Your Questions About Green Living

The Expert answers:

I use a plunger, and when the hair comes up, I pull it out with hemostats. I have the long hair problem too.

The Expert answers:

Baking Soda

* A lot of your household cleaning can be done with baking soda. In your bathroom and kitchen, sprinkle baking soda on non-scratch surfaces, such as countertops, sinks, cutting boards, refrigerators, and more. Scrub the surfaces with a damp cloth or sponge (remember to wash your sponges in the dishwasher with your dishes).
* This can also be used to clean out appliances. Create a paste with baking soda and water and coat the inside of the appliance with the paste. Allow to sit overnight, and scrub out the next day.
* Cleaning out your plugged up drains can also be done with baking soda. Pour 1/2 cup into the drain, and follow with 2 cups of boiling water.
* Use one cup of baking soda for a medium sized room, and sprinkle on your carpets as a deodorizer. Allow to sit for half an hour, and then vacuum.
* Mix 1/4 cup baking soda with 1 cup vinegar and pour into your toilet bowl. Let it sit for a few minutes and scrub.
* For more tips on baking soda, visit 30 baking soda tips at About Green Living.

White Vinegar or Lemon Juice

* Use for stains, mildew and grease. Spray on, and then scrub. You can use a stiff brush, if necessary.
* Use 2 tablespoons of white vinegar (or undiluted lemon juice) mixed with a gallon of water to spray your windows and mirrors. Use newspaper to wipe off, to reduce streaking.
* To clean wood floors, mix 1/4 cup white vinegar with 3 3/4 cups water. Spray onto a cloth or towel until damp, and use to wipe floors and restore shine.

Club Soda

* Club soda can also be used in place of vinegar or lemon juice for cleaning glass.
* Use for spills on carpets. Remove any solid matter from the spill, then pour on club soda. Blot with a rag.

Plain Old Soap

* For a chemical free disinfectant, mix together 2 cups of water, 3 tablespoons of liquid soap, and 20-30 drops of tea tree oil.
* For carpet spot cleaning, mix 1/4 cup liquid soap with 1/3 cup water in your blender until foamy. Scrub the spot, and rinse with vinegar.

The Expert answers:

Seeing as soy is a cultivated crop, and can feed millions of people, and oysters are marine animals growing in the sea, obviously soy can feed many more people that oysters can with far less energy used and stocks depleted ( it is easy to grow soy again but harder to harvest oysters. I admire that you’re trying to undermine the soy growing that goes on, but come on, if the fields of soy were used for humans, there would be enough food to go around, and no more deforestation would happen, and no more eco disastrous razing of rain forest.

The Expert answers:

Organic and certified organic has been around for decades. Robert Rodale was the US Pioneer of organic agriculture in the 1940’s through the 1960’s when he died. Among other things, he published the magazine Organic Farming and Gardening which today is known as Organic Gardening Magazine.

In 1979 certified organic came into being via a patchwork of around 45 organic certifying agencies, each with it’s own definition of what was organic farming/gardening. In 2002 the USDA took over control of what organic meant and came up with the national organic program (http://www.ams.usda.gov/nop) which took the patchwork of regulations around the USA and streamlined them into one national rule. When this happened the multinational corporations could now produce and sell organic items. And when this happened organic was taken out of the small farm and locally owned Health food stores and made national and international (In Europe IFOAM is the main certifying agency)

Culturally, the organic movement has its roots in the 1970’s hippie back to the land movement. This movement saw young people leaving the city to carve out their niche in the country growing their own food with out using chemicals and becoming self sufficient.

Now that organic has hit the big time and has been made mainstream local foods have become the next small thing as a backlash to the industrial organics the multinational corporations are bringing to a Wal-Mart near you.

The Expert answers:

Chop trees down, then stack them like Lincoln Logs. When you move out of your 100% naturific house, termites will turn it into poo =D and they’ll love it!