Clean and Green

As a child, I hated cleaning day, but not for the reasons you might think. I disliked it because of the strong chemicals used to clean the house. The harshly strong scents of ammonia, starch, and chlorine bleach hurt my nose, gave me headaches, and caused skin rashes, but I didn’t connect my symptoms with cleaning products until I was an adult.

Most people don’t associate their home-sweet-homes with toxins but many homes are unknowingly filled with them. And many commonly used cleaning products are just as bad, if not worse.

For example:

• Scented laundry detergent, fabric softener, and dryer sheets

• Mold and mildew

• Toxic gases from: carpeting and rugs, shower curtains, sheets and towels, and dry-cleaned clothing to name a few

• Plug-in, spray, and other air fresheners

The library has many books to help you green your house for the environment and your health.

You can clean your house with borax, baking soda, lemon juice, and white vinegar. Even old-fashioned, been-around-forever Bon Ami cleanser is non-toxic or you can buy many of the green cleaning products available everywhere now in ready-made formulas including Seventh Generation, J.R. Watkins, and Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day to name a few.

For more ways to detox your home of harmful chemicals that cause allergies, headaches, and skin irritations, here are a few suggestions:

Toxic Free: How to Protect your Health and Home from the Chemicals that Are Making You Sick

by Debra Dadd-Redalia

Home Safe Home: Protecting Yourself and Your Family From Everyday Toxics and Harmful Household Products

by Debra Lynn Dadd

What’s in This Stuff? The Hidden Toxins in Everyday Products and What You Can Do About Them by Pat Thomas

~Maria

Your New Year

Each January, many of us decide to change our lives. There are the usual things we want to do:

       

Eat healthier: 

• Culinary Intelligence: The Art of Eating Healthy (and Really Well) by Peter Kaminsky
• Everyday Happy Herbivore: Over 175 Quick-and-easy Fat-free and Low-fat Vegan Recipes by Lindsay S. Nixon
• Hungry For Change: Ditch the Diets, Conquer the Cravings, and Eat Your Way to Lifelong Health by James Colquhoun and Laurentine ten Bosch

End bad habits:

• The Procrastination Equation: How to Stop Putting Things Off and Start Getting Stuff Done by Piers Steel
• Smoke Free in 30 Days: The Pain-free, Permanent Way to Quit by Daniel F. Seidman
• Would It Kill You to Stop Doing That?: A Modern Guide to Manners by Henry Alford

Handle money better:

• All Your Worth: The Ultimate Lifetime Money Plan by Elizabeth Warren and Amelia Warren Tyagi
• The Behavior Gap: Simple Ways to Stop Doing Dumb Things with Money by Carl Richards
• Get a Financial Life: Personal Finance in Your Twenties and Thirties by Beth Kobliner

Work out and lose weight:

• The Big Book of Health and Fitness: A Practical Guide to Diet, Exercise, Healthy Aging, Illness Prevention, and Sexual Well-being by Philip Maffetone
• Body by You: The You are Your Own Gym Guide to Total Fitness for Women by Mark Lauren with Joshua Clark
• Chubster: A Hipster’s Guide to Losing Weight While Staying Cool by Martin Cizmar

These are all good things to focus on, but here are some ideas for other changes you could make.

       

Add some creativity to your life:

• The Book of Doing: Everyday Activities to Unlock Your Creativity and Joy by Allison Arden
• The Flavor Thesaurus: A Compendium of Pairings, Recipes, and Ideas for the Creative Cook by Niki Segnit
• How to Write Songs on Guitar by Rikky Rooksby

Forgive someone:

• Beyond Revenge: The Evolution of the Forgiveness Instinct by Michael E. McCullough
• Finding Forgiveness: A 7-step Program for Letting Go of Anger and Bitterness by Eileen Borris-Dunchunstang
• Unconditional Forgiveness: A Simple and Proven Method to Forgive Everyone and Everything by Mary Hayes-Grieco

Make it yourself:

• Artisan Cheese Making at Home: Techniques & Recipes for Mastering World-class Cheeses by Mary Karlin
• Green Beauty Recipes: Easy Homemade Recipes to Make Your Own Natural and Organic Skincare, Hair Care, and Body Care Products by Julie Gabriel
• How to Make Your Own Brewskis: –The Go-to Guide for Craft Brew Enthusiasts by Mark Murphy & Jordan St. John

Show gratitude:

• 365 Thank Yous: The Year a Simple Act of Daily Gratitude Changed My Life by John Kralik
• Focus on the Good Stuff: The Power of Appreciation by Mike Robbins
• Living Life as a Thank You: The Transformative Power of Daily Gratitude by Nina Lesowitz and Mary Beth Sammons

Whatever you choose to do with your new year, I hope you have a wonderful one.

–Aisha

I (Somewhat) Hate Being Irish

Perhaps the only holiday I dislike as much as Christmas is St. Patrick’s Day.  I also loathe being Irish.  That’s right.  Amongst other things, I have little pride in my ancestors’ alcoholism, bad skin, belligerence, and boiled potato cuisine.

But what is perhaps best about public libraries is that they are places to be easily introduced to different cultures and to overcome one’s prejudice.  So on March 17th, instead of being outside watching some hooligan in a green hat vomit on the sidewalk, I’ll be working at the library amidst some of the wondrous things that Ireland and the Irish have to offer.  For instance:

• Though William Butler Yeats (born in Sandymount, Ireland in 1865) made forays into mysticism that got a bit ridiculous, I love his poem “The Lake Isle of Innisfree.”
• The books and plays by brilliant, witty Oscar Wilde (born in Dublin, Ireland in 1854) have at least one quotable line on every single page.  I just re-read The Picture of Dorian Gray a couple of months ago and I also drove around listening twice in a row to an audio recording of The Importance of Being Earnest without realizing that it featured the guy who played Spike on Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
• Oh, Irish music.  I don’t care for most jigs and reels and pub sing-a-longs.  I also don’t know why people (including lots of ex-skinheads) like The Pogues and their thoroughly unappealing sounding frontman, Shane McGowan, so much.  What I do think the Irish are great at, though, are the sentimental songs like “Galway Bay” that long for home.
• You might know him from Bridesmaids, but I love Irish actor Chris O’Dowd and his accent in the comedy series The IT Crowd.
• Why would one sit in a pub when surrounded by fabulously green hills, harsh but beautiful coastline, and ancient, mysterious stone structures?  Until I actually go visit Ireland myself (and I will soon!), I’ll be thumbing through books with lots of pictures of it.

— Tim O’Tim McTim

Go Home Green!

Make your home Earth friendly every day.  Whether you are thinking of building, remodeling an existing home, or just need to clean up the one you have, the Library has resources that can help you green your home environment.

Build Green and Save: Protecting the Earth and Your Bottom Line by Matt Belcher
Let this book show you how to select green building materials, make sure your construction activities are green, and explain the benefits of green building practices.

The Big Green Book of Recycled Crafts: Over 100 Earth-Friendly Projects
Did you know you can fuse together plastic shopping bags and make your own reusable tote? Or that old blue jeans can be turned into at least 5 different crafts? These and other fun and easy projects are explained in this book, along with lots of pictures to guide you.

Home Enlightenment Made Easy: with Annie B. Bond
Watch easy to follow instructions on this DVD for making your own nontoxic formulas to clean your home, fabrics, and even your face!

Green This!: Volume One, Greening Your Cleaning by Deirdre Imus
Room by room, this book deals with the dangers of commonly used household cleaning products and then gives greener, homemade cleaners as substitute options.

Practical Green Remodeling: Down-to-Earth Solutions for Everyday Homes by Barry Katz
With useful information such as a simple explanation (and diagrams!) of how geothermal systems work and 10 ways to reduce your water usage, this book goes beyond the typical green building materials recommendations. But it has those too!

Easy Green Living: The Ultimate Guide to Simple, Eco-Friendly Choices for You and Your Home by Renée Loux
Every room in your house can get clean the green way. Even the laundry gets a makeover. The author includes advice on shopping green, light bulbs, and better choices for personal hygiene that will protect you and the environment.

Big Green Purse: Using Your Spending Power to Create a Cleaner, Greener World by Diane MacEachern
Change the way you spend money and change the world! You’ll get background information about how certain products negatively impact the environment and people, along with alternative options you can purchase to combat these effects.  You have the power!

Green Living by Design: The Practical Guide for Eco-Friendly Remodeling and Decorating by Jean Nayar
Organized by area of the house and materials utilized, this book guides you through making informed decisions about remodeling and furnishing your home in an earth-friendly way.

Real Simple: 869 New Uses for Old Things
Not sure what to do with those leftover name tags? Use them to label your casserole dish so it comes back home after the potluck. This encyclopedia lists most common household items and ways they can be re-purposed.  You won’t ever need to throw anything away again!

Simple Steps to a Greener Home: With Lifestyle Expert Danny Seo
This DVD gives many “smart and stylish” suggestions for remodeling in an eco-friendly way.  
 

Your family, your home, and your Earth will thank you.

-Melissa M.

Bringing a Little Green into Your Life

Money? Nope. This green will introduce a color other than white into your life. With seemingly no end in sight to the winter wonderland outside your window, March 20, the official start of spring, feels much too far away. Terrariums! They’re an easy and fun way to get your spring fix in the dead of winter, not to mention an ideal situation for the forgetful gardener who can’t seem to remember to water.

photo credit, ex.libris. from http://www.flickr.com

With no more than a glass jar, gravel, soil, plants, and some cute vintage woodland inspired trinkets, you can create your very own indoor ecosystem from the comforts of home. Between thrift stores and nurseries, all the low-cost supplies you’ll need can easily be acquired. Tons of online tutorials are available. Some places to get started can be found here, here, here, here, here, and here. And as always, the Library has a collection of resources to help you fashion your own personal forest.

Happy planting!

– Lisa

breaking down compost

Thanks to the Pennsylvania Resources Council, I am now the proud owner of an Earth Machine. The PRC offers affordable backyard composting classes, where they break down (forgive the pun) the basics of composting and provide attendees with a bin. While composting has intrigued me for some time, I was surprised to discover several key points. Namely, it doesn’t smell bad if done correctly, it’s easy, it doesn’t require much space, and it doesn’t take very long.

If you garden with herbs, fruits and veggies, flowers or trees and shrubs, composting can provide you with a great way to amend the soil in just a few weeks. Using the same ground for years at a time has reduced some of the nutrients in my already typically Pittsburgh clay-like yard, but composting creates dark, rich humus that restores beneficial qualities to the soil. Composting is also a great way to reduce the amount of yard and kitchen waste I leave on the curb for the city to collect. Municipal waste management is among the highest costs cities must deal with, and it feels good to know that I’m doing my part to help my garden, the environment and the city budget at the same time.

One more bit of good news about recycling…even though I’m doing what I can to battle the devastating effects of plastic bags, recycling my 1s through 5s, and composting has reduced my weekly garbage day contribution, all the junk mail, old bills, magazines and other paper I throw away still weighs on my conscience. Not anymore though! This week I discovered the Paper Retriever bins–bright yellow and blue dumpsters placed throughout communities where people can drop off paper to be recycled. Their locator showed me that there are two right by my house.

Michael Pollan recently wrote a moving call to action for small, individual eco-actions, and as I take the time to set up systems for my everyday activities, going green gets easier and easier.