Tuesday, August 19, 2008

A New Sniffing Sensation


First was the laundry detergent. Now I've found Clorox GreenWorks dish soap and again...I'm WOWed by the scent! These GreenWorks folks have it down when it comes to smelling good. I'm sure there's science behind that, or maybe it's as simple as things that are natural smell good. Either way, I find myself sneaking sniffs of the stuff.

Switching to natural cleaners is a perfect way to transition into being greener. But it's hard to switch when we often have brands we've used for years. For me, as a Clorox user, I was willing to try the GreenWorks dish soap without putting up too much fuss.

The real test came when I used it in my sink on foods that are notoriously "tough" to scrub off....peanut butter, baked on cheese, burnt veggies (I'm green, I never claimed to be a good cook). Clorox GreenWorks dish soap passed with flying green colors!

Try it and let me know what you think...about the dish soap, not my weird smelling obsession.

And thanks to Mom Central for introducing me to Clorox GreenWorks!

Janine


One way to keep leaves out of the landfill


I'm really a city girl and because of that have always loved the Montgomery County Agricultural Fair that comes through every August.

I get my fill of animal smells, Wrangler jeans, and 4H, while my kids get their fill of games, and rides.

This year we explored the outer regions of the fair where I came across a booth that had information about a county-wide compost program that seemed only too good to be true.

I realized that all those brown yard bags filled with grass, leaves, and trimmings don't just get emptied into the local landfill, or burned. They are brought to a large compost facility and transformed into products called Leafgro and Compro.

Whomever thought that one up gets a LilGreen pat on the back!
If you live in Montgomery County, Maryland, click HERE for more information and to find locations where Leafgro and Compro are sold.

Janine


Monday, August 11, 2008

The "Tide" is changing!


My house was always a die-hard Tide house. Nothing did laundry like Tide, and if it did, we didn't want to hear about it.

And then I went and decided to get green.

To Mr. Green's dismay, I switched to Seventh Generation natural laundry detergent...and fell in love!

It's 2x concentrated so you can use less per load.
And the smell...ooooh the smell. So yummy and clean and refreshing!

My choice is white flower and bergamot citrus and if I cared to do my homework I'd look that up but I don't - I just like how it smells....a lot!

It makes my nose tingle in a good way and I...get this...look forward to doing laundry!

Who knew I'd ever put that in writing.
Janine

Sunday, August 3, 2008

Don't Trash those Broken Crayons

I don't know whether to laugh or cry.
I recently found out about a crayon recycling program called Crazy Crayons.
But...
How many broken crayons have
I tossed into the trash?
Hundreds? At least.



This program takes old and broken crayons, with the wrappers still on, and recycles them into mixed-color crazy crayons.

One woman, LuAnn Foty, is to thank for developing this program and "saving over 34,000 lbs of unwanted crayons" according to the website. And,
buying Crazy Crayons helps the program continue, and make great gifts!

Lil Green tip: shipping one large box uses less material and will cost less than shipping lots of smaller boxes.

Ship crayons to:
CRAYON RECYCLING PROGRAM
LAF Lines, Ltd.
721 Village Road
Pelican Lake, WI 54463


I'm already thinking this would make a great school, scouting, or family recycling project. It's easy. It's little. But it will make a big difference.

Janine

Saturday, August 2, 2008

To Market to market with my new Envirosax


I'm headed off to the farmer's market with a little green gift from my eco-friendly mom. It's an Envirosax and it's waaaay cute, very functional, and green!

These lightweight, water-proof, reusable bags fold up into a tiny pouch that fits easily into my purse. I'm already a fan of the reusable grocery bags and I leave a stash of them in my car. But there are often times I forget to grab them and they certainly don't fold up this small.

My Envirosax will come in handy at the market,
at the fair (to carry all those horrible prizes my husband likes to win),
at the pool (to carry home wet suits),
just about anywhere!

There is a line of kids bags too. How cool!

Janine