DIY (Do-It-Yourself) Household Cleaners - Making Environmentally and Family Friendly Cleaning Solutions

Do-it-yourself cleaning products are safer and more natural with less harmful ingredients for your family's health and the environment. We all need to keep clean but at what expense. Commercially made household cleaners are not only costly and hard on the pocket-book, they are also hard on your health. More and more Canadians and North Americans are looking for alternate ways to clean their homes, businesses, cars, etc, without the harmful ingredients that can trigger asthma, allergies or other respiratory problems.

You can easily make your own cleaners using less-toxic ingredients such as:

baking soda
borax
hydrogen peroxide
lemon juice
vinegar

Plus hot water is a great, harmless cleaner as well!

Simple Natural Homemade Glass Cleaner

1/4 Cup White Vinegar
2 Cups Water

Another Simple Homemade Glass Cleaner

1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice
2 Cups Water

All-Purpose Cleaning Solution
1/2 cup Borax (in the laundry aisle of your grocery store)
1 gallon of hot water

TIP: If you want to have scented cleaners, add some lemon juice or a few drops of essential oil to your cleaning solution mixture. Lemon juice cuts grease, tea tree oil is an effective mold killer and lavender oil is a natural disinfectant.

Only you can prevent the chemicals that you use from swirling down the drain and into the eco-system where they end up in our waterways. A few simple changes can save you money and can save damage to our precious envoironment.

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Disposing of E-waste Safely and Responsibly

Have you ever given any thought to what happens to your E-Waste (electronic waste) once they're in the trash?

"Electronic waste" may be defined as all secondary computers, entertainment device electronics, mobile phones, and other items such as television sets and refrigerators.

Rapid changes in technology, changes in media, falling prices, and planned obsolescence have resulted in a fast-growing surplus of electronic waste around the globe.

Benefits of Recycling Electronic Waste

Recycling raw materials from end-of-life electronics is likely the most effective solution to the growing e-waste problem. Most of the electronic devices on the market contain a variety of materials, including metals (such as copper, gold and lead) that can be recovered for future uses. By dismantling and providing  possibilities of reusing materials, intact natural resources are conserved, as well as air and water pollution caused by hazardous disposal is avoided. Additionally, recycling reduces the amount of greenhouse gas emissions caused by the manufacturing of new replacement products.

It simply makes good, logical sense to recycle end of life e-waste and do our part to keep the environment green.

Hazardous Components That Can Be Found in Many E-Waste Items

There are a number of different hazardous components found in electronic waste that we want to avoid getting into our landfill sites and potentially contaminating our water supply, including:

americium
beryllium oxide
cadmium
lead
mercury
pbb's (polybrominated biphenyls)
pcb's (polychlorinated biphenyls)
polyvinyl chloride
solder
sulphur

How can you do your part with e-waste?

1. Don't upgrade devices so frequently. Take good care of your electronic devices, so they last a long time. For example: Can you replace one or two components of your computer rather than the entire computer?
2. Bring e-waste to e-waste recycling facilities. Do not throw into your regular household or business trash.
3. Buy used devices or refurbished devices.

Some companies and cities are offering FREE E-Waste drop-off for the convenience of patrons and residents. Check with your local municipality to see if they offer recycling of e-waste.

IMPORTANT RECYCLE TIP: When donating your cell phone or other personal hand-held devices, clear all your personal information from the component's memory. If you need help, contact the manufacturer for instructions on how to reset the device so that any information you had stored is permanently destroyed.

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More Green Terminology Defined!!

Curious what that green term means? Previously we discussed environmental lingo and what it means. There are so many eco friendly words and phrases out there, that we're adding more green terminology definitions to a growing list.

AFFORESTATION is the establishment of a forest or stand of trees in an area where the preceding vegetation or land use was not forest.

BIOMASS, a renewable energy source, is biological material from living, or recently living organisms,such as wood, waste, (hydrogen) gas, and alcohol fuels.

CHLOROFLUOROCARBON (CFC) is an organic compound that contains carbon, chlorine, and fluorine, produced as a volatile derivative of methane and ethane.

DOWNCYCLING is the process of converting waste materials or useless products into new materials or products of lesser quality and reduced functionality.

ENVIRONMENTAL FOOTPRINT is a measure of human demand on the Earth's ecosystems.

ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (EMS) refers to the management of an organization's environmental programs in a comprehensive, systematic, planned and documented manner.

GEOTHERMAL ENERGY is thermal energy generated and stored in the Earth.

GREENHOUSE GAS (GHG)  is a gas in an atmosphere that absorbs and emits radiation within the thermal infrared range.

HOLISTIC INTERIOR DESIGN is about making the most of your home using an integrated approach to health, wellbeing and the environment.

HYBRID VEHICLE, is a vehicle using more than one power source.

ORGANIC  is a term that emcompasses a wide variety of topics, but centers around the main idea of living as close to nature as possible.

POST-CONSUMER MATERIAL is an end product that has completed its life cycle as a consumer item and would otherwise have been disposed of as a solid waste.

RENEWABLE ENERGY is energy which comes from natural resources such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, and geothermal heat, which are renewable (naturally replenished).

SIMPLE LIVING encompasses a number of different voluntary practices to simplify one's lifestyle. These may include reducing one's possessions or increasing self-sufficiency, for example. Simple living may be characterized by individuals being satisfied with what they need rather than want.

WASTE REDUCTION is the process and the policy of reducing the amount of waste produced by a person or a society. It involves efforts to minimize resources and energy used during manufacture.

Join the Scrambled Eco-Friendly Words Game for a chance to win $5 each and every week, plus learn more terms and lingo that relate to being environmentally friendly and green.

Recycle an Old Cell Phone or Similar Device - Get a FREE Slice of Pizza in April 2011!

Pizza Pizza to Give Away Free Slices All of April
TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - April 1, 2011) - Throughout the month of April, Pizza Pizza will give out free slices to anyone who performs a good deed: cell phone and handheld device recycling. The company's program, Cells for Slices, is celebrating its seventh year and has resulted in the collection of more than 5,100 devices. All of the proceeds from the recycling and refurbishing of used cell phones and handheld devices go to benefit Food Banks Canada and the food bank network as part of its Phones for Food program.

"A good deed never goes out of fashion and, quite frankly, neither does the promise of a free slice," said Pat Finelli, chief marketing officer for Pizza Pizza. "Participating is easy. Almost every household has at least one used cell phone, PDA or other gadget that it can donate."

The program seeks to re-direct previously used cell phones and handheld devices from landfills and encourage recycling of these instruments which, if not disposed of properly, can be hazardous to the environment. All devices are collected and processed for parts by GEEP (Global Electic Electronic Processing), with some sold to the refurbishment industry.

The average consumer will upgrade their cell phone or handheld device every two years. Ninety-six per cent of the materials in the average device are recyclable, and a recycled or refurbished device can yield between $2 and $5 for Food Banks Canada.

"Food banks rely on generous donations from Canadians as well as contributions from local businesses" said Katharine Schmidt, Executive Director at Food Banks Canada. "Cells for Slices is another way for people to get involved and help us support the 870,000 individuals that access a food bank each month."

Visit www.pizzapizza.ca to find a location near you to participate in Pizza Pizza's Cells for Slices program.

About Phones for Food

Phones for Food is an award winning handheld device recycling program launched by Food Banks Canada, the national charitable organization representing the food bank community across Canada. Since its launch in 2003, Phones for Food has generated over $600,000 and diverted approximately 400,000 wireless devices from landfills. Funds from this program support Food Banks Canada and the food bank community, to meet the short term need for food and find long term solutions to hunger. For more information, visit www.phonesforfood.com.

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