Have you ever noticed how many products there are to freshen the air in your home, make rooms smell nice, and make your laundry smell good? Candles, sprays, plug-ins, weird gel crystal thingies, potpourri – the list is endless. So much money is spent on these products – but the worst part of it is not the wasted money, it’s the fact that most of them are actually harmful to your health. Just think about it – you spray these products all around your home and then breathe the chemicals. Not great!

Do you love those scented candles? I admit – I used to be addicted. I had Yankee Candles all over my house. Until I learned more about what burning the candles does – emitting soot and other airborne micro-particles in the air that can cause long term harm. Not to mention the phthalates from the artificial fragrances used to scent the candles.

But I think the room sprays are even more of a concern. I just read that Americans are expected to spend 1.72 billion on air fresheners this year. Yep – 1.72 BILLION dollars! Crazy. Are our houses that stinky? Yipes. But again – it’s not just the money wasted, but the health impact. A study done at the University of Bristol found that “frequent use of air fresheners and
aerosols during pregnancy and early childhood was associated with higher levels of diarrhea, earache and other symptoms in infants,as well as headaches and depression in mothers.” Uh oh.

So – I thought I’d share a few natural ways to make your home smell fresh and clean – naturally! Many of these options use essential oils, which can be purchased in natural food stores or online.

1) Toss some spices like cinnamon stick, nutmeg, cloves in a pot with some water and let it simmer. Or add a few drops of essential oil to simmering water. Just don’t forget about it!

2) When you are cleaning with vinegar and water – add a couple of drops of essential oils. Lavender is nice – it is calming and it also has a strong enough scent that it will linger awhile.

3) Put a few drops of essential oil on a cotton ball and put it in a small dish. Hide the dish behind something if you don’t want it to be seen. Putting it behind the radiator in the winter will help spread the scent faster.

4) When doing laundry, instead of using a dryer sheet, put a few drops of essential oil onto an old face cloth and toss it into the clothes dryer with the load of laundry. Again – lavender is a good choice, as is rose geranium.

5) Use the old tried and true box of baking soda. Remove the top of the box of baking soda and leave it in the room to absorb the odors.

6) The next time you have a cup of green tea – don’t throw away the tea. Dry the leaves – then toss some on the carpet and vacuum it up. It will refresh the carpet and also deodorize your vacuum bag. Also – toss the tried leaves into the kitty litter box – it’s a great litter deodorizer too!

7) Mix 1 tablespoon of lemon juice, 1 tablespoon of baking soda and 2 cups of hot water in a spray bottle. Shake well until mixed and dissolved. This can be used as a great air freshener just like the expensive ones you can buy at the store! (just avoid spraying above wood furniture)

Those are just a few options-get creative! And toss out those harmful, chemical-laden “fresheners”.

File this under gross AND interesting (is there such a category?). As we have heard before, our poor bovine friends and other grass-eating farm animals are unknowingly and uncontrollably responsible for a third (yipes!) of all of the world’s methane emissions. We know that methane is bad – but these fuzzy guys can’t help it! It is generated during the process of their stomach’s digesting the tough hay and grass fibers. And then they emit the gasses – yes, by basically burping. There’s the gross part.

I just read an interesting article in Brandweek online. A recent study was done by A.T. Kearny that showed that companies committed to sustainability have fared better in the markets in 16 of 18 industries.

Quoted from the Brandweek article:
“The report compared the performances of 99 companies with strong commitments to sustainability (culled from the Dow Jones Sustainability Index and the Goldman Sachs SUSTAIN focus list) against industry averages from May to November 2008. These green-leaning companies outperformed industry averages by 15% over the six months in 16 of the 18 industries. In terms of market cap, the sustainable-leaning companies averaged $650 million in protected market capitalization.”

Interesting! Maybe there’s a ray of hope that this world is coming to terms with the fact that our earth has some serious limitations. And if companies and individuals do not start changing their ways, there will be nothing left for our future generations. Imagine the alternative? We could end up like that totally depressing but not totally improbable existence in “Wall e”.

So “yay” for the markets responding positively to sustainability – let’s hope it is the beginning of a new and everlasting trend!

The Lighter Footstep (http://lighterfootstep.com/) is a great site for tips and tricks to green your home and generally leave a lighter footprint, so to speak. It’s a fun, informative site – not preachy or boring like so many eco-sites. Check it out -lots of quick easy ideas for everything from cooking and cleaning to buying used items.

Just read a great article in Brandweek. Just like “pink-washing” – where the marketing of products that supposedly support breast cancer research far outweighs any positive benefit of the donation – “green-washing” is a big deal. Many companies have jumped on the green bandwagon but are doing it more for marketing purposes than anything else.

While that may not exactly be the case with the eco-friendly lightbulbs, they are definitely not as good as they initially appear. And I say this as someone who has used them for years – and throwing them out in our regular trash. Little did I know that I was contributing to mercury waste. UGH.

Check out the Brandweek article for an interesting perspective, and see some of the other products that they find ironic – claiming to be eco-friendly but in the end, they aren’t so ideal.

Well – you know if Coca Cola is taking major steps to be more eco-conscious then this “green” thing is more than just a fad. Brandweek reported that Coke’s newest digital billboard in Times Square is powered by wind-power. Not bad! Even better – they have influenced a trend and about 30 billboards will be wind-powered. In total, they will be preventing about 1866 metric tons of carbon dioxide a year.

Coke seems to be taking the green thing pretty seriously. They are also aiming to have all of their cans and bottles in the US recycled or reused by consumers. That’s a lot of bottles and cans – considering the amount of Coke consumed in the US each year.

Say what you want about Coca Cola (and I have a lot to say about that beverage – mostly not good) – but that is one powerful brand. I was fortunate to participate in a marketing competition in graduate school and our team was challenged by the Coca Cola corporation to increase marketing efforts in Malaysia. Traveling throughout even the most remote areas of Malaysia – I learned a lot about the depth of the brand’s reach. In tiny towns with only a handful of people you would still find Coca Cola products and signs. And each and every person I spoke to not only knew about Coke, but had an opinion on the “health benefits” of the drink. It was considered excellent for digestion and many even believed that it broke down fats and cholesterol thereby improving heart health. Crazy! But it clearly showed me the Coke – love it or hate it – is an incredible brand.

So if they are going to do their part in going green – more power to them. If they can inspire other companies to do the right thing – fantastic. I know their reasons are not purely (or even largely) altruistic – but hopefully it will have an overall positive impact. Now, if only they didn’t sell such an addictive, high-fructose-corn-syrup-laden, obesity-inducing drink….

Constantly searching for ways to make Garden Girl even more “green” – I am happy to announce that we are now using compostable cellophane bags for our packages. For those of you who are Garden Girl customers, you know that each package comes wrapped like a little gift. We do this for 2 reasons – 1) it’s always nice to open something that looks pretty and 2) it helps to keep the products secure while shipping – reducing damaged products (and waste).

Our products are packaged in recylable PET #1 plastic or in glass, we do not use unnecessary outer boxes (which have always bothered me anyway) and we use biodegradable labels made from corn whenever possible. We also offer refills for some of our most popular products to reduce packaging waste. And when we ship packages, we use recycled packing materials.

So finding a replacement for the plastic poly-cello bag was clearly the missing link. And that is why I am so excited to use these bags. They are made from tree cellulose – and the trees are grown specifically for this purpose so there is no forest damage. And not only do they biodegrade, but they are even safe for your compost! Look pretty AND green? Doesn’t get much better than that!

I read an article today about the fact that Earth Day is becoming a bit of a farce. You know, I have to agree (at least somewhat). While I do think we need Earth Day to remind everyone how important this planet is and that we need stop CONSUMING so much, I also agree that some of the “green” thing has become so trendy that it is meaningless. Like Bamboo clothing – yes Bamboo is easy to replenish and readily available, however in order to turn it into cloth – two highly toxic chemicals are used that can be major ground-water contaminants.

And what’s the deal with ethanol? At first glance it sounds like an answer to the rising gas prices – but instead it is driving up the cost of corn which then impacts feed costs etc. so our food costs are starting to rise. Shouldn’t efforts be made to decrease our consumption and improve the efficiency of our vehicles?

Anyway – that’s my Earth Day rant. I could go on and on with my other examples but I’ll spare you…

So I recommend, choose your “green” products with an eye toward true eco-friendly products. The best thing you can do? Reduce your own consumption – reuse products, only buy things you need, only drive when you have to, don’t buy individually packaged products unless you have to (snack packs etc), and lastly, stop buying cases of bottled water and use HDPE#2 Reusable plastic sports bottles instead. Of course, I have to apply this to my own self as well!! I’m trying but not quite there yet. But we owe it to our children at least to try, don’t we?