So, I've been researching different "green" products for the kitchen. I'm thinking I might be stuffing some stockings with "Green-Your-Kitchen" themed gifts.
I thought I'd share some of the products and research here. I'm not affiliated with any of these companies. These are just the options I've found and have been reading about. Several of them are pretty neat, and I got excited about the nifty green kitchen and home things that are coming out nowadays!
Reusable Grocery Bags
Recently, unsafe levels of lead have been found in some reusable shopping bags. From what I read, these were bags sold in stores, such as Wegman's, Publix, Winn-Dixie. But I have yet to find an article specifically stating all the stores.
Luckily, ChicoBag and RePete sell wonderful bags that have been tested and pass all tests. In addition, they are members of the Fair Labor Association and they are a Green American Approved Business. Heck, yeah! That's cool.
Reusable Produce Bags
Planet Green says Americans use over 1 billion plastic bags a minute, or about 60,000 every five seconds. Besides for the horrific damage these bags cause once they've been used and tossed (landfill, oceans, the Great Pacific Garbage Patch), these manufacturing of these bags requires enormous quantities of petroleum. Gack!
Also, as we learn more and more about the harmful toxins in plastic ... I just don't want my nubile pears and innocent apples rubbing up against a plastic bag for any length of time!
There are many sources of reusable bags. Ironically, some companies appear to be selling plastic bags that have not been tested for the quality of the plastic and/or are not made out of recycled plastic. What the H*LL! Ack!
So, I've found some reusable produce bags that I'm thinking about getting for my loved ones this holiday, such as
* Ecobags, organic cloth produce sacks. Classic!
* 3BBags (Beyond Belief Bags), mesh bags that I think are pretty cool because they've been tested AND if you send them back to the company, the company will recycle them. That's commitment! So these bags never end up in a landfill.
* Simple Family Living, organic cloth bags with non-toxic plastic window--These are useful for longer term storage of grains and pastas. And people can write over-and-over on the windows with grease pencil. Ooh, fancy!
And here are some sweet and simple instructions for sewing your own cloth produce bags from Mother Earth News. Gotta love a homemade produce bag!
Pesticide Cards
EWG, Environmental Working Group, is perhaps one of my all-time-favorite groups. They do mad research! One of the excellent results of their research is the EWG's Shoppers Guide to Pesticides in Produce. By going to the website, you can download the pdf. But EWG also often offers cards with this info that can go into your wallet or get attached to one of those nifty reusable grocery bags I noted above.
For the holidays, they are also offering a holiday gift bag full of wonderful "green" booty for donors ... with reusable grocery bags, reusable produce bags, an excellent canteen, a great book, the pesticide card and other shopping tips, and many other things.
Laundry Supplies
I've been curious for some time about these nifty inventions ... laundry balls. Either they allow you to not use soap or they make it so you don't have to use much soap. There are various options. The manufacturers say these work through various means, such as ions, ceramics, minerals, magnetics, oxidation reduction, or even infrared rays! Huh? Is this my laundry room or did I walk into the pages of a comic book?
It all seems too good to be true. Yet, considering the cost of good, eco-friendly detergent, I'm thinking it might be time to give these magical suckers a try. A few of them have a pretty good number of user reviews, such as:
* EcoLaundryBalls,
* Amazing Super Wash Ball, and
* WonderBall ... Real Goods is a company that has been around since the 1970s and sells a wide-array of green products. They've been selling these laundry balls since ... geez, I think I've been looking at them for about 10 years. So, I'm considering purchasing Wonderballs from their website (a Xmas gift for myself!).
Toilet Bowl Cleaners
Another product I've been eyeing for about 10 years from Real Goods is a Chem-Free Toilet Cleaner. The mineral magnets in these cleaners are supposed to clean bacteria and help get rid of stains.
Foam Soap Dispenser
So first off, please never use any soap or cleaner or product with triclosan. Why? Triclosan is an antibacterial agent, i.e. an antibiotic. The use of non-prescribed antibiotics is actually leading to the development of more resistant strains of bacteria. What? Yup. Sucks, right? The CDC has been asking people to avoid triclosan for years. In addition, there are more and more antibiotics in our water system, and this water pollution both contributes to the resistency of bacteria but also affects our health, plant health, and animal health overall. And in case you needed any other reason to STOP with the triclosan, a recent study is now showing a correlation between triclocan-soap use and allergies in children. Bluck! (Oh and triclosan levels in humans jumped 40% in two years according to the CDC.)
If you want a product to be sure you are rid of germs, the CDC recommends "alcohol hand rinses." But the CDC stands behind soap and water for 20 seconds. So, really soap and water are more than good enough.
Secondly, foam soap is actually particularly good because the foam has been shown to cling and cover your hands, resulting in a more effective wash. So foam soap is actually better in terms of dealing with germs than regular soap. The Deputy Director of the Healthy Schools Campaign likes foam soap, so why don't you?
Third, foam soap uses far less soap. Saves you a pretty penny. Results in far less carbon and waste from the manufacturing and shipping of soap. Results in far less soap getting washed down the drain and causing water pollution.
Fourth, refilling your soap dispensor and using less soap overall means less plastic use, exposure, and waste. Less plastic means less exposure to toxins, such as BPAs, that are in plastic.
So, I've been thinking about getting my friends
* a cool refillable foam dispenser and
* some nifty good-quality organic, fair-trade soap, too, like Dr. Bronners!
Canteens
Several years ago, I bought everyone in my family Klean Kanteens. At the time, they were one of the few manufacturers that could state that their canteens were BPA free. There are other BPA-free canteen manufacturers out there now, which is awesome. But all I can say is: I use my Klean Kanteen for day-to-day uses and while camping and hiking, and it's still in near perfect shape.
Oh, and here's a great list of ideas on how to further Green Your Holiday Kitchen at Enviroblog.
Happy Holidays to Everyone!
xo
xo
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