Green Your Apartment » For the Greenhorns http://greenyourapartment.com sustainable living for the rest of us Thu, 03 Nov 2011 15:29:02 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Sustainable Product of the Week: Trader Joe’s 100% Recycled Toilet Paper http://greenyourapartment.com/2009/11/sustainable-product-of-the-week-trader-joes-100-recycled-toilet-paper/ http://greenyourapartment.com/2009/11/sustainable-product-of-the-week-trader-joes-100-recycled-toilet-paper/#comments Thu, 12 Nov 2009 15:03:18 +0000 Marie Holzer http://greenyourapartment.com/?p=176 Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.]]> 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 are just, er, flushing down the drain anyway?

Well, recycled toilet paper to the rescue! What a great idea! Recycle all the paper we use anyway and recycle it into something we’ll also use. The problem, however, is at most grocers the recycled toilet paper is often more expensive than the regular paper. So what is an eco-friendly apartment dweller to do short of purchasing a bidet?

tjstp

Well, you can buy Trader Joe’s 100% Recycled Toilet Paper – twelve rolls for only $3.99! It is 80% post-consumer product recycled and scored an impressive “green” rating with the Environmental Resources Defense Council tissue guide. For that price, I can purchase a four-pack of recycled toilet paper at my conventional grocer. Hm, twelve versus four for the same price…

Thank you Trader Joe’s for yet another fabulous product, not to mention the amusing bathroom reading.

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]]> http://greenyourapartment.com/2009/11/sustainable-product-of-the-week-trader-joes-100-recycled-toilet-paper/feed/ 0 Seasonal Cooking: Autumn http://greenyourapartment.com/2009/11/seasonal-cooking-autumn/ http://greenyourapartment.com/2009/11/seasonal-cooking-autumn/#comments Tue, 10 Nov 2009 13:06:03 +0000 Marie Holzer http://greenyourapartment.com/?p=163 Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.]]> When I first started really going green, I changed everything. Organic foods replaced the 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.

So I thought to myself, “What the heck is in season?” After scouring the internet and dozens of sites, I compiled a list as a crib sheet that I keep next to my master grocery list on the fridge. And here, I’ll share it with you!

First, note that autumn is September through November in the Northern hemisphere.

Autumn fruits:

  • Apples
  • Berries: blackberries, blueberries, and raspberries
  • Figs
  • Grapes come to their best in autumn
  • Pears
  • Plums

Autumn vegetables:

  • Broccoli
  • Carrots are their most robust this season
  • Cauliflower
  • Celery
  • Chicory
  • Corn
  • Fennel
  • Jerusalem artichoke
  • Leeks
  • Onion
  • Parsnip
  • Peppers
  • Potato
  • Pumpkin
  • Radish
  • Squash
  • Sweet potato
  • Turnip
  • Zucchini

The benefit of eating in season is you are more likely by default to be purchasing more local items as they are in season in your area. Most grocers try to get the best price on produce and in season is cheaper locally. This also means your wallet will benefit from the savings and the planet will appreciate you not having your produce shipped from half-way across the world.

But, and perhaps on a spiritual/emotional note, you will be reconnecting to the earth in the simplest form – eating the bounty while it’s available. You’ll be enhancing that feeling you get when you smell pumpkin spice bread on a crisp autumn morning or pumpkin pie the week of Thanksgiving. The seasons can give you more to celebrate and enjoy if only you take the time to be in sync.

Happy harvest eating!

Photo courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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]]> http://greenyourapartment.com/2009/11/seasonal-cooking-autumn/feed/ 1 Ninth Tips for Green Living Carnival http://greenyourapartment.com/2009/11/ninth-tips-for-green-living-carnival/ http://greenyourapartment.com/2009/11/ninth-tips-for-green-living-carnival/#comments Mon, 09 Nov 2009 23:25:59 +0000 Marie Holzer http://greenyourapartment.com/?p=159 Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.]]> 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 Australia’s take on greening homes fascinating and thought it was too interesting not to share.

June Tree talks about Green Living: Ways To Recycle And Buy Used posted at The Digerati Life. Always a good topic.

health & beauty

Sheila V. Flores presents Affordable Natural Face Scrub posted at Eco Glamourista.

mike marlow presents Overeating Keeps A Belly Busy posted at Raw Food Recipes. While I don’t personally subscribe to the raw food movement, I have great admiration for those who do!

in the news

Looks like Katy Unitek can’t get enough of us! She has a new submission,  California Leads the Charge! – Boots on the Roof posted at Boots On The Roof.

Steve Faber presents Check Out These Fun Diesel Cars – High MPG / High MPH posted at super gas saver, saying, “Just because you want be green behind the wheel doesn’t mean you can’t have fun, too. Sip fuel to the tune of 40+ mpg, but don’t get bored doing it.”

living spaces

TSW presents a post on the issue nearest and dearest to my heart: Green Cleaning Products: How To Clean Your House The Eco-Friendly Way posted at The Smarter Wallet.

patio & garden

Guffly presents Autumn is the Time to Fall in Love with Cleaning | Guffly posted at Guffly.

—–

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

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]]> http://greenyourapartment.com/2009/11/ninth-tips-for-green-living-carnival/feed/ 1 Sustainable Product of the Week: Paralda HEPA Air Purifier http://greenyourapartment.com/2009/10/sustainable-product-of-the-week-paralda-hepa-air-purifier/ http://greenyourapartment.com/2009/10/sustainable-product-of-the-week-paralda-hepa-air-purifier/#comments Thu, 29 Oct 2009 09:14:00 +0000 Marie Holzer http://greenyourapartment.com/?p=109 Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.]]> 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 air conditioning and heating unit also has one. And now, there is an air purifier that offers not only HEPA but is lead-free and certified not only but the Environmental Protection Agency but also by the U.S. Department of Energy.

I show you the Alen Paralda HEPA UV Air Purifier!

image001

For asthmatics and allergy-sufferers, this thing has also been listed as the Respiratory Management’s Product of the Year. I drool, people, I drool. I wish I had one of these after reading review after review singing it’s praises.

The only reason I do not have one yet – the $499 price tag. Looks like I must long a little bit longer…

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]]> http://greenyourapartment.com/2009/10/sustainable-product-of-the-week-paralda-hepa-air-purifier/feed/ 0 Sustainable Product of the Week: method Smarty Dish, Pink Grapefruit http://greenyourapartment.com/2009/10/sustainable-product-of-the-week-method-smarty-dish-pink-grapefruit/ http://greenyourapartment.com/2009/10/sustainable-product-of-the-week-method-smarty-dish-pink-grapefruit/#comments Thu, 22 Oct 2009 09:27:24 +0000 Marie Holzer http://greenyourapartment.com/?p=112 Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.]]> 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 packaging also states “Harmful if swallowed – call poison control if swallowed”. What? Aren’t I using this product to clean items to put in my mouth but the product itself is poisonous? I’m not saying it should be straight edible but non-toxic would be nice!

So one day, I’m browsing the aisles at my local Tar-jay and I see this cheery package “Made and for People Against Dirty”:

methodsmartydish

Now, I’m a sucker for clever packaging and copy (as I am a copywriter!) so I pick up a bag. It promises no phosphates, no bleach, no dirty chemicals to clean my dishes. Sold!

I take the stuff home and pop the little tablet in my not-so-great apartment standard dishwasher loaded full of pots, pans, and dishes with some food particles still on them. (Hey, it’s why I own a dishwasher, right? Heavy rinsing beforehand is just wasting water anyway!)

My dishes came out clean. Even the pot with burnt garlic, dried tomato sauce and greasy meat residue. It was clean!

And at just about $6.50 per package, I get 20 truly clean loads of dishes from a non-toxic wash.

Did I mention I barely rinsed those dishes? Love it!

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]]> http://greenyourapartment.com/2009/10/sustainable-product-of-the-week-method-smarty-dish-pink-grapefruit/feed/ 0 The Basics: Reduce, Reuse then Recycle http://greenyourapartment.com/2009/08/the-basics-reduce-reuse-then-recycle/ http://greenyourapartment.com/2009/08/the-basics-reduce-reuse-then-recycle/#comments Wed, 12 Aug 2009 00:58:15 +0000 Marie Holzer http://greenyourapartment.com/?p=11 Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.]]> 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?

1. Reduce

Here is a great example we have all come across: if you can get one one-hundred-ounce bottle of concentrated laundry detergent why buy two fifty-ounce bottles? It is a simple answer: you shouldn’t. A general rule when purchasing a product is that if it will not go bad or go to waste, get the economy size. It reduces the packaging used and often, the burden on your wallet.

2. Reuse

I have a confession: it has been awhile since I have purchased food storage containers. Why? Because I reuse those huge glass pasta sauce jars for my pastas, soups, and side dishes. For main courses I have large glass bowls with a plastic lid that have served me nicely for years.

Another confession? I have reused cereal boxes to ship my eBay items which are cushioned by ripped up magazines I have already read and junk mail flyers. An old tea pot that was stained and burned beyond repair? That can quickly become a colorful planter for a houseplant. In fact, you could even reuse that one-hundred-ounce jug that had laundry detergent in it as a jug to water your plants with (after a thorough cleaning, of course).

The key to reusing is to “think outside of the box” and ask yourself how you can reuse what you already have to fulfill the needs you have elsewhere. This also helps save you money and time by not having to shop for new items!

3. Recycle

Now we finally come to recycling. The milk jugs you did not turn into bird feeders should be recycled. The glass jars you just can’t use, recycle them. But since you have already reduced your waste and reused what you can, even the amount you recycle will be reduced. Less money spent and less stress on the environment – go you!

Image courtesy of Stock Vault.

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