Cleaning Au Naturale

With Spring and the winter thaw around the corner, it’s time to start gathering tools to do the yearly spring cleaning. Check out these products and tips from Martha Stewart to get your “green spring cleaning on” this year. Park at Hurstbourne, do you have any natural cleaning products that you use? Please share with us by commmenting below.

When it comes to cleaning house, it’s tempting to enlist off-the-shelf products with ingredients like bleach and ammonia. They get the job done-but not without also doing a number on your eyes, airways, and, with enough exposure, your nervous system. Ironically, these cleaners also pollute: Disinfectants and other chemicals washing down drains now contaminate more than two-thirds of U.S. streams. Largely because of these same products, our indoor air can be up to five times more polluted than the air outside. But you don’t have to sacrifice health for a clean home. Nontoxic DIY cleaners deliver considerable power at minimal cost. “Making your own is easy,” says Annie Bond, author of “Better Basics for the Home.” “All you need is a little trust in yourself and six ingredients.” We worked with Bond to gather these easy, essential recipes, so you can start green cleaning today.

To read more, visit MarthaStewart.com.

Pass On The Paper And Plastic

We go through 380 billion plastic bags, sacks and wraps each year. Think about this while you’re in the checkout line. Especially when only 5.2 percent of the plastic bags and sacks in the municipal waste stream were recycled in 2005.

I think it is very obvious that there are steps that need to be taken to make our environment safe.

While reading this article,  think about how making small changes when you take a trip to the grocery store can help the environment.

Green Dinner?

 

 

Buying Green

By purchasing green products for your everyday consumer needs, such as home products, food and personal items, you’ll be making a contribution to the environment.

Green products are divided into several broad categories based on similarities in certification standards:

Personal products (accessories, clothing, cosmetics, bath, and bedding) – For clothes, find items made out of organic, natural and recycled materials. For cosmetics, choose ones without aluminum and other similar elements, and without animal testing.

Home (cleaning supplies, appliances, furniture, home improvement, housekeeping, kitchen and garden, and pest control) – For home appliances, look for Energy Star qualified models. When buying housekeeping items, choose products made with biodegradable ingredients in a recyclable container.

Electronics (computers) – Look for electronic companies with a responsible recycling program. Look for Energy Star models or other labels.

Food and drink – look for meat and poultry products made from grass-fed animals, and that involve organic meat production, and safe animal waste composting. Buy local whenever possible. This saves energy to preserve and transfer produce to supermarket shelves. Buying local strengthens your community by investing food dollars close to home.

Automobiles – New car technologies, such as hybrid cars, allow us to reduce toxic emissions and increase fuel efficiency.

Do you buy green? If so, what do you buy? Read more about “buying green”
http://www.go-green.com

Green Hollywood: Any Influence?

Does it cost more money to be green? Is that why Hollywood is able to be so green?

Hollywood is one of the most polluting industries around: Focus Earth’s entertainment episode cites a 2006 study showing that between special effects explosions, idling vehicles, and diesel generators, the industry produces an estimated 8.4 million metric tons of CO2 equivalents annually—a level that nearly reaches the emissions produced by both the hotel and apparel industries.

But celebrities like George Clooney, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Edward Norton have strived to live green and use their fame to influence others to go green.

Do they influence you to go green? Would any celebrity influence you to make your life more green?

Read More..(http://planetgreen.discovery.com/fashion-beauty/focus-earth-hollywood-green.html)

Kentucky Recycling Programs and Resources

It looks like we have got to get serious about recycling.  Today I have decided to link you to a web site that is a great resource for finding a recycling center in or near your area.

On this web site you can find ways to recycling household items such as, plastic bags, aluminum, glass, and electronics just to name a few.

I make sure that I take plastic bags, bottles, paper etc. to a recycling center.  I know it may not be much or all that I can do, but it’s a start.  I would also like to know how you take steps to make the planet a little greener.

Check out the web site and let me know what you think.

Two Lakes Getaway