This ain't cheap BUT

I have been looking for an alternative dishwasher detergent and finally I have found one that I can live with. Attitude brand dishwasher detergent. Its less expensive than some of the others and a one liter bottle does 26 loads. At $5.99 a pop ( ..thats right FIVE NINETY-NINE!!! ACK!!!!) its not as cheap as the clorine and phosphate laden ones but it is better for the environment and has not been leaving etching on my glasses. Contains tea tree oil and that'll jack up the price of anything.
For the dishes in the sink I have been buying Bio-Vert. They too make a dishwasher liquid but its really liquidy and I think you use twice as much.
A laundry soap I have been loving is Presidents Choice Green 3X concentrated for cold water washing. So far its rockin' my world. A much smaller bottle means less plastic packaging in your recycle bin, a lighter lift for pouring or carrying to a laundrette, takes less space in the cabinets. Less water in the product means that less water was used in production AND you use less product than less concentrated detergents. It meets biodegradable standards and is fragrance and colourant free as well. Its really been doing a great job in my HE washer unlike some other detergents that have left me wanting. Best of all? The Price! ONLY $4.99 for 26 loads (compare that to some bigger bottles and brands). So, to recap: less expensive, effective in cold water saving you money on heating water, wastes less water in production, less packaging for the recycle...its all good.
Stain fighter I love: The laundry bar from The Soapworks. I find this brand in health food stores and bulk food stores like The Bulk Barn chain. These soaps have no packaging and are displayed for purchase in a wooden rack/case. The laundry bar gets out stains that I gave up on! Its works better than fancy schmancy grand name stain removers. One bar lasts a LONG time. I cut mine up into small chunks and only use a chunk at a time so the whole bar doesn't get ooky in the soap dish on the laundry sink. The rest are stored in the paper sack I brought it home in. I'm still on the first chunk and its been a few months. Not bad for less than two bucks.

Dealing with Snow

Living in Canada, you'd think I wouldn't be all that surprised by the amount of snow we've been getting this year. Well, consider the past couple years when skiing resorts opened late and had to make snow due to lack of the real thing. Seriously. Global warming at it's finest. And the melting polar ice? Yeah.

Getting back on point, this year we've been snowed over by record amounts of the white stuff. Don't get me wrong. I love the stuff and so do my kids. It makes everything look pretty and clean, and actually gets the kids out of the house and away from computer games. There is the down side, though. Getting rid of it, or moving it out of the way enough so you're not forced into hibernation. Good ol' fashioned shovels are losing favour with many people. And really, who can blame them for not wanting to be a statistic of the snow-shovelling induced deaths and heart attacks? The problem lies not only with our increased inactivity but with the alternative modes of snow removal. The snowplows and snow blowers and their putrid exhaust fumes, or toxic emissions if you prefer. Blah. We tell our kids to get outside into the fresh air, but then we fire up one of these "helpful" machines and pollute that air. When are we going to learn?? Maybe if we exercised on a regular basis throughout the year, our hearts wouldn't scream at the injustice and pain inflicted on them during a snow-shovelling session. Maybe our health would improve overall. Yes, all that good-for-you stuff takes time away from sitting in front of the television with a bag of greasy, salty, bad-for-you chips. So. We obviously know better. We just have to be willing to get a grip and actually DO what is better for us. Myself included.

Rant done. Over and out.

Forgot to Mention

Also on canada AM today was a story on asbestos found in common household products and toys. http://www.asbestosdiseaseawareness.org/
There is a CSI fngerprinting kit toy that had asbestos contamination, duct tape, wall spackle...go to the above link to learn more.

Things Have been quiet

in the Being Green department here at Chez AliP. I still try to clean green with essential oils doing my germ killing but I must admit to slippage with the cold and flu season attacking us with a vengeance. I broke out the forbidden chemical disinfectants but only when alone in the house and only in the bathrooms. We have been "new" virus free now for about a week and a half....whew. I can go back to my less scary methods of cleaning and disinfecting.
Why do we do this? I'm not the only one thats for sure..
Also in the "green" living books, its wintery here now and the heat is on. We didn't order firewood this year since I felt we had enought left for emergencies and super cold spells. Our electricity is produced by hydro plants here and thats a cleaner method than coal fired plants like we had in Nova Scotia. The heat in my home is electric and I have thermostats that have a 'set back' feature so that the heat is automatically turned back at night. the downside is that its light sensitive and on real dark wintter days it doesn't go to the daytime cozy setting of 19 degrees. Unless I tinker with the set back or turn on a bright lamp near the thermostat. Sweaters and slippers are being worn by myself all day since I am pretty sedentary, blankets cuddled into for evening TV or reading by the rest of the family. We save ourselves some coin with the lower temperature setting too.
There was a recent new story on how much cleaner North American are (personal hygiene) compared to some Europeans like Parisians. It was a study on water usage actually and in NA we use a lot more water for bathing and showering where as Parisians use more in meal preparation. Very interesting if you think about it and there is a whole book on the subject which I saw touted on Canada AM last week but now cannot find for all my Google skillz.
Being green: bathe less, wear a sweater, avoid chemicals. I guess thats my message this time. LOL

LEAD

GET THE LEAD OUT
http://www.usw.ca/program/content/4467.php?lan=en

Noone is safe it seems. Even plastic backed baby bibs that we so blithely buy for drooly babies who grow to gnaw and chew at them are testing positive for lead content. Lunch boxes that we send our kids to school with!
Know what really sad and pathetic? This country prides itself on producing quality safe goods and yet we import cheap dangerous shit from China and poison ourselves anyway.
Pathetic. Be safe and get a test kit.

Recycled crafting etc

The news today reported on Lights Out...a movement to turn out lights in big cities for a half hour or an hour at night. Lights that really are not necessary like office buildings that are empty, large lit signage for advertising. Basically its a black out to raise awareness for energy consumption reduction. Useless gesture? I don't think so...like any campaign, a hook is needed to catch the attention of the general public. Rome and now London have given it their shots, what about other urban centers? And how much energy is saved by these blackouts? For sure it is not a negligible amount! We are now in the summer season where we may not be heating a building but cooling it so energy demands are still high and often cause stress on electrical supplies. A large reduction in unecessary lighting and the light pollution it causes could be a very good thing. A walk beneath STARS in the central city anyone?
Crafting with recycled stuffs: I am interested in this from a knitting standpoint and have 3 or 4 sweaters waiting for "frogging" meaning waiting to be ripped apart for their yarn yardage. This is an idea that is gaining interest among earth and frugal minded knitters and sometimes you can score a luxury fiber for a pittance at a thrift shop or clearance sale. I would like to do more of this but in using my spare time actually knitting I haven't yet gotten around to the recycling. I guess I will have two stashes: one of new yarns and one of sweaters waiting to be recycled for their yarns. ;oD Could be worse right? http://www.neauveau.com/recycledyarn.html
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/recycledyarn/?yguid=196305498
http://www.az.com/~andrade/knit/thrifty.html
Here are 3 links to get ya started on recycling yarn for your handy works. Never forget you can recycle old clothes for their fabric to save money on your sewing habit too.

Dishwasher Powder

(Gratuitous boat shot: Look windpowered travel!!!)

I have been using a homemade version of dishwasher powder for awhile made from a 1:1 ratio of baking soda to Borax. I am unimpressed. I tried adding salt. Still not happy. My glasses are cloudy coated (can scratch it with my fingernail so its not etching) and some dishes just do not come out clean.

I am unhappy with this recipe and so far all the homemade recipes I can find are pretty close to this with perhaps citric acid added.

Thus, the great dishwasher powder experiment of May 2007 came to and ignomious end...with me buying some chlorine free stuff at Zellers on a major sale discount (Amilya's Soapworks). Sweet.