A Deeper Green

Since moving into my new apartment I have been trying to make changes in the cleaning routine. Trying to move them into less toxic territory, and I’m hoping to cut down waste in the process.

Of course the biggest asset to anyone looking to green their cleaning is white vinegar. It has what seems to be thousands of uses, and the old tenants left some behind so I haven’t had to buy any yet!

So far we have used it for pest control as well as all bathroom and some kitchen cleaning needs. I pair it with baking soda to scrub the toilet, bath tub and sinks.

I have read lots about cleaning windows with vinegar as well, but haven’t been able to try it. I know a lot of people have had problems with using just vinegar on their windows with it leaving all sorts of streaks, but my understanding is the best way to  prevent the streaks is to make a mixture of 8 parts water to 1 part vinegar and a teeny tiny bit of liquid soap.

The liquid soap we’ve had the most luck with in my house is Dr. Bronners, which is available at the nearby Target. It’s a pure castille soap with no added surfactants and it comes in a 100% post consumer plastic bottle. We’ve been using the bottle we have for close to a year now. A little goes a long way.

I am just at the beginning of my green cleaning odyssey, so you can expect further updates as I continue on. For those of you moving faster than me on the green cleaning track I’ve had great luck using the book Green Housekeeping by Ellen Sandbeck. I will probably be doing a full review of the book soon. But for those of you that can’t wait it is worth checking out for sure.

This morning I came across this article from the Lake County News-Sun.

The Waukegan Water Plant is doing some feasibility studies looking into the possibility of adding wind turbines to their buildings. As these buildings are right on Lake Michigan and subject to some very strong winds much of the year this seems like a great idea.

The article mentions talk of being able to cut the plants external power usage by 25% if the turbines are installed.

I plan on keeping an eye on this development and hope that they can come up with a way to make this work!

Starting off my weekend with the International Coastal Clean-up on Saturday was fantastic. We did a great job collecting, and even though I did get sunburned (I need a hat for work!) I still had a great time.

I am hoping to have some pictures from the event a little bit later, but for now feel free to read my more in depth article at examiner.

And because it is a happy Monday I leave you with a link to an article that made me smile from Ecogeek, oneupmanship in renewable energy will pretty much always bring a smile to my face.

Originally posted at www.examiner.com

Every year the Ocean Conservancy puts together an International Coastal Clean-up in an effort to better the oceans and lakes that support life on this planet. Last year the event attracted 400,000 volunteers from 100 countries who were able to pick up 6.8 million pounds of trash!This years 24th Annual International Coastal Clean-up takes place this Saturday at sights all over Chicago’s Lakefront and you are invited to participate!

If you have some free time to donate to cleaning up trash from our beaches this weekend, I strongly encourage you to visit the Ocean Conservancy’s Coastal Clean-up page and make plans to make a difference with your Saturday.

I’ll be out at 12th Street beach lending my hand to our Great Lakes. Look for pictures up early next week.

originally posted at www.examiner.com:

Today I had the great privilege and pleasure of attending the 2009 Mackinac Bridge Walk. It’s a fantastic event that hosts 40,000 people from everywhere imaginable making their way across the longest suspension bridge in the Western hemisphere, on foot. The great Mackinac Straights Bridge that connects Michigan’s Upper Peninsula to the rest of the state is all but shut down to allow for a morning of glorious views walking across the bridge.

Now I will admit that I did not walk the bridge, I was working in the festival area at the end of the walk encouraging people to take shorter showers and conserve water, but even from that perspective the event is awe inspiring.

The bridge walk happens every labor day and is a yearly event for many of the participants. It is not really a Chicago event, but since Lake Michigan happens to be one of two Great Lakes you can see while walking on the bridge I thought it might be an experience worth sharing.

I encourage everyone to try to make it up here for at least one labor day to experience the fantastic event. The bridge is around 5 miles across, and walking the entire thing can be a feat of will, but everyone I talked to today felt it was totally worth it. What a fantastic way to witness the beauty of our Great Lakes.

For more info: Visit the Mackinac Bridge Authority web page for information about the bridge and the bridge walk.