Michelle's Green Guide

• Rubbing alcohol on cloths will disinfect most surfaces and costs much less than Mr. Clean wipes.
• You can clean windows with vinegar in a spray bottle, then wipe clear with a dry newspaper.
• Clean bottoms of iodized copper pots with sprinkled on salt and ½ a lemon. This also works on rust stains.
• A solution of 2 teaspoons Tea Tree oil mixed with 2 cups water in a spray bottle, sprayed on and left, will eliminate mold spots in your shower for a month or so. Straight vinegar will do the same, most of the time.
• Rust and hard water stains can be removed with full-strength lemon juice.
• ½ tsp olive oil and ¼ c. lemon juice makes furniture polish.
• For your morning coffee – use either unbleached filters or a ‘gold’ filter, which is a mesh material that you reuse every time.
• Compost those food scraps – in a 3′x3′x3′ homemade composter or an Earth Machine.
• Disinfecting those countertops – use white-distilled bleach and hydrogen peroxide. They must be kept separate. Have vinegar in one spay bottle and peroxide in another (it must be in a dark container, easy solution put a sprayer on the bottle it came in).  Spray area to disinfect one after another and wipe dry. This has been known to work better than commercial counterparts.
• Keep in touch with natural rhythms – especially when meal planning. Keep in mind the seasons and what is currently available when making those weekly menus.  Think about food storage and planning for later, especially when considering what do do with those leftovers.  Freeze what you don’t expect to use in a few days for a quick, easy meal in a few weeks.

Here, in the fertile Willamette Valley, we are spoiled by great harvests. A question that seems to interest people, especially in the summer time is, “Where can I go to get good, local (and organic) fruits and vegetables (food)?” My family, in particular, is in interested in cutting food costs without sacrificing nutrition. So, how can we do that?

Living in Portland for 5 years has taught me the following:

• Uncle Paul’s (SE 23rd & SE Hawthorne Blvd) offers year round local produce in his open-air tent at great prices.
• Sauvie Island farmers offer many U-pick fields where you can purchase your fruits and vegetables at a fraction of the grocery cost.  We picked 6.25 lbs of blueberries from Sauvie Island Farms for $10.15. This yielded over 20 cups of blueberries, 18 of which is portioned in 2 & 3 cup bags in the freezer, with the 2 remaining cups divvied into pancakes and snacks.
• Sheridan Fruit Company is going green, and they are still the best place in town for grains. Visit them for discounts when buying in bulk, especially flours and oats.
• Cherry Sprout Produce (formerly Big City Produce) on N Albina & N Sumner.
• Co-ops around town including Food Front, People’s, and Alberta.
• Fruit stands around town… keep on the lookout! Two I know of off hand, SE Foster & SE 80th across from Fred Meyer & SE 28th between SE Steele & SE Bybee.
• Farmer’s markets… not only do farmer’s markets serve as a great place to gather good food in one place, most of the markets give out free literature including recipes and why buying local and hormone free is important. If you can stand the crowds, visit, learn and eat tasty treats.

When shopping for food, it’s important to remember that buying local is actually better than buying organic. “Why?” you may ask.

Well, I’ll tell you why. It’s more evident now with rising gas costs, but one reason for buying local is to ensure food security. If something were to happen to our transportation system (such as exorbitant gas prices) and food couldn’t be shipped the 1500 average miles food is currently shipped to get to our plates, what would we eat? We need to ensure demand for local food so that we will have local food to eat.

Secondly, buying local keeps money local instead of shipping it off to Kroger or the Walton’s. It’s been said that for every dollar spent locally, it puts two dollars back into the local economy supporting jobs and simply people.

Third, we have more control over local food. Remember what happened to Tribal Sun a few years ago when they didn’t use organic tomatoes but said they did? New Seasons quickly pulled the product from the shelves, and the product wasn’t on the shelves for about 12 months until they seemingly remedied the problem. If Kroger’s brand of organic doesn’t really use organic vegetables, how quickly do you think the items would be pulled from the shelves?

Eating great local food is often as simple as walking around your neighborhood to see who’s selling what. I would love to hear comments from people who have other ideas on how to save on primary sourced foods. Email me with your suggestions!

Water Use It Wisely Homepage. 2008. www.wateruseitwisely.com/index.shtml

For a start, we took the family-water audit test offered here, to see how good we were at saving water. We flunked. If you’re like us, you may want to see what this site offers: over 100 tips on how to save water in and around the home. Examples of water saving tips include running a bath and plugging the tub before turning water on, then adjusting the temperature as the tub fills up; using food coloring to test for leaks in the toilet tank; bathing children together; and using a commercial carwash that recycles water, like Eco Car Wash in this section under “Car Wash.” There is a lengthy list of water saving plants for our area as well as links to other websites for water saving technologies such as waterless urinals, instant hot water heaters, and leak detection equipment. The site also offers educational tools and games that are fun for both children and adults. You can participate in the family water audit to measure how your family currently uses water and then use the site to make sustainable water choices for your particular lifestyle. Maybe next time we’ll pass the exam.

Water Saver Home. H2ouse.com Homepage. 2006. www.h2ouse.org/tour/garage.cfm

This site is a great hands-on tool for homeowners navigating through a model home and wondering how to save money on their water bill. Go to the website, click on “typical household objects”, and learn about water conservation and the applicable technology. Suggestions range from on-demand hot water system to greywater systems, rainwater harvesting, and to low, water-use gardens. Look here for advice and statistics on incentives plus rebates, benefits and costs, where to purchase equipment, maintenance, and handy installation tips.

Water Smarts. Ogorzalek,? T. 2003. Journal of Housing and Community Development. 60(4):24-29. (Journal article)

Water Smarts provides some shocking statistics of water use in the United States. For example, 24% of residential water is used for toilet flushing and 4.8 billion gallons a day are flushed. It is a huge water use but there are some helpful alternatives to the standard toilets installed in most residences, which suggests that we do not have to waste so much water. If you own an older home, consider the merits of upgrading to a more efficient system. A new kind of low-volume toilet was introduced in the 1980s that led to legislation requiring newer toilets to use only 1.6 gallons of water per flush. The US EPA estimates that a three-person household can save $60 and 54,000 gallons of water annually when low-flow toilets, showerheads, and faucet aerators are utilized.

A list of behavior modifications is included, which allows readers to easily identify areas for improvement:

• Only run the dishwasher when full.
• If washing something (dishes and clothes) by hand, fill a tub and use that rather than letting the water run continuously.
• If you have to wash your car, turn off the hose between rinses.
• Cover an outdoor pool when not in use.
• Sweep sidewalks rather than hose them down.
• Water the lawn at cool times of day (at night or very early in the morning) to lessen evaporation.

Water. 2008. Rocky Mountain Institute Homepage.  www.rmi.org/sitepages/pid123.php

The Rocky Mountain Institute’s website offers advice and information on the following water topics:

• Water-efficient fixtures & appliance
• Landscaping and irrigation
• Greywater systems, compost toilets, and rain collection
• Wastewater treatment systems
• Drinking water quality

Civil action: promoting water efficiency and protecting rivers

This site is comprehensive and useful. Regarding composting toilets, there is a warning to homeowners that many local jurisdictions are unfamiliar with the technology, and therefore do not have codes enacted — making it difficult to pass inspections. The Rocky Mountain Institute provides numerous links for further information on all of these important topics.

Products for Water Conservation. Green Home Building Homepage.  www.greenhomebuilding.com/Products/waterconservation.htm#composttoilet

A good source page for information on water conservation products, Green Home provides links to suppliers or manufactures of:

• Conservation Kits
• Clothes Washers
• Composting Toilets
• Bathroom Fixtures
• Grey Water Supplies
• Barrels & Tanks

Check out this site to get ideas for your next home project.

West Coast Seafood Guide. 2006. Seafood Watch Monterey Bay Aquarium. www.mbayaq.org/cr/cr_seafoodwatch/content/media/MBA_SeafoodWatch_WestCoastGuide.pdf

Access this handy guide for eating seafood throughout the year in Oregon (in the Appendix).  Drop-down menus explain how seafood is harvested, farmed versus wild fish, abundance of fish for the current month, nutritional aspects, and best-employed management practices. Fish existing in the healthiest habitats are not yet endangered: Abalone (farmed), Catfish (US farmed), Clams, Mussels, Oysters (farmed), Cod: Pacific (trap or hook & line-caught), Crab: Dungeness, Snow (Canada), Halibut: Pacific, Lobster-Spiny (US), Pollock (wild-caught from AK), Sablefish/Black Cod (AK, BC), Salmon (wild-caught from AK), Sardines, Shrimp: Pink (OR), Spot Prawn (BC), Striped Bass (farmed), Sturgeon, Caviar (farmed), Tilapia (farmed), Trout: Rainbow (farmed), Tuna: Albacore, Bigeye, Yellowfin (troll/pole-caught), and White Seabass. The guide also lists alternatives when optimum choices are not available, as well as choices to avoid because of over fishing and other practices, including farming or the endangerment to other species. A small printout is available as a pocket reference in the Appendix. Sustainable sushi anyone?