I’m not referring to the fact that it’s been so long that I have actually exercised, that my sneakers have grown moss. I really need to get back into an exercise routine. I have been toying around the idea of getting out and going to a gym, and then I remember that I have never really followed through with that plan, which ends up being a waste of time, money and gas.

But this time! Maybe this time would be different? Unlikely.

Who needs a gym? For the beginner like me, hitting my own backyard or heading to a walking trail or playground is really all I need. I can be “green” with my exercise by utilizing the outdoors, not making two trips out to walk on a treadmill** or elliptical machine** for an hour.

Why not just GO OUTSIDE and walk? Walking is one the best, simplest forms of effective exercise, and it’s a super mood lifter too.** Just you — your comfy shoes — maybe an iPod with a uplifting playlist — and GO.

Since it’s summer — and I have kids at home — I could even head up the road to the playground,** we could even just walk there, no impact! Then, let the kids burn off their energy, and exercise myself. No equipment, nothing to buy, just to be outdoors in the fresh air and MOVING. I am sure I might feel a bit self-conscious if there are other families there, but then again, they’d be at the gym too. Free is good, and creating less impact is also good.

I might just give it a try.

It’s a summer tradition.  At least it always was in my family — to wash the cars on a hot summer day.

You get all soapy, scrub the car, and rinse off all the bubbles onto the ground.

In our yard, the water ran off into the ground, since we lived in a wooded area not near a street drain.  But, I personally have always been a fan of the drive-through car wash. 

Now, it’s suggested that you do not wash your vehicles near town or city drains, because of the impact it may have on the ponds, lakes, rivers and streams.  This is something you probably never even considered, right?  Washing a car seems harmless.

Your bubbles, waxes, scum, dirt and oil run straight to the street or curb. Then into a storm drain** and directly on its way to a natural water supply, polluting them.

What’s the problem with car washing?**

There’s no problem with washing your car. It’s just how and where you do it. The average driveway car wash uses a total of 116 gallons of water! Most commercial car washes use 60 percent less water in the entire washing process than a simple home wash uses just to rinse off a car. Most soap contains phosphates and other chemicals that harm fish and water quality. The soap, together with the dirt and oil washed from your car, flows into nearby storm drains which run directly into lakes, rivers, or marine waters. The phosphates from the soap can cause excess algae to grow. Algae look bad, smell bad, and harm water quality. As algae decays, it uses up oxygen in the water that fish and other wildlife need.

What can you do?

• Use soap sparingly. Use a hose nozzle with a trigger to save water.  Shutting the water off in between uses.
• Pour your bucket of soapy water down the sink when you’re done, not in the street. Or wash your car on a grassy area so the ground can filter the water naturally.
• Best of all, take your car to a commercial car wash, especially if you plan to clean the engine or the bottom of your car. Most car washes reuse wash water several times before sending it to the sewer system for treatment.

But, really, does the car NEED another wash just yet?  Save water and do it only when truly necessary, is it really necessary to wash your car every time the sun comes out?  (Some people do.)  Give it a rest, and save our water.

**You are leaving the FilterForGood Web site. The Brita Products® Company is not responsible for the content or data collection of that independent site.

We are not using any air conditioning this summer.  We haven’t got a fan going either.  And, it’s not that bad.

Another luxury we left when we moved, the central air conditioning.  We are very lucky that living in the Northeast,** you really do not NEED air conditioning, it’s sort just “nice to have.”   In fact it has rained nearly every day until this week, the first week of JULY, we would not have needed it at all!  It makes me wonder — how much energy we are saving by not running that cool air 24/7.  The use of air conditioners has grown by leaps and bounds in the past:**

“The share of homes with central air-conditioning that report using it “all summer long” has increased from 33 percent in 1981 to 52 percent in 1997. The share of homes with window/wall units that report using air-conditioning “all summer long” increased from 11 percent in 1981 to 21 percent in 1997.”

The levels have got to be insanely high in 2009.

Source:**

Heating, ventilation, and cooling (HVAC) accounted for 356 billion kWh, 31 percent of the electricity consumed by U.S. households in 2001. Central air-conditioning alone accounted for almost half of the HVAC total. Although there were improvements in the efficiency of the U.S. stock of air-conditioners over time, central air-conditioning continued to be responsible for the greatest share of household electricity use. The predominance of air-conditioning was due to a significant increase in the number of households with central air-conditioning in the two decades preceding 2001. The share of households with central air-conditioning rose from 27 percent of households in 1980 to 55 percent in 2001.

So, here’s one house, that’s not cool this summer.  I am sure that we make up for it with the HEATING of our cold house in the winter though – but I’m trying to think of ways to cut THAT down, too.

**You are leaving the FilterForGood Web site. The Brita Products® Company is not responsible for the content or data collection of that independent site.

I’m a make-up girl. One of my daughters loves to play make-up also.  Make-up is one of those things that definitely rubs off (no pun intended) on your kids. It wasn’t really until I took a look at her little kid make-up set today, that I wondered, ‘what is in that nasty looking lip gloss that she’s spreading on her eyelids?’

I read the label, filled with unpronounceable chemicals.  And, I allowed her to put this stuff where?  But, then I thought to myself, it can’t be that bad, it’s got to be regulated, right?  Not so.

From the FDA:**

Does FDA approve cosmetics before they go on the market?

FDA’s legal authority over cosmetics is different from other products regulated by the agency, such as drugs, biologics, and medical devices. Cosmetic products and ingredients are not subject to FDA premarket approval authority, with the exception of color additives. However, FDA may pursue enforcement action against violative products, or against firms or individuals who violate the law.

Who is responsible for substantiating the safety of cosmetics?

Cosmetic firms are responsible for substantiating the safety of their products and ingredients before marketing. Failure to adequately substantiate the safety of a cosmetic product or its ingredients prior to marketing causes the product to be misbranded unless the following warning statement appears conspicuously on the principal display panel of the product’s label:

“Warning–The safety of this product has not been determined.” (21 CFR 740.10)

In addition, regulations prohibit or restrict the use of several ingredients** in cosmetic products and require warning statements** on the labels of certain types of cosmetics.

In general, except for color additives and those ingredients which are prohibited or restricted from use in cosmetics by regulation, a manufacturer may use any ingredient in the formulation of a cosmetic provided that the ingredient and the finished cosmetic are safe, the product is properly labeled, and the use of the ingredient does not otherwise cause the cosmetic to be adulterated or misbranded under the laws that FDA enforces.

So, those ingredients, those chemicals, have no regulation.  The child could be dripping this goop into her eyes, getting a little in her mouth when she slathers her lips in the gunk.  Great.  I delved in deeper to the cosmetics regulation land and it’s scary.  Much of what I have in the cabinet, is considered hazardous** by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics.**  I’m also rubbing this stuff on my eyes.

I think it’s time I open my eyes.

**You are leaving the FilterForGood Web site. The Brita Products® Company is not responsible for the content or data collection of that independent site.

**You are leaving the FilterForGood Web site. The Brita Products® Company is not responsible for the content or data collection of that independent site.

I grew up watching my father mow and take care of a large yard every weekend in the spring and summer.  Our house had nine acres, a couple were/are grassy.  What an undertaking that was, he spent/spends countless hours mowing, mulching, weeding and for a few years, gardening too.

My husband and I do not have green thumbs, I would say they’re a more grey color.  We have owned several houses all with yards that needed work.  It’s tiresome and overwhelming in this yard to say the LEAST.  I think the biggest problem we have – is that we’ve done it so many times at so many houses we’ve owned – we’re over it.  Last year, I got fed up with doing much of the work myself and hired a landscaping company to mow my grass every two weeks.  LOVED.  IT.  Coming home to the smell of fresh-cut grass, and not having to do it myself?!  <3  But, it’s expensive, so soon I hope to pawn this task off to my kids.

I am at the point this year, that I want to shred the lawn OUT and pave the whole place, or let it go au naturel  Hey, it’s low maintenance!  According to the California Air Resources Board, lawn mower engines contribute 93 times more smog forming emissions than do cars on a gallon-for-gallon basis. The pollution from a year’s use of an average gas powered lawnmower is equivalent to the pollution from driving a car 86,000 miles.  So there!  I have a reason to quit!  Let the grass grow up to my knees, and bond with nature.  Nobody really cares WHAT your grass looks like, anyway.  But, I can’t, it’s in my blood to have a trimmed lawn, even if it is mostly weeds that are pretending to be grass.

What can I do to be more, you know, green?

• I could remove the lawn entirely.  Some folks put in gravel, pretty landscaping, even, uh, fake turf.  None of which would fly here, but, it’s a thought.

• I could totally get out that hand-powered push mower we bought last year and trudge and up down my ACRE with it.  Nevermind.  It’s awful, and difficult, only useful on flat, clear grassy areas with no sticks, stones, pine cones, acorns and random toys.    (Hey, I tried.  I really did.) But, if you have a small, flat, clear area of real grass, go for it.

• I could also use a electric mower, plug it in, charge it up, and go.  I do wonder how effective this would be as compared to the big ol’ tractor, but it’s way better for the environment.

A study done by the Canadian Plastics Industry Association** has studied the crud that might be found on a reusable “green” shopping tote or bag. They say that these bags are scary gross, and don’t use them. Um.

“There is a growing trend to reusable packaging overall in an effort to encourage reduction. The position of the plastics industry is clear. The industry strongly supports reduction and reuse, and recognizes use of reusables as good environmental practice, but it does not want to see these initiatives inadvertently compromise public health and safety. The industry believes that appropriate research and investigation must be pursued. This testing sample is but a first step.”

First thing, the bags don’t usually hold any naked foods, and least foods that don’t require washing, peeling, or unwrapping of their packaging. Seriously, when do you throw a food in your bag that you are going to just EAT in it’s own natural “packaging?” I mean aside from a banana that you toss to your screaming toddler in the cart which is COVERED IN BACTERIA?

Source: Canadian Plastics Industry Association**

“The results complied in “A Microbiological Study of Plastic Reusable Bags and `First or single-use’ Plastic Bags” show that reusables are a breeding ground for bacteria and pose public health risks – food poisoning, skin infections such as bacterial boils, allergic reactions, triggering of asthma attacks, and ear infections.

Over 30% of the bags had unsafe levels of bacterial contamination, 40% had yeast or mold and some of the bags had intestinal faecal bacteria embedded in their surface when there should have been 0.”

I have two thoughts on this, very, um…scientific ones:

One, wash your reusable bags once in a while. The more expensive better quality bags can withstand this – some of the $1 bags you find in your grocery store might not last very long this way.

Two – put your nasty bloody or drippy meats in a plastic bag for separate transport home.

The full report is available to download here: A Microbiological Study of Reusable Grocery Bags**

What about you? Are you using reusable bags, or do you forget to bring them with you to the grocery store and have a endless supply of plastic bags in your cabinet under the sink for trash and dog mistakes? (Not that I would know anything about that…)

**You are leaving the FilterForGood Web site. The Brita Products® Company is not responsible for the content or data collection of that independent site.

I admit to being a patron at nail salons, not as frequent as I could be, (or like other people with their weekly manis!) but I have had my share of manicures, pedicures and even artificial nails. I haven’t painted my own nails at home – for a really long time – mainly because I CAN’T STAND THE SMELL! (But, don’t look, my nails are in embarrassingly awful condition.) Also, because the kids are likely to spill it. Actually, last month, my seven year old spilled an entire bottle of nail polish remover on my older daughter’s dresser and destroyed it. What a mess.

Anyone who has been a customer in a nails-only salon can tell you – THEY SMELL AWFUL. This is because of the chemicals used for everything: painting, removal, and application of artificial nail products. A quick glance at some of the chemicals that cause the STINK? Wait, I am breathing these IN? (And, my girls, who I usually have with me?!)

• Toulene**
• Formaldehyde**
• Phthalates**
• And more…

Mmm, tasty and so good for you.

But, it’s getting better, companies are now making a variety of natural alternatives to chemical laden polishes, polish removers, etc. However, water-based nail polish is a much more natural way to go than typical polishes. I haven’t been brave enough to try any, nor am I aware of any salons actually using a more natural product, but they are out there and being formulated. Reviews of the products seem to lean to the “not very good,” but then again, the polishes ARE water-based, not laced with carcinogens. I would feel safer allowing my kids to use these type of somewhat natural product, even if it doesn’t give the same “salon results.”

Here is a list of some more natural options to try:

• Suncoat Products**
• Honeybee Gardens**
• Acquarella**
• Safe Nail Polish**
• Nubar**

**You are leaving the FilterForGood Web site. The Brita Products® Company is not responsible for the content or data collection of that independent site.

I have found a new spring time love. It’s a simple pleasure – and it’s free.

Swinging in a hammock chair on my porch. It’s not even the swinging so much as it’s the sitting and chilling with the sun on my face, while it’s still cool enough to enjoy.

My parents gifted me with a rope style hammock swing for the porch in the winter, and since we have put it out, it has gotten more than it’s share of our families rear ends. So much use, that I want another, or two, or three, heck I want one for every single member of our family, hung up in succession on the porch, and IN the house!

Seriously, if you’ve never used a rope hammock chair or swing, please do. They are so relaxing and they take all the pressure off your bones. I have lower back aches much of the time, but when I take a break in the hammock, it goes away, at least for a little while.

In my quest for more hammocks or swings, at least to put on a wish list, I am looking for recycled products.

• Here’s a typical hammock,** hand-woven with 100% post-consumer waste recycled polyester rope made from old soda bottles.
• Another, but big enough for the whole family!** (This we could use, I usually swing with at least one kid on my lap.)
• A hammock chair,** which is pretty cool looking, I would throw a few of these on the beams in my house.

• Another typical bed style hammock made from hemp.**

Who needs a flat boring chair when you can sit or lay down and enjoy? Now, who’s going to install a cup holder on these things?

**You are leaving the FilterForGood Web site. The Brita Products® Company is not responsible for the content or data collection of that independent site.

While grocery shopping the other day, I noticed a change. Granola bars which used to be sold in boxes, were now out on the shelf, simply bound together with a rip-apart package. It doesn’t seem like a big deal, but overall, the amount of paper saved from that simple change has to be huge.

That’s what this is about for me those simple changes. I started out on this journey as a completely green non-green. I am always trying to find ways to make simple changes.

I have a long way to go – but I will get there. One of the simplest changes we’ve made is dumping paper towels. I may keep a couple rolls under the counter for a serious disaster, like a doggie explosion or other just as nasty event, but we do not use paper towels anymore. I buy white bar mops or rags in bulk and use them and wash them until they are really really RAGS, then they’re going into a bucket for RAG use.

The towels? They don’t really add to our laundry, they are small, and go in regular loads, so it’s not really adding to our total water use and impact there.

I remember my parents always had a supply of cut up old fabrics for rags, and they were always useful. It hadn’t occurred to me to do this until this past year. We used and abused SO MANY ROLLS of paper towels. I could easily use a roll a day (don’t even ASK about toilet paper) in my household. The messes come fast and hard in a family of six.

I think my next step, which is equally simple, but will even help us use less paper? I have been going through my kids clothes from last summer and tossing worn out t-shirts, but I can so use those for this purpose, right? All I need are some good shears, and we’re stocked in rags (perhaps a lot more colorful!) for the year.