The Going Green Handbook. Alice Mary Alvrez
make compost tea:
Add the water and the soil to a gallon bucket and keep in a place out of direct heat or cold, I use my outdoor shed but a garage will also do nicely. Let your compost tea “brew” for a week and give it a stir every other day. Watering cans are the perfect teapot for your garden. Strain out the dirt and pour the liquid into your watering can where it is ready to serve up some serious nutrients to your garden.
Ditch the Lawn and Grow Cabbages and Cabbage Roses
Lawns are very high maintenance and, unless constantly mowed and manicured, can greatly reduce your curb appeal. Besides wasting water and taking up a lot of time, your grass doesn’t offer you anything back for all the demands on your time and pocketbook. They also tempt many lawn keepers to use chemicals which are bad for all of us, especially the birds and the bees. Get creative and go at least a little wild. My next door neighbor overturned and tilled their front lawn and planted potatoes, beets, asparagus, and squash. They love going into the front yard and harvesting fresh veggies for their daily meals. The squash and pumpkins actually have beautiful foliage and the flowers are stunning and edible, as well. Needless to say, they had the best jack-o’-lantern on the block and some fantastic pies to boot. I am heartened to see the new gardening philosophy of growing veggies, roots stocks, herbs, and berries right beside the roses and lilies. It is gorgeous and supports the bee populations to whom we owe so much.
I hope the ideas in this book bring you much happiness and a greater sense of wellbeing. Going Green is always a much healthier option, not just for you and your loved ones but also for our one and only home, Planet Earth.
We would also love to your great ideas for Going Green so please share them with us!
Alice Mary Alvrez
One of the simplest places to start going green is to buy more organic goods, and getting to know what “organic” even means.
The rules for organic labeling are very specific, and aren’t just a marketing ploy to possibly misrepresent a product. There are particular standards maintained at a national level by the United States Department of Agriculture (for American products at least). And these requirements must be followed, along with proof and paperwork, for a minimum of 3 years.
There is a fair bit of red tape involved in the standards, but a quick and suitable layman’s summary is:
Organic crops must be raised without conventional pesticides, petroleum-based fertilizers or sewage-based fertilizer. Animals raised as organic must be fed only organic feed and have regular access to the outdoors. They are not to be given any antibiotics or growth hormones.
Basically, nothing toxic or artificial can be used in the growing of crops or the raising of animals.
Not Just Produce
Packaged and processed foods can be part of the organic world too, though it’s a bit more complicated because there can be a dozen or more ingredients at hand in any one product.
Here’s where you need to understand the labeling lingo. There are really 3 levels of organicness recognized by the USDA for legal labeling:
Anything with less than 69% organic content doesn’t get an official label. Labels like “all natural” or “eco-friendly” have no real meaning, so look for the official organic designation. Everything else is just marketing.
Not Just Food
Actually, you can find organic products outside the food industry altogether, which sometimes takes people by surprise. Many fabrics can also fall into this field, and you can get organic cotton and other fibers in clothes and bedding.
Thought about cleaning greener, but got lost with all the various cleaners on the market? Not sure how environmentally-friendly they are, or not happy with the higher price tags? Well, with a few handy recipes, you can make some excellent non-toxic cleaning products for around the house that are much cheaper than anything you can buy.
General Surface Cleaner
No matter what the commercials say, you don’t really need to have a whole cabinet filled with cleaners for every specific purpose. One good general cleaner will go a long way, and you can make an easy one with basic ingredients.
Just mix everything together, let any fizzing settle down and store in a spray bottle. You can use this mix for lots of surface cleaning around the house. The vinegar is a naturally acidic disinfectant, and the baking soda gives just a hint of abrasive power. The baking soda can settle out if the bottle has been sitting for a while, so just give it a shake when those cleaning chores crop up.
Tub or Tile Cleaner
If you need a more robust cleaning solution for the tub, or even around the stove top in the kitchen, you just need to use a damp sponge and a sprinkling of baking soda. Just because it’s a tougher job, doesn’t mean you need harsher chemicals.
Toilet Bowl Cleaner
You can use the surface cleaner to give your toilet a basic wipe-down, but for scrubbing inside the bowl, you’ll need a different recipe.
Just dump both ingredients straight into the bowl and let it sit. The fizzing will help loosen the grime, and then you can use a standard toilet brush to finish the job.
Laundry Soap
For the more industrious DIY-er, you can even make your own laundry detergent.