Summer Buzz

This is about neither a haircut not what’s hot at the movies – although I understand that The Hangover 2 is ripping up the box office.

This is actually a subject I’ve written about before but I believe it deserves repeating. Despite the relatively short time they are used each year, lawnmovers contribute significantly to greenhouse gas emissions.  They also make the air smell bad.  So if you are in the market for a new grass cutter, perhaps this is the year to consider an old fashion push mower.  Not only will you get some exercise and save money on gas and electricity but you’ll treat yourself, and our air, to the absence of exhaust fumes.

I’m apparently not alone in suggesting we turn back the clock in this respect.  Some lawn maintenance companies are now offering customers the option of manual grass cutting.  It’s a little costlier because the cut involves more muscle and takes longer but if you  have the luxury of having someone else cut your grass this is something to consider.

A Spectacular High Efficiency Washer Cleaner

Had to laugh the other day.  Saw a new (to me anyway) commercial for a Tide product supposedly specially engineered to clean high efficiency washing machines. Cool diagrams abounded as did the usual rhetoric about how anyone possessed of a HE washer simply cannot live without this product.  Hardly the case. We've been cleaning ours with vinegar since advised to do so years ago by a Sears repairman.  Costs a whopping several cents each month and doesn't pollute anything.   

Rediscover the Convenience of Non-Stick Cookware

I just made chilli in my new non-stick pan and I have to tell you about it.  The pan, not the chilli, although the coconut oil makes it really yummy, but I digress.  A year ago, my blog entry about non-stick cookware would have been really short.  "Stay away from it! There are toxic chemicals in the coating which will leach into your food and your air. And in case you need more convincing, the manufacturing process uses additional toxic chemicals that also end up in our atmosphere and our bodies. Stainless steel is the new/old holy grail".  End of story.

Thermolon by GreenPan has changed all of that.   These pans do everything good non-stick does (and more) without adding PTFE (Polytetrafluoroethylene) to your food and our air.  This is a good thing because I have never seen a recipe that calls for PTFE.  As an added bonus, the pans are manufactured without using PFOA (Perfluorooctanoic Acid), another additive we can do nicely without.  My only other suggestion is to watch for the 4 mm pans as they apparently last longer than the 3 mm pans albeit, no surprise here, for a bigger price tag. 

In summary, this cookware looks like a duck and quacks like a duck but it isn't a duck.  It's sort of a happy bionic duck – they can even go into the oven at high temps!  So go ahead and enjoy non-stick cooking again.  I sure am!

 

 

Out Out Damn Spot

O.K. so it's not quite Shakespeare.  But stain removers are important too.  I found a really effective one recently, perched by the cash register in Home Hardware of all places. Buncha Farmers' Stain Remover is all natural and 100% biodegradable. Each rectangular slab is approximately 1" x 3" of stain removing power extraordinaire that comes wrapped in a simple piece of paper.  Just wet the bar or the stained fabric, rub the bar over said stain and wash.  Stain gone.  Lady Macbeth would have been impressed. 

This Is One Stain You Don’t Want To Remove

One of the reasons I've been writing so infrequently of late is our ongoing bathroom reno.  We started in early June and it is still incomplete.  It's no secret that renos and delays go hand in hand. But some of our delays were due to the fact that yours truly has been determined to do everything in the most environmentally friendly way possible.  T'aint easy.

By far the biggest roadblock was the stain for the vanity.  We chose a beautiful colour – I was assured the brand was very 'clean' – and built the room around it. Floor tile, countertop, paint, everything looked great with the stain.  Then I decided to check out the stain for myself.  Oops.  Yes, it was green, but not as green as it could be.  

So we were back to square one. Except for the fact that the tile, countertop and paint were already bought and paid for.  We now had to find an eco-friendly stain that also worked with everything else we had chosen.  That was a daunting task.  

But, to make a long story short, the ending was happy.  We went with a Microfine Eco-Tones Interior Stain by the Sansin Corporation.  It's gorgeous and worked beautifully with the AFM Safecoat lacquer.  

I am hoping to refinish my ancient, solid wood, Ikea desk next spring and will use this stain again in a heartbeat.

Green Living Show, Toronto 2010

Hmmm.  Don't know whether writing about the annual Green Show for a second time makes me repetitive  or accomplished.  Too busy to think about it.

Went Saturday with Lesley.  Hit the ground running at 10 a.m. We had a blast.  Lesley, PhD Engineer woman, was fascinated by the technical aspects of all the home-related gadgets and systems.  Me, I'm just thrilled that these wonderful, creative options exist. 

Have you ever heard of 'grey water'?  I hadn't.  Its a system which recycles the water used in the home for dishes and showers etc. and sends it to the home's toilets.  The result?  Each flush uses zero potable water! Add a low flush toilet and you are really conserving water. The catch with this system is that it would be tough to retrofit.  If I were building, this baby would definitely be on my wish list.

We also discovered fibreglass windows, got a closeup look at the above ground unit that directs the heat/cool flow for a geothermal 'furnace' and heard about the nano-particle paint that keeps heat in and cold out.  But enough about those engineering feats – I'll leave those for Lesley to moon over.

The personal care products, baby gear and home decor options were also out in force.  I finally got to see the gorgeous texture and colours of American Clay, the product with which my husband and I hope to one day cover the cement board in our basement.  The clay is gorgeous and creates a warm feeling in a room.  Never mind the fact that it is apparently healthy for human kind – something to do with negative ions..

I came home with stainless baby bottles for gifts, gogi berries and raw cacao nibs plus this cool contraption – made in TO of recycled plastic – to prop up my husband's laptop so that it stays cool, uses less electricity and keeps him in proper alignment. 

Oh yes, also found a cork yoga block and a new respect for Sears. That's right, Sears.  They had an impressive display of the items now available in every Sears store. These include PVC-free shower curtains, organic baby clothes/blankets, bedding for folks of all ages and even low emission furniture!  Beyond that they are making great efforts to cut down on their packaging.  Definitely worth a look.

If we hadn't been so zonked by 4:30 p.m. we would have stuck around to watch Colin Firth receive an award for environmental activism.  Ordinarily I would stick around to watch Colin Firth period.  We were done.

Jack Lalanne Juicer Is A Dud

Well, not completely.  It makes great juice and I believe their claim that it makes 30% more juice than other juicers.  Unfortunately, I found the safety shutoff to be too much of a good thing.  The motor kept shutting down and I had to unplug it, take it apart and put it back together several times almost every time I made juice.  Its construction is also odd – the grinding plate has be screwed in to use it and screwed out for washing. 

There is no getting around it – juicers are high maintenance.  But I found the Jack Lalanne to be even more so than necessary.  Back it went to Costco.

The Hamilton Beach model is rated highly.  My Mom had one and loved it.  It is also very inexpensive.  I'm trying that one next.

Cleaning Up Their Act?

Feels like every time I turn on the TV, there is another new 'green' cleaner being advertised by one of the chemical companies that have been making conventional cleaners for years.  The ads tout these cleaners as environmentally friendly and spout buzz phrases like 'no amonia' and '100% biodegradable'.

I haven't investigated any of these products so I don't know if they are indeed 'clean' or if they work for that matter.  But I remain sceptical of the corporate motivation behind them.  If the decision makers at these companies are really concerned with the environmental impact of their chemical cleaners then why are they still making them?  If their environmental concerns were sincere, wouldn't they simply start manufacturing only the ecofriendly products?

Looks to me like smart marketing and an expensive effort to grab some of the market share enjoyed by companies whose leadership is genuinely environmentally aware.

The potential upside to this two faced approach is that consumers who cling to their tried and true may start to give credence to the environmentally friendly option precisely because their trusted, big name manufacturers are jumping into the game. 

Hey, if it works, that's great.

 

Kermit Was Right

We are currently attempting to insulate our basement walls.  Again. 
Don’t ask.  The insulation is the easy part.  We’re going with a soya spray foam. The noteworthy part is a discovery made during my attempt to find
something to cover the walls after they are sprayed.

Googled “eco friendly
drywall” and up popped a link to an award winning, low emissions, mold and
termite resistant, made from recycled materials product called EcoRock.

Manufactured by California-based Serious Materials, EcoRock uses 80% less energy to produce than
conventional gypsum drywall, is made of 80% recycled materials and is designed
to be 100% reusable.  Eighty to one
hundred percent is all A’s where I come from. 
  
 

I wonder if there is a name for the buzz I get upon
making a discovery like this — a  product that does its job, besting its
state-of-the-art competition, but in an environmentally friendly fashion.  If there isn’t a name for this buzz, there ought
to be.   

Thinking that EcoRock would be perfect in our house, I
called Serious Materials’ head office in Sunnyvale
California to ask for the name of the Canadian
distributor.  “We would love to
distribute in Canada”
said the cheerful voice, “But we can’t fill the orders we are getting here in the US”.
 

The disappointing news is that we can’t use EcoRock – this
time.  The good news is that Serious
Materials is making it and that people are doing the renovation equivalent of
eating it up.
 

It isn’t always easy being green. But its still worth it.

Competition for the Vita-Mix?

Was flipping channels over the weekend and … O.K. I was watching the
Shopping Channel.  Hey, I was exercising and there was
no 'design emergency' on HGTV to distract me.  Anyway, there
appeared on my screen what appeared to be a doppleganger for the
Vita-Mix. 

According to the guest, this blender replaces not one, not two, but nine
appliances. In addition to the usual demonstrations of smoothie and soup
making, viewers were treated to an ice pulverizing demonstration that was
indeed impressive. The blender is called the Blendtec
Total Blender.

Priced at $100 less than the Vita-Mix, the Blendtec model looks to be
similar in design and function although the warranty is significantly shorter
at three years to the Vita-Mix's seven. 

I'm curious about this blender.  How well does it work?  Does
one container really work for both wet and dry foods?  The Vita-Mix offers
two distinct containers with different blades for wet and dry ingredients -
superior engineering or just good marketing?

If anyone out there has
experience with the Blendtec I would appreciate hearing what you think of it.