Homemade Drain Cleaner
Who ever said that dangerous chemicals need to be poured down your drain to clear a pipe. This all natural and homemade drain cleaner will unclog just about any pipe and is safe for the environment.
- 3/4 cup Baking Soda
- 1/2 cup Vinegar
- Several cups Boiling Water
That’s it. Three ingredients when used in the following order will clear out your pipes without causing them harm:
- Pour the baking soda down the drain.
- Immediately follow by pouring the vinegar down the drain. The drain will begin to foam as you would expect mixing the two together.
- Wait for about 1/2 – 1 hour.
- Begin boiling the water either in a kettle or a pot.
- Pour the hot water down the drain.
If the clog is still there, simply try the above steps again. Also trying increasing the amounts of baking soda and vinegar.
I recently had a clog in my bathroom drain and this homemade drain cleaner cleared it right up after one use. Imagine how much money you could also save if you are constantly buying bottles of Drano to clean out your pipes. All the ingredients in this recipe are extremely cheap and almost everybody already has them in their homes. Give it a try and you will be pleasantly surprised.
When to Roll the Car Windows Up or Down
This is a question that I have heard quite often that confuses many people. There are situations where you should keep your windows down and others when keeping them up and using the A/C is the best choice for getting better fuel efficiency.
Several factors that determine which is the better option are the speed at which you are driving and the age of the vehicle. In terms of how fast you are driving, the general consensus seems to be that the faster you are driving, the better gas mileage your car will get with the windows up. Leaving your window down at high speeds can cause drag, which can reduce your fuel efficiency by up to 20%. That a huge decrease by just leaving your windows down when driving on the highway. See if you can go without using the A/C to prevent losing further gas mileage. The opposite is true when driving stop and go at lower speeds. It’s actually better to leave you windows down and turn off your A/C. There is no point to leave the A/C running while your windows are down.
Though a small change, you can ensure you car is reaching it’s maximum level of gas mileage by knowing when to keep your windows up and down when driving.
Wal-Mart Announces Sustainable Index
Walmart just announced that will be developing a sustainable product index in coordination with all of it’s suppliers. This new index will allow the company to determine how eco-friendly each of the products is. Walmart president and CEO Mike Duke had this to say about why they are developing this new index:
And increasingly they want information about the entire lifecycle of a product so they can feel good about buying it. They want to know that the materials in the product are safe, that it was made well and that it was produced in a responsible way.
Wal-Mart will introduce the project with three phases:
- Provide a survey to all of it’s suppliers throughout the world to determine their sustainability.
- Bring together suppliers, retailers and governments in a consortium start developing a database containing the complete lifecycle of projects. This will include all phases a product goes through, starting from the raw materials used to create it all the way until it is thrown away.
- Take the product information from the consortium and translate it into an index easily deciphered by us the consumers.
Wal-Mart is providing initial funding for many of the efforts, but hopes that suppliers and retailer also contribute. The intial surveying process is set to end by October and the entire project will end within the next few years. The impacts of such an index could affect how all products throughout our country are labeled. Wal-Mart seems like the best candidate to bring about a change like this. There is still some uncertainanty in the details of this project and it will be interesting to see how things unfold. I am not a huge fan of Wal-Mart and don’t shop there, but they do have the sheer size to make a change like this happen. Let’s hope that this change allows consumers to actually make the correct choices and not mislead us into purchasing products that are not as environmentally friendly as they may seem.
What are your thoughts on this new sustainable index?
Natural Soy Wax Candles
With the onset of wanting to use more natural products that are safe for our health as well as the environment, it’s become more popular to light up green candles. Soy candles are becoming the popular option of natural candles that allows you to enjoy a clean burning candle with a natural scent.
Traditional wax candles are usually made from paraffin wax, a derivative of petroleum. When burned improperly, it produces a soot that is can emit dangerous chemicals. Studies were conducted indicate that burning excessive amounts of paraffin wax candles could increase the levels of organic compounds such as formaldehyde, acetaldehyde and acrolein in our air. All of these compounds can be dangerous to our health by potentially penetrating some areas of our lungs. Just as you would expect, the soot from candles can potentially blacken surfaces in our homes include walls and furniture. Some older candles even contain lead cores that increase the concentration of lead in our air, much higher than the EPA recommended. The popular gel candles are not any safer than traditional candles as they are made from a substance called Penreco that is also based from petroleum and emits soot when burned improperly.
Soy wax candles are made from hydrogenated soybean oil. The first major advantage is that soy candles do not emit toxic chemicals into the area like paraffin wax. Instead of having to inhale black smoke into your lungs, you get a natural scent. They also usually burn at much lower temperatures mean that the same candle will last much longer. This means that the same candle will last much longer and decrease the risk of getting burned. Because the cost of these candles tends to be comparable to traditional candles, you can save money because they do last longer.
Be sure to stick with a reputable company or person when purchasing soy candles as not all are made from all soy wax. Check out a reputable company like Soy Aromas. They makes quality handmade candles using 100% all natural soy wax along with pure natural fragrances.
Homemade Bread Crumbs
Freshly made homemade breads crumbs are so easy to make and can add great flavor to many recipes.
Making breadcrumbs on your own also allows you to reuse those old loaves of bread that are just sitting there ready to be tossed.
Let’s get started.
- Pick you favorite type of bread to use as breadcrumbs. Who ever said plain white bread was the only type of breadcrumbs we are allowed to eat?
- Toast or Bake the bread if your bread is too soft or want a more dry breadcrumb. I bake the bread in my toaster oven for a few minutes.
- Tear or cut the bread into small chunks. This makes the process of making crumbs of it a little quicker.
- Throw the bread into a food processor or blender with whatever seasoning you would like. Italian seasoning is popular, but any type of seasoning will do.
- Let it run for 10-20 seconds, depending on how small you want the breadcrumbs to be.
That’s it. Now you have fresh breadcrumbs that will taste way better than any of the stuff you would ever buy in a grocery store while saving money.
Breadcrumbs is just another product that has unnecessary ingredients added to it by manufacturers to make it last forever. I was curious to see what was actually on the ingredients of a popular brand of breadcrumbs and was shocked to find that one of the top ingredients on the list was hydrogenated oil. I guess manufacturers will do anything to try to make their product taste better or last on the shelves longer. Just another reason to stick with making breadcrumbs on your own and reap the savings.
Fort Meade Environment Cleanup by EPA
The EPA announced last week that it reached an agreement among several agencies to ensure an environment cleanup of Fort George G. Meade Superfund site in Maryland. In the words of William C. Early, the acting administrator for the EPA’s Mid-Atlantic region:
Today’s agreement is a significant milestone that will benefit the local community and environment. The agreement shows that EPA and the other agencies are now on the same page on how we will move forward to clean up the site.
Fort Meade has been a permanent fixture for the Army since 1917 and occupies approximately 13,400 acres of land in Anne Arundel County, Maryland. Since then, the fort has had major pollution problems and several hazardous waste sites that need to be cleaned up. In 1998, the Army began addressing the issues and was issued as a Superfund site to begin the cleanup. Since then, little has been done to cleanup the problems leading to this signed agreement. Some of the dangerous materials found include solvents, explosives, arsenic and PCBs. All are extremely dangerous for people.
To really enforce this agreement, the EPA can fine The Army thousands of dollars for each week it does not comply with the agreement. Whatever push it takes the Army to ensure the safety of the environment and those who live on Fort Meade and in the nearby areas.
The Earth Machine Compost Bin Giveaway – CLOSED
The Earth Machine Compost bin one of the leading compost bins on the market. This compost bin was created by Norseman Plastic Environment Products in order to promote home composting throughout our country. They are carried by almost every major company carrying compost bins on the market and through many local municipalities throughout the country. Over 3,500 municipalities having composting programs that carry the Earth Machine which have distributed over 2.5 million. Some of the major features of the Earth Machine composter are:
- Twist-locking pest-resistant lid
- Ten year warranty
- Locking harvesting door
- Side ventilation
I bought an Earth Machine composting bin from my local municipality when I moved to my new home. This was one of the best investments I could have made. The entire compost bin is made of strong plastic that feels like it will last. It also takes every measure to ensure that pests will not enter into your compost by having a locking door and tight sealing lid. Aesthetically it is not an eye sore like some compost bins can be and fits in almost any part of your yard. At a diameter and height of 33″ , it is large enough to hold a large amount of waste products without having to empty.
Norseman Plastics was generous enough to give the readers of Pays to Live Green an opportunity to win The Earth Machine Compost Bin ($100 value).
How to Win
There are many opportunities to win this contest. You must leave a separate comment for each entry. Here’s how you can increase your chances to win:
- Comment ( 1 entry ): Visit Earth Machine and describe your favorite feature about this composting bin or how composting would help you.
- Subscribe to my email subscription ( up to 2 entries ): Follow my daily articles by simply subscribing to to my email subscription service and/or RSS feed. This will give you a great chance to win and give you all the latest updates to my blog. A win-win situation.
- Spread the Word ( 2 entries ): You can get a better advantage by publicizing this giveaway on your blog. All you have to do is give a brief description of this contest and a link to it. Be sure to include a link to the post in a comment.
- Twitter ( 1 entry ): Follow me on Twitter and tweet about this contest including a brief description of this contest and a link to it. Include a link to your Twitter account in the comment.
- StumbleUpon ( 1 entry ): Stumble this contest or one of my popular tools and leave a review.
When is it over?
This giveaway will end August 2nd, 2009 at midnight. I will randomly select an winner from the list of all entries and announce the winner on August 3rd, 2009. This contest is only to U.S. residents 18 years or older.
