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Welcome to the March issue of Green Home, your EcoFresh Newsletter.
In this month's issue:
by Shelagh McNally
Is your house toxic because of the cleaning products you're using?
Here's a list of six household cleaners to avoid and alternatives to help detoxify your home.
1. Antibacterial cleaners
These cleaners contain triclosan, a form of dioxin, linked with weakened immune systems, decreased fertility, hormone disruption and birth defects.
Alternative: Regular soap, which kills 99.4 percent of germs. Antibacterial soap kills 99.6 percent.
2. Air Fresheners
One main ingredient, formaldehyde, is a carcinogen, causing allergic reactions, dermatitis, headaches, mucous membrane irritations, joint and chest pain, depression, fatigue, dizziness and immune dysfunction.
Alternative: Open the window or use an exhaust fan.
3. Dishwasher detergent
They contain a dry form of highly concentrated chlorine that is poisonous and have been known to produce skin irritations or burns, and cause eye injuries and damage to other mucous membranes.
Alternatives: Detergents that are phosphate and chlorine free. One eco-friendly choice is Caldrea.
4. Oven cleaners
Among the most dangerous chemicals in households, these cleaners contain sodium hydroxide (a derivative of lye) so corrosive it can eat through the top layer of skin and cause severe tissue damage.
Alternative: Make a scrub of baking soda, salt and water paste.
5. Bleach
is a strong corrosive. It will irritate or burn the skin, eyes and respiratory tract. It may cause pulmonary edema or vomiting and coma if ingested. Never mix bleach with acid toilet bowl cleaners or ammonia. These mixtures may produce fumes which can be DEADLY.
Alternative: Disinfectant: Instead of bleach, make your own disinfectant by mixing 2 cups of water, 3 tablespoons of liquid soap and 20 to 30 drops of tea tree oil. It's easy!
Green Seal Certified.
6. Toilet, tub and tile bowl cleaners
Are a source of many poisonings, particularly since they are used in small, often windowless spaces. Highly toxic, bathroom cleaners
Alternative: Remove toilet bowl stains with pure vinegar. Dilute with water to remove soap residue. Washing soda or borax is also effective on tiles.
1. Stop Idling
Every moment you idle your car's engine means needlessly wasting gas, as well as rougher wear on your vehicle. Idling for more than 10 seconds wastes more gas than is needed for startup. Overall, Americans idle away 2.9 billion gallons of gas a year, worth around $78.2 billion.
2. Turn Off Your Computer
Save energy and wear and tear on your hardware by shutting down your computer at night. You'll save an average of $90 of electricity a year. The Department of Energy recommends shutting off your monitor if you aren't going to use it for more than 20 minutes, and the whole system if you're not going to use it for more than two hours.
3. Sign Up for Green Energy
More than half of all electricity consumers in the U.S. now have the option of purchasing green power from their utility. Find out how you can buy it by visiting the Department of Energy's state-by-state list of providers. You can also check with your own utility to see what's available.
4. Turn Down the Thermostat
It definitely pays to give a thought to your thermostat, since most households shell out 50 to 70% of their energy budgets on heating and cooling. For every degree you lower the thermostat, you'll save between 1 and 3% of your heating bill. Do the same thing in reverse with air conditioning.
5. Wash Your Laundry in Cold Water
An easy way to clean green is to turn the dial on your washing machine to cold. Most loads don't need hot water, and 90% of the energy used by washing machines goes into heating. The higher the water temperature, the higher the cost to you and the planet.
6. Pay Bills Online
Save natural resources - as well as late fees - by enrolling in online bill-paying options. Paperless billing not only saves trees; it also eliminates the fossil fuel needed to get all those billing envelopes from them to you and back again. Plus, you'll save money on stamps.
7. Rid the Junk Mail
Around 100 million trees and 28 billion gallons of water are used to send junk mail to Americans every year, according to greendimes.com. You can stop 75% of unsolicited mail by registering on the Mail Preference Service on the Direct Marketing Association website (for a fee of $1). Within 90 days, most unsolicited mail will stop.
8. Print on Two Sides
Know what? It's not that hard to print two sides on your computer. But even though most software programs give that option, most of us still print only on one side of the page. Consider this: the U.S. alone uses 4 million tons of copy paper annually, about 27 pounds per person. Save dough and your local landfill. Print 2-sides.
9. Carpool It!
If your drive to work is 25 miles each way and at least half is in typical stop-and-go traffic, you'll save almost 10 percent of your monthly carbon emissions by carpooling. Not to mention the gas dollars you'll save and the fun you'll have sharing office gossip with your friends.
10. Choose Hormone-Free Milk
Look for milk that has been certified organic or carries the words 'no artificial hormones.' Conventional dairies inject cows with synthetic recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH), aka bovine somatotropin (rbST), to boost production. The practice has been implicated in udder infections, requiring more veterinary antibiotic use, and is banned in many countries. Some scientists worry the hormones may affect consumers.
by Melissa Breyer
The obsession for "fresh" smelling air is skyrocketing. Americans are expected to spend 1.72 billion dollars on air fresheners this year-that's enough money to buy 82,100 brand new Toyota Prius cars. Air fresheners can provide pleasant smell associations, disguise bad odors, and just make us feel warm and woozy. And itchy and congested and achy and occasionally even convulsive and comatose. Here's what you need to know about the dangers of air fresheners and tips for living without them.
The craze for air fresheners is rapidly expanding and is even infiltrating the tween and teen demographic with new products being designed to entice the 8 to 18 set. One fun and flirty plug-in comes in girl-friendly flavors and provides a light show. All the more disturbing when one considers a study by the University of Bristol called "Children of the '90s" (Alspac), which has followed the health and development of 14,000 children since before birth.
The study didn't analyze the ingredients in air fresheners, just the effects: 32 percent more babies suffered diarrhea in homes where air fresheners were used every day, compared with homes where they were used once a week or less, and they had significantly more earaches in these homes as well. Air fresheners also affected mothers-those who used them daily suffered nearly 10 percent more headaches. Perhaps most surprising is the finding that women who lived in homes with daily air freshener use had a 26 percent increased risk of depression.
Just one whiff of the thick synthetic-smelling perfume of an air freshener leaves me thinking "run away!" But could the ingredients in them really be all that bad? Amid all of the Internet chatter about the dangers of commercial air fresheners is this gem of a study by the California Air Resources Board entitled "Indoor Air Chemistry: Cleaning Agents, Ozone and Toxic Air Contaminants." (And you too can read all 183 pages of it right here. The study comprised exacting analysis of 21 widely available products from ten large chain store retailers in California. The products included a range of household cleaners and plug-in air fresheners.
The conclusion of the study was that the use of some air fresheners can produce toxic pollutants when used in the presence of ozone (a form of oxygen). Even minimal ozone concentrations were enough to drive significant indoor chemistry. When the chemicals emitted from the air-fresheners are combined with ozone, pollutants of serious health concern are produced. These include formaldehyde (a known human carcinogen and a respiratory irritant with a very low threshold for health effects) and ultrafine pollutant particles. Also of concern is the production of acetaldehyde, organic acids, other oxygenated intermediates, hydrogen peroxide, secondary organic aerosol, and hydroxyl radicals.
Of all of the products studied, air fresheners were the worst offenders. The most serious problems occur when the terpines in the air fresheners mix with ozone. Ozone enters indoor environments with outdoor air and is generally present indoors at levels that are up to 50 percent of outdoor levels. Ozone also may be introduced by indoor sources including devices designed to generate ozone for air purification, air cleaners generating ozone as a byproduct of ionization, and some photocopiers and printers. According to the California Air Resources Board, air cleaners or air "purifiers" that intentionally produce ozone should never be used; they emit very high levels of ozone, a reactive gas that may harm human health.
When using cleaning products, avoid the use of indoor air cleaning devices such as electrostatic precipitators and ionizers that can emit ozone.
Whether it's a bedroom, bathroom or kitchen, you may think your commercial air freshener is leaving your air clean and refreshed. Most air fresheners mask odors and usually contain dangerous chemicals that can cause more harm than good. Don't let a bad smell ruin your day. Follow these easy steps and find out how to make safe and eco-friendly air fresheners.
Make a baking soda and vanilla scented spray
Use vinegar to freshen the air
Perfume the air with natural scents — Simmer cinnamon and cloves, fresh ginger, or herbs in water on the stovetop.
Simmer water with a drop or two of your favorite pure essential oil.
Use organic sachets and potpourris.
By Laura Klein
Serves 3-4
Ingredients:
Rinse chicken underneath cool water and pat dry with paper towel.
Using kitchen shears, cut out the backbone of the bird by cutting along one side of the backbone and then along the other side (do not confuse with the breast bone which is between the chicken breasts). Save and freeze backbone to make chicken stock.
Heat olive oil in a sauce pan over medium low heat, add the thyme branches. Slowly bring oil to a simmer and stew for about 20 - 25 minutes until the garlic is soft. Using a slotted spoon remove the garlic cloves from the oil and let cool. Set oil aside.
Bring a grill or cast-iron grill pan to medium high heat. Wrap two bricks in aluminum foil.
Once garlic has cooled, loosen the skin around the chicken breasts, legs and wings with your fingers or a small pairing knife. You will have to cut small slits in the thighs and the wings to loosen the skin. Place stewed garlic underneath the skin of the breast, legs, and wings.
Brush chicken with garlic and herbed olive oil and salt and pepper bird to taste, using the grey sea salt.
Once grill is ready brush with any remaining herbed olive oil. Transfer whole chicken to grill, skin side down and place bricks on top of the chickens. Grill chicken about 10-15 minutes per side until the chicken is tender and the juices run clear when pierced with a small knife.
About half way to three-quarters through the cooking time brush the lemon halves with garlic and herbed olive oil and place on grill flesh side down. Grill about 5 minutes until there are nice grill marks on the lemons.
Once chick is done, serve with grilled lemons.