Biz's Doing Their Part

In the last month or so I've really noticed a great amount of local businesses pitching in, in more ways than just providing a recycle bin. So I wanted to point them out and provide a huge THANK YOU to them and hopefully in the near future more businesses will be inspired by their actions .

Ballard Bros.- 15th Ave, Ballard, WA. http://www.ballardbrothers.com/
Not only is their food delicious, but almost every bit of "waste" that comes out of there is compostable. They use compostable corn plastics in their cups, straws, utensils, etc, so instead of a garbage bin in the restaurant, they have a compost bin. You can put dirty napkins and food wrappers in it as well. THANK YOU BALLARD BROS.!

Cupcake Royale- Ballard, West Seattle, Capitol Hill. http://www.cupcakeroyale.com/
They also provide compost bins that you can put your cupcake wrappers, napkins and latte cups in. Ceramic plates and bowls are provided if you are eating "in", so that cuts down on waste as well. THANK YOU CUPCAKE ROYALE!

Old School Frozen Yogurt- Capitol Hill. http://www.oldschoolfrozencustard.com/
I was recently there for my birthday "cake", and the cup they give you not only states that it is compostable, as well as bins provided in the store after you're done with it, but on it is a wonderful paragraph about the Eco-Products they use:

"In one year Eco-Products customers make a difference by saving: 150,000 gallons of gas- enough to five around the earth 181 times; 7,380 pounds of greenhouse gases; 504,326 kW hours of energy- enough to power the average American household for 10 years.

And the surprise eco-warrior of them all....

Mrs. Cooks- U Village. http://www.mrscooks.com/
I made a Christmas purchase there recently, and to my delight, on the bag in big letters it states that the "plastic" bag that my item was in is 100% BIODEGRADABLE. Holy crud! Way to go, Mrs. Cooks!

I'm so proud of many of these businesses taking a stand (Whole Foods also provides a compost bin inside). I believe that recycling and composting are one of the easiest and most effective steps we can take to help clean up the earth. Next time you go to throw away something, stop and wonder, is this recyclable? If not, is it compostable? Your latte cups, dirty napkins, paper take out containers, food scraps, and in many areas (Seattle!) even meat! If you have a yard waste bin then you can put all this in it (keep it in a compostable bag- like paper). You might be surprised at how much it will decrease your garbage!

Real cleaning supplies

There are WAY too many cleaning products on the market. You only need a few simple things and you can clean anything you need (with a few exceptions of course). One of my goals was to share real effective ways to clean your house/apartment because there is too much effort being put into cleaning, and usually with too many harmful chemicals that are bad for you and the environment. At my cleaning job, we didn't use "green" products because, I will admit, they are not as effective. As much as i love bio-degradable and natural products, they just don't do as good of a job. but if you rotate your products, they work fine. the major problem lies in when you have serious caked on scum. I have done some research though and try to use green products in my own household as much as I can. This blog should help you decide on what kind of products you would rather use and what their substitutes are.

The Complete Cleaning Kit

To make life easier for you, get a bucket that can hold your supplies. This way when you need it, you can grab it and you're good. This is mine:

A few supplies that are absolute staples are: feather duster, 2 scrubbie sponges, a large plastic cup, toilet brush, tooth brush, squeegie, and about 20 white rags (wash cloth size). These are the tools of the trade that you must have. Below I have listed the cleaning products with natural substitutes.

Chemical ----------------------Natural

Orange citrus cleaner ------Lemon juice, vinegar and water

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Comet------------------ -----Baking soda

--------Windex-------------------- Vinegar and water

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Toilet bowel cleaner --------Baking soda and vinegar

---------------Pledge ---------------Mineral oil or Murphy's soap

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--------Bleach ------------Vinegar, lemon juice and baking soda

Wood/tile/linoleum/etc. floor cleaner------ Vinegar and water

In my own apartment, I don't hardly ever use any of the chemical cleaners. One in a while I do use the Orange citrus cleaner (you can pick this up at Home Depot or Lowes) for it really cuts through soap scum, food, mold, etc. If I can give something, like my bathtub/shower, a really good cleaning, I can usually keep it up with natural products.

The basic point is you have to think about every product you use, from the dish soap that you wash your dishes with, to the lip balm you basically eat several times a day. What are in the products you use, and where does it go? In your body? Into our streams that run into the ocean? Imagine if just the population of Seattle all switched to natural products, think about how much pollution would be reduced?

So with these items in mind, I plan to go through some steps on how to clean areas like your bathroom and kitchen with both chemical and natural products. But that will be for another day!