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Green Clean Makes Newsweek's TipSheet
Newsweek features Green Clean in its July 4 issue as a "top pick":
"Our top picks for the week ahead: 'Green Clean' by Lidna Mason Hunter and Mikki Halpin ($16.95). It's the ultimate guide to keeping your home spick-and-span without poisoning your family."
Posted by GreenClean at 12:19 PM
Taking Care of the Drain
Drain cleaners are among the most dangerous household products. The best way to avoid using caustic drain cleaners is to prevent clogs and buildups in the first place. Scrape dishes well before you put them in the sink, use a trap or screen to keep food scraps out, and don’t pour your cooking grease or oil down the drain. Grease builds up in your pipes and your community’s pipes, eventually blocking them and causing sewer leaks and spills. Instead, allow the grease or oil to cool and collect it in a sealable container, then throw it away or compost it. A few cities offer grease and oil recycling, and a local restaurant may be able to include your household grease in their commercial recycling.
Once a week, pour a kettle of boiling water down the drain to flush it out. If the drain does become clogged, use a plunger, or try the DIY recipe below. Enzyme-based drain cleaners break down organic matter that clogs drains; they work overnight, don’t use caustic chemicals, and are safe for septic systems. For stubborn clogs, using a plumber’s snake — or just calling a plumber — is a good choice.
Make Your Own Drain Opener
Add one cup baking soda and one cup vinegar to a large pot of boiling water (they’ll fizz) and pour down the drain; the combination will dissolve fatty, greasy clogs. Flush with tap water until it clears.
Posted by GreenClean at 10:17 AM
The Three Graces: Baking Soda, Vinegar, and Soap
Throughout Green Clean, you will find recipes for simple home-cleaning preparations. The majority call for baking soda, distilled white vinegar, or liquid soap. These three nontoxic ingredients, singly and together, can deal with most household cleaning tasks.
Baking soda is alkaline and therefore works well on acidic substances such as proteins, grease, and animal messes. It is slightly abrasive and can be used for scouring. It’s also a natural deodorizer and grease cutter, and has mild bleaching properties. Some recipes may call for washing soda, which is a more alkaline (and more powerful) form of baking soda.
Vinegar is acidic. It dissolves scale, inhibits mold, and cuts soap scum. For household cleaning always use plain distilled white vinegar. Vinegar works well on alkaline substances and stains such as coffee, rust, tea, and liquor.
Simple castile soap (made with olive oil) and vegetable-based soap (such as Murphy’s Oil Soap) have a neutral pH. Soap cleans by attaching to soil at the molecular level, so that the soil can be rinsed away with water.
Posted by GreenClean at 11:53 AM
Computer Recycling Update
Some of the most difficult household products to recycle -- or even dispose of -- are electronics. Computers contain hundreds of different materials -- a few of them hazardous, and many of them recyclable. Green Clean details a few options for dealing with obsolete computers. Some compute makers, including Apple, Dell, Hewlett-Packard, and IBM can recycle your machine, though some do so only when you buy a new one. GreenDisk is one independent company that accepts obsolete equipment.
The latest computer-recycling news comes from the State of Maryland. The Washington Post reports, "Starting next year, computer makers that want to do business in Maryland must kick in up to $5,000 annually to help recycle their products under a new state law designed to cope with the roughly 60,000 tons of "electronic waste" that pile up in Maryland each year.
The law, signed last month by Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R), affects only makers of desktop and laptop computers, including monitors, but it hints at expanding to include television sets in the near future.
Some of the country's largest computer makers helped shape the legislation and gave it the final nod, though many did so grudgingly. At least one of them, Hewlett-Packard Co., which has 20 percent of the U.S. market, has not decided if it will pass the cost on to consumers."
Posted by GreenClean at 04:33 PM