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A Year Ago at Green Your ApartmentA Year Ago at Green Your Apartment 2008 Fourth "Tips for Green Living" Carnival The fourth Tips for Green Living blog carnival.

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15th Carnival for Green Living15th Carnival for Green Living Welcome to the fifteenth edition of Tips for Green Living! We have so many good submissions, so let’s get started!. dining & entertaining Sam over at Best Cheap Weddings shares some...

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A Year Ago at Green Your ApartmentA Year Ago at Green Your Apartment 2008 Back to Basics: Recycle The final post in a series of three on the basic principles of green living.

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A Year Ago at Green Your ApartmentA Year Ago at Green Your Apartment 2008 Call to Action Will you help save the earth with only one hour of your time? www.EarthHour.org Back to Basics: Reduce The first in a series of three posts on the basic principles of green living. Back...

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What are Parabens, Exactly?What are Parabens, Exactly? Labeled as one of the new culprit for many a-modern defect is a group of preservatives called parabens. You may have seen the Breast Cancer Fund site's rundown of them or just saw a lotion bottle on the...

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January’s Green Experiment: Line drying, Part 2

Category : Headline, Health & Beauty, Living Spaces

As I’m sitting to write this post, I am surrounded by drying clothing hanging from dining room chairs, my desk, and flung on the back of couch. There are even some hanging from hangers in the closet and the bathroom. From THREE DAYS AGO.

The weekends are usually the craziest days at the GYA household, so instead of being put away when the usual, sane manner, they hung around the house as we rushed in and out of the apartment. However, once I’m finished with this post, it’s off to folding and putting away the end of last week’s laundry.

Let’s hope this week I fare better!

So, our situation thus far:

Pros

  • I saved $6.60 on laundry last week from not using the dryers in our apartment’s on-site laundromat. In a year, that’s a $343.20 savings!
  • Our clothes still seemed soft (I use a biodegradable, plant-derived fabric softener) and the darks dried darker-looking than usual.

Cons

  • Air drying the clothes is taking over my living and dining rooms as well as the closet. Not cool!
  • It does take awhile: the jeans took 12 hours to dry indoors while most of the t-shirts and miscellaneous items took 6.

Solution I’ll Try

  • I’ve been toying with the idea of purchasing this. It boasts “60 feet of drying space in a small space”. I’m thinking this is perfect for me. If I were to get this, I could hide it in this awkward nook in the vanity area of our bathroom which is out of sight enough I wouldn’t be embarrassed when the neighbor drops by but easy enough to use and fold up.

We’ll see how this week goes as I have yet to line dry our sheets and blankets. That ought to be interesting. In the meanwhile, let me know what you think of this set up and any tips you might have in the comments. Thanks!

Headline photo courtesy of Suat Eman.

A Year Ago at Green Your Apartment

Category : For the Greenhorns, Health & Beauty, In the News, Living Spaces

2008

Know What’s in Your Shampoo
Do you know what chemicals you are exposed to through your beauty products?

Bag the Plastic AND the Paper – Go Reusable!
Why “Paper or plastic?” shouldn’t even be a question while in line at the store.

Twelfth Tips for Green Living Carnival

Category : Dining & Entertaining, Featured, Health & Beauty, In the News, Living Spaces

Welcome to the New Year, oh Internet! We are back and have some great stuff for you to browse.

dining & entertaining

Returning blogger TaraG convinces us with 5 Reasons To Buy Organic Foods over at Go Green Street. Great stuff, TaraG!

Jourdan Henderson gives us ways to Green your morning coffee! posted at Green Justice. I heart coffee and I totally agree with Jourdan’s recommendations.

health & beauty

Jourdan Henderson comes with a second submission, asking us Do you have a fruit tree? posted at Green Justice. Really great idea on putting your excess produce to good use! Thanks Jourdan!

living spaces

Apparently, TaraG was feeling the makeover itch and shows us a Bathroom Make-Over with Recycled Glass Tiles posted at Go Green Street. Despite my aversion to the color, I am seriously impressed with the results. Very cool!

Rebecca Noori presents a great quick run down of Being Green in London featured at Moving to London. Good to know those on the other side of the pond are doing the same things!

Looks like it’s invasion of the Brits here at Green Your Apartment! Mrs. Green tells us how to Dispose of your WEEE responsibly this Christmas posted at MY ZERO WASTE. (WEEE, if you are concerned, stands for unwanted Waste Electronics and Electrical Equipment. Hehe.)

In the News

Mrs. Green is on a roll and also offers us The Age Of Stupid review posted at Little Green Blog. I’m so Netflixing that movie! Thanks for the review.

One of my favorite blogs has joined us! Wise Bread discusses What Can Retailers Do With Their Unwanted Merchandise? over at Wisebread. While I adamantly do not agree with the “free rack” idea, donations to charitable institutions or discounted racks (clearance racks anyone?!) would be greatly advisable and beneficial to all involved. If you work in retail, have connections with management, or are just a concerned citizen, take action and let your favorite retailer know what options are available to them!

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That concludes this edition of Tips for Green Living. Thank you all for your excellent submissions and I hope you found some useful info in this carnival. You can find a new edition posted every second and fourth Monday here at Green Your Apartment. Submit your blog article to the next edition of Tips for Green Living using our carnival submission form.

Go green and live well!

________________

Tips for Green Living logo image courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Sustainable Product of the Week: G-Diapers

Category : Featured, For the Greenhorns, Health & Beauty

When I found out I was pregnant with my daughter two years ago, I made my green stance clear that I wanted to do cloth diapering. Little did I know the commotion this would cause. My mother, normally a calm and composed woman, looked at me with panic in her eyes.

“You want to WHAT?”

Immediately she set to discouraging me. “The endless laundry!” she exclaimed. I shrugged it off and said I’d be home with the baby anyway. “But the cost!” I explained I had calculated it out and figured it was actually cheaper, even including the laundry room quarters. Seeing that she was not going to talk her stubborn daughter out of this debacle, she emailed me a link to a website with the simple remark: “Use these instead.”

The link was to gDiapers. We used them religiously up until my husband lost his job and we were living on the kindness and charity of family members.

I love these things! To quote from their site:

For the last 40 years there have been but two choices in diapers. Cloth or disposable. That’s it. Now gDiapers offers a third option. 100% biodegradable*, flushable diapers. gDiapers puts waste where it belongs, in the toilet. Not the landfill.

gDiapers have no elemental chlorine, no perfumes, no smell, no garbage and no guilt. In fact, our gRefills are so gentle on the Earth you can even garden compost the wet ones in one compost cycle, approximately 50 – 150 days. Just think of the standing ovation you’ll get from the planet.

You wash the soft, adorable covers and compost, flush, or toss the soiled inserts. It’s that easy! My daughter loved them and couldn’t pull them off (those brilliant people put the Velcro in the back!) despite all her trying.

I can tell you right now that for the next kid in our household, gDiapers will the only way to go. Convenient and earth-friendly – that’s what I like to hear. Thank you Kimberley and Jason for this great product!

A Year Ago at Green Your Apartment

Category : In the News, Living Spaces

2008

Enlighten Your Apartment in 2008
A quick DIY guide to decreasing your electricity use.

Breathe Deeply without the Indoor Air Pollution
A rundown of the chemicals that contaminate your apartment you didn’t even know were there and how to minimize your exposure.

January’s Green Experiment: Line drying clothing

Category : Headline, Health & Beauty, Living Spaces

There is so much talk in the green community about ways to go green and save you money, but so few people actually talk about what it involves and if the action they are commending is doable for someone living in smaller living quarters. This is why I wanted to start a new series here at Green Your Apartment: our monthly “green experiment”.

The rules: the first week of each month I’ll name the experiment and how I’ll be trying it. This month is line drying our clothing. Since I don’t have a yard and line drying in sight on our balcony is banned, this will mostly be an indoor experiment. I will update you on the cost, the savings, the hassles, and the ease of line drying and see where it takes us.

To start, I do not have a drying rack like either of these. What I do have is some chairs and a 20-foot cord we used to use to leash the dog at the park. I also have plenty of hangers and a bathroom to hang them in. This may be changing though.

The experiment starts tomorrow in sync with the new laundry routine I’m implementing as seen at Unclutterer (scroll down to #6 to see the schedule). Thank you Erin for your continuous inspiration! In the meanwhile if you have done this before or have questions about the experiment, please share in the comment section and I will be happy to respond.

Image courtesy of ImageAfter.com

Merry Christmas

Category : Headline, In the News

From my blog to yours and my family to yours, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! We will be returning to our “regularly scheduled programming” come January 2nd.

Until then, check out our archives from the list below!

Photo courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net.

Eleventh Tips for Green Living Carnival

Category : Featured, Living Spaces

Since our last carnival was only last week, this carnival is a bit small but with some timely suggestions!

As a special for the holidays, Guffly talks abouts Great Gifts for Men | Guffly posted at Guffly. Gotta say my guy would probably love that hemp messenger bag!

living spaces

I love all of theGreenGabber‘s suggestions in the post Easy Ways To Go Green, Save Money, and Help The Environment! Good, sensible stuff.

Chris presents 8 tips to cut your home bills posted at Home I Own. Though some of these options are not available to we the apartment-dwellers, there is some inspiration to be found. What can you do to make your heating more efficient?

And finally, TaraG over at Go Green Street presents some awesome decorating options in her post, Colorful Eco-Friendly Modern Living Room. I long for that bamboo tree and the gorgeous wing chair!

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That concludes this edition of Tips for Green Living. Thank you all for your excellent submissions and I hope you found some useful info in this carnival. You can find a new edition posted every second and fourth Monday here at Green Your Apartment. Submit your blog article to the next edition of Tips for Green Living using our carnival submission form.

Go green and live well!

________________

Tips for Green Living logo image courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Sustainable Product of the Week: Mrs. Meyer’s Countertop Spray

Category : Featured, Health & Beauty

To say I am a messy cook is, well, an understatement. Truly. If I made cinnamon toast for breakfast, you can tell by the crumbs, cinnamon, and sugar left sprinkled all over the counter. Directly after making dinner, I have to clean for a good ten to fifteen minutes just to get the counters usable again. So imagine my delight when at good ol’ home-away-from-home Target I spied a bottle of pine-scented biodegradable surface cleaner that advocated reusing the bottle by refilling with diluted general cleaner.

I introduce to you, Mrs. Meyer’s Iowa Pine scented cleaners!

mrsmeyersholiday

At Target, it was only the bottle of surface cleaner offered but Mrs. Meyer’s website offers a holiday cleaning pack. What a fun little gift for the obsessive-compulsive cleaner in your life! It smells absolutely delicious and fills our little apartment with that Christmas tree scent despite our not possessing one yet. Plus, it cleans really well and the company itself suggests reusing the bottle with diluted All Purpose Cleaner. The holiday pack sells for $11.25 – frankly, a great deal. I’m just sad it’s only a seasonal scent!

I’m pretty sure I’m trying their laundry detergent next. The lavender is just lovely and if the detergent cleans as well as the surface cleaner, I’d be thrilled!

What is High Fructose Corn Syrup?

Category : Dining & Entertaining, Health & Beauty, In the News

For years, the health community has been railing against high fructose corn syrup and how you shouldn’t eat anything with it in it. Recently, the Corn Refiner’s Association decided to air a series of television commercials plugging high fructose corn syrup as (and I quote) “is natural”, “has the same calories as sugar or honey”, “is nutritionally the same as sugar”, and “is fine in moderation”. (If you haven’t seen the ads, head to YouTube and search “high fructose corn syrup commercials”.) Clearly, it appears that the public at large doesn’t actually know what high fructose corn syrup is or what the hullabaloo is all about. Is it bad? Worse than sugar? Better than sugar?

So let’s set the record straight. The commercials are correct: high fructose corn syrup is pretty much a sugar substitute made from corn. It is used mostly because it is cheaper in the States due to a bunch of legislative stuff I won’t get into here. Being that is a processed product made from a natural ingredient, it isn’t exactly “natural” but it isn’t truly artificial either as it is a crazy concentrated amount of naturally occurring sugars in corn.

Here’s the real issue: high fructose corn syrup is ubiquitous in processed foods. If you went to your fridge right now I bet you could find it on at least nine out of every ten items of pre-made, packaged, or processed foods in there ranging from breads to peanut butter to yogurt. Usually it is listed as one of the first four ingredients. Quick fact: the FDA requires ingredients to be listed from highest to lowest weight of the product. So if high fructose corn syrup, or sugar for that matter, is in the top three or four, you’re mostly eating sugars.

So, yes, like sugar, high fructose corn syrup is fine in moderation. But moderation needs to be defined. For the average human adult, 2,000 calories is considered a good goal. 300 grams of carbohydrates (sugars, essentially) falls in that recommendation. One medium banana provides 27 grams of carbohydrates. One 12-ounce can of Coca-Cola provides 40.5 grams of carbohydrates. Two regular slices of whole wheat bread gives 24.6 grams of carbs. If I just ate those three things, I’m already nearly a third of the way to my daily limit of 300 grams.

So how much do you think is moderation?

I don’t think we should blame high fructose corn syrup. Let’s face it, they make Big Sticks taste really good on a hot summer day! Instead I think we need to be redefining the American diet and really considering what we are putting in our refrigerators and thus in our bodies.

What are your thoughts?

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Image courtesy of Danilo Rizzuti at FreeDigitalPhotos.net