Her
circumstances struck me as typical, therefore somewhat
universal. She is 40 years old, married, with two boys ages
9 and 11. The family rents a three bedroom house. "My family
is not yet in a position to buy a completely green home, a
hybrid car, or even to add solar panels to the roof," she
told me, "but I really want to explore as many ways as I can
to make conscious changes about waste, toxins, and so on."
She's already on the path to reducing her family's
environmental impact. She takes cloth bags to the market,
bicycles whenever possible, takes super-short showers, buys
locally grown organic produce at a farmer's market close to
home. She tries to avoid as much packaging as possible, and
turns off lights when she leaves a room. She no longer buys
plastic water bottles, opting for stainless steel bottles
(without plastic liners) that are reused (expensive at $25 a
pop, so kids need to be taught not to lose them). She avoids
using the box air conditioner as much as possible. And when
the house needs something new (like a new bed for the boys)
she purchases from Craigslist.
She’s doing a lot. What’s the next logical step?
Create a Healthy Home
Turn your focus to your home. Learn all you can about
how to make it healthy. In 2007, the healthy home is focused
on green in an effort to avoid climate change, but it’s also
focused on health—your own personal health, your family’s
health, and the health of the planet. For starters, leave
shoes at the door to minimize tracking in dust and
pollutants. And tackle a big project, like avoiding
synthetic chemicals (those made in laboratories, not found
in nature).
Be prepared to organize stuff
differently. Changing from consumerism to becoming a steward
of the earth requires you to think outside of the box.
Reduce the amount of stuff you buy. Organize for
efficiency--hang a cloth bag from a hook by the door, for
example, or carry a couple in the car; dedicate one cupboard
to cleaning supplies, stock an eco-pantry.
Fight Global Warming
When it comes to global warming, the two big
sticky issues are transportation and heating/cooling. Try to
minimize your impact in these two areas. Take local buses to
get around and teach your kids how to use them efficiently
and safely. Minimize heat/conditioned air loss as much as
possible. Weatherstrip exterior doors, caulk around windows
and other openings in exterior walls.
Forced air heat and air conditioning
have spoiled us. Try not to use the air conditioner, and
turn the heat low in winter, layering on a sweater, getting
used to living a wee bit colder in winter and warmer in
summer. Open windows and bathe the house in fresh breezes.
Top Ten List
(1) Switch to compact fluorescent bulbs.
(2) Dry clothes on a clothesline as much
as possible.
(3) Wash clothes and dishes only when
appliances are full.
(4) Is your refrigerator energy
efficient? Older models are not as efficient as newer ones.
If yours is an energy hog, consider investing in a new one.
(5) When purchasing appliances, let Energy Star (a government-backed program) be your guide. You
don’t have to always purchase the most energy efficient
appliance, but you should have a good reason not to.
(6) Purchase only natural fabrics when
buying soft furniture, mattresses, draperies, carpets,
sheets and towels. Wear
only natural fabrics (organically grown if budget allows).
(7) Kitchen and garbage bags present an
eco-dilemma. Best choice is a recycled bag. If plastic is
your only option, purchase biodegradable bags with at least
65% recycled content. Seventh Generation offers some on its
web site: www.seventhgeneration.com.
(8) Substitute cotton rags for paper
products, when possible.
(9) Filter
water for drinking and cooking. Usually a carbon filter at
the tap works just fine.
(10)
Unplug small appliances when not in use.
Big
Project:
Get Rid of Synthetics!
Want a healthy home project? Avoid synthetic
chemicals altogether.
Look around. Does anything
in your house contain synthetic fragrance? Check out
soaps, air fresheners, cologne, candles. If any smell of the
laboratory, toss them.
Take a good look at cosmetics and
grooming supplies--lipstick, nail polish, hair spray, hair
dye; shampoo, toothpaste, deodorant, shaving cream; suntan
lotion, makeup, lotions and moisturizers. Big commercial
manufacturers load these products with synthetic chemicals
bearing strange sounding names—phthalates, phenols, parabens.
Because the FDA does not require companies to test
products for safety, no one knows what the health
consequences of these chemicals are. Some are known
carcinogens, some are thought to disrupt reproductive
systems, others aggravate allergies, asthma, and respiratory
diseases.
Switch
to more natural alternatives. Check out the toxicity of the
products you use by going to
www.ewg.org. Click on “Skin Deep” on the right side of
the home page to learn what is in your personal care
products, and how they rate on a toxicity scale of one to
ten.
Switch To Natural Cleaners
If you really want to get rid of nasty
synthetics, change the way you clean your house. Switch to
natural cleaners. Box up all those artificial cleaners and
dispose of them properly. Pages 122-123 of my book
Green Clean tell you
how.
Then lay in a good supply of the
basics.
-
A tall glass bottle of white
distilled vinegar
-
A large box of baking soda
-
A bottle of castile soap
(made with olive oil) or vegetable-based soap (such as
Murphy’s).
Use these to make your own basic
cleaners.
You can choose to be a purist, making
all your cleaners yourself, adding a few more ingredients to
your cleaning closet. Or, you may wish to purchase
eco-cleaners from a commercial manufacturer. Two lines I
like are Shaklee and Method.
Shaklee offers a complete “Get Clean”
line in a tote - everything you need, including microfiber
cloths, spritzer bottles, and cellulose sponges. Shaklee
products are highly concentrated, so you use a drop or a
teaspoonful at a time. Shaklee sells through distributors
and online (www.shaklee.com).
Method products are available in stores
(try Whole Foods or its equivalent). Though seemingly not as
pure as Shaklee products, Method does a good job keeping out
synthetics. They have a super dry/wet mop and polisher for
hardwood floors. Plus, their packaging is cool.
What About Disinfectant?
Every family should have some kind of
disinfectant on hand. This is tricky to keep natural and
still be effective. Commercial disinfectants contain harsh
chemicals and must be registered with the U.S. EPA. Unless
you're caring for someone sick, a simple solution of
3% hydrogen peroxide applied with a clean cellulose sponge
should do the trick. It reputedly kills more harmful
bacteria and
viruses than Lysol or bleach.
Hydrogen peroxide is simply water with
an extra oxygen molecule (H2O2 ). Don’t be alarmed if the
mixture foams when it comes into contact with bacteria on a
surface. That’s all right—the hydrogen peroxide is working,
giving up oxygen. When spent, hydrogen peroxide degrades to
water and oxygen.
Shaklee has a new commercial
disinfectant on the market. Called Germ-Off, it reputedly
kills 99.9% of Salmonella and E. coli germs found on hard,
non-porous surfaces. It disinfects, deodorizes, and is free
of bleach and alcohol. Wipes come in a recyclable container.
Stocking Your Eco-Cleaning Cupboard
The irony of green cleaning is you end up needing
fewer products than you’re used to. Here’s all you need:
PROJECT: