Laundry – In a general sense, washing clothes is pretty ungreen from every angle. Laundry detergents are especially unhealthy for both you and the environment. They can contain phosphates, optical brighteners, perfumes, as wells as other serious chemicals. Remember that when you wash your clothes, the water that goes down the drain will eventually make its way to a much larger body of water. So think about what you are dumping into that water. Some suggestions would be to switch to detergents that are biodegradable or a natural green detergent. Particularly, look for detergents that have the words “free and clear” or contain no dyes, phosphates or other harmful chemicals. And remember to recycle your detergent containers.

And if you are considering using bleach on a load, then look at some alternatives, such as non-chlorine bleach. Chlorine bleach has a lot of nasty chemicals in it and can cause a lot of environmental damage. Remember, the water going down the drain has to eventually end up in a larger body of water.

When you go to wash your clothes, set you washer on the cold setting. Most detergents are designed to work in cold water, so there is no need to wash in hot. This will save you some money on your electric or gas bill, too.

The best way to dry your clothes is to go back to the old fashion clothes line like your grandmother use to have. But if it is rainy or to cold outside, then go ahead and use your dryer. But first, make sure you clean out your lint trap(s) as often as you can. To speed up the drying, you can throw in a dry towel. If you use fabric softner sheets, then you might want to try something like Nellie’s Dryer Balls.

And once or twice a year, clean out the dryer vent. This is the vent that is usually behind your dryer and runs the hot air outside. These do fill up with lint debris and can cause your dryer to work much harder.

And if you have to replace your washer, then look for one that has an energy star logo on it. Another option is to go with a front-loading washer, which uses less water and is actually gentler on your clothes.

Car Exhaust

It is interesting that the big three look as if they will get some kind of funding from Congress. I just surely hope that Congress puts some major strings attached to these loans. One would be to get GM to publicly acknowledge that global warming does exist and that they have to improve the fuel efficiency of all vehicles by x-numbers of miles per year and to quickly make a transition to low or no emission vehicles.  After all, for decades they were the one’s that were denying that global warming ever existed, while continuing to make vehicles that increased the warming. 

With that said, Max Gladwell posted one of the very best videos on global warming that I have seen. This is a must see video.

But first, just a friendly reminder that when you are out purchasing items, look for ones that have the least amount of excessive packaging. And after the holidays, remember to recycle all that plastic, cardboard, and paper, as well as to save and reuse what gift wrapping materials you can for next year.

We all have come to enjoy the comfort of having a bottle of water handy when we are out and about. But with an estimated 2 out of every 10 plastic water bottles ever making their way to a recycling center, they have had a huge negative impact on our environment and landfills. One great gift for the plastic bottle drinker that you know is a reusable water bottle. There are several pretty good ones on the market.  Sigg has some nice designs, as well as Klean Kanteen, and Nathan, too.

Each day, millions of plastic bags are manufactured and introduced into our environment. Most, unfortunately, will never make it to recycling.  Instead, they end up in our rivers, streams, and oceans. This flotsam is responsible for the killing of thousands of animals, birds, and marine life. One of the largest rubbish dumps on the planet is actually the Pacific plastic soup bowl, know simply as the Pacific Patch, which is a huge vortex in the Pacific ocean that is double the size of Texas that is literally a swirling mass of plastic and other debris. To help reduce the impact, give reusable hemp or canvas shopping bags. And if you brown bag your lunch, there are wrap-n-mats, as well as happy sacks.

Everyday, millions of tons of organic waste gets tossed into the trash. With landfills filling up at a fast pace, we need to look at reducing what gets tossed. This organic waste can be easily converted to compost – either through a compost pile/tumbler or by vermicomposting (worms) rather than tossed into the trash. Getting a friend or relative started in composting is really easy. There are many used books that could be given as gifts to help them get informed, such as “Worms Eat My Garbage“. There are also many tumblers available, such as one of these.  There is even an indoor compact composter. Another way, and especially fun if they have kids, is to try vermicomposting. There are many worm bins available on the market, such as the worm condo. However, if you want to keep it simple and stylish, then you could try the Worm Inn.  Either way, your gift will help the environment on many fronts – reducing waste and hauling to the landfills, while producing free compost for your friends to use in their gardens and yards.

Each year, violent storms knock the power out to millions of homes. Being prepared for these outages is very important. A great gift to help prepare your friends and relatives is a windup lantern and flashlight combo. These are great because they will not require them to purchase batteries every year, which means that there will be that many less batteries ending up in our environment and landfills. These two products are also great for camping, as well as to have a flashlight handy in your car. 

Charitable organizations are always in need of donations. Adopting a gorilla or a sea turtle, for example, are great gifts that help protect while bringing an understanding to the ever-increasing threat our planet’s wildlife faces everyday. Some, such as the Caribbean Conservation Corp and Sea Turtle Survival League, let you go online and track where your turtle is via GPS tracking. But there are other worthy causes, such as the International Crane Foundation that need help to try and restore habitats and increase Crane populations around the world. So don’t hesitate to donate or adopt an animal on a friend’s behalf this Holiday Season.

So while you are out shopping, be smart and look for alternatives that will have a huge impact on helping the planet in the long run.

graywater system

Have you ever stopped to consider how much drinking water is being used for landscaping? During the Summer months, it can range from 40 to 65% of an average water bill, depending on your location. One solution that I touched upon a while back is rainwater harvesting, which I am a huge proponent of its use. Another and often controversial method is graywater capture. 

Graywater is the water that goes down the drains from your washing machine, bathroom sinks and showers. When you stop to think about it, the average top-loading washing machine will use between 25 and 35 gallons of water per load. Just multiple that out by how many loads you do a week, and then a month, which you can see will quickly add up to big numbers. Now imagine your shower and how many gallons that is… A lot of wasted water that is going down the drain.

Graywater harvesting is the capture, filtering, and reuse of this water. The most common use of this graywater is for irrigation purposes. Another use that is starting to catch on is the shower/sink to toilet system. Is is basically capturing water from your bathroom shower and/or sink to be used for your toilet tank.

Over the next few weeks, I will touch on some of the different graywater capture systems that are available on the market, as well as explain why graywater reuse is controversial and not legal in some areas of the country.

A light sweater will generally keep you about 2 degrees warmer than no sweater at all. A much heavier sweater will generally add about 4 degrees of warmth versus no sweater. And with some pretty neat sustainable and organic textiles available on the market these days, why wouldn’t you wear one?

Wearing a sweater will help you save money by allowing you to set your home or office heating system just a few degrees lower, which will save you a sizable amount of energy. To me, it is amazing how many people will crank up the heat rather than simply dressing for the weather.

So when the weather starts turning cooler in your area, remember that it is both chic and green to wear a sweater. And you will probably make your grandmother happy that you are wearing the sweater she got you two Holiday Seasons ago. 

note: a great place to go for winter clothes is a thrift or second-hand store (reuse).

Most of this movement came about with an initiative to make most of the cabs in NYC green by switching to hybrids by 2012. With strong support from Mayor Bloomberg, cab companies have begun to purchase these hybrids.  Most of the drivers that I spoke to actually prefer the hybrids.  One said he saves a lot of money on gas and that they are pretty zippy.  

However, recent court developments have put the brakes on the city requiring a switch over to hybrids. Read story:  Bloomberg thwarted in Effort To Green NYC’s Taxis.

What do you think about this?

This all got me thinking about what a poor job America has done with recycling and reclaiming building materials.  We just board up these old buildings and then clear some land down the road and put up another.  What if the rest of the world wanted to live as we do, how fast would our resources be depleted?

So if you are planning to do any type of renovation to your home or building, look into the possibility of using alternative sources other than strictly new.  There are now companies and organizations that offer reclaimed materials. So how cool would it be to know that your “new” wooden floor was actually part of an old brewery or sewing machine factory at one time.

After a few months of your worms doing their thing, you will now have some high-quality “black gold” (compost) that will need to be harvested. The pile method is just simply laying out some newspaper and creating cone-shaped piles out of your compost to help separate the worms from the “worm poop”. Because worms will travel away from the light, after an hour or so they will be at the bottom of the pile. This will allow you to scoop off the top 1/3, which should be worm free. Repeat this several times throughout the day, and you will have your harvest.

Now, I know there are more advanced methods that people have created, such as canister separators to actual vibrating machines, but I am old school and the pile method really doesn’t bother me. 

With that said, I have been seriously considering trying out the Worm Inn. This is a pretty clever design in itself. It allows you to harvest directly from the bottom without sorting or dumping the compost out. To me, this really makes vermicomposting so easy and effortless.  Just feed and occasionally take a little compost out at the bottom. 

Whichever method you use, they will all produce the same results:  Less waste going into a landfill and beautiful, free, nutrient-rich, organic compost for you garden.