a recent article in the San Francisco Chronicle reveals that many common commercial cleaners (including Simply Green) contain the chemical EGBE that has been linked to fertility disorders. although there are many environmental cleaning products on the market now, it is always cheaper and more sustainable to make your own. below are some tips and recipes I found while researching homemade alternatives.
-all purpose spray cleaner
1 cup white vinegar
1 cup water
combine in a spray bottle and use for surfaces.
-toilet bowel cleaner
use undiluted vinegar
-abrasive cleaner
sprinkle baking soda onto a damp sponge for bathtubs, sinks and refrigerators. for tougher grime, make a paste of baking soda and water, apply to the tub or sink, and allow to stand for 10 to 20 minutes.
-glass cleaner
club soda is an effective glass cleaner. or try this recipe: 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon non-toxic liquid detergent 3 tablespoons vinegar 2 cups waterput all the ingredients into a spray bottle, shake it up a bit, and use as you would a commercial brand.-bleaching
lemon juice acts as a natural bleaching agent. put lemon juice onto white linens and clothing and allow them to dry in the sun. stains will be bleached away.-removing rust
sprinkle a little bit of salt on the rust, squeeze a lime over the salt until it is nicely soaked in lime juice. leave the mixture on for two or three hours. use the leftover rind as a scrubber.
-furniture polish
1/2 teaspoon oil, such as olive (or jojoba, a liquid wax)
1/4 cup vinegar or fresh lemon juice
mix the ingredients in a glass jar. dab a soft rag into the solution and wipe onto wood surfaces. cover the glass jar and store indefinitely.
-mold killer
2 teaspoons tea tree oil
2 cups water
combine in a spray bottle, shake to blend, and spray on problem areas. do not rinse.
-laundry powder 1/4 cup Washing Soda (not the same as baking soda. it is found in the laundry aisle of some stores)
1/4 cup Borax
1/4 cup grated natural soap
you can also mix these together in larger amounts and store for later use.
-fabric softener
add 1/4 cup of baking soda to the rinse cycle.
ideas for even more formulas are available on eartheasy.com
at the first US Social Forum last month, 10,000 people came to Atlanta to attend workshops addressing immigration, food sovereignty, health care, climate change, queer rights and hundreds of other social and environmental justice concerns. Naomi Klein calls such activism against oppressive economies and states "a movement of movements." Vandana Shiva believes it is "Earth Democracy," a practice which "connects the particular to the universal, the diverse to the common, and the local to the global."
in this time of both global information and global corporate control, we can understand the commonality of our causes. (coca cola contaminates local water wells in India->union leaders in coca cola plants in Colombia are murdered->the obesity epidemic in the US is caused in part by soft drink sponsorship of underfunded schools.) human rights and environmental preservation are now recognized as interdependent. but this "movement of movements" is not united by a single ideology. it is more organic than historical forms of activism, functioning as natural systems do. localized and adaptive, it is a network of people working to sustain life in their own communities.
when mapped, the dynamics of this "movement of movements" have often been compared by theorists to the internet. and the internet has done much to link the efforts of dispersed organizations and individuals. Paul Hawken writes "Webs are complex systems of interconnected elements that link individual actions to larger grids of knowledge and movement. Web sites link to other sites with more links to other sires ad infinitum, creating a critical, fluid mass of information that evolves and grows as needed- very much like an immune response. At the heart of all this is not technology but relationships, tens of millions of people working towards restoration and social justice."
there is, of course, great irony in this phenomenon. relationships are formed in the forums of a disembodied medium. technology is used to learn the skills (local plant identification, sustainable farming practices) common in pre-technology societies. computers used to help labor activist and ecologists educate and organize, are manufactured in low wage factories using toxic materials. and, like other common electronic devices, they consume a large amount of energy with use and create hazardous waste in their disposable design. so here are some ways to minimize the environmental impact of our computers, while continuing to use them as tools.
-according to a variety of sources, including a New York Times article, laptop computers use less energy than desktops, LCD screens use less energy than CRTs and Macs use less energy than PCs. energy star certified computers can be found on this EPA website.
-setting your computer to sleep or hibernation mode when idling can save a lot of energy. an easy guide to changing your settings is available here. or you can download a free "Co2 Saver" program that will change the settings for you.
-you can locate places to recycle computers and other electronics on the Earth 911 website.
if you have any other ideas you'd like me to list, please feel free to write me: aswecanblog@gmail.com. i'd also be happy to research specific topics.
1. from "Days of War, Nights of Love" by the CrimethInc. Collective:
"The demand that radicals be free from hypocrisy, free from any implication in the system has the same effects as the Christian demand that people be free from sin: it creates frustration and despair in those who would seek change. Rather than seek to have clean hands, we should aim to make the inevitable negative effects of our life worthwhile by offering enough positive activity to more than balance the scales. This approach to the problem can save us from being immobilized by fear of hypocrisy or shame about our "guilt."
2. from "Arctic Dreams" by Barry Lopez:
"If there is a stage at which an individual life becomes truly adult, it must be when one grasps the irony in its unfolding and accepts responsibility for a life lived in the midst of such paradox. One must live in the middle of contradiction, because if all contradictions were eliminated at once life would collapse. There are simply no answers to come of the great pressing questions. You continue to live them out, making your life a worthy expression of leaning into the light.
3. Clea Duvall's video "It's Not Easy Being Green."
i believe that accountability is crucial. but i have also begun to understand that contradictions are a witness to life's complexity. if we abandon the idea of being "good" we may just become far more effective and creative people.
i recently heard an interview with Paul Hawken, author of Blessed Unrest: How the largest movement in the world came into being. during this interview Hawken made the crucial observation that global warming is a new form of colonialism. we've all heard the statistics. how the US has 5 percent of the world's population but consumes 26 percent of the world's energy. or: on average, someone in the US uses 15 times the energy of someone living in the global south. but it is the citizens of the global south who will be most impacted by climate change.
i understand that global warming is a crisis that requires political agitation and corporate accountability. i also know how easy it is to be overwhelmed by the magnitude of this problem, to leave the work of change to a few activists and legislators. so here are some simple ways that we can lessen our impact, to weight those statistics towards something more equitable.
-consider what household appliances are really necessary. this (british) table lists the average energy consumption of most.
-even though refrigerators use a large amount of energy there are ways to improve their efficiency. 1) clean the dust off the back coils with a damp cloth every 6 months or so. 2) move your fridge away from your oven or stove. 3) let food cool completely before placing it inside the fridge.
-even when electrical appliances are off, they still draw energy, an energy loss that composes 5% of your electric bill. to save energy unplug toasters, stereos, computers, etc. from outlets when you aren't using them, or plug everything into power strips that can easily be switched off when you leave.
-make sure your computer goes into sleep or hibernation mode when not in use. a free program for ensuring this can be found at co2saver.snap.com.
-about 5% of all electricity used in US homes is used to dry clothes. if you don't have access to a yard or balcony, drying racks (as sobriquet67 suggests) are great for indoors and don't require much space.
-replace incandescent light bulbs with compact florescent bulbs. you can calculate your savings for doing so here.
-some other steps towards home efficiency (for both renters and owners) include wrapping your heater in a water heater blanket, regularly cleaning filters in AC units, caulking leaky windows and putting rugs under door jams.
the US Department of Energy writes that "just by using the "off the shelf" energy-efficient technologies available today, we could cut the cost of heating, cooling, and lighting our homes and workplaces by up to 80%." of course high energy use in the US is due to our patterns of consumption as much as our personal use of fuel and electricity. eating locally, choosing a vegetarian diet and avoiding packaged foods and goods are all ways to reduce your carbon footprint.
links:
-90% Emissions Reduction Project
-PG&E Energy Calculator
-Green Power Options (by State)
-No Impact Man
p.s. air travel is a huge contributor to global warming, though the pollution from flying is rarely addressed (i just learned that taking 1 cross country flight effectively canceled out an entire year of not driving.) so when traveling, taking the train is the most environmental option.
