Hello, Friends! How was your week? Did you have a fun Memorial Day weekend? Did summer finally arrive at your house?
My family traveled to Georgia over Memorial Day weekend, we hadn’t been back to visit since we moved away over 7 years ago! It was a much needed break and it was so much fun to visit those beautiful Georgia trees and stay with amazing friends! (Thanks Dion + Gina!) Not to mention, I am a huge sucker for a road trip, I swear I would jump in a car anytime and hit to road to anywhere!
This weekend, we are celebrating another dear friend’s birthday and spending the rest of the weekend at the beach. I am looking forward to sitting in the sunshine with my toes in the sand. I am in full summer mode and really can’t get enough of our Florida summer weather, it is definitely beach weather.
While I wrap birthday gifts and pack my beach bag, here are a few green things I thought you might enjoy:
NOTE FROM SWEET GREENS: This post, A Substitute for Clean Water: There is None was written by Jenna. Jenna is a freelance writer who writing focuses on eco-lifestyle, health and wellness.
That cool, clean water straight from the tap. I grew up with it. As an inhabitant of the Northeastern Washington to Boston population corridor in the United States, it was a sure bet that drinking whatever came from the tap would be safe, plentiful, clear and delicious.
It was on a trip to Philadelphia in the 1980s that I first saw water for sale in a supermarket. What’s the deal, I asked a friend. “Oh, we never drink the water from the tap,” the friend replied. “Not in this city, we don’t.”
Water reminds me of that very pointed cliche about freedom: You don’t understand what freedom is until you have it taken away from you.
Water falls into that category. You don’t appreciate clear, clean, fresh water until you have that taken away from you. Yes, I knew that states in the West viewed water in an entirely different manner that I was used to. Now, however, with energy companies seeking to using fracking methods to mine natural gas throughout the country — including the Northeast corridor — suddenly clean water is the talk of the town. We’re living now with a clean-water scare that is hard to overestimate. Where it takes us at this point is hard to say.
That said, clean water is tasteless, odorless, colorless. This makes it very hard to describe.
So, let’s describe what clean water is not. That is easier, even though it is much, much scarier.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, in fact, can define what clean water is not supposed to be based on contaminants that include microorganisms, disinfection byproducts, disinfectants, inorganic chemicals, organic chemicals and radionuclide. That would be, in less scientific jargon, living organisms, chemicals of various types and varieties of radiation that could poison the water.
The EPA chart on pollutants quantifies the scare factor. The microorganism cryptosporidium, is safe only when it is not present — it has a zero tolerance level. If it makes it into your water, expect stomach aches, cramps and diarrhea. Where does it hail from? From human and animal fecal waste.
That happens to be the first containment on the list. There is, likewise, zero tolerance for Giardia lamblia, Legionella and various coli-form bacteria.
Disinfectants include chlorine, which can cause eye and nose irritation, stomach discomfort above its tolerance level. Inorganic substances include lead, which can cause delayed development and serious neurological damage in children and kidney problems in adults. Nitrates above 10 parts per million, can kill infants. Thallium at 0.0005 parts per million, can cause changes in the blood, intestine, kidney and liver problems, as well as hair loss.
The point is made: Messing with the water can quite simply kill you and does more frequently than most Americans realize. One Pacific Institute report from 2002 estimated that 135 million people would die from unhealthy drinking water between 2000 and 2020.
One rule of thumb holds that if your drinking water is unsafe, it is a good time to pack your bags and move. If your local well is unsafe, there is not much you can do about it.
Often, however, that isn’t the case, especially if the problem is unhealthy microorganisms. Water in that case can frequently treated (often with something that is also toxic) and left to flush itself clean again. If the source of the problem is found, water can return to health after some time has passed.
Whatever the problem, finding the source of the pollutants is key and this is one of the critical factors when it comes to fracking, which involves many, many drilling sites. As such, if the practice is proven to be unsafe, then there could be tens of thousands of wells each contaminating local water sources.
Many people turn to water purifying systems installed in their home, including the use of water softeners, filters and desalination techniques. Some systems use reverse osmosis. Others use descaling.
Much of the effort of water treatment in the home is to protect the pipes, the bathroom tiles and the kitchen utensils from a build of of residue that is created by hard water, which is water with a heavy concentration of minerals.
While minerals can build up on pipes and cooking ware, some minerals are good for you and are not harmful. Clean water, in that case, is a requirement for life. Clean, clear, fresh water softened with a private system, in that case, is a very popular luxury.
NOTE FROM SWEET GREENS: This post, Water Conservation Saves the Earth and Saves Money was written by Jenna. Jenna is a freelance writer who writing focuses on eco-lifestyle, health and wellness.
Your home is one of the first places to start conserving natural resources and reduce your carbon footprint. Making sure your home is properly insulated not only keeps you warm during the cold months, the insulation, venting and weather stripping can also reduce your energy usage during the warmer months that are popping up ahead.
While energy conservation at home is super important, another area of concern is water conservation. The truth is that there is a shortage of fresh water on this planet. In fact, including municipal water supplies, less than three percent of the water on this planet could be considered fresh. Adopting water conservation practices now will not only preserve our water supply, it can also save you money. There are several ways to conserve water around your home. The two easiest ways are to modify the appliances and equipment that use water, and to modify your behavior.
Appliance and Equipment Modification
Appliance and equipment modification usually involves making changes to your plumbing, or to the devices that use water in your home. Even if you don’t own your home, or you live in an apartment, you can still make many of these changes:
Upgrade Your Toilets
Prior to 1994, the average residential toilet used 3.5-to-5 gallons of water per flush. In 1994 all residential toilets were required to operate on 1.6 gallons or less. However, if you have an older toilet, you could still have a high-flush model. If you can’t replace the toilets, insert a displacement device into the upper tank to conserve your water use. A displacement device makes the water level appear higher than it is, similar to when you sit in a full bathtub and the water rises. Common displacement devices include bricks and water-filled plastic containers. If you want to add a bathroom to a space in your home that doesn’t have traditional plumbing – a Saniflo toilet could be the solution for you.
Install Special Aerators on Your Faucets and Showerheads The aerator makes the water bubbly and provides good water pressure while simultaneously reducing the amount of water flowing through the faucet. So you can enjoy your shower, and actually rinse your hair, without using too much water.
Install Shower Timers To reduce your time in the shower, and the amount of water down the drain use a timer when you jump in the shower.
Check and Repair All Leaks, Especially in the Toilet Toilet leaks can send hundreds of gallons of water down the drain and cost you a lot of money in water and sewer fees.
Invest in High-Efficiency Washing Machines and Dishwashers
When it is time to replace the machines that you currently have choose machines are designed to clean effectively with the minimum amount of water.
Behavior Modification
Behavior modification is essentially changing the way you use water, here are 7 ways that will have you conserving water in no time:
Take fewer showers during the week, if possible;
Plug the bathtub drain, during your shower, and reuse the collected water to flush your toilet;
Consider only flushing the toilet once a day, or when you have solid waste;
Avoid running the water while shaving, brushing your teeth, or washing dishes;
If you have a dishwasher, avoid running the washer when half empty;
If you have a washing machine, adjust the water level based on the size of the load;
Use rainwater for gardening, washing your car, and other outdoor uses.
YOUR TURN: How are you conserving water in your home?
I wanted to celebrate Earth Day this year with a simple project (it’s a Tuesday, and school nights are super busy over here) that we could enjoy in our home year-round. Eben and I went to work transforming a handful of leftover wine corks into a trio of super sweet mini succulent planters. They are now hanging on our fridge and bring a little bit of the outdoors and happiness whenever we see them. Jump over to Target for the step-by-step tutorial, and get started – I guarantee you can finish this project up before dinnertime!
Going green starts with small steps – it’s those little choices that can equal a huge impact in the long run. Many small steps are easy, affordable and start with the choices that you make when doing your marketing. Here are my 10 favorite ways to green your home – these are very affordable, in fact they all cost less than $10.
1. Ditch It Paper towels and napkins are used only once and then tossed in the trash. Ditch the paper and choose reusable organic cotton dishcloths and napkins instead. This simple step alone will save countless resources and eliminate the gas emissions created during the manufacturing and transportation of these paper products.
2. Bottle It Instead of buying beverages that come in plastic or even glass containers, pick up a BPA free reusable bottle for each member of your family. Keep the bottles with you at all times, attach your child’s to their backpacks when sending them off to school and throw one in your handbag or car for drinks on the go.
3. Bag It If you, your spouse or children take their lunch to school or work everyday, invest in a great reusable lunchbox or bag. Paper and plastic lunch bags are wasteful, since they are tossed after being used only once!
4. Recharge It The next time you need to pick up batteries for the TV or Wii remote, choose an eco-friendly, rechargeable version. Not only do rechargeable batteries save hundreds of single-use batteries from being tossed, they save you money too. Win, win.
5. Trash It Most trash bags on the market are not biodegradable, which means that it will take thousands of years for the trash bag to break down (not to mention the contents inside). Instead, pick up trash bags that are biodegradable and will break down in only a few months.
6. Compost It Instead of throwing those leftovers or salad scraps into the trash, compost them instead. Regardless of the type of home you live in, you can compost. There are many different composter options available, including ones that you can build out of recycled or leftover materials, rolling composters and even small electronic composters for inside a small home or apartment. (However, the later option is more expensive.)
7. Clean It One of the most dangerous, toxic and harmful items in your home, may be your cleaning products. Not only are these conventional products dangerous to the environment, they are dangerous to the health of your family. There are many all-natural household cleaning products available that are eco-friendly and non-toxic, you can even make your own.
8. Go Low-Flow A low-flow shower-head will use less than 2 gallons of water per minute, that is still a lot of water going down the drain. However, it is much better than the 5 gallons per minute that an older shower-head will use. The best option is to turn off the shower while you soap up or shampoo your hair.
9. Bulk Up When you can buy products from the bulk section, not only is it more affordable, but you can bring your own reusable containers, eliminating the need for product packaging.
10. Hang It Instead of drying all of your clothes in the dryer, hang them up to dry. You can utilize a clothesline outside or hang them up in your laundry room. Not only does this save a lot of energy, your clothing will last longer and smell fresher too.
What simple, affordable choices do you choose when greening your everyday routine?
Hello, Friends! How was your week? Did you have a fun Memorial Day weekend? Did summer finally arrive at your house?
