Who needs bleach?

Are you sitting down? You're about to read the most exciting blog post EVER!! Yes, really. It's about ... my dishwasher.

Actually, you might (stress 'might') be interested in this. I know one person who is, so in his honor I'm writing about the joy that clean dishes bring.

So one of the small being-green changes I made when I moved into my apartment was not rinsing my dishes before putting them in the dishwasher, which is a waste of water if they come out clean anyway. And they did! These are dishes that sat in the dishwasher for a week, some with chocolate cake crumbs, others with ring-around-the-coffee-mug stains. And they came out spotless. I'll give partial credit to the new dishwasher in my apartment, which doesn't seem expensive but is clearly not the same caliber as the cheapo dishwasher my old landlord bought that left our glasses foggy.

Now on to credit #2: Trader Joe's dishwashing powder. I told my coworker Mike that I'd bought that instead of conventional powder because it has no bleach and phosphates (which I guess are bad for the environment and "toxic" for our bodies. I haven't bothered to look into what exactly phosphates are and why they're bad, but for now I'll take TJ's word for it). My coworker wanted to know if the environmentally friendly brand would actually work, and I'm happy to report it's solid. In fact, better than solid. I inspected my glasses and there was no grimy film or residual fingerprints. Just sparkling goodness!

If happiness is appreciating the small things in life, then I'm a happy camper (and only partially embarrassed I've taken the time to share this with the world)!

Moving time ... the follow up

I've been in my new apartment for almost a week. Before I moved in, I envisioned myself treading so lightly on the environment that it would hardly know I was there ... using less water in general and especially less hot water, not keeping lights on. But ya, I'm no Green Superwoman. I'm still enjoying my hot showers and keep several lights on at once because otherwise I'd be straining to read or feeling like I was trespassing in my own place. What can I say, bright lights make a home feel cheery. But I have made small adjustments. I've been scraping the food off my plates instead of rinsing them under the sink before I put them in the dishwasher so I don't waste water. I haven't run a load yet so I'm waiting to see if they come out clean. I read that tip in National Geographic's Green Guide magazine and it kind of hit me over the head with how obvious it was. Another tip I got from that mag is using a French press instead of a plug-in coffee maker, which I like doing because the coffee from my French press tastes better and keeps the coffee hotter (one of my major peeves with my crappy coffee maker). But then I got thinking, does it use more energy to boil the water on the stove for the French press, or to use the coffee maker? This is what buying "here are a million and one ways to go green" magazines does to a person. I bought the magazine at the grocery store before my move. I almost jumped I was so giddy with excitement. Ooh, the possibilities and things to learn.

I've read it cover to cover, even the article on how to make schools more green (no I don't have children but I also don't have cable or Internet yet so I've reading everything in sight. In my defense I did skip the article on carpets). The most interesting article was on kitchen storage. It recommended using glass and stainless steel containers and said to throw away old plastic containers because they leech chemicals and bacteria can form in small scratches. It also said if you are going to use plastic containers, #5 is safe but don't heat them or put hot food in them because they will start to deteriorate (#5 includes yogurt containers but also the Ziploc and Glad storage containers you can buy at Target). I didn't have anything too egregious in my kitchen, although it did make me wish I'd read it before I bought my cutting boards since it featured cool cutting boards made from recycled material.

The other big "green" effort I want to make is to buy used furniture. I need a few items but haven't bought anything yet, besides a small table I put by the door to hold my keys ($10 from a nameless store on 4th Street, Long Beach's thrift store row). Once I get Internet I'll be checking out Craigslist a lot I'm sure. Keeping my promise to buy used furniture has been helpful because otherwise I'd be flipping wistfully through every catalog that comes in the mail and feeling the need to hit the malls. Instead, I'm flipping wistfully through the Green Guide!

Moving time

Oh man, it's been two weeks since my last post. But I have an excuse. Really, it's a good one. I've been busy looking for a new place to live. Now that I've found a place, it's time for the move, which offers up an interesting eco-challenge. How can I reduce my impact on the environment during one of life’s big changes? My coworker said he’d heard that moving is one of the most traumatic events in a person’s life. Which means it’s probably not so great on little ol’ Mother Earth either. Think moving boxes, moving vans traveling across the country and all the stuff you send to the landfill and new stuff imported from China that you buy.

I’ve got a few things going in my favor. First off, I’m moving a whoppin’ half mile away. (And I’ll try to find a local moving company so they don’t have to waste gas getting to my place.) I’ve got boxes from my last move and my office so I don’t need to buy new boxes. And I’m frugal, so I’m down with buying quality used furniture once I move in and figure out what I need.

But there are challenges.

1) I can’t buy everything used. I’m moving from a house with roommates into a one-bedroom apartment so I need basic things like trash cans, bathroom mats, cleaners, oh my!
My solution: I’ll try to buy eco-friendly, local and organic products when I can and when the green alternative isn't ridiculously expensive. I've had one success so far. This weekend I bought the all-natural Mrs. Meyer’s All Purpose Cleaner after reading a list of earth friendly cleaning products on the website for Real Simple magazine (my OCD cleaning bible). At $8 it's more expensive than a cleaner from Target but it’s concentrated so it’ll last a long time and I can use it in all my rooms, which means no need to buy a bunch of different cleaners.

2) I’m renting, which means I don’t have as much control as I would if I was buying a home. There’s a laundry room that I haven’t checked out yet, but I’m guessing the washer isn’t Energy Star. There’s a new dishwasher but I don’t think it’s Energy Star either (not that I’m complaining about new appliances).
My solution: Change what I can, like installing a low-pressure shower head. And I'll try to be energy efficient on my own, like not running the dishwasher until it’s full. That one will be easy since I have a crap load of dishes for one person. Another article on the Real Simple website (which has so much info, I was out of control clicking here, there and everywhere) said that dryers are horribly inefficient. I guess I could try air drying my clothes with a drying rack. OK, I agree to try that but I’ll have to see. If I end up a wet soggy mess at work because my clothes aren't dry, that may be a problem.

So far as I pack, I’ve been taking stuff I don’t want anymore to Goodwill so I haven’t had to throw much away. I even added an old eyeglass cleaning cloth to my donation bag. Hey, why not. Someone could use it. But going green can sometimes be expensive so I have to balance it with staying within my budget. Once I've moved I'll update my blog with how my green move is going. Now, I've gotta go do some more packing!