Go Flushless (conservative flushing - saves water)

http://www.goflushless.com/index.html

For less than 16¢ a day, you can save over 37 gallons of clean water EVERY DAY.*

 * These numbers are based on a household of 3 people. One 16 oz bottle will last 5 weeks on average.

how it works

GoFlushless® is made from vegetable based cleaners, essential oils, and food grade colors. It has been independently tested by an ACS Certified professional chemist. Apply two or three sprays of GoFlushless® in the toilet bowl before or after you use it . Add more GoFlushless as needed throughout the day to continue the neutralizing effect. When you spray GoFlushless® into your toilet bowl, the scientifically proven formula captures and neutralizes the odor of urine, replacing it with a pleasant citrus scent. GoFlushless® counteracts the staining chemicals in urine to help keep your toilet bowl clean. Finally, it leaves the water in the bowl an appealing blue-green color.

Saving Water Saves Energy
Water conservation isn’t just about having enough water. It also takes a lot of energy to treat and transport clean water to our homes. And it takes a lot of water to produce energy.

Pressures on our water and energy supplies are growing all the time. Population growth, increased droughts, environmental protections and more all require clean water. New technologies may help, but most use more energy – which will use more water. Conservation of the water we have is the only way to solve both problems without making either of them worse. GoFlushless® will help you and your family save water - and energy - every day without sacrificing anything.

Here Are Some Amazing Facts

• It takes more than 130 billion gallons of water a day just to
  produce half of the power in the US.
• In California, 20% of the state’s electricity is consumed for
  water-related uses.
• 1 ton of recycled paper saves 7000 gallons of water from
  being used and polluted.
• T. Boone Pickens, Warren Buffett, and Ted Turner see the
  urgency of clean water in the future. All three are now major
  players in the investment of water.
  These include major tracts of land that sit above the largest
  clean water aquifers in our country and systems that treat and
  purify water for human consumption.
• Just 2.5% of Earth’s water is fresh and only a tiny part of that
  is useable and renewable.

Going4Green Laundry Soap recipe:

by Going4Green on Sunday, November 14, 2010 at 9:47am

 

1/3 bar Dr. Bronner's Castile Lavender or Peppermint (use a scent that you like)

1/2c washing soda

1/2c borax

Grate the soap and add it to 6 cups of water, heat until melted.  (Grating cuts the time that it takes to melt)

Slowly add the soda and borax. (NOTE and WARNING:  Add SLOWLY, the soap and water is very hot and this mixture if added to fast will bubble up and boil over.)

Remove from heat.

In the storage bucket, pour 4 cups of hot tap water.

Add the soap mixture.

Add 6 cups of water

Let the soap sit for 24 hrs.  Stir 1 to 2xs during the 24 hours.  At the end of the 24 hours the laundry soap will be thick and gel-like.

Use approximately ½ c. per load (adjust as needed depending on water softness and washing machine).

Why do people look at me like I have 2 heads?

I'm very passionate about my thoughts on accountability when it comes to sustainability.  And I live by this.

To me it is this simple.

If you purchase something, you are now the responsible party that when you are through with it that it is disposed of correctly.  I'm talking about the day to day items in our lives.  When you are finished with the dish soap, rinse out the bottle and recycle.  You know that roll in the center of the toilet paper - that is recyclable too.  How about those old pair of jeans - they recycle too.  Aluminum foil - it can be recycled infinite times, rinse it off and toss it in with the recyclables.  I could go on and on.

Nothing gets me going faster then to see a recycling container sitting directly beside a trash can and the trash can is filled with items that should be in the recycling container.  Why does this happen?  Is it laziness?  Is it because people need to be educated on what is and what is not recyclable? 

I'm going to offer this for anyone in the Pittsburgh area.  If you are unsure of what is recyclable, email me and I will help you by either locating a guide (City of Pittsburgh has a nice one that lists the recycling basics). 
http://www.city.pittsburgh.pa.us/pw/html/recycling.html
No cost to you - my only payment is that you will learn what to do with "that" item(s) in the future.

I care about this planet, my family, for your family, and for all the children yet to come.  Please won't you join me in taking these little steps of recycling.

Collapsible Rain Barrel

http://www.greenhome.com/products/yard_and_garden/garden_accessories/116146

Good "green" deal (this week) from GreenHome.com.

No Poo - Day 3

This is technically day 2 - but for this process, each day will be counted.

Day 3:  I followed the same steps as Day 1 - timing, etc...  After I styled and dried my hair.  I wanted a 'sniff' test. 

The question was: do I smell like a salad... the answer was "YES".  I will need to do some more research to find out if I did something wrong.  I rinsed thoroughly (at least I felt I did).

No Poo - Day 2

Job interview superseded this experiment. Even though it worked well yesterday, I wasn't willing to risk it on such an important day.

I will resume tomorrow.

No Poo - Day 1

I took the leap today!

The first time I heard about 'no poo' was on a LinkedIn Green group discussion.  

For those of you that have never heard this term.

Wikipedia:  No poo (no shampoo) is a collective term for methods of washing hair without commercial shampoo.  (Some people may make their own shampoo.)


After reading some of the comments, I decided to post a question on my ever loved FaceBook to see if any of my friends had any experience or insight.  It was an interesting response. There was one 'My hair got greasy just thinking about no shampoo...', to 'it's the same as the hospital dry powder', to 'I don't think you'll be happy with it'.  Lily's first reaction was if you want to walk around all day smelling like a salad - go for it. 

After doing some quick research, I found that the majority of folks that tried going No Poo, love it.

The basics that I started with:  

1 tablespoon of baking soda with enough water added to make a watery paste.  

Apply it to warm water, well rinsed hair.  

Work it in at the roots (oily area), not forgetting the temple area.

Keep it on for up to a minute.

Caution: do not work it in too hard, I've read that this can cause the hair to become brittle.

I did not have a timer or a watch, so I'm going to be using my shower routine as the basis of my timing.
My hair felt odd while doing this - then I reminded myself "of course it feels odd, you've never had baking soda in your hair before".

Rinse out the baking soda.

Next:

2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar, diluted a bit to give good coverage.  Apply to the ends. Some of the forums advised not applying this rinse on a daily basis.  Do not worry about the smell, it rinses out (as I've read - but this has to be tested).
The whole process with the vinegar - all I could hear was Lily saying "if you want to smell like a salad all day - go for it".  It truly made me laugh out loud in the shower.

This is all there is to it!  Simple, with NO chemicals.

Admittedly I'm missing the scents that come with most shampoos/conditioners.  I'm all about aromatherapy with my morning routine.  I'm going to have to find a way to incorporate some essential oils somewhere with this.

The most helpful resource that I found before starting this project was:  http://www.naturemoms.com/no-shampoo-alternative.html

It provides a much more in-depth overview of the chemicals associated with 'regular' (using that term loosely here) shampoo.  There is also a section on troubleshooting.  Thank you NatureMoms!

After towel drying, I dried and styled my hair as I normally do, but I did not add anything else to it.  I'm pleasantly shocked at the body and how it styled - and it doesn't smell at all like a salad! :)

Day 1 - I'm very pleased with the results... and it feels super clean.  And I feel good that no chemicals went down the drain!

MNN: Eco Home Guide

http://www.mnn.com/your-home/green-building-remodeling/photos/eco-friendly-home-guide-0

Thank you Mother Nature Network for this eco home guide!

"With the average family spending about $1,900 a year on home utility bills, it's unfortunate for both the environment and your wallet that a large portion of that energy is wasted. Taking a whole-house approach to saving energy will not only make your home more comfortable and eco-friendly, but also yield long-term financial rewards, such as reduced energy bills and an increased home value."

Little steps do make a difference. My GREEN PHILOSOPHY.

I've found that the general consensus of green discussions with those that new to this, find that they think that they have to jump in with both feet or don't know enough to even start.  

This is not true unless you just won the lottery and can afford to switch everything all at once and starting small grows to knowledge.

My GREEN PHILOSOPHY:

• Take little steps – as you run out of a product, replace it with a green(er) product. 
• You do not need to break the bank switching things over.  As you try new things you'll just might find that you like the 'greener' one much better.  Remember that headache you used to get?
• Recycle, recycle, recycle – I can not stress this enough.  
• Again you do not need to break the bank - use the blue plastic bags from the grocery store (yes these are recyclable too) and hang it somewhere convenient to put your recycle items in.  You might just surprise yourself once you start doing this how much you really can recycle. 
• Support biodegradable (but be watchful of 'green washing') - we will cover this later in this blog.
• Go organic as much as possible.
• Support your local organic farmers.
• Reuse/renew.  
• Check out this blog for a way to reuse newspaper and make a gift bag out of it.
• Donate.
• Try www.freecycle.org.

Last but not least - I'm here to help anyone that has questions!  I'm a firm believer that there are NO stupid questions.

Karen :)

Putting Down Roots: Maren's List: Aug 27/28: GASLAND showing in Frick Park

Putting Down Roots: Maren's List: Aug 27/28: GASLAND showing in Frick Park: 

"Josh Fox is coming back to Pittsburgh!An outdoor screening of his recent film 'GasLand' will be presented in Pittsburgh by Josh Fox and Rooftop Films in Frick Park, in the swale below

Blue Slide playground (near the intersection of Nicholson Street and

Beechwood Blvd. in Squirrel Hill.

The event is scheduled to begin at 8:00pm, and will include live music,  

the film screening, and a panel discussion. 

Planned date is Aug 27;  in case of rain it'll shift to Aug. 28.  

More information can be found here. 

Courtesy of "Putting Down Roots: Maren's List"

Your help is needed!

Volunteers Needed

Help out at the Fair   Would you like a free pass to the Fair all weekend? How about an organic cotton MOTHER EARTH NEWS FAIR T-shirt and a sponsor/exhibitor goody bag? We need you! Sign up to volunteer at the Fair to take advantage of this great networking opportunity and what is sure to be an exciting and rewarding experience! Sign up today!

China's New Bus "Straddles" Cars

http://www.care2.com/causes/global-warming/blog/straddling-bus-when-going-green-going-weird/

From Care2:

posted by: Evie Pless 14 hours ago

 

For me, the most exciting aspect of the "straddling bus" being developed in China isn't the multi-leveled cinematic chase scenes it could be featured in. Nor is it the relative-motion physics problem it could potentially lead to. (If James Bond jumps off the front of a straddling bus at 30mph, will he manage to land on a car at 60mph, that is 10 meters behind and four meters below him?) It isn't even the inflatable plastic slide that each of the buses will be equipped with -- for those of us who don't feel comfortable leaping off large vehicles in the case of an emergency –- that has me most excited.
TAKE ACTION: Don't let public transportation in the United States fall behind in environmental awesomeness.
What's most exciting to me about the straddling bus is that it's such a clean, satisfying solution to an interesting puzzle.
Here are some of the main puzzle pieces Chinese inventors had to overcome:

• Reduce China's record-setting greenhouse gas emissions
• Reduce traffic
• Save money
• Save building time
• Transport people in the world's most populous country
• Impress and inspire the rest of the world

Not surprisingly, it took a little insight to see how these pieces best fit together. And it took a lot of guts to say, "let's make this weird idea real."
The finished project is known officially as the "3D fast bus," but the nickname "straddling bus" is no misnomer.  The bus will literally straddle the road and carry a shocking number of people -- around 1300 passengers -- over cars and under overpasses.
Shenzhen Hashi Future Parking Equipment Co., Ltd, proposed the bus idea. They say the bus will travel at up to 60 km/h (about 37mph). Construction of the 186 km of rails that will carry the bus will begin at the end of the year.
And the end of the year is by no means too soon for greenhouse gas-reducing technology. In terms of CO2, we're at 380 parts per million -- that's 100 ppm higher than it was at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. According to the chairman of the Shenzhen Hashi, their bus can save up to 860 tons of fuel per year, which would prevent the emission of 2,640 tons of carbon.
The United States is second only to China in greenhouse gas emissions. And transportation is a hot-button issue. The transportation sector makes up a third of the country's carbon dioxide emissions. From coast to coast, regions are struggling to deal with the multifaceted problem. In New York City, the economic crisis is causing controversial train closures and price jumps, while in Los Angeles, the mayor is attempting to borrow billions of dollars from the federal government for the largest transportation expansion project in the country.
If the straddling bus has inspired you to make United States transportation greener -- and weirder -- please sign our petition.

Making your own laundry soap. It's easy...

Homemade Laundry Soap comes in many varieties - hope you can find one that fits your fancy:

http://diynatural.com/simple-easy-fast-effective-jabs-homemade-laundry-detergent/

http://tipnut.com/10-homemade-laundry-soap-detergent-recipes/

http://greenliving.suite101.com/article.cfm/the_best_homemade_laundry_soap 

There is some work (not much) to making homemade laundry soap, but the money saved by using homemade laundry soap can really add up over the course of a year. 

That said, money is not (and should not be) the only reason to make homemade laundry soap. Using the links above to make homemade laundry soap reduces phosphates and other waste products that are dumped into the water supply. It also reduces the number of plastic bottles in use, and is biodegradable.

The excitement begins!!!

MIDNIGHT ~ GRAND OPENING OF GOING4GREEN WEB STORE!!

https://shopopensky.com/going4green

What is your footprint?! Great function to this one...

http://www.footprintnetwork.org/en/index.php/GFN/page/calculators/

Footprint Calculator

How much land area does it take to support your lifestyle? Take this quiz to find out your Ecological Footprint, discover your biggest areas of resource consumption, and learn what you can do to tread more lightly on the earth.

Mother Earth News Fair - September 25-26

Hope to see you there!

http://www.motherearthnews.com/fair/home.aspx

A fun-filled, family-oriented sustainable lifestyle event, featuring dozens of practical, hands-on demonstrations and workshops from the leading authorities on:

• Renewable Energy
• Small-scale Agriculture
• Gardening
• Green Building
• Green Transportation
• Natural Health

You'll enjoy a vast eco-friendly marketplace, organic local food and beverages as well as outdoor equipment and livestock demonstrations.
Stay in the loop! Sign up now for the MOTHER EARTH NEWS FAIR e-newsletter and get weekly updates.

MOTHER EARTH NEWS magazine has been helping folks live self-reliant, sustainable, meaningful lives for 40 years. With an audience of more than 3 million readers worldwide, it is the largest and longest-running environmental lifestyle magazine on the planet.

The hand washing versus dishwashing feud cannot be answered in terms of black and white.

CONCLUSION: Variables in types of dishwashers, manner in which hand washing is done - lead to a draw in many cases. Each case is really different, hand washing while keeping the water running is going to use more water than a dishwasher. If you are conservative and wash dishes in a sink (or a 4 qt pot like I do at current) full of soapy water, you could be using less water than your dishwasher. 

*Not covered in any of the articles that I researched to compose this thread - From hand washing, reuse the water (commonly called greywater) by applying it to your yard/garden.  Make sure that you are using environmentally friend dish soap.  http://www.ukqna.com/garden/1369-2-home-ukqna.html

Many factors must be taken into consideration when determining between the two options, including how often you are washing dishes by hand, your hot water tank efficiency, whether you prerinse the dishes before loading them into the dishwasher, whether you are running a full load, whether your dishwasher itself is sustainable (or more so than most) and whether you are using the heated dry option on your dishwasher.  And we can't forget what time of day you are running your dishwasher. 

Energy/water usage aside - dishwashers are convenient in our busy lives and let us get on with life instead of being tied up at the sink.  Money vs time vs convenience.  We as consumers can make good choices with the type of dishwasher and how we use it.  There is also the part that dishwashers sterilize better.

(Semi-)CONCLUSION:
Although comparing hand washing and dish washing is difficult, I am sure we can agree on several things to stay more efficient and more eco-friendly. If you do use the dishwasher, make sure you:

• Always run a full load
• Skip the heated dry option and air-dry dishes by selecting the air-dry setting or opening your dishwasher's door instead of using the heat-dry cycle.
• Forgo needless pre-rinsing dishes before loading them in your dishwasher to save water
• Run the dishwasher when energy rates are lower (at night/early am)
• Try to upgrade to a more efficient model (if you have not already)

Just try and use less. Try using fewer items in general, such as reusing your cups throughout the day or wiping breadcrumbs off the plate that only carried a sandwich and popping it back in the cabinet.

***Here are some good arguments for both cases:

WINNER: HAND WASHING
http://ezinearticles.com/?Dishwasher-Vs-Hand-Washing---The-Green-Experiment&id=4015922

The Experiment
Several speculations have been previously noted regarding the efficiency of dish washing vs. hand washing. A study was conducted in Germany regarding the efficiency of both practices, which concluded that dish washing was in fact, the most efficient. Now, who exactly funded this experiment has never been disclosed. Could it have been a household appliance manufacturer? Many experiments are sometimes conducted to purposely skew in a specific direction. I decided it was time to do my own experiment and find out once and for all which of the two dish washing practices is the real deal.

To conduct this real life experiment I spent exactly one month washing all my dishes by hand and one full month running the dishwasher. I chose the month of February and March, which average similar temperatures in South Florida. I maintained my air conditioning system at a temperature of 76 degrees Fahrenheit throughout both months, and tried as hard as possible to eat-out or order in the same amount of times both months. Of course, there are definite inconsistencies in such a real-life experiment, such as how long you shower, how often you flush the toilet, the outside temperature, etc... but, my family and I just continued to go on about our lives exactly the same. The only difference was our dish washing ritual. Oh, and of course, February did have 28 days, while March had 30. The dishwasher used for this experiment is a Bosch Integra 300 series. This machine is about 5 years old and has the Energy Star qualification (Energy Star is awarded to those dishwashers who do not exceed 5.8 gallons of water per run).

Practices used for both methods of dish washing:

Dishwasher:
• Run it only when it is completely filled to its maximum capacity
• Keep rinsing to a minimal, just rinse the excess scraps. You defeat the purpose of using the dishwasher if you're spending gallons of water just rinsing your dishes.
• Rinse first... turn off the faucet... and then place in dishwasher (I have often seen people loading the dishwasher while the faucet is running full force just to rinse a fork).

Hand-Washing:
• First, wet all the dishes rapidly and turn OFF the faucet
• Using a sponge, soap all the dishes, glasses, etc... get a little more water to wet sponge, if needed, and turn off faucet again.
• After all dishes have been soaped, rinse them off and set them in dish drainer.
• Faucet does not have to be at full force and it is not necessary to wash the dishes with burning hot water. Turn off faucet often, while placing dishes in rack.

The Conclusion
Ironically, my experiment proved that responsible hand washing was the winner. During the month of February, when I washed all dishes by hand the electric reading was Kwh 19,973, while in March, when I strictly used the dishwasher responsibly the electric reading was Kwh 22,294. I saved $16.55 in the electric bill in February. The water bill showed a usage of 3,142 gallons in the month of February and 3,105 in the month of March. In conclusion, there was a very small significance in water usage when comparing both practices but a slightly higher significance in electric consumption. Personally, I wash my dishes by hand most days, but do still enjoy the convenience of my dishwasher on those days that I'm feeling a bit tired. Although, the results may not seem very alarming, I do want to emphasize that when thousands of people are responsible in the simple household tasks it does make an impact.

WINNER: DISHWASHER
http://www.greenyour.com/home/kitchen-cooking/dishwashing/tips/run-your-dishwasher-instead-of-hand-washing-dishes

Run your dishwasher instead of hand-washing dishes

Hand-washing dishes often results in several gallons of water running down the drain each day. Running your dishwasher instead of hand-washing dishes can help reduce your water usage by about 35 percent.

How to save more water and energy when using your dishwasher

Yes, you can be an eco-friendly dishwasher by using your automatic dish washing machine! So boost your dish washing efficiency with these energy- and water-saving ideas:

   1. Run your dishwasher only when it’s full to save up to 400 gallons of water per month.
   2. Air-dry dishes by selecting the air-dry setting or opening your dishwasher's door instead of using the heat-dry cycle. This can cut your dishwasher’s energy use by 15 percent to 50 percent.
   3. Forgo pre-rinsing dishes before loading them in your dishwasher to save up to 25 gallons per load.

Want to save even more by using your dishwasher? Replace your old dishwasher with an ENERGY STAR dishwasher. These dishwashers are at least 41 percent more efficient than minimum Federal energy consumption standards. Not only do they use an average of 1,000 fewer gallons of water per year, but they also use significantly less electricity, mainly by heating water more efficiently.

Look for a dishwasher with a built-in hot water booster to bring additional energy savings. This raises the water temperature inside the dishwasher to 140 degrees Fahrenheit (recommended for optimal cleaning), allowing the main household water heater to be turned down to 120 degrees Fahrenheit or less. For every 10 degrees a water heater's thermostat is lowered, the water-heating bill drops by up to 13 percent.
Running your dishwasher instead of hand-washing dishes helps you go green because…

    * It uses significantly less water, particularly if it's fully loaded. By contrast, hand-washing often means the faucet runs continuously, allowing gallons of water to pour down the drain. Water use is even higher if dishes are hand-washed multiple times per day.

On average, hand washing dishes uses significantly more water because most people tend to leave the faucet running or wash dishes several times a day. Running a dishwasher fully loaded, particularly if dishes aren’t pre-rinsed, uses about 35 percent less water than washing dishes by hand.

One study by researchers at the University of Bonn in Germany found that hand-washing dishes uses between five and 86 gallons of water compared to four to five gallons for the average European dishwasher. Americans didn't participate in the study, but statistics show the average US dishwasher uses nine to 12 gallons per load (less for energy-efficient models) versus up to 20 gallons for hand-washing. With American households running a dishwasher only four or five times a week, on average, that represents a considerable savings over washing by hand, particularly when dishes are hand-washed once or more a day.

The only time that hand-washing dishes uses less water than a dishwasher is when a dishpan or sink basin is filled and no additional water is run. This method consumes about half of what a dishwasher uses per load.

Built In Dishwashers vs. Hand Washing: Which is Greener?

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/01/built-in-dishwasher-vs-hand-washing-which-greener.php

The Story of Stuff! Time to drive change home...

http://www.storyofstuff.com/

This 20 minute film is worth so much more than the 20 minutes to watch and listen.

From the About section:

The Story of Stuff Project’s mission is to build a strong, diverse, decentralized, cross-sector movement to transform systems of production and consumption to serve ecological sustainability and social wellbeing. Our goals are to amplify public discourse on a diverse set of sustainability issues and to facilitate the growing Story of Stuff community’s involvement in strategic efforts to build a more sustainable and just world.

Care2 is simple: One person can make a difference.

http://www.care2.com/ 

Truly one of my more frequented sites, especially for the petitions! 

It is an environmental portal for:

• healthy living tips
• eco-directory
• eCards - generate donations to the environment
• Free photo sharing
• Free webmail

This is one of the few newsletters I go out of my way to review each time I receive it.