No one really knows how to talk about toilet paper. Those of us in the modern world think of this as a simple necessity while many of those around the world do not have such a luxury (ever wonder why you’re not supposed to shake with a certain hand in some countries?). But why spend lots of money that you [...]

When I first started really going green, I changed everything. Organic foods replaced conventionally grown. Baking soda and white vinegar replaced nearly every bottle of cleaning product in my arsenal. I started looking for second hand clothing stores and odd new uses for old items I had lying around.

But eating in season? That wasn’t something that crossed my mind. In fact, I realized I did not even know when most fruits and vegetables came into season! Yes, that is how out-of-touch with our world we city-dwellers and suburbanites have become.

Welcome to the November 9, 2009 edition of tips for green living. We have some great submissions that I hope you’ll enjoy! for the newbies Condo Blues gives us 8 Steps to Reducing Household Trash posted at Condo Blues. Chris presents Green homes explained posted at Home I Own. While a little out of our usual prospect, I did find [...]

I have allergies. So do my Husband and my child. We also have a long-haired dog and live in Southern California where the change of seasons is marked by the sudden strong winds of dust and brushfires. So it should go without saying we love HEPA. Our vacuum, which is used every other day, has a HEPA filter. Our central [...]

Long has been my struggle in trying to find an automatic dishwasher detergent that 1) I can ethically feel good about and 2) actually cleans the dishes! I’ve gone through half a dozen brands with unsatisfactory results – and there really aren’t too many non-toxic dish detergents out there to begin with! While the conventional brands clean really well, the [...]

Once upon an early-90s jingle, kids were taught to “Reduce, reuse, recycle and don’t pollute!” by a singing cartoon. It was cute and kind of clever, but it may not have quite hit the message home. What that catchy tune didn’t explain was the importance of doing things in that order – reduce, reuse and then recycle.

But why that order?