Great resource: Clean House, Clean Planet

I picked up a copy of Clean House, Clean Planet by Karen Logan at the library and have been learning tons from it. What's great is that she rates all of her non-toxic recipes on how well they clean, how they compare in price to highly toxic store-bought products, and she uses brand names! (Some resources try too hard to be vendor agnostic, making it hard to figure out what exactly they are talking about). To top it off, she has tested and tweaked all of these recipes, so you know they have to have succeeded on some level to be included. I have felt like a guinea pig testing the Green Cleaner recipes Metro publishes, and have not had any luck with their recipes for non-toxic ant baits. Never fear, Logan's book has 5 more recipes for me to try when the ants come marching back again next season (hurrah, hurrah).

If there's one thing lacking, it's that I wish there were more recipes like the hair spritzer and soft soap. This book focuses mostly on cleaning products (as the title would suggest). So if anyone has a recipe book for natural hygiene products like shampoo, hand sanitizer, etc., I'd love to know about it.

Carbon offsets are a joke

I've never really liked the idea of carbon offsets. It seems to me that people and companies should be looking at the root cause of what they are doing to release carbon and other greenhouse gases, and fix those things, rather than pay a penalty, plant some trees, all the while wailing "mea culpa! mea culpa!"

Love this post from eco-chick with Cheat Neutral's take on offsets. They mockingly liken offsets to buying flowers and candy to make it up to your significant other after cheating on them. To become "cheat neutral," cheaters get paired with registered faithfuls, and we all balance out. Gotta love Cheat Neutral's tagline too: "Helping you because you can't help yourself." Although this site is a joke, they've got some good references on carbon offsetting and why they think carbon offsetting is also a joke.

Help for the Lazy Laundress

All this talk of clothing swaps got me motivated to clean out my kids' drawers this morning -- and what a load! My 3-year old still had twelve-month sized pants and tees lingering around, while my daughter had about 27 tank tops (which she would wear year-round if she could) shoved in every nook and cranny. As I was sorting the clothes, I was dismayed to find so many perfectly good tops and pants with -- at this point -- permanent stains. The clothes had been washed and dried over and over again without being treated. By me, of course. Because for me, doing laundry is all about speed. How fast can I gather up the hampers, sort the clothes (yes, I'm still sorting -- but they are full loads) and get 'em in the wash? I never stop to check for stains, assuming that the Whirlpool will take care of that. Now I have a bunch of perfectly good clothes that no one else is going to want because of the stains. What a waste.

Is there help for the Lazy Laundress? How do you tackle your kids laundry, and more importantly, how do you treat those stains -- think grass stains and chocolate ice cream -- in an eco-friendly manner? (No Shout, please!) Have you had luck with the glycerin and water combo suggested by Metro?

Naked baby party, anyone?

Renee and I spent a glorious day at the Green Sprouts Festival yesterday hosting a clothing swap. Tons of people came through with bags of outgrown baby, kid and maternity clothes (some still had price tags attached!) and swapped them for clothing brought in by others, who swapped for clothing...and on and on. It was a hit! Nearly everyone asked, "When are you doing this again?" After about the 20th inquiry, Renee and I started talking about doing another one and investigating whether other folks hold clothing swaps throughout the year. It is such a great way to keep clothing in the community, prolong its lifetime and usefulness, save some money, and know that your outgrown clothes are headed to a local family who in turn have passed on their clothing.

Just think: if everyone stopped buying new clothes for a year, do you really think we'd be walking around naked? We have way more clothing than we need (c'mon, you know you do). It's not that I want to put Calvin Klein out of business, but really, manufacturing new clothes -- for the most part -- is really, really hard on the environment. The growing of non-organic cotton (heavy pesticides and major soil erosion), the emissions, and don't even get me started on the working conditions of overseas factories. We are seeing more organic cotton and bamboo clothing; progressive, sustainability-minded companies like Portland's Nau; and stores like Hoot-N-Annie, which operates on an exchange basis rather than a traditional consignment store. But there's a long, long way to go.

So, clothing swaps are a great, local means for getting new-to-you clothing without any cost to Mother Earth. Have you ever attended one? We heard that the Sunnyside neighborhood has held them before, and it would be soooo easy to organize one on a smaller scale, say within a mom's group, a preschool or a church. Would you be interested in attending one or organizing one? (I actually do know of one coming up next weekend, but I'm waiting to hear whether I can publicize it. Stay tuned!)

UPDATE: Well, okay! There is a group of women holding these swaps around Portland. Check out www.pdxswap.com, and get on their email list if you want to be notified of upcoming swaps. So glad someone is doing this...but there is always room for more of these swaps.

World Car Free Day on September 22

Thank you, Betty, for letting us know about World Car Free Day on September 22 (today! sorry for the late notice). Here's some info from their site:

Every September 22, people from around the world get together in the streets, intersections, and neighbourhood blocks to remind the world that we don't have to accept our car-dominated society.

2007 should be no different.

But we do not want just one day of celebration and then a return to "normal" life. When people get out of their cars, they should stay out of their cars. It is up to us, it is up to our cities, and our governments to help create permanent change to benefit pedestrians, cyclists, and other people who do not drive cars.

Let World Carfree Day be a showcase for just how our cities might look like, feel like, and sound like without cars…365 days a year.

As the climate heats up, World Carfree Day is the perfect time to take the heat off the planet, and put it on city planners and politicians to give priority to cycling, walking and public transport, instead of to the automobile.

I like the tie-in to not returning to "normal" car-addicted life. Just last week, the Oregonian ran an article about families who are living car-free. Proves it can be done here in Stumptown...

Easy peasy

Sometimes the smallest changes make the biggest impact. I've been wanting to put recycling pails in our two bathrooms for months! It's amazing the amount of recyclables that come out of a bathroom: toilet paper rolls, empty shampoo bottles, empty toothpaste boxes, the list goes on. In the past we've just set this stuff on the vanity, thinking we'll remember to take it to the recycle bin in the garage, and of course it just sits there and accumulates and looks messy and sometimes ends up in the trash (and then I have to pick through the snotty tissues, hair and used Q-tips to dig it out again -- lovely!). Not anymore! I picked up these galvanized aluminum pails at IKEA and made labels on my printer that read: "Recycle, please! Paper, cardboard, plastic containers and bags, metal, glass." This way, my kids start to learn what can be recycled, and my guests think twice before tossing something in the trash. The pails also have handles, which makes them easy to take out on garbage day. Gotta love a simple, low-cost solution!

Eco-healthy childcare: Wanna go green?

Heather and I are not the only parents at our preschool who want the school to be as green as possible. So this year's preschool board is asking an "old school" (it was founded in 1958) to learn some new tricks. Since we are a cooperative, the first thing we needed to do was establish a "committee" so that there would be an  "Eco-Awareness Parent" at the school.

Lucky for us, there's guidance available. The Oregon Environmental Council has established criteria to certify schools and childcare centers as "Eco-Healthy." It's something we're striving for, and hope to achieve in the next year. They have a checklist of 25 criteria to qualify as Eco-Healthy.  And a list of providers that are already meeting the criteria.

Does your child attend a qualified Eco-Healthy Childcare facility? Do you have any lessons to share about shepherding your school through the process? If so, we'd love to hear from you!

Sound off on air polution in NE Portland -- tomorrow!

Tony from Milagros Boutique sent us an email about potential increased air pollutants coming out of PDX. It seems that Boeing plans to more than double the hazardous emissions of its painting facility. DEQ is holding a public information session tomorrow night and will be seeking input from residents. Tony has more info about it over at Milagros. Here's the meeting info:

Thursday, Sept. 20, at 6:30pm
DEQ Regional Office
2020 SW 4th ave (in CH2MHILL Bldg), 4th floor, room A/B.
More info Contact: Kathy Amidon, Air Quality Program, 503-667-8414 x 55010 or: amidon.kathy@deq.state.or.us

Baby step: bring on the layers

Heather and I have been trying to "one up" another on how cold our houses have gotten in the past week. Suffice to say they've dropped to the low 60s. It's hard to believe it was 90-degrees outside just a week ago.

Regardless of the chilly temps inside, we are resisting the urge to turn on our central heaters. Silly as it may sound, I find that if I keep on the fleece I was wearing while outdoors when I'm inside my house, I'm fairly comfortable. We sleep with down blankets on all of our beds, so keeping warm at night is not a problem. Worst case scenario, I'll turn on a space heater if our frigid house gets too uncomfortable. Somehow it seems sacrilegious to turn on the central before October (or at least the calendar start of autumn). It's also time to dig out my favorite down throw blanket for curling up and reading on the sofa during those precious quiet minutes each day.

If luck is on our side, we may still have an "Indian summer" in store for us. In the meantime, take advantage of solar heat by opening your drapes on the sunnyside of the house to capture as much passive solar as you can during the day. And put on your wool socks, Birkenstocks and fleece so we all look like Oregonians for cryin' out loud!

Preparing for a green birthday party

My daughter will turn six in November, and I decided months ago that we'd try to make her party as environmentally-friendly as possible. We've talked about green birthday parties here before, but I think we all can benefit from a continued conversation about different ways to carry one out.

Gifts: A couple of months ago I told my daughter that I thought it would be nice if we did something different for her birthday by asking her friends not to buy her any birthday presents. While her dad and I, her grandparents and aunts and uncles would still give her gifts, wouldn't it be nice if she could ask her friends to bring things that would help other people? Once she was reassured that she would still get presents, she thought this was a great idea. Every once in awhile I bring it up again to remind her.

Since the idea of a no-gift birthday is still pretty new for many kids, I was thinking about asking her guests to bring their outgrown clothing, or books and puzzles that they no longer play with. There are many shelters and children's organizations that need in-kind donations like these (Community Action and Children's Relief Nursery are examples). What are other items that a child might get excited about donating?

Paper: Trying to eliminate paper and other disposables is a big goal. We'll probably send email invitations via Evite, but we'll cut up old art projects to craft handmade thank you notes. Durable plates, utensils, cups and napkins will replace paper and plastic. And since she's asking guests to not bring presents, we'll avoid wrapping paper!

Party Favors: I really don't think that these are necessary or will be missed. However, my daughter recently attended a party where they painted tiny wicker baskets as their 'take-home' gift. The kids loved the activity and bringing home a charming, useful creation. So a low-key craft project (preferably with stuff we already have) might be fun. No more bags of plastic crap made in China!

A homemade cake, water and milk to drink, and a few games will finish out the party. Since it's in late November, we're pretty much limited to indoors, which is fine if we can keep the group to a manageable size! Okay, I'm done blathering on about this. Now it's your turn. What green birthday party ideas have worked for you?