Posts Tagged ‘Lindsay’
Monday, July 6th, 2009
Karen Pugh writes:
I whipped up a batch of your home-made liquid laundry soap awhile ago, and it doesn’t work very well!! It didn’t gel, it doesn’t suds up very much, and my husband isn’t very impressed with his un-white whites! Have you had any of these problems?
Queen of Green, Lindsay Coulter, responds:
The foundation recipe is:
- 50% soap (called soap flakes, soap granules or you can grate bar soap)
Boil a pot of water on the stove and add soap flakes (1 cup). Boil them until they’re diluted. Add this soap mixture to about a 7 L pail with ½ cup washing soda and ½ cup Borax. Add 20 drops of an essential oil. The mixture will partially gelatinize once cooled. This makes a huge batch so you may want to cut the whole thing in half.
Purpose of ingredients:
- Borax- kills germs and whitens
- Washing Soda- cuts grease and softens water
- Soap Flakes (granules or bar soap)- forces out dirt
Common problems:
- Adding soap dry to pail of water (you need to dilute it in the boiling water first).
- Not boiling it enough. You don’t want to see any granules.
- Your water hardness may have something to do with it. If you have hard water add more washing soda.
Whites not white enough?
- Make sure you wash like colors together.
- I add ½ cup of baking soda to my white loads and wash in warm
- Buy oxygen bleach or eco-bleach (which is really hydrogen peroxide)
As for suds, you won’t see much because this mixture is devoid of chemicals. Conventional stuff has chemicals that make the suds so you and I think it’s getting clean. Kind of like sodium lauryl sulfate in your shampoo and toothpaste. The new laundry soaps for HE machines have less suds actually because it’s not necessary.
Hope that helps!
Tags: bleach, borax, chemicals, HE machines, laundry, Lindsay, Queen of Green, soap, washing soda
Posted in Consumer Issues, Green cleaning, Lindsay | 6 Comments »
Wednesday, April 29th, 2009
Lorne Schieve from Vancouver, BC writes:
Recently, residents in my townhouse complex were instructed to refrain from putting kitchen scraps into their composting units. This is over the fear of some kind of rat infestation stemming from some occasional rat sightings.
As a result of this, we have been told to only include yard trimmings in our composting units. This is contrary to the spirit of the reduce-reuse-recycle concept and it sends out the wrong message.
I am in need of some literature to take back and share with fellow residents to inform them of the correct methods of composting, its benefits, etc. and to encourage them to get started.
If you have any reference material or study results that may assist my "Pro-composting" argument I would sincerely appreciate it.
Lindsay responds:
For starters, this Nature Challenge article can help. It leads with 7 top reasons why everyone needs to compost, including a do’s and don’ts list .
When only one individual composts they can reduce their garbage output to the landfill by 40%, and lets face it, Metro Vancouver is running out of landfill space. Not to mention the tenants who are gardeners stand to benefit from the compost results of "black gold," which would be huge in terms of cutting down your strata fees to buy dirt and fertilizer for your yards. It would be silly not to compost when you can save money on those other inputs by making your very own.
The issue here is composting properly to avoid vermin. The city-issued bins are great. They’re rat and raccoon proof if set-up properly. You should check their website , ask them for some brochures about composting or print them off and then maybe hold a "how-to" session for residents. It’s very easy.
You could also address some of the preventative measures: not putting cooked or greasy foods in there, or adding cat or dog hair (or dryer lint with pet hair) which is said to deter vermin like raccoons and rats. Best of luck and thanks for taking this on!
Tags: composting, gardening, landfill, Lindsay, Nature Challenge, raccoons, rats, Vancouver, vermin
Posted in Consumer Issues, Food, Green Living, Lindsay, garbage, gardening | No Comments »
Monday, April 6th, 2009
Venus writes:
I would like to say thank you very much to Mr. David Suzuki. Two years ago I saw his article in the Vancouver Sun about cleaning with non-chemical products. I used to have severe sinusitis, but when I started using baking soda and vinegar to clean with, my sinusitis problem improved tremendously! And since then I’ve been telling all my friends and co-workers how to clean their place naturally. It’s been two years that I haven’t bought chemical products to clean our place!
Lindsay, Queen of Green, responds:
Thank you for sharing and letting us know about your success! Many people don’t realize how compromised their health and indoor air quality is when they use conventional cleaners day after day. Last year we developed more information about Green Home Cleaning .
Tags: baking soda, chemical cleaners, David Suzuki, Lindsay, natural cleaners, Nature Challenge newsletter, sinusitis, vinegar
Posted in Consumer Issues, David Suzuki, Green Living, Green cleaning, Human Health, Lindsay | No Comments »
Wednesday, March 25th, 2009
A. G. Duncan McIntosh writes:
When the real noise about global warming began a number of years ago, I made a prediction to my significant other that has become true in almost every particular. I possess no special prophetic powers, in fact, no paranormal abilities of any description. I do possess a keen observer’s eye, and am trained in critical thinking and in the avoidance of bias having been educated in the sciences.
What I did do was avoid the tendency to trendiness. Sadly, I find that this has put me on the outside looking in, particularly where the term "green" is concerned. In fact, I refuse to use the term at all, just as I avoided using other trendy buzzwords of the past, such as scenario and paradigm. This is because of the tendency of many of my fellow human beings to be more concerned with making sure all of the current buzzwords are present in a sentence, whether or not that sentence has any meaning. Such buzzwords are, in my experience, merely a method of sounding erudite without actually doing the occasionally onerous task of learning about the subject in question.
My prediction was: The way things are being handled, the term "green" will become as meaningless as "lite" or "low-fat" for similar reasons. They are marketing tools only, and carry no real legal meaning. My question to you: Is there a legal definition of the term "green," one that government and corporate bodies cannot side step? I have not been able to find one.
Lindsay responds:
As far as I know a legal term for "green" does not exist. In one of many eco-friendly resource books they state that, "green can mean a dozen different things to a dozen different people. For some people it means environmentally friendly."
The Green Consumer defines a "green" product as one that:
- Is not dangerous to animal (humans too) health
- Doesn’t damage the environment during manufacturing, use or disposal
- Doesn’t involve the unnecessary cruelty to animals, and so on
I understand your frustration with green washing. It’s out there and all that we hope is that people do in fact become critical thinkers. It’s up to us to ask the hard questions, read labels, and be curious.
Tags: animal and human health, eco-friendly, environmentally friendly, global warming, green labels, Lindsay, trends
Posted in Consumer Issues, Green Living, Lindsay, climate change | No Comments »
Wednesday, March 25th, 2009
Andrew Barber-Starkey from North Vancouver, BC writes:
I’ve heard that the vast majority of pollution (about 80% of all greenhouse gases in Canada?) is caused by business, industry, and commercial ventures. If so, even if we as consumers entirely eliminated our direct contribution, would the impact be insignificant? If this is true, wouldn’t it make more sense for consumers to focus our attention and efforts on pressuring industry to reduce their pollution? We could do it through our buying power instead of feeling smug when we recycle, buy a hybrid car.
In order for this to happen we would need to be properly educated on which companies were good environmental citizens and which were not. Could the David Suzuki Foundation help by providing consumers with information about different companies (maybe rating them) and providing suggestions as to how we can apply pressure to the worst offenders?
Lindsay responds:
Homes and individuals actually have a lot of work to do too. If you like this type of information and discussion do sign up for our Nature Challenge newsletter . You’ll see that we give suggestions of what to look for and how to read labels to be a savvy consumer. What we have steered away from is recommending companies or brands since we’re a non-profit and we don’t research each one and their practices exactly. To see who are the worst polluting companies in your area, you can search using your postal code at pollutionwatch.org .
Tags: buying power, consumer decisions, David Suzuki Foundation, greenhouse gases, industry, Lindsay, Nature Challenge newsletter, worst polluters
Posted in Consumer Issues, David Suzuki's Nature Challenge, Green Living, Lindsay, climate change | No Comments »
Wednesday, March 25th, 2009
Terri Dawson from Winnipeg, MB writes:
I want to make a homemade laundry soap and the recipe calls for castile soap. Where do I buy castile soap? I live in Winnipeg and have looked in the drug stores and grocery stores here with no luck.
Lindsay responds:
The most affordable option to make the laundry soap is buying soap flakes. Look at any health food, organic or those types of grocery stores in your area. A chain like Safeway won’t carry it but they have Borax. We have a local, organic chain in B.C. called Choices – maybe you have an equivalent in Winnipeg?
Castile soap, which I use in my cosmetic recipes, can be found at the same type of stores like Choices, Whole Foods, Capers, or your local health food store. I also did a Google search for "health food stores, Winnipeg" and came up with 8 or so stores.
Tags: castile soap, health food stores, homemade cleaners, laundry soap, Lindsay, organic grocery stores
Posted in Consumer Issues, Green Living, Green Parenting, Green cleaning, Human Health, Lindsay | 5 Comments »
Wednesday, March 25th, 2009
Peter Stevens from Toronto, ON writes:
I was concerned that you had missed the most deadly commonly used plastic in your plastic guide . POLYURETHANE FOAM is used in furniture stuffing and is the most commonly used carpet under cushion. When it burns, it gives off hydrogen cyanide better known by its wartime name ZYKLON B. In the old days of unlimited smoking, many people died after having a few too many drinks and falling asleep smoking!
Why do we use this dangerous product for carpet under cushion? Well for one, its cheap and there are no toxicity requirements unlike Europe where it is banned. Latex foam can do as well but, it costs much more money.
Lindsay responds:
Polyurethane foam did not appear in our plastic guide because it doesn’t fall into the category of numbers 1-7. It is in most furniture foam and indeed isn’t "green" by any stretch.
As you’ve mentioned, the worst part is the flame retardants that the foam is laced with or known as PBDE’s. We have been working on a campaign to ban PBDE’s in Canada, and have partnered with fire fighters to get our federal government to ban deca-PBDE’s .
Tags: Lindsay, pastic guide, plastic numbers, polyurethane foam, toxicity
Posted in Consumer Issues, David Suzuki, Green Living, Human Health, Lindsay | No Comments »
Wednesday, March 25th, 2009
Sharon Smith from Scarborough, ON writes:
I have a suggestion. I remember that many years ago a company called J-Cloth made dresses. They were great. I would like to see J-Cloth make bags for grocery stores. They can definitely be reused in many ways. I would like to know what you think about my suggestion?
Lindsay responds:
I’m not familiar with J-Cloth bags, I only know of the dishrags. Any cloth bag that is reusable, or better yet made from reused materials, is great. If you like to learn about these sort of things, do sign up for our Nature Challenge program.
Tags: cloth bags, Lindsay, Nature Challenge, reused materials
Posted in Consumer Issues, David Suzuki's Nature Challenge, Green Living, Lindsay, garbage, recycling | No Comments »
Wednesday, March 18th, 2009
Jeanne King writes:
We have a 7-year-old home and have had endless problems with our natural gas fireplace. From this, I’ve become aware of a number of issues.
Most older, or less expensive, models like ours do not have the option of easily turning off the PILOT LIGHT when the fireplace is not in use. As a result, most gas fireplaces are continuously burning gas from a visible flame. One installer suggested to me that there is no problem with leaving the gas on all summer since it "burns so little gas" and that turning it off can contribute to corrosion of the fire box.
Like us, some people I know do turn off the gas in summer, but many do not. We cannot retrofit ours with the new (optional?) control, which would allow us to easily switch the pilot light off when we are not running the fireplace. We turn it on in the fall and off in the spring.
The result is that our pilot light burns for many, many hours when the fireplace is not actually in use. How much natural gas is wasted? How much CO2 and other gases are dumped into the air? Now multiply this by all the natural gas fireplaces in Canada. The waste must be terrific.
The amounts of wasted natural gas and greenhouse gas by-products should be fairly easy to calculate by an investigator. For example, if we turn our fireplace on in October and turn it off in May, and use it for maybe 10 hours per week, this means the pilot light burns for no reason in our home for about 4800 hours over one year!
Lindsay responds:
Pilot lights can amount to a tremendous waste of resources and unnecessary emissions if left on when heating is not required.
According to Natural Resources Canada, "About 40 to 50 percent of the total amount of gas a fireplace uses feeds the pilot light. Imagine the gas and energy savings you could achieve by turning off the pilot light in May, and relighting it in late fall when you actually use your gas fireplace. Consult the appliance’s operating manual to do it right, or ask a technician to show you how to turn it off and relight it safely.
"Pilot lights on their own can consume from 600 to 1500 Btu of gas per hour and, if left to run continuously, can significantly increase your annual energy costs. A Canadian field trial showed that pilot lights were responsible for half of the gas used by gas fireplaces! You will save energy and money by turning off the pilot light when the fireplace is not being used, especially during the summer, but also when the fireplace is not in frequent use during the heating season."
This adds up to 2,880,000-7,200,000 BTUs of gas over 4800 hours. At approximately 53kg of CO2 per million BTU this works out to 153-382 kg of CO2 over that time period.
Tags: CO2 emmisions, energy costs, greenhouse gas, Lindsay, natural gas fireplace, pilot light
Posted in Consumer Issues, Green Living, Lindsay, climate change, conservation | 1 Comment »
