Village Green Green Clean

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Village GreenGreen Clean

• WELCOME

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• Before we start
• I want to remind you why we are here. As
  Christians, we are called to take care of the
  Environment. It is a tool that God uses to teach
  us about who He is, and to show how much he loves
  and values us. We are also called to take care of
  our bodies, so that we may live to tell others
  about Him. If you know me at all, you know I am
  not a born Tree Hugger. But, I do have a
  growing desire to care for the precious creation
  that God has used so many times to speak to me. I
  want my daughter to know that same beautiful
  Earth.

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Green Clean

• Why do we clean, anyway?

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Green Clean

• Why do we clean, anyway?
• Dirt
• Soap Scum
• Hard Water Stains
• Mold/Mildew
• Bacteria
• Fabric and/or carpet stains

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• What is so bad about traditional cleaners?

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• What is so bad about traditional cleaners?
• Bad for the environment
• Bad for your health
• Bad for your pocket book
• Way too complicated

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• Why Green Cleaning?
• Bottom line
• Simple
• Effective
• Economical
• Better for your health
• Better for the environment
• Now back to the beginning

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• The Environment
• Traditional cleaners often have chemicals that
• Do not biodegrade
• Are toxic
• Pollute our water supply
• Are tested on animals (thats a whole other can
  of worms)
• Cause health problems (more on that later)

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• Biggest chemical offenders in cleaning products
• ? Alkyl Phenoxy Ethanols (APE)
• ? Nonylphenol Ethoxylates (NPE)
• ? Phosphates
• ? Chlorine
• ? Glycol Ethers
• ? Volatile Organic Compounds

If you want more information about these and
other chemicals check out www.seventhgeneration.co
m/learn/lists/dirty-dozen
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• Lets boil it down to two
• Phosphates
• Chlorine

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• Phosphates
• ? Good - Used in detergents because they bind to
  minerals, help breakdown dirt and help disburse
  the cleaning agents in water. They are also used
  in fertilizers to support plant growth.
• ? Not so good Cause the overgrowth of algae in
  the water supply and can actually kill lakes.

For a much better explanation go to
www.shannon-fishery-board.ie/aboutus/phosphates.h
tm
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• Chlorine
• ? Good Disinfects and bleaches (need I say
  more?)
• ? Not so good Highly toxic! Carcinogenic,
  allergenic, promotes growth of super bugs, and
  converts to dioxin

For a much better explanation visit
http//www.lenntech.com/periodic-chart-elements/cl
-en.htm or http//www.mcspotlight.org/media/repo
rts/wenchlorine.html One thing if you dont get
to these websites. Do you remember Viktor
Yuschenko the Ukrainian politician who was
horribly disfigured by a poison? Guess what, it
was Dioxin.
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• A note about disinfecting
• How clean is clean enough?
• Your body has a God-given immune system designed
  to deal with the BILLIONS of viruses and bacteria
  that we come in contact with daily! Let your body
  do its job!
• If you got sick every time you come into contact
  with bacteria, no one would not survive
  childbirth.
• When you overuse disinfectants and antibiotics,
  you actually create resistant super bugs

Ok, heres my little soap box. If you are sick,
work in a hospital or are handling something you
KNOW is contaminated then fine, disinfect. But
otherwise, clean works just fine! Remember, Im a
nurse and I still think that people way
over-disinfect. More later
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• Your Grandmother was right
• God made dirt, and dirt dont hurt!

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• Ok, but REALLY
• How effective are Green cleaners?
• Nature has been cleaning itself since the
  beginning of time. Plant based cleaners are just
  as effective, if not more so, than man-made
  cleaners.
• Specific tips to follow

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• Yeah, but Green cleaners cost more and are hard
  to find
• Really? Lets do some math.

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• How many products do you have in your cleaning
  closet?
• All-purpose cleaner, window cleaner, carpet
  cleaner, tile cleaner, floor cleaner, wood
  cleaner, laminate floor cleaner, upholstery
  cleaner, oven/microwave cleaner, spot cleaner,
  dish soap, hand soap, dishwasher detergent,
  laundry detergent, bleach, fabric softeners, pot
  cleaners, surface disinfectants, silver polish,
  air fresheners, scrubbing cleaners, stainless
  steel cleaners, insect repellant, toilet bowl
  cleaner, shower cleaner

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• Do you want to try to add up how much all of
  those products cost?

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• Lets try it another way
• Lemons
• Vinegar
• Baking Soda
• Salt
• Borax
• Water
• Vegetable Oil

Borax - http//chemistry.about.com/od/howthingswor
kfaqs/a/howboraxworks.htm
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• Now, who is spending more money?
• Even if you choose to buy
• green cleaning
• products, you will
• purchase fewer
• products and
• still save money!

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• Now that I cant use anything in my cleaning
  cabinet
• HOW DO I CLEAN MY HOUSE?

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• Vinegar a very effective disinfectant
• Lemons disinfectant and deodorizer
• Baking Soda abrasive and deodorizer
• Vegetable Oil great for wood surfaces
• Borax (or Hydrogen Peroxide) bleaches
• Salt abrasive

Heres my next bit about disinfecting We need to
change the way we think. If you need to disinfect
something/anything, think vinegar! Toilets,
kitchen counters, sinks, etc. Think vinegar!
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• TIPS!

Bear with me here Im gonna go quick. Just use
these tips as a reference. If you get confused,
dont worry, there are websites at the end.
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• All-Purpose Cleaners
• Vinegar Salt
• 4T Baking Soda to 1qt Water
• 3T Vinegar, 1tsp Vegetable Oil 3c Water (can be
  put in a bucket or spray bottle)

Sprinkle salt on surfaces (like cutting boards)
and then spray with vinegar and scrub.
(Disinfects and scrubs) Baking Soda is a mild
abrasive safe on almost all surfaces.
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• Bathrooms
• Windows/Mirrors Equal parts Vinegar Water,
  use rags or newspaper to wipe
• Toilet Cleaner sprinkle Baking Soda, add
  Vinegar scrub, or use 1c Borax and leave
  overnight

A note about Baking Soda Vinegar anyone
remember 6th grade science projects? The Volcano?
That was Baking Soda Vinegar. But we can use
this reaction to our advantage.
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• More Bathroom Cleaners
• Tub Tile diluted Vinegar to clean Baking
  Soda to scour
• Grout Use Baking Soda to make a paste and scrub
  
• Mildew dissolve ½ c Borax, in ½ c warm Water or
  straight Vinegar (can be put in a spray bottle)

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• Kitchen Sink
• Soft Scrub ¼ c Borax and Vegetable Oil to
  make a paste ½ tsp Lemon Oil
• Drain Cleaner pour ½ c Baking Soda down drain
  then 1c Vinegar, let it foam, then flush with
  Water.

If you dont have or want to get Borax, you can
use Baking Soda or salt for most scrubbing jobs.
But only Borax will bleach! Remember were not
using Chlorine anymore.
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• Dishes
• Pots Soak in warm Water a few tsp of baking
  soda, clean as usual
• Scouring Salt or Baking Soda and a damp sponge,
  then rinse

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• Furniture Polish 1tsp Lemon Oil
• 1c Vegetable Oil
• Air Freshener House plants! Open your windows!
  Boil a pot of water with citrus cinnamon or
  cloves

The best way to get rid of serious odors boil a
pot of Vinegar.
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• Floors
• Tile/Hardwood/Laminate 1c Vinegar, 1T Vegetable
  Oil, 2 Gal Hot Water
• Carpets
• Stains Club Soda (soak and blot)
• Pet Odor ¼ c Vinegar, 2 c warm Water
• Freshener 2 c Baking Soda essential oils
  sprinkle, let set 15 min, vacuum

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• And my personal favorite
• Microwave fill oven-safe bowl with water and
  several lemon slices, microwave for 5 min (or so)
  until water boils, then wipe clean with rag
• Oven same thing, just takes longer.
• Do it just after you bake something, while the
  oven is already hot.

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• How about Laundry and Dishes?
• My recommendation
• Buy commercial green products
• Remember to look at labels
• There are homemade recipes available but they
  are a bit cumbersome

http//tipnut.com/10-homemade-laundry-soap-deterge
nt-recipes/ http//tipnut.com/homemade-dishwasher
-detergent-recipes/
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• Suggested Products
• Seventh Generation
• ECOS
• Trader Joes
• Shaklee (available through a distributor only)
• These products are now easily available (except
  for Shaklee) at any grocery store or health food
  store.

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• A note about commercially available Green
  cleaning products
• Just look closely!
• Phosphate free
• Chlorine free
• Biodegradable
• Plant based detergents
• Organic salts

Pros to big name green cleaning products
readily available, 99 natural ingredients Cons
possible contamination from other product lines,
company as a whole is not green
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• Additional considerations
• Dont forget to look at the packaging ?
• Is it a bag inside a box wrapped in plastic?
• Is it recyclable?

Remember In Ventura you can recycle anything
recyclable. Any plastic 1-7, paper, cardboard,
glass
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• Additional considerations
• What tools are you using to clean?
• Use rags theyre reusable
• Or paper towels made from recycled paper
• If you use sponges, disinfect them periodically
  by microwaving for 2 minutes.

Any time you can reduce how much you use, do it.
If you cant use less, reuse it. If and only if
you cant reuse it, then recycle.
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• A note about Vinegar.
• Ok, Ill be honest. Its not the best smelling
  thing around. But then, neither is Chlorine. You
  can add essential oils to Vinegar which helps a
  little bit but essential oils are not cheap. You
  can find them at places like Whole Foods, Lassens
  or Bath Body Works.

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• What about all the terrible, horrible, no good,
  very bad cleaners in my cabinet right now?
• Your decision
• a. Ill use what I have and then use green
  products
• b. Get them out of my house now!

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• There is no good way to get rid of toxic
  cleaners.
• If your primary concern is the health problems
  Get rid of your old cleaners and buy or make
  green ones.
• You can dispose of them with the citys Hazardous
  Material (they will either give it away or
  incinerate it). You can also donate to an
  organization or charity.

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• The only Good thing you can do to dispose of
  toxic cleaners is to not buy them in the future.
• As consumers, we are a powerful force. If we
  dont buy something, companies wont make it.

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• Recap
• If you want to disinfect VINEGAR
• If you want to scrub BAKING SODA
• If you want to degrease LEMONS
• If you want to bleach BORAX
• (or Hydrogen Peroxide)

Heres my last bit about Antibacterial Soaps
Most use an ingredient Triclosan which is also a
derivative of Chlorine If you need/want to
disinfect, use Vinegar
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• How about Personal Care Products?
• The primary concern is chemicals called
  phthalates (any ingredient with phth in the
  name). They are carcinogenic and disrupt your
  hormones.
• For more information
• http//www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/

This website rates personal care products on a
scale of 0-10 based on how many toxic chemicals
they use. Start with the products you are using
and then try to find an alternative that is a few
point better.
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• Questions???
• madamo_at_ourvillagegreen.org
• [phone]
• If I dont know the answer,
• I will look it up for you!

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• Use the Internet to your advantage
• Search for
• Green Cleaning
• Healthy Cleaning
• Homemade Cleaning Products
• Cleaning with

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• Web Resources
• www.seventhgeneration.com
• www.vinegartips.com
• www.organizedhome.com/pantry-recipes
• www.planetgreen.discovery.com
• www.green-clean.net
• www.cleaning101.com/environment/
• whatcanido.cfm
• www.lifelearningtoday.com/2007/9/11/green-cleaning
  -easy-and-natural-ways-to-clean-and-freshen-your-h
  ome
• www.inhabitat.com/2008/09/24/green-home-101-guide-
  to-green-cleaning/

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• More info on Phosphates Chlorine
• www.shannon-fishery-board.ie/aboutus/phosphates.ht
  m
• http//www.lenntech.com/periodic-chart-elements/cl
  -en.htm

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• Thank You!!!