Do Green Seals Exist?

Profile In Green:  They do exist, and The Cleaning Authority has them, but they aren’t the kind that sit on rocky sea shores and bark at waves. Our green seals sit on our cleaning supplies and shout out that the products we use are certified safer for your family and the earth, while delivering the performance you expect. (1) 

This green seal does not exist.

Of course the animal on your left doesn’t exist, but the real ”Green Seal” was created when Rena Shulsky David founded a nonprofit dedicated to using science-based programs to “empower consumers, purchasers and companies to create a more sustainable world.”(2) It all began while Rena was first a founding member of the Social Venture Network (SVN), a group of corporate leaders committed to running their companies in a socially responsible manner. She was visiting friends who were also SVN members and they began discussing ways to further environmental issues.  And suddenly an idea came to her: “How about a ‘Green Seal’ along the lines of Underwriters Laboratories (UL), or the Kosher Seal, or the Good Housekeeping Seal?”(3) In 1989 Green Seal, a nonprofit

Official logo signifying a product or service is Green Seal certified.

organization, was founded. In 2008, Prevention Magazine named four ecologos consumers can trust and Green Seal was one of them. In 2012 the U.S. Department of Education referenced Green Seal certified products and services as part of their new Green Ribbon Schools Policy.  

                                                                                                                                                 Supplies: A phone. That’s it. This month’s blog is all about letting The Cleaning Authority, with it’s Green Seal Certified products, do the work for you.

Lifestyle Changes: Visit our website or call The Cleaning Authority in your area for a free in-home estimate and then sit back and relax while trained professionals use products that won’t leave behind noxious fumes or toxic residue. 

Now you know a little bit about the Green Seal and we hope it motivates you to call us, or at least look for it on packages next time you’re shopping for supplies.

What you could be doing this summer instead of cleaning !

Victor and I, co-owners of The Cleaning Authority in Macomb, with our logo!

(1), (2), (3) www.greenseal.org

 

Don’t Be A Hoser*

Profile In Green: For James Dudra, Eco Touch cofounder, it all started back in college while spending a semester abroad in Sydney, Australia. James learned how cars are cleaned ‘down-under’, where drought is a constant concern, without using water! Returning home to the U.S., he decided it was time raise awareness of this easy and eco-friendly way to care for their vehicles. James created his own waterless car wash formula, and enlisted the help of co-founder, Anne Ruozzi to get the word out on Eco Touch’s Waterless Car Wash + Polish.

Anne Ruozzi and James Dudra, Eco Touch Co-founders

Many products later, two of their operating principles include: Manufacture high-performance car care products with minimal impact on the environment throughout each product’s entire life-cycle.
Keep our customers and their families’ safety in mind. This means formulating products that are free of harmful solvents, additives, and VOCs.

Driving a car with The Cleaning Authority graphic on it means never letting it look dirty.

When you wash your car yourself, the rinse water containing cleaning chemicals – and petro chemicals from the road -  go down storm drains that empty into streams, rivers and lakes. Can you imagine the impact on aquatic life?                                                               

Supplies: Waterless car-cleaning solutions and microfiber cloths. Environmentally friendly interior car cleaners. (Water supply, but only for super dirty vehicles like the one pictured above.)

Lifestyle Changes:

• Instead of washing your vehicle in the driveway, where the water goes directly into the storm drains, take it to a car wash. Car washes are required to send used water through a wastewater treatment facility.
• Visit the International Carwash Association’s Watersavers webpage to find car washes that adhere to their environmental recommendations. Pass on the info to your own neighborhood car wash and encourage them to qualify.
• Even greener: Save gallons of water by visiting a self-serve (coin-op) car wash. The average home wash uses 80 to 140 gallons, an automatic car wash uses 15 to 32, and a self-serve wash uses only 8 to 12. Think of your water bill! 
• With products such as the ones that Eco Touch has developed, you can wash your car without any runoff water at all, right? Other waterless product companies include No Wet Waterless Car Wash and Freedom Waterless Car Wash  - but please do your own research or check out other customer reviews. IMPORTANT: use microfiber cloths to avoid scratching.
• No matter how you choose to clean your car, use washable rags, not paper towel. (Remember, don’t use cotton towels or other fabric rags to dry-wash your car. Use microfiber cloths.)  
• Simple Green, along with the other companies, makes environmentally friendly cleaning products for the inside of your car, too.
• Special tip for nonprofits holding car wash fundraisers: Tie your car wash in with Earth Day or other green theme for added public awareness, and make it a waterless car wash. Eco Touch offers a special fundraising package on their website.

So don’t be a hoser; put the hose down. (*Before ice resurfacers, or Zamboni machines, the losing team in a hockey game would have to hose down the rink after a game: thus the term “hoser” being synonymous with “loser”. Note: more typically used by non-Canadians while depicting Canadians, as in comedy sketches. (1)

Get the message?

(1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoser

Turn Winter Blues to ‘Green’

Image of portrait by G. Jacquet of Elizabeth Buhl Warren age 12 in 1907

Our Profile in Green is the late Elizabeth Buhl Warren Shelden. The Stony Creek Metropark, which opened in 1964, is now over 4,400 acres and 800 of those acres were donated by the late Mrs. Shelden.  She was the great granddaughter of Hiram Walker, and granddaughter of Theodore DeLong Buhl, a hardware and real estate magnate. To learn more about the Shelden estate and its inclusion into the park system, stop in and ask at the Stony Creek Nature Center. I’m planning to visit soon because I hear they have some cool photos and documents about the process. 

Anyone who lives in Michigan knows how blue you can get during the cold grey months of winter, but there are lots of ‘green’ things you can do to lift your spirits. It may seem counterintuitive, but one of the best things you can do is get outside. Whether it’s skiing, ice skating, snowshoeing, hiking or just taking a brisk walk, the medical professionals are all in agreement that getting outdoors is good for body, mind and spirit. (If you have any health conditions or concerns, check with your physician first about your level of activity.)

Our family friend, Banjo, enjoying a brief moment of freedom off her leash, while she sips the partially frozen pond along the trail.

 

Supplies: Warm winter clothing, water bottle, snacks, hiking stick/strekking poles, crampons, snowshoes or other winter sporting gear. Annual park passes.

Lifestyle Changes:

• Go for a walk. Invest in a decent set of crampons, which clip onto your boots and let you walk on icy trails. Here is a hubpage blog that gives decent advice on selecting the right kind of crampons. Dress warmly in layers since you will need to pare off some clothing as you move and generate plenty of body heat. See, you don’t have to wait for spring to chase away the chill. Drink water to stave off dehydration, which is actually an issue in cold dry air.
• I’m not a winter sports enthusiast, other than snowshoeing and hiking, so I won’t give any advice about skiing, snowboarding and so on. I do know there are some decent sledding hills at Stony Creek, though. Here is a list of activities at all of the Huron-Clinton Metroparks. And here is a calendar of events.
• If the snow is deep enough, or the trails are icy, try using a pair of trekking poles. They look like ski poles, but aid you in walking when your feet aren’t getting enough traction on ice or the snow is deep.
• Snowshoes are weird. It’s hard to describe why it’s fun, other than they make you walk funny, but you get a whole different workout than you do in boots. You can also traipse over deep snow areas without disturbing the habitat like you would in boots.
• Buy annual park passes.
  

  A Metropark Motor Vehicle Entry Permit gives you access to all 13 Huron-Clinton Metroparks
  Annual	$25
  Seniors (62+)	$15
  Daily	$5
  Joint Permit*	$48 (Includes Oakland County Park system, too)

• Go to the Detroit Zoo! It’s a whole different experience seeing huge animals like rhinos and giraffes housed indoors, up close and personal. Or seeing camels in the snow!
• 

  Look how big the frogs get in the winter. Kidding.

  If you live too far from a metropark or other trail, walk around your neighborhood or incorporate errands that you would have run in your car.

• Indulge in some hot chocolate when you get home. Question is, are you a marshmallow person or a whipped cream person when it comes to toppings?Amazing how much more enjoyable it is when you’ve already burned off the calories.
• Go to a chili cookoff, an ice carving festival or one of the many other outdoor winter events that people in Florida never get to do. Doesn’t that make you feel privileged to be a Michigander in the winter? I know, I know, I miss summer, too. Visit downtown Mount Clemens beginning February 1, 2012 for their second annual ice carving festival and chili cookoff.

  

  Victor and I at the ice carving festival in downtown Mount Clemens last year.

Ecofriendly spider control? Regular cleans by The Cleaning Authority.

Profile In Green:

We’ve had a number of topics in the Are You Green Yet? 

Handsome? Maybe not, but a hero nevertheless.

blog, but this is the first time our topic is also our hero.  Spiders, except in harsh continents such as Australia, are almost completely harmless. Anyone in the South, primarily, and parts of the Midwest will want to steer clear of the venomous Brown Recluse. In the Pacific Northwest, the Hobo Spider is your venomous nemesis. And everyone everywhere should beware the Black Widow. One of my dear nieces was bitten by a Brown Recluse and suffers a life-long condition attributed to the bite, so I take it very seriously. There are over 34,000 known species of spiders (probably closer to 170,00 according to scientists) and out of those only about a dozen are harmful to humans. (1)  The rest are our friends. They keep our homes and gardens freer from other pests, such as ticks, cockroaches, mosquitoes and aphids. And even the venomous spiders are contributing to medical breakthroughs in such areas as surgical repairs, arthritis and heart ailments. There is a family owned business in Arizona, the Spider Pharm, that milks spiders of their venom for researchers. So I guess they contribute to local economies as well. For information on how to identify spiders and more, click on this website: Spiders.

Supplies:  vacuum with vacuum bag, dust mop, yard/work gloves, caulking, jar, water hose, and broom

Lifestyle Changes:

• My number one suggestion is to hire The Cleaning Authority for weekly or bi-weekly cleanings. We have no spider problems since using them in our own home because the cleaners clear out cobwebs every week. Maybe that’s why we had ants? It’s all about balance.
• Shake out clothing and shoes before getting dressed.

  

  Is there anything more fascinating and beautiful than a spider web sparkling with morning dew? Scientists are trying to duplicate the strength and elasticity of this super fine substance for use in surgical repairs of the body.(2)

• Inspect bedding and towels before use.
• Wear gloves when handling firewood, lumber, and rocks (be sure to inspect the gloves for spiders before putting them on).
• Remove bedskirts. Move the bed away from the wall.
• Don’t store boxes and other items underneath beds.
• Exercise care when handling cardboard boxes (some spiders may inhabit the space under folded cardboard flaps).
• Install tight-fitting screens on windows and doors; also install weather stripping and door sweeps.
• Seal or caulk cracks and crevices where spiders can enter the house.
• Equip vents in soffits, foundations, and roof gables with tight-fitting screens.
• Install yellow or sodium vapor light bulbs outdoors since these attract fewer insects for spiders to feed upon.
• Many web-making spiders set up residence near lights that remain on at night. Locate such lights away from the house or turn them off when not needed.
• Tape the edges of cardboard boxes to prevent spider entry.
• Use plastic bags (sealed) to store loose items in the garage, basement, and attic.
• Remove trash, old boxes, old clothing, wood piles, rock piles, and other unwanted items.
• Eliminate clutter in closets, basements, attics, garages, and outbuildings.
• Store items off the floor and away from walls in basements, crawl spaces, attics, garages, and outbuildings in order to reduce spider harborage sites.
• Do not stack wood against the house.
• Remove heavy vegetation and leaf litter around the foundation.
• Wash spider webs off the outside of the house using a high-pressure hose.
• 

  Even the Black Widow is beneficial, as seen here capturing and killing a tick.

  Capture the spider and release it outdoors. An effective technique for capturing hunting spiders is to place a cup over the spider and then slide a piece of paper underneath to entrap it.

• Dust and vacuum thoroughly to remove spiders, webs, and egg sacs (dispose of the vacuum bag in a container outdoors).
• Outdoors, use a water hose or broom to regularly destroy any webs that are constructed on or around the house. Spiders often move elsewhere when their webs are regularly destroyed.
• Help your kids become aware of good and ‘bad’ spiders so that they don’t suffer from arachnophobia. Here is a kid-friendly site published by the University of Michigan.

(1) Cofrin Center for Biodiversity
(2) Scientists Putting a New Spin on Spider Silk

Your morning buzz is legal, but is it fair?

Profile In Green: When Isabel Latorre became an organic coffee importer for the Vancouver, Washington-based Organic Products Trading Company (OPTCO), she returned to the northern Peru mountains that she had left as a child, and saw the

Isabel Latorre

same inequality and abuse of women working in the coffee fields that she saw growing up. The women not only worked their husbands’ farms, but also took care of their children and homes. In return they often received no share of the income they helped to earn. Wanting to improve their lives, Isabel came up with an idea for the women to grow and sell their own brand of coffee. She took that idea to Gay and Garth Smith, founders of OPTCO, and they agreed to launch Café Femenino.

There are now over a thousand women growers participating in the Peru cooperative. OPTCO charges an extra two cents per pound, compared to their other organic coffee, which goes back to the female growers. Other benefits to women include a requirement that roasters that purchase the coffee around the world, donate a portion of sales to local domestic violence centers or to Café Femenino Foundation. The foundation returns those funds to the growers’ communities for education, health care and other improvements.

At first the founders were concerned about the repercussions the women might suffer in their communities, but instead the men saw the female growers in a different light: as bread-winners who had also earned a voice. (1)

In America, we have constitutional protections that guarantee our equality, so let’s all raise a mug in celebration to that. Beyond equality there are also health and environmental concerns associated with coffee growing and consumption. Please read on for tips on how you can do your small part. And drink this potentially healthy elixir in moderation.

Coffee beans must turn red before they are picked.

                                                                                                                                            Supplies: Your old coffeemaker, or better yet, a french press. A coffee bean grinder*, reusable coffee filters, your favorite mug, organic milk or cream and organic sugar to taste. Fair trade, shade-grown, organic coffee beans. (*optional suggestion based solely on taste value)

Lifestyle Changes:

• Try to buy Fair Trade coffee whenever possible. Not only does that benefit women
  

  The international symbol.

  growers like those in our profile, but all small farmers who are often pushed out and priced out by large corporations and middlemen who take large profits while paying the farmers mere cents per pound. Look for the Fair Trade Certification mark on packages of coffee. Small business owners, such as Victor and I, appreciate that concept.

• Buy organic coffee when possible. According to cancer survivor Lance Armstrong’s LiveStrong, healthy living, website, “In general, coffee ranks as the most chemically treated agricultural product on the planet. Although a controversial topic, research is currently being conducted to evaluate the consequences of long-term ingestion of pesticides and herbicides.” Also, if you need decaf, be sure it is only the ‘Swiss Water’ method type to avoid chemical solvents.
• According to the Smithsonian, in the time it takes you to drink one cup of
  

  This hummingbird commonly seen in Michigan would disappear if it could not winter in the rainforests of Costa Rica.

  morning coffee, acres of tropical forest will be lost. Along with it will go the birds and other wildlife that depend on it.(2) The conventional method of cutting down rainforests to grow beans faster in the

  

  Nor would this commonly seen wren.

  sun is also destructive to the soil, requiring more chemicals, more expense to the farmers, and loss in flavor to you. Read more on the Smithsonian website.

• Try switching from an autodrip coffeemaker to a french press. It doesn’t use messy, wasteful filters, and it makes a better cup of coffee. Even though Victor and I own a collection of glass percolators that we love because of how it looks when the coffee percs, it uses more energy and coffee snobs turn up their noses at the notion of boiling coffee. Normally we use the french press and it really is the perfect method.
• If you do use an autodrip coffeemaker, buy a reusable filter available at any grocery store or specialty store. And put all coffee grounds in your compost pile.
  

  Here I am enjoying a cup of fairtrade, organic, shade-grown coffee on a beach in Puerto Rico. Victor did a little research to find a small inn that supported our lifestyle choices. What an amazing husband.

(1) Worldpulse.com

(2) Smithsonian, National Zoological Park

Piggin’ Out

Profile In Green: Steve Ells, founder of the Chipotle chain, is my kind of guy. First

No disrespect to Steve Ells, but these happy pigs illustrate his point about sustainable farming a lot better than a picture of him would.

of all he’s a chef and I love a man who can cook. Amongst all his other admirable traits is his corporation’s commitment to sustainable agriculture. “As Chipotle began to grow and expand, I learned quite a bit about the way most of the food in the US is produced and processed — and what I learned was pretty grim. Pigs are raised in stark confinement, produce is grown on vast factory farms with little or no regard for the environment, and dairy cows are confined and injected with hormones that make them produce 8 times their normal amount of milk,” said Steve.(1)

Steve sits on the board of directors of the Land Institute and just this past August, his company announced that it had created the “Chipotle Cultivate Foundation,” aimed at supporting people, organizations and institutions that are committed to making a better, more sustainable future. Even before that the company had donated more than $2 million to groups including Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution, The Nature Conservancy, FamilyFarmed.org, The Lunch Box, and the Niman Ranch Scholarship Fund.

Although McDonald’s  became a major shareholder in Chipotle when Steve began his expansion, they mutually parted ways some time ago. One can only guess why. Now Steve is launching a new concept: ShopHouse Southeast Asian Kitchen in downtown Washington, D.C. Let’s hope we can all look forward to the same commitment to sustainable agriculture that is in play at Chipotle.Thanks for risking success, Steve! Planning any ShopHouses for Michigan? Please, please, please . . .

If a ‘fast-food’ empire can do it, why can’t we? This week’s blog will give you a few ideas for how you can support sustainable agriculture for the good of your health as well as the farmers and the planet.

Farmer's Markets are so much fun.

                                                                                                                                                Supplies: Just a ‘healthy’ appetite.

Lifestyle Changes:

• Do your research and choose restaurants that promote local, organic produce and humanely grown meat where possible.
• Eat vegetarian occasionally. Just heard a funny joke for all you omnivores out there: If God didn’t want us to eat animals, why did he make them out of meat? I can tell that joke; I used to be a vegetarian and still eat that way probably half the time. The VegGuide.org will help you search for restaurants and grocers in your area.
• If you haven’t already switched to eating only organic, free range meats, you should be aware that you have almost certainly be eating meat glue. Yes, that’s what I said: MEAT GLUE or transglutaminase.  Many experts warn that this new technique of cobbling together lesser cuts of meat into steaks or filets could raise the risk of food poisoning hundreds of times. I wouldn’t order a rare steak under those conditions. Plus is that what you paid for? I’m just saying.(2)
• Use a seafood watchlist to educate yourself about which seafoods should be on the menu and which are being over-harvested or farmed in unhealthy conditions. They also have an app you can add to your phone for use while in a restaurant or store.
  

  If you love sashimi like I do, this probably looks wonderful to you, too. I'd have to check the seafood watch list to know for sure.

• Former co-workers of mine once nick-named me ‘the food-nazi’ because of my obsession with eating natural foods. I just couldn’t help myself once I found out how the food industry was hoodwinking consumers with all their fake, unhealthy, cheap tricks. Funny thing was, my coworkers all loved it when I brought in homemade lunches and snacks to share. I’m no better cook than anyone else; it was the organic and free-range ingredients they were savoring. So lead by example, not argument. Love all you guys back at OU! Yeah, I’m still a food-nazi.
• A bit of advice: don’t take your obsession out with you on social dates or invitations to the homes of others. I love having other people cook for me! I’m a big believer in the Serenity Prayer: God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.
  

  The family that pigs out together stays together. (L to R) Me, daughters Elyse and Kyla, son Erick and husband Victor.

(1) Chipotle

(2) Mercola.com

Justin Timberlake Brings Sexy to Greener Golf

Profile In Green:  Yeah, we all know he’s hot, and that he’s super passionate

Justin Timberlake at Pro Am 2010. Photo by Faith-Ann Young

about golf, but did you know that Justin Timberlake recently developed one of the only eco-friendly golf courses in the world? As co-owner of Mirimichi just outside of Memphis, Tennessee, JT defied conventional course design and maintenance practices and consulted with environmentalists to create the first Certified Audubon International Classic Sanctuary course in the world. It’s also been named one of the five “greenest” golf course in the world by the Mother Nature Network and received the Tennessee Governor’s Environmental Stewardship Award in 2011. Mirimichi achieved Golf Environment Organization International Certification status in April, 2010, the first golf course in all of North, South, and Central America to do so.

What is the most endearing about this latest move by JT?  Mirimichi’s co-owners are his parents. Justin grew up playing on this exact same spot with them, and now the family has purchased the old course and given it a magnificent green makeover. It’s a show of love and respect for his mom and dad, gratitude to his hometown, and a beacon of green leadership in the world of golf.

To my knowledge, the only course in Metro Detroit recognized for being somewhat eco-friendly is unfortunately a private club, so my husband Victor and his riff-raff friends can’t even play there.  210 acres of land along the Rouge River had been purchased by Henry Ford in 1915 and the area became an industrial dump site until Harold Poling, then CEO of Ford, and the PGA Tour commissioned Jack Nicklaus to reclaim the land as a golf course. The Tournament Players Club  became the first course in Michigan to receive certification by the National Audubon Society.

Tony, Dan, John and Jeff get ready to tee up.

Victor loves golf, belongs to a league and has no intentions of giving it up despite the sport’s reputation as a real ball-buster when it comes to pollution (pesticides, herbicides, fertilizer, water usage and energy waste.) So what’s a golf-lover and tree-hugger like him to do? 

                                                                                                                                                Supplies: A lighter golf bag, a pull cart, bag for recyclables and returnables, reusable beverage container, and organic sunscreen and bug repellent.

Lifestyle Changes:

• If allowed by the golf course, walk, don’t ride. Better yet, choose courses that do allow you to walk. Some don’t. It’s good for your health, saves energy and/or reduces carbon dioxide in the air. Victor likes to get the maximum workout he can from golf, which is pretty minimal if you’re driving around in a cart drinking beer. His companion golfers, mostly from Comerica where Victor used to work, all walk. Another group of younger golfers, from an automotive company that shall remain nameless, chooses to ride.
  

  Kevin, Daman, and Gary. Looking fit, guys!

• Carry your own bag. Emptying out some of the debris and clubs you don’t ever use will give you a more manageable weight. There is always the pull cart, if you’re not up to the physical challenge, but don’t drag it over sensitive wild plants in the rough.
  

  Victor's brother Gary, who is a doctor, also walks and this shot reminds me of the line in the movie Be Cool, "If you're important, people will wait." Note carts in the background.

• Wearing organic sunscreen and bug repellent is not only better for your health, but better for our water quality. When you swim or bathe, the products you use go into the water supply. (As do the prescriptions and over the counter products you take orally.) Research is new on what the health effects are on humans and wildlife and what, if any, affordable water treatment methods can at least remove these chemicals from our drinking water.(1) Sorry, fish and waterfowl, you’re on your own for now.
• While on the course don’t toss empties (bottles, cans, etc.) into the trash cans. Bring them back to your car and take them home to be returned or recycled.
• Some beverages (as in beer) may only be purchased from the golf course, but if you’re just bringing in water and so on, fill a reusable beverage container. How many times are we going to harp on that, eh?
• Do your best to choose courses that employ sustainable golf course maintenance. Unfortunately it is a slow-growing movement, but refer to the Audubon Society‘s list for their various levels of endorsements.
  

  Photo courtesy of Morguefile.com

• Do you remember how to throw a Frisbee? Have you considered disc-golf? It’s now growing faster than ball-golf, especially amongst the teens and twenty-somethings. Environmentalists encourage this sport as an earth-friendly alternative because there is no need for stringent greens-keeping. Find a course near you in the Professional Disc Golf Association directory.

Totally different form than traditional golf, right? Photo courtesy of Morguefile.com

(1) Environmental Protection Agency – Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products (PPCPs)