Going green seems to be the new movement. This could potentially be from an increased awareness in the suffering state of our environment, or perhaps maybe just a conscious effort on the forefront of morality. Regardless, our environment is where we live and if we want to sustain a healthy, comfortable life for future generations, then we need to do what we can now to preserve it. That is where the so-called “green movement” kicks in. Every green effort, no matter the magnitude, is fighting for the greater good and preservation of the world we inhabit.

For some, being green means a never-ending, pocket-emptying struggle to purchase the latest and greatest products and services. However, while dropping a pretty penny on a Prius would be great, it simply is not feasible for most. The good news is that being green does not have to empty your bank account. In fact, you can make small efforts from the comfort of your own home. For example, the kitchen is one of the easiest places to promote a green lifestyle. It is also the room in the house that usually consumes the most energy so starting your greener lifestyle in the kitchen is probably a good idea.

Green Kitchen

For some reason or another, a lot of people are oblivious to the amount of energy a common appliance, such as a refrigerator, consumes. Not only do your appliances consume a substantial amount of energy, but they also use electricity even when not in use. This consumption of energy has wittingly become known as “phantom” or “vampire” energy loads. To combat against this, one of the cheapest methods is by purchasing a special power strip that controls the amount of electricity being used. Aside from that, basic preventative maintenance is next. Simply do a visual lookover of your major appliances, such as your dishwasher, and look for any obvious signs such as a worn out gaskets, broken seals, or standing water. If a problem is found, it can usually be remedied by a visit here, or locally, at a home improvement store.

Naturally, the best option in transforming your energy-hog of a kitchen into a sustainable, green kitchen is by purchasing newer appliances boasting the famous Energy Star logo. However, as we all know simply by walking through Home Depot, new appliances are not cheap. If you’re lucky enough to not be constrained by a budget though, more power to you; or should I say less power?

Outside the Kitchen

A green kitchen does not necessarily stay confined to the kitchen. You would be surprised at how environmentally un-friendly the supermarket you shop at is. Moreover, open up your refrigerator and look at most any food product in there. What do you see? Plastic! Most manufacturers wastefully enclose their products in plastic wrapping and packaging. This plastic may not seem to harmful, but when you think about how much of it ends up clogging our landfills, your perspective may change. To reduce the amount of unnecessary plastic in your kitchen, create a meal plan that incorporates fresher, home-cooked meals. The reasoning behind this is that fresh ingredients usually possess much less plastic because they are intended to be used immediately, not needing to be enclosed within a thick plastic packaging.

There are plenty of ways to promote sustainability in the kitchen, and mentioned above are just a few of the possible methods. Notably, your appliances are the biggest culprits promoting an unhealthy kitchen. If you truly want to make your kitchen green, begin your battle there.

© 2012 Andrew Brusnahan

This feed comes from Green Behavior The specific article's link is: Is Your Kitchen Holding You Back?

Whenever I thought about handkerchiefs I imagine my Grandfather and his hankie that he used to blow his nose into and hack into all the time - it grossed me out.

I was 10. A decade later as I started to take a look at how environmentally friendly my decisions were I started to reconsider. After a nasty bout with a cold I had a sore nose - I found some great natural solutions for my dry nose but could the dry nose have been avoided by not using 1,000,000 facial tissues?

Yes. In a recent purchase from Lunapads I ordered a few small Organic cotton handkerchiefs and contacted Lunapads customer support about the use and care of this reusable facial tissue.

One of their support staff, Sandra Allen, was quick with a response to me. I just asked her what was on my mind and after I read her response the first time I needed to blow my nose it felt right in that cotton hankie!

She assured me the following is the case with handkerchiefs:

• They aren’t going to leak snot everywhere or into your clothes in the wash
• If you have a cold you will produce more mucus and might want to rinse your hankie in warm water and hydrogen peroxide to keep it naturally fresh and white
• Just toss it in your pocket - use it - the toss it in your laundry. Then repeat!

Handkerchief Q & A With Sandra Allen of Lunapads

Are there a lot of germs in my snot and boogers (aka mucus)?

Sandra: I did a bit of reading and generally snot is produced to help keep the respiratory system free of germs. The time when it may have germs in it is when you are catching a cold. In that case I would soak them in hot water and add some hydrogen peroxide. But generally a hankie is a personal item that is used only for you so they’re your own germs. Check out Wikipedia’s definition of mucus: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nasal_mucus#Respiratory_system or do some Google searches to read more about it. I am all fascinated by our wonderful mucus-producing bodies now that I’ve done some reading up on the subject!

What should I do with dirty or used reusable handkerchiefs when I’m not at home?

Sandra: I personally just keep them in my pocket or bag, the snot really doesn’t go anywhere and unless you’ve got a bad cold it’ll be minor what comes out.

What’s a good solution to keep clean handkerchiefs separate from dirty in my pockets, handbag, desk, or home?

Sandra: Again, you don’t need to be so particular about it. I usually only have one hankie on me during the day, but sometimes I’ll keep a folded one in a pocket of my bag/purse. The used hankie can just be kept in your coat or pants pocket, always turn the snot part inwards and it won’t get anywhere. But we do have these cute little pouches – the Luna Pouch (nylon lined!) or the Pochette (pictured below) that you could use to store your hankies in.

Terri (me): I had to let her have that little sales bit It’s just how I roll!

Should I soak my handkerchief first to make sure the snot doesn’t get all over my clothes?

Sandra: Unless you’ve got a cold (and therefore more snot!) you can just throw them straight in to the wash, no need to pre-rinse but you can if it makes you feel more comfortable.

How can I soak, pre-wash or clean a handkerchief?

Sandra: I’d just soak them in water, but if they seem little dirty then add a bit of hydrogen peroxide or a product like oxy-brite which are both natural bleaching agents. It’ll help keep them a nice cream-white and won’t damage the fabric or the environment.

Are you sure it won’t get on my clothes if I wash them in with my regular laundry?

Sandra: It won’t get on your clothes. I promise you won’t even be able to tell you had snotty hankies in with your laundry if you do combine them. Once you start using hankies you’ll be amazed at how the snot just kind of disappears in the fabric.

Terri (me): And yes, she does mean the “fabric of the handkerchief!”

Additional photo from the Lunapad website (that’s Sandra on the left.)

This feed comes from Green Behavior The specific article's link is: Not Your Grampa’s Handkerchief

Reviewing the entries for the Yes to Green for 2009 giveaway one resolution really caught my eye: Sewart’s (@nrohtrawets) idea of giving birthday gifts to people he knows to offset the carbon output by their cars seemed like a great idea.

It’s fun getting gag gifts for and from friends but what good are those items? You probably won’t use them and they were needlessly made and wasted and will most likely clog up a landfill. For 2009 I am going to be giving charitable gifts.

Birthdays, anniversaries, holidays most occasions that call for gift giving don’t always require gifts. Remember that really dumb thing someone got you for your birthday? A friend bought me some stupid road sign replica pertaining to our social drinking habit together. That has been collecting dust on a shelf for over a year now. Waste not, want not.

Here’s 2 great ideas for charitable gift giving:

Carbon Offset

Carbon fund is an excellent way to offset someone carbon using lifestyle. On their site they have an easy way to buy carbon credits based on the person’s lifestyle. Instead of using a complicated calculator that asks for information you don’t know they have basics like offset for an individual or offset for their mid sized car (vs. hybrid or suv.) You can also choose to offset a home or air travel based on size and distance respectively.

Or get them a carbon offset gift card in any amount. Find more information at http://www.carbonfund.org/.

Animal Adoption to Save the Animals

Have an animal love in your life - or do you want to teach a child you know the benefits of donations? Make a donation to the World Wildlife Fund to make a symbolic adoption of an animal of you choosing.

• For a $25 donation the WWF will send you a certificate and photo of the animal
• For $50 you will receive a stuffed animal of the critter you choose and a photo and certificate
• Higher donations vary by the animal but sometimes include a family stuffed animal or a large 30” stuffed animal in a gift box

If you just want to donate to help the WWF contribute to the well being of wild animals on Earth you can do that too, they even have an option to not receive a gift to maximize the use of your donation. We know charitable giving isn’t about what you receive in return but the gifts in return options make it a perfect birthday present for a child or someone particularly interested in a specific species. Learn more at http://www.worldwildlife.org/.

Panda photo by Simply LA via flickr used under the creative commons

This feed comes from Green Behavior The specific article's link is: Carbon Offset and Animal Adoption - Charitable Giving

Over the past few days I, @greenbehavior on Twitter, have been reaching out about green gift giving and green gift wrapping and I wanted to share the responses with you.

What Green Gifts are You Giving this Holiday Season

@leeanthro1, of soy is the new black, said:

@sunny4257, of creative interests, said:

@saveessentials, of Save Essentials, said:

Wrapping for the holidays: what are/were your green efforts?

@BeautyWriter, of Simple Ways to Save, said:

@TreesInstead, of Trees Instead - Memorial Trees, said:

@drflower, of Dr Flower’s Essentials, said:

@MJSchrader, of MJ Schrader, said:

@paigepresley said:

This feed comes from Green Behavior The specific article's link is: Green Holiday Wrapping via Twitter

One of my biggest green initiatives has been to start line drying items that can easily and conveniently be line dried. The house I live in had a clothesline already, and though I wish I’d started line drying in the summer I find it’s not hard or bad in a New England fall.

There’s a number of benefits to line drying

• Saves electricity costs
• Some people prefer the smell of line dried clothes
• Keeps clothes in better condition
• The sun is a natural whitener

You don’t necessarily have to line dry outside either, plenty of drying racks and clothes lines exist that can be used both indoors and outdoors. Rain, sleet and snow don’t stop the mailman, there’s no reason it should stop your line drying. Drying racks come in many different styles so you’ll want to get one that firs your needs best. I find that the prices at Amazon.com are great and many are available for free shipping or super saver shipping which beats driving to a brick and mortar store to spend more and waste gas! Go check some of the out and compare the ones you like!

How I Line Dry

I started out by only line drying items like my bedsheets, living room blankets, towels, hang dry only items, delicate and jeans. I’ve always line dried my dedicates and I still do put them out on a rack but I typically keep that rack indoors. I don’t use pins on it since there’s no wind in my basement, though I do often turn on a fan in the room. This helps circulate air which is very stagnant in that area and dries the clothes faster.

White bed sheets are great to hang dry outside. Check the weather first so you don’t get your plan all rained on and if it’s going to be a sunny or partly sunny day just toss the sheets and pillow cases in the wash in the morning before you start getting ready for work. By the time you’re ready to head out the door your wash should be done and you can quickly grab the moist sheets and go hang them outside. You will fall in love with the smell of fresh air dryer sheets that night and the natural whitener makes your sheets look fresh without damaging the fabrics like bleach and an electric dryer do.

Towels are great to line dry too. You hang them to dry after a shower and they are bulkier than most items so why waste the electricity to dry them in an electric dryer when for a few hours in a day you can line dry them as though you had just showered with all of them and they’re drying, waiting for the next shower.

You Don’t Have to go 100% Overnight

I still toss a load or two every now an then in the dryer. I’m just always conscious that planning ahead to leave myself enough time to line dry clothes is better for my wallet and my clothes.

Additional Resources

As always, we encourage you to learn more on the subjects we talk about here at Green Behavior!

• The site laundry list.org has a great cited top 10 list of reasons to line dry
• Here’s some data on energy efficient appliances. A great read for anyone who is going to buy or use a washer / dryer / fridge / dish washer
• Get some eco-facts about line drying from a company that specializes in line drying products: Breeze Dryer
• Get your math on with some calculations about the advantages of line drying with TerraPass
• Mom always knows best! Read up on the benefits of line drying on Mom advice
• Instructables with tips on line drying and a windy day solution for line drying on hangers
• Tree Hugger covers battling the man for your right to hang a clothesline

Products for You!

I perused through Amazon.com and found some really useful drying solutions and products for you to check out.

This feed comes from Green Behavior The specific article's link is: Line Drying Clothes - A Green Initiative