D is for donate...

D  is for donate.... 

I've discussed donation in several of my blogs, and how donating usable items instead of adding to landfills makes sense because it not only helps others, but also helps the planet.  Items can be donated to family, friends, the library, schools, etc. 

http://peaceloveplanet.blogspot.com/2010/04/recycle-reuse-reshare-with-big-bro-big.html 
http://peaceloveplanet.blogspot.com/2010/03/spring-cleaning-day-23-24.html 
http://peaceloveplanet.blogspot.com/2010/03/spring-cleaning-day-17.html 
http://peaceloveplanet.blogspot.com/2010/05/closet-philanthropist.html
http://peaceloveplanet.blogspot.com/2010/02/books-day-6.html 

To locate donation sites in your community, you can google "where to donate used items" or check out some of the following sites and plug in your zipcode.  You can also join FreeCycle to donate many varied items that would otherwise end up in the landfill, you name it, and someone out there wants or needs it, from used doors, to grills, clothes, baby gear, vacuums, sewing machines, mattresses, furniture, etc.  www.freecycle.org You list your items on the site, and members will email you to arrange to pickup the item.   

There are several well known organizations that you can donate to as well: 

• Goodwill - http://locator.goodwill.org/?gclid=CIGzwYTTqKICFUFM5QodbEmuSA   
• Big Brothers Big Sisters (will pickup items at your home) - http://www.kintera.org/site/c.diJKKYPLJvH/b.1539755/k.323E/Donating__Donate_to_Charity_Donate_online_easily_to_Big_Brothers_Big_Sisters.htm
• Local churches often have donation bins outside of the church.    Catholic Charities is an example of churches helping those in need  http://www.catholiccharitiesusa.org/NetCommunity/Page.aspx?pid=1724
• Planet Aid - http://blog.planetaid.org/  

 Other sites to check: 

• http://charityguide.org/volunteer/fifteen/clothesshoes.htm 
• To donate shoes, check out http://www.soles4souls.org/about/green.htm 
• You can even donate old keys instead of throwing them out, and Keys for Kindness benefits the MS Society, so the keys stay out of the landfill and the MS Society benefits as well.   http://www.keysforkindness.com/

Donating makes you feel good, keeps useful items out of landfills, and helps others.  It's a WIN-WIN!  Happy Donating!!

C is for clothesline...

C is carbon footprint, compost, cleaning supplies, and clothesline...

Growing up, my Mom had a free-standing umbrella-style spinning clothesline, and I can remember standing on my tippey toes and helping her take the clothes off the line.  When a friend asked if I'd greened my laundry yet, I had to admit that the only thing I'd done so far was to use cold water instead of warm or hot, and I've switched to eco-friendlier laundry detergent.  But I know we can do better!  

I checked out some info on the net, and found some pretty interesting info.  Here are 10 reasons to use a clothesline from www.laundrylist.org

Why line-dry?  For starters, dryers use 10 percent to 15 percent of domestic energy in the US.

10. It saves money — more than $25 a month on electric bills for many households.
9. Clothes last longer when line-dried.
8. Clothes and linens smell better without exposing your body and the environment to potentially toxic chemicals in many detergents, bleaches and fabric softeners.
7. It can conserve energy and the environment, while reducing climate change.
6. It is moderate physical activity that you can do indoors or outside.
5. Sunlight bleaches and disinfects.
4. Indoor racks can humidify in dry winter weather.
3. Clothes-dryer and washing-machine fires account for about 17,700 structure fires, 15 deaths and 360 injuries annually. The yearly national fire loss for clothes-dryer fires in buildings is estimated at $194 million.
2. It is fun. And it can be an outdoor experience that is meditative and community-building.
1. Line drying clothes demonstrates that small steps can make a difference.

With these reasons fresh in my mind, I began looking into installing an old fashioned clothesline to dry the clothes with the power of the sun instead of paying for the electricity :)  There are basically two types,  the umbrella-style spinning clothesline which is typically installed on a post in the ground with cement  (I did see one at Lowe's) and the pulley-type of clothesline (which is much less expensive, and the materials area also available at Lowe's).  I decided I wanted a pulley-type, and we found out what hardware and supplies we'll need, and went so far as to buy the items.  But then the project stalled as life got more hectic than usual and we had an ah-ha moment that I'm glad we had before doing the project.  We realized that the distance from the house to the tree, is pretty long and that traditional cotton clothesline will sag and stretch a lot as a result.  We thought back to a dog run we had at one point that went from the house to the same tree, and decided we'd have to get creative and instead of traditional cotton clothesline, we will have to use coated wire to support the weight of the laundry over the distance similar to the dog line.  

There lots of different options for installing outdoor clotheslines too.  I found some good info on the following sites:
http://www.clotheslineshop.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=SFNT&Store_Code=C

http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/article/0,,1558520,00.html
www.laundrylist.org
I'm very  excited to see how it helps to decrease the electric bill and the yummy sunshine smell of sun-dried laundry!    Stay tuned and I'll let you know how we make out...

B is for bottles

B is for Bottles....                                                                  
Billions of plastic bottles......

• It is estimated that  Americans buy about 25 billion single serve plastic water bottles
• about 22 billion (about 8 out of 10 water bottles) are NOT recycled
• “The United States ranks first among countries in soft drink consumption. The per-capita consumption of soft drinks is in excess of 150 quarts per year, or about three quarts per week.”James A Howenstine M.D.     A Physician’s Guide to Natural Health Products That Work  http://fooddemocracy.wordpress.com/2007/11/09/chew-on-this-us-soda-consumption  (We won't even get going on the health impacts of soda!!!!)    
• Oil is used to produce plastic; it takes 1.5 million barrels of oil to make water bottles for Americans
• Plastic does not biodegrade
• The water, soda, and juice bottle are made of polyethylene terephthalate (PET)
• Recycling plastic saves twice as much energy as burning it in an incinerator
• Plastic bottles made of PET can be recycled into many useful things including carpet, fleece, bottles, kayaks, school lunch trays, and much more
•  Only ELEVEN states have bottle bills, but no two are alike
• Only THREE states, California, Hawaii and Maine, include plastic water bottles in their laws for deposits on bottles

I would love it if a national "bottle bill" or "producer responsibility bill" were enacted.  Shifting costs from the government and taxpayers to consumers and producers is what the country needs; if only lobbyists could be stifled and politicians would do the right thing and put a national bill in place.  There would be less litter, less resources used, and energy savings.  

The Container Recycling Institute has put together a handy " bottle bill tool kit" to help anyone interested in getting a bottle bill in their state. 39 more states need to take advantage of the tool kit to get a bottle bill in place, and 8 states need to take a look at the tool kit to get water bottles incorporated into their current bottle deposit bills.    http://toolkit.bottlebill.org/

B is for bottles....and BILL....it's time we had a National Bottle Bill/Producer Responsibility Bill!!! 
http://www.bottlebill.org/

Sources:  http://www.container-recycling.org/facts/plastic/     http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5279230/

Read more: How soda bottle is made - manufacture, making, used, parts, procedure, product, Raw Materials, The Manufacturing Process of soda bottle, Quality Control, Recycling http://www.madehow.com/Volume-1/Soda-Bottle.html#ixzz0pA0NUscJ

Massachusetts Push to Expand State's Bottle Bill

Massachusetts Push to Expand State's Bottle Bill

Indoor Air Quality - plants are natural air scrubbers!

OHHHHH,  lest I neglect to point out that nature provides us with some great natural air purifiers!!!  Plants!  

House plants are not just pleasing to look at!  Besides brighten up a room with color and living energy, plants can provide real health benefits.   Complaints about headaches, stress, heart/circulation-symptoms and colds decrease when indoor plants are present, according to Dr. Leona Rogler.  In 1989,  NASA did a study to find out which plants were best to filter the air of the space station, and their findings are available to all.  They found that plants can remove a variety of toxic air emissions including ammonia, formaldehyde, carbon monoxide, benzene, xylene and trichloroethytene, and decrease "sick building syndrome". 


Check out the following list of plants that were found to be great air purifiers, and don't worry if you aren't a "green thumb"...some are really easy to grow and care for.  They are also easy to find at local Home Depot and Lowe's stores.  Click on each below to see Wikipedia's info about each plant.  Personally, I find the spider plant, golden pothos (found in many offices), peace lily (can thrive even with low light), the snake plant (also called Mother-in-law's tongue, and can take low light and minimal watering), and philodendrons are easy to grow.  I've grown some of the other plants as well, but unfortunately my cats liked them so much that I had to relocate them to catless homes :)  The peace lily is pictured below....I couldn't resist....get it?  PEACE love planet?  :)

• English Ivy (Hedera helix)                            
• Spider plant (Chlorophytum comosum)
• Golden pothos or Devil's ivy (Scindapsus aures or Epipremnum aureum)
• Peace lily (Spathiphyllum 'Mauna Loa')
• Chinese evergreen (Aglaonema modestum)
• Bamboo palm or reed palm (Chamaedorea sefritzii)
• Snake plant or mother-in-law's tongue (Sansevieria trifasciata 'Laurentii')
• Heartleaf philodendron (Philodendron oxycardium, syn. Philodendron cordatum)
• Selloum philodendron (Philodendron bipinnatifidum, syn. Philodendron selloum)
• Elephant ear philodendron (Philodendron domesticum)
• Red-edged dracaena (Dracaena marginata)       
• Cornstalk dracaena (Dracaena fragans 'Massangeana')
• Janet Craig dracaena (Dracaena deremensis 'Janet Craig')
• Warneck dracaena (Dracaena deremensis 'Warneckii')
• Weeping Fig (Ficus benjamina)
• Gerbera Daisy or Barberton daisy (Gerbera jamesonii)
• Pot Mum or Florist's Chrysanthemum (Chrysantheium morifolium)
• Rubber Plant (Ficus elastica)

A is for Air Quality

A is for Air Quality...

Indoor Air Quality can actually be more polluted than the air outdoors.  Most people have heard about the indoor allergen type pollutants such as mold, dust, and dander.  But smoke from wood-burning stoves and fireplaces, and fragrances from perfume, incense, air fresheners, and candles are often forgotten and overlooked.  Cleaning supplies can also contribute to indoor air pollution. 

According to the EPA, Radon is an odorless, "naturally occurring radioactive gas produced by the breakdown of uranium in soil, rock, and water. Air pressure inside your home is usually lower than pressure in the soil around your home's foundation. Because of this difference in pressure, your home acts like a vacuum, drawing radon in through foundation cracks and other openings."  

Other less obvious indoor air pollutants include "off-gasers" from things we bring into our homes like vinyl shower curtains, furniture, carpet, cabinets, and paints.  Chemicals that off-gas from these items are volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and  formaldehyde, which is a known carcinogen.

So what can be done to improve indoor air quality?

To help with mold issues, visit epa.gov/mold for more info.  Tackling the moisture problem that allows mold to grow will be key.  Smaller mold problems can be scrubbed off with a hot water and bleach solution (depending on the surface).  Porous materials will probably need to be thrown out.  

Dust and dander are omnipresent.  Even the act of cleaning -- dusting or vacuuming can lead to the release of particles into the air.  When vacuuming and dusting, wearing a dust mask; de-cluttering and minimizing stuffed animals and excessive chotchkes can also be helpful.  Vacuum cleaners with HEPA filters and air purifiers are also recommended.  To protect against dust mites that live in pillows, mattresses, and bedding, use protective covers, and wash linens weekly in hot water.  

Some love the "fresh aromas" of a candle, room "fresheners", and can't live without their cologne or perfume.  However, fragrances can irritate the nose, eyes, and throats of those with chemical sensitivities or allergies.  So think twice before adding these "fresheners" to your indoor pollutant load.  
For a more information about testing for and remediating radon, check the EPA site http://www.epa.gov/radon/radontest.html. 

Low VOC paints are now available, as well as carpet with silver particles that have anti-bacterial properties, and eco-foam padding. http://peaceloveplanet.blogspot.com/search?q=carpet Material shower curtain liners are also readily available, last longer, and are washable.  

On the bright side, simply opening the windows, and airing out the house can be beneficial.  Easy to make green cleaners or green cleaners such as Greenworks, Ecover, Seventh Generation, and Mrs. Meyers will also help you to green your indoor air quality.  

So make a few green changes to your indoor air quality and breathe a little bit easier :)

Closet Philanthropist

I just LOVE this slogan from Planet Aid!!!!!

"Spring Cleaning can make anyone a “Closet Philanthropist”"

Planet Aid is, "Dedicated to protecting the environment and creating sustainable development", and you can do 2 good things at once by decluttering unused items, and helping someone else in need.  http://www.planetaid.org/ 


So what are  you waiting for?     To locate a donation bin near you, go to their link http://www.planetaid.org/index.php?p=2_16_Find-a-Bin-Near-You