Google hops on the eco-bandwagon with their latest search-engine feature, “Summer of Green.” A supreme mash-up of Google maps with green city guides supplied by the Earth Day Network, Google’s Summer of Green offers virtual tours highlighting planet-friendly hotspots in cities like San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York. Take a cyber walking tour of NYC from Ground Zero to the Central Park Reservoir, brought to life by the tech-miracle of Google satellite images, and Google helpfully tags each green hotel, natural foods market, wellness center and vegan restaurant along the way.
Check out your neighborhood through Google-eyes (at services.google.com/earth/green), and you’ll see green everywhere you look.
Go Greener Tip of the Month
Resuscitate Your Roof
Is the roof over your head living or dead? A “green” or “living” roof is one that’s covered with soil and short-rooted plants instead of your average gravel or pitch and shingles, thus swapping a sad old impervious shell for a happy little heat-absorbent, water filtering system. Advantages to seeding your roof abound; living roofs last longer than their conventional counterparts, help insulate your home (cutting down on energy use and bills), increase the average home’s value and—in addition to being environmentally smarter—they’re purty.
Handy-types will find green roofing a doable home project, while the tool-clueless should be able to find a local builder up to the task. For more tips and the latest trends in roof resuscitation, visit greenroofs.com or greenroofs.org.
Living Green
How green is your clean?
Dear Co-op America,
Can you recommend a do-it-yourself, nontoxic all-purpose cleaner?
—EJ, Miami, FL
As you undoubtedly know, EJ, perhaps the most compelling reason to use green cleaners is to keep toxins out of your home and the environment. Many common household cleaners contain volatile organic compounds (VOCs) such as formaldehyde and harsh acids. Since indoor VOC levels are often two to five times greater than outdoor levels, humans can experience “eye, nose, and throat irritation; headaches; loss of coordination; nausea; and damage to liver, kidney, and central nervous systems” from indoor exposure to these chemicals, according to the EPA. “Some [VOCs] can cause cancer in animals; some are suspected or known to cause cancer in humans,” the agency says.
The good news is you can make your own nontoxic cleaners from items you may already have around. Karen Logan, author of Clean House, Clean Planet (Pocket Books, 1997) offers this recipe for “Alice’s Wonder Spray,” an all-purpose cleaner you can use for most surfaces in your home, from counters and appliances to bathroom surfaces and walls:
Put 2 tbsp. white vinegar and 1 tsp. borax into a 16-oz. spray bottle. Fill the rest with very hot water and shake until the borax is dissolved. Add 1/4 cup of liquid castile soap only after you’ve completed the above steps. If you want to scent your spray, add 10-15 drops of an essential oil, such as lavender, lemongrass or eucalyptus.
Logan says the spray will keep indefinitely. (Borax can be harmful when ingested, so don’t store your borax supply where children or pets might find and eat it.)
For more nontoxic cleaning recipes, check Karen’s book, as well as Better Basics for the Home (Three Rivers Press, 1999) by green living expert Annie Berthold-Bond. If you’d rather not make your own green cleaners, you can find companies that offer nontoxic cleaners on the shelves of your local health food store or in the “Cleaning Products” category of our National Green Pages™.
Dear Co-op America,
I’ve been collecting used Tyvek envelopes that have been sent to me, and I don’t know what to do with them. Can they be recycled?
—Brad M., Minneapolis, MN
Tyvek-brand envelopes—such as those used for Federal Express and US Priority Mail—are made from HDPE (#2) plastics. You can check with your local recycler to see if it accepts them, but it will probably tell you to send them elsewhere.
Fortunately, DuPont, the maker of Tyvek envelopes, will take them back for recycling. Send small quantities (fewer than 25 envelopes per month) to Shirley Cimburke, Tyvek Recycling Specialist; 5401 Jefferson Davis Hwy.; Spot 197—Room 231; Richmond, VA 23234. For larger quantities, call 866.33.TYVEK to make arrangements.
Living Green is brought to you by Co-op America, a national nonprofit that provides green living, purchasing, and investing tips and resources. To join and get a free copy of the National Green Pages™ directory of green businesses, call 800.58.GREEN, coopamerica.org.