s worth. When brushing pay more attention to areas that get flea infested first like under the legs, on the belly, and around the head and tail.

After prevention comes treatment:

If your prevention tactics didn’t work you may need a flea repelling product. Aim for the least toxic first and move up the treatment ladder. Basic tea tree oil can kill off fleas on dogs (NOT cats) but needs to be diluted in water before you use it. It’s best to speak with a professional aromatherapist or a holistic vet before using. Herbal flea treatments are another option.

To rid your home of fleas clean like mad. You need to vacuum all the floors and upholstered furniture then get rid of the vacuum bag asap. Wash all washables well and send other items to a green dry cleaner.

Washing your pet’s bedding is something you should do regularly even when there’s no fleas around. Also you can sprinkle crushed lavender near the bed to keep fleas away.

See more green flea prevention and treatment tips.

Organic Thanksgiving Beverages

jchait — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 22:34:21 -0500

When planning your green Thanksgiving menu, don’t forget about the drinks! It’s easy to keep it green nowadays because there’s a wide array of yummy organic beverages, perfectly suited to Thanksgiving. Here are some ideas.

Organic wine: Many companies offer great organic wines nowadays, and for less money then you might think. Some choices include…

The Organic Wine Company
Frey Vinyards
Visit the Organic Wine Journal for more advice.

Organic sparkles: Santa Cruz Organics TeaZer sparking teas - I LOVE these sparkling teas and so does my eight year old. They’re made with organic juice and Fair Trade tea and are a fun switch from the typical sparkling cider.

Organic apple: Organic apple juice or organic apple cider is a must have. Adults can even make their own organic hard cider.

Organic fizz: If you must have soda on Thanksgiving, make it organic soda.

Organic beer: Your best bet for organic brew is local. Read Green America’s guide to greener brew.

Vegetarian Thanksgiving Menu

jchait — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 19:38:56 -0500

We recently looked at why you should go vegetarian more often - meat = bad eco-footprint. Thanksgiving is actually a really easy meal to go vegetarian with and that means a super green Thanksgiving. Families tend to serve more veggie dishes on Thanksgiving already so losing the turkey is the big challenge. But you can do it. If you’re considering a vegetarian or even vegan Thanksgiving below are some helpful links…

Is this your idea of a veggie Thanksgiving? Think again!

Plan a vegetarian Thanksgiving - full recipe ideas and serving tips
Recipe Zarr – 236 vegan Thanksgiving dishes
Beautiful Vegetarian Holiday Dishes
Unique vegan Thanksgiving meal ideas
Amazing looking vegan Pumpkin Pie Brownies
Excellent NPR piece and interview about the best vegetarian Thanksgiving (with fab recipes)
Main meal dishes for a vegetarian Thanksgiving from Gourmet – with beautiful photos

Extras:

Learn how to set a green holiday table.
If you’re a meat eater, but your two out of state cousins aren’t, see how to plan a veggie meal ahead of time so that they can eat too.
Vegan Thanksgiving Stories for Children

Are Pay-As-You-Throw trash programs fair?

jchait — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 20:18:30 -0500

As of 2006, the last time the EPA took down stats, about 7,095 communities were participating in Pay-As-You-Throw (PAYT) programs. PAYT programs are unit pricing or variable-rate pricing programs for trash disposal. Basically, residents are charged for the collection of their solid waste, i.e. what ends up in their trash can instead of a flat rate. For one thing this creates an economic incentive to recycle and so far programs like this result in communities that recycle more and trash less.

However, one common argument I’ve heard is, “Are these programs really fair?” In my opinion they are, because if we don’t charge people for larger amounts of trash, someone has to pay for it, which means even if you recycle diligently, you may still be subsidizing your neighbor’s trash by means of taxes. IF your community has a good recycling program in place, that’s easy to manage, it seems fair to me.

Plus of course excess trash harms the planet, so it’s tough to argue that programs like this suck - they do encourage recycling.

Problems that may make the program unfair:

Communities that have bad recycling programs in place. It’s impossible to get people on board with recycling when it’s nearly impossible to manage. For example, in New Mexico I had to make special trips, in my car, simply to recycle. Here in Oregon, it’s terribly easy with curbside pickup weekly.

Rural communities where the cost of curbside is prohibitive. The EPA notes that this is an issue in some communities but some have changed to monthly vs. weekly recycling pick-up which has worked well.

Too little education: Recycling, like any task is a learned task. People aren’t born knowing how to discard of their recyclables properly and plenty of communities don’t make this easily accessible public knowledge. I mean, when was the last time you saw a good deal of how-to-recycle commercials on television, or got some mail about it? Rarely. In fact, I live in one of the so-called greenest places in the U.S. and I meet people all the time who have no clue about recycling. I think that of all the unfair arguments, this one is the most valid. As a country, we really need to push for greener education initiates that are also accessible to everyone.

What do you think? Are PAYT programs a great way to encourage recycling or just a way to get more money out of a community?

Fight Off Three Home Toxins

jchait — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 15:14:06 -0500

There are so many toxins out there nowadays - from auto emissions to mercury in the water to pesticides in city parks and more. You can’t stop your exposure to all things toxic, but what you can do is limit your home exposure. Following are three home toxins that are easy to wage war on…

Carbon monoxide (CO): An odorless but highly toxic gas that can come from all sorts of places; wood stoves, furnaces, leaky chimneys, badly ventilated gas stoves, and indoor grilling products.

Health effects: CO at high levels can result in death but it’s still no fun at lower levels which can result in fatigue, nausea, headaches, confusion, impaired coordination and vision and more.

Fight CO: Your home should have a CO detector installed and you need to do a battery check at least every other month.

Mold: Mold while naturally occurring is just as toxic as any other baddie toxin. It’s caused by little spores in the air that settle down and multiply on damp or wet surfaces. Mold is common in basements, at baseboards, in kitchen, near windows, and under sinks.

Health effects: Mold can produce general allergies, but also may cause rash, asthma, and other more serious issues.

Fight mold Make a homemade mold and mildew remover and use it. Once mold sets up camp for a while, it’s much harder to get rid of so prevention before mold invades is key. IF it’s too late and mold is rampant, you can try to get rid of it using more chemicals (which sucks, but you don’t want mold). Check out the CDC guide to mold for more ideas.

VOCs: We’ve talked at length about what VOCs are here before - it’s a lengthy topic. They’re not good at all though and they’re in an insane amount of products.

Health effects: VOCs can irritate your whole body - your skin, muscles, head, eyes, and so on. They can cause coughing, headache, and a ton of other very serious health problems.

Fight VOCs: There are many ways to keep VOCs out of your home which improves both your indoor air quality and health. Read the following for more info:

Eco-rate Your Green Home Products

jchait — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 19:19:22 -0500

There’s a newer green consumer site in town. Ok, not THAT new. Eco-rate launched last May and aims to make green living a little easier with reviews of green home products that weigh “The environmental and economic costs of product ownership, providing a unique platform for meaningful product comparison.” Eco-rate offers this little click-friendly house you see below. Simply click on a room, and get information on technology and products related to that space, plus product buying guides.

According to site owners Brycelaine Self and Colby Self, “The site is an evolving project aimed to inform and inspire. We update the site daily based on our continued research and your feedback.” The owners credentials are as follows…

Brycelaine is a Principal of Eco-innovations, along with expertise in economics, sustainable product innovation and environmental stewardship program management. She is a LEED Accredited Professional and an ENERGY STAR partner and home verifier. Colby is also a Principal of Eco-innovations and has experience in environmental policy and socio-economics. He’s also an ENERGY STAR partner and home verifier, and EPEAT and WaterSense partner liaison.

I checked out the site and they have an extensive area dedicated to how they rate and product criteria, which is nice. It’s shocking how many green sites who review products fail to offer this basic info. There’s a news and forum section (not too busy yet), along with a nice eco-dictionary. The reviews vary in length, but some are very in-depth and there’s enough reviews posted that it’d be easy to visit Eco-rate and choose some products. To give you an idea review areas look like the image below…

I like that they show how far away the product is made - that’s cool and makes you think about how big a footprint you really want. Plus consumers can leave their own reviews too.

If you’re looking to buy some green products for your home, I’d check out Eco-rate and see if you can learn more before buying.

Wellness Water Filters - Clean and Enhanced Home Water

jchait — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 17:56:38 -0500

Wellness Enterprises makes water filters for the home kitchen, bathroom, and even products for on the go. Of course we talk about water all the time here, and I usually go with drinking tap. However, since not everyone is down with tap water, and some people do actually need a filter to make their water safe to drink, a wellness filter might be a good choice.

All in all the company offers, filtered water bottles (great for plastic landfill reduction), shower heads, kitchen units, and a newly launched Wellness home device that filters and enhances water from the source (i.e. all sinks, hoses, shower heads etc).

According to the company, Wellness filters are not like regular filters. They filter 99% of all water containment, bacteria and viruses plus enhance the water by adding minerals and antioxidants that are proven to aid the skin in healing, aging, and increasing skin hydration by 115%. Additionally these cartridges last an extremely long time - about a year for a family of four (1,200 gallons).

The company tells me that they offer a recycling program for the Wellness Kitchen cartridge - although note, I looked around the site and couldn’t find info on any recycling program, so hopefully they can answer specific recycling questions if you contact them. In addition, each cartridge filters and enhances 1,200 gallons of water which is equivalent to more than 9,000 of the standard 500mL plastic bottles which of course saves landfill space (no plastic bottles) and saves you money.

The Wellness MG-III Home system does not use cartridges and provides filtering for an extended life of 7 – 10 years of life before the filtration media need to be replaced.

Visit Wellness Filter to learn more about all their home water filtering products.

Reduce the lead in your home water supply

jchait — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 13:30:57 -0400

There could be lead in your water supply and that’s not a good thing. Lead can cause delays in physical and mental development plus deficits in attention span and learning abilities in children. Adults may experience increased in blood pressure and kidney problems when exposed to lead.

The stories you hear about lead in your hot water are true. If you’re used to filling up pots with hot water from the sink, make the switch to cold. Cold water, unlike hot won’t cause lead to leach from your pipes. According to the EPA houses built before 1986 are most likely to have pipes with lead. However, note that even “lead-safe” pipes can contain some lead - cool water is simply a better choice.

Cold water or not you should run water for 15 to 30 seconds before drinking it, especially if you have not used your water for a few hours, this allows any possible lead to drain out before you get to it.

Most tap water is pretty safe. However, if you’re concerned, it’s easy to find out if your water is safe or not. If not you may want to consider a water filter.

Put your water in a safe pitcher - it’s silly to get lead-free water from the sink only to put it in a pitcher that can add lead to the water.

Sustainable & Stylish Home Pet Gear

jchait — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 20:13:29 -0400

Plastic dishes and boring cotton sleeping spaces for your pets are not only NOT eco-friendly, but typically look way out out of place in a stylish home. Not to mention, if you want a green space for you why not treat your pets to the same non-toxic gear?

If you’re looking for some eco-pet gear that’s green and great looking take a look at these options in the gallery below… (see below gallery for links to products).

Doca Pet makes beautiful sustainable pet food bowls. From their SquareMeal sets to their Dogled Diner, their sets are functional, awesome to look at and the bowls are stainless steel.

Organic Pad Dog Bed - very cute and the cover can be removed and washed. 100% organically grown cotton and stuffed with organic kapok.

Marmalade Pet Care Wall Flower Scratcher - the Wall Flower Cardboard Cat Scratcher is made with high quality recycled materials, (35% minimum post-consumer), has an extra long use period and is 100% recyclable at the end of its lifecycle. Plus looks fab.

Eco Slumber Bed - mod and awesome sleeping area for your furry pal. Eco Slumber bed combines eco fabric, made with 85% recycled IntelliLoft fibers and then filled with 100% recycled IntelliLoft fiber fill.

Elizabeth Paige Smith Prrrounge Chaise Lounge- made with corrugated cardboard that’s anything but plain. The perfect cat nesting place.

Roebuck Studio Cat Bowls - made with Baltic birch and parts come flat packed for shipping and are easily assembled with simple fasteners. All edges are rounded for safety and a waterproof non-toxic finish is applied. Many color choices available as well as a clear finish.