I’m a Reformed Frog Killer

My youngest has been on an environmental bent the last few months. Her new purpose in life is to save the frogs. They are born deformed and even dying because of too much pollution. She has become quite the activist.

She has a T-shirt with a recycle sign on the front that she wears everywhere. She’ll leave her jacket open and walk around with her chest poked out so everyone will see it and remember to recycle. She has also given a stern lecture to the bag boy at the supermarket. He should be making people get reusable bags instead of letting them harm the environment with plastic. He looked very amused.

One day I forgot to take my reusable shopping bags to the store and I was lectured the whole way home about both the toxicity of plastic and the danger of killing trees. “…The only option is to reuse mom. It’s very important unless you want to kill frogs. And Turtles! You don’t want to kill turtles…” I begged forgiveness and she decided to let me off the hook; as long as it didn’t happen again.

When her dad got home she put on her worried face and ratted me out on my murder of innocent frogs. He told her about all the things I do that is good for the environment. When he was done I was the poster child for healthy happy frogs. I have probably saved hundreds if not thousand of little froggy lives. She thinks I am the patron saint of frogs. It feels good to be a hero.

So, if you aren’t already using reusable shopping bags, go get some. It’s really a small price to pay to save a life. You don’t want to be a frog murderer. Choose to be a hero.

And This in a Southern State!

I was reading an article about the Virginia primary results when I came across this.

And 49 percent of those who voted for Obama were white, a big change from previous contests in which Clinton held a big lead over Obama among white Democrats.

“We haven’t seen that happen this strikingly before, and this in a Southern state,” said CNN senior political analyst Bill Schneider.

What exactly is your point Mr. Schneider? As a senior political advisor you must be aware that Virginia was the first state (southern or not) to elect an African American governor. Guess what, we’re not all backward racist hicks.

For the record, the most racist place I have ever visited (and I mean scary racist) was Connecticut. I believe that is a northern state. ‘Course I haven’t been learned that well so I might be wrong.

Lazy Whiners With an Over-Inflated Sense of Entitlement

“It’s almost that time of year again.” I told my husband as we were sitting on the couch watching the Washington D.C. news channel.

“What time is that?” he asked with a smile on his face. He knew by the tone of my voice that this was going to be good.

“The time of year when the lazy whiners with an over-inflated sense of entitlement start complaining about the D.C. Public School System.” I said with my best, preachy sounding because I think people will think I’m smarter, presidential candidate debate voice.

He sat back with his full attention focused on me.

It went something like this:

Do you remember, my dear, when our eldest daughter was in attendance at the public school just down the road from the place we call home? At the beginning of the school year the parents went and cleaned up the school grounds. Some trimmed bushes. Some tightened playground equipment. Some swept the paved areas and painted railings. They did this because they wanted their children to have a nice place to spend their days while being educated.

“Why yes I do” he interrupted “I mostly remember the mom in the short shorts hopping around in her high heels”

We chuckle.

Well soon, very soon the public media known as our local news will start at air sad, sad stories. In these stories parents will complain that their children’s schools are dirty. Yet they will not bring a mop. They will complain of trash on the campus. Yet they will not bring a stick with a nail in it. They will complain of graffiti. Yet they will not bring a Mr. Clean Eraser. We will suffer innumerable hours of self-pity and finger pointing. Yet nothing will be accomplished. Meetings will be held. Angry black women will shake their fists at the camera. Yet their perfectly manicured fingernails will be unmarred by any semblance of actual work. I want to be on the news. I want to tell them:

Talk is cheap and so is an old stick with a nail in it. Put on some sensible shoes and get to work. A public school is the responsibility of the neighborhood in which it resides. A public education is considered a right in this country but that doesn’t mean you should take it for granted. All things worth having are worth working for.

I do not want hear you moaning about how no one takes care of you. If you take care of yourself you won’t have to worry about it. It is not my concern or responsibility to take care of you or your school. Yet I would help if needed. However, I am sick and goddamn tired of all the complaining and drama. Stop your complaining, get off your lazy asses, and DO SOMETHING. Until then, I’ll be sitting here on my couch laughing at you. I find it terribly entertaining.

“Umm, I loved it. Just promise you won’t go on the news. OK?”

*Fade out to the sounds of maniacal laughter*

Bottle Rockets are Safer than Gummy Bears

Growing up we had fireworks. We had firecrackers and bottle rockets, fountains and mortars. Someone I won’t name once set the woods beside his house on fire with illegal military weaponry. He was a bit weird. No one got seriously hurt except the time my brother burned himself with a sparkler. I understand it was different times but I can’t help but wonder how many people are actually injured each year by fireworks?

According to the CDC

• In 2005, four persons died and an estimated 10,800 were treated in emergency departments for fireworks-related injuries in the United States (Greene & Joholske 2006).
• About 45% (4,860) of persons injured from fireworks were children ages 14 years and younger;
• 5% of the hospital visits required hospitalization.

Any injuries are too many.  Children should not play with fireworks.  However,  I recently looked into other forms or injury in children.

• Each year in the United States, emergency departments treat more than 200,000 children ages 14 and younger for playground-related injuries (Tinsworth 2001).
• About 45% of playground-related injuries are severe—fractures, internal injuries, concussions, dislocations, and amputations (Tinsworth 2001).
• Between 1990 and 2000, 147 children ages 14 and younger died from playground-related injuries
• In 2004, there were 3,308 unintentional fatal drownings and 676 boating related deaths in the United States.
• In 2005, 48 children age 14 years and younger who were killed as pedestrians or pedalcyclists were struck by impaired drivers
• 414 child passengers ages 14 and younger died in alcohol-related crashes during 2005
• In 2000, 160 children ages 14 years or younger died from an obstruction of the respiratory tract due to inhaled or ingested foreign bodies
• 12.5%  of choking incidents (20 incidents) were related to chocolate candy, gummy bears, gum, etc

Now I’m sitting here questioning my judgment the year I took my kids to the playground by the river to watch the legal firework display. We laughed at the drunken people while we ate gummy bears.

Worse yet, we left grandma at home. She wanted to take a bath!

• In 2004, 14,900 people 65 and older died from injuries related to unintentional falls; about 1.8 million people 65 and older were treated in emergency departments for nonfatal injuries from falls, and more than 433,000 of these patients were hospitalized

Have a happy and safe holiday.

Sun & Earth Cleaners: My Opinion (Part 1)

A reader named Joe recommended Sun & Earth cleaners in the comments of my Environmental Friendly Cleaners Suck post. I went to the Sun & Earth web site and took advantage of the free sample offer. You have to create an account and pay $5.00 shipping to get the free sample but I wasn’t dissuaded. I wanted to try those cleaners and they are not listed as available in my area. I submitted my order and expected them to arrive sometime the following week. They arrived two days later just in time for my yearly monthly weekly cleaning.

I unpacked the package and looked over the 4oz. samples of cleaner. They looked the same as any other cleaner minus the day glow dyes. They listed the scent as Citrus. I sniffed each one. Here’s a summary

How They Smell

• Glass Cleaner: Peach Daiquiri [Note: Doesn’t taste like a peach daiquiri]
• Surface Cleaner: Tangerine
• Laundry Detergent: Slight orange
• Fabric Softener: Mrs. Jenkins Laundry room (good memory from childhood)
• Dish Soap: Orange mixed with very light cooking oil undertone

I was excited to try them out. I grabbed the glass cleaner and the surface cleaner and headed to the kids’ bathroom. The soap scum was waiting. The toothpaste was spattered on the mirror. I even spotted a slight ketchup smear on the light switch. It was time to test the cleaners.

Soap Scum Removal

The air was filled with maniacal laughter as I pointed the surface cleaner at the soap scum. I started to spray around the walls of the tub. As I worked my way back to where I started I gasped. The soap scum was dissolving and dripping down into the bottom of the tub. I gingerly touched the goop with my finger. It didn’t burn. I checked to make sure the porcelain wasn’t dissolving. This cleaner wasn’t messing around. I hardly had to wipe the tub at all and the soap scum was gone and the porcelain was intact. I sprayed the tub with warm water and it sparkled. I was satisfied. Next up, the sink.
 

Surfaces, Mirrors, and Faucet

Nothing as dramatic as the soap scum removal happened here. It did a good job and everything looked and smelled clean. I smiled as I grabbed the glass cleaner and a micro-fiber cloth. The mirror was next and after the soap scum success I was optimistic. Unfortunately I was disappointed. It didn’t clean any better than the method window wash and was worse than regular Windex. I read the back of the bottle and it said it did well on chrome. I tried it on the sink faucet and it redeemed itself slightly. My faucet was shiny and I was pleased. But there was still ketchup on the light switch and I noticed a weird stain on the wall.

Walls

The ketchup came off with a quick spray of surface cleaner and I decided to scrub the wall. It was a mistake. I sprayed the surface cleaner directly on my wall and the paint got gooey. At first I thought it was taking off a layer of accumulated goo. Then I looked at my cloth and realized it was turning the same color as my wall. I backed slowly away from the wall and it quickly dried with no obvious damage. The surface cleaner is way too powerful for the cheap paint you get at Home Depot. I wouldn’t recommend using it full strength on painted surfaces. A small spray on a damp cloth worked fine.
 

Summary

Overall, I would recommend the surface cleaner for soap scum and cleaning a sink or toilet. It does an excellent job. I’ll be ordering some from the web site with my $5.00 off your next order coupon they sent me with the free samples. The only suggestion I would have is to change the scent. The orange smell is good in the kitchen and living spaces but when mixed with bathroom smells I didn’t like it as much. A nice eucalyptus or mint smell would work better. Of course, I can always add a few drops of my favorite essential oil to the bottle. I’m just being picky.

The glass cleaner isn’t any better or worse than other environmentally friendly glass cleaners I have tried. I will probably buy whatever is easy to find and the least expensive.

Next up. Laundry detergent and fabric softener. I have two dogs. They will provide all necessary ingredients for a good test.

Do you Have Hazardous Household Waste?

Our local landfill has a hazardous waste collection day twice a year. I knew that things like pesticides and motor oil are considered hazardous waste. I also knew that I had a few cans of spray paint that I should drop off. I went on-line to see if there was anything else to take. I was surprised by all the basic household items that can be dangerous.

Did you know that video tape you made in college and decided to destroy poses a risk to the environment? I didn’t. I was surprised to discover standard gypsum drywall produces Hydrogen Sulfide gas when allowed to decompose in a moist air free environment – like a covered landfill.

Household hazardous waste is a common addition to landfills all over the US. When it is not disposed of properly it is more likely to cause problems.  Simply leaving a can of paint open to dry before tossing it can make a difference.  I decided to take advantage of the household hazardous waste collections day and make better choices about what I throw in the trash bins.

Here is a list of common household items that are considered hazardous. There is also a search engine to find a disposal location near you.

Stop Complaining and Get the Photovoltaic Facts

Dominion Virginia Power supplies electricity to over 2,000,000 homes and businesses in Virginia and North Carolina.

According to Huffman Electrical Systems, the minimun expenditure for a home to install a basic system is about $10,000. A full house for about $30,000.

 At the current price that’s about 0.78% of the property value of a new home on Lake Anna.  If you subtract the $2000 federal tax credit it’s only 0.63%

If every home put up a 1Kwh residential grid connected PV system it would reduce the power demand by 2 million Kwh.

[Note: businesses are eligible for 30% of the cost and there is no cap on the amount ]

So, to the 2400+ friends of Lake Anna, where are your solar panels? I was hard pressed to find them last time I cruised around the cooling pond on a boat ride with the kids. “It’s a sad day for the Commonwealth”, Mr. Ruth when the president of a group that calls itself a friend of the cooling pond doesn’t put the responsibilty where it belongs. It belongs squarely on the shoulders of each and every one of us that use the power produced at the plant.

Perhaps this year Friends of Lake Anna volunteers can get friendly with the lake by learning how to install solar panels. They aren’t too expensive when you buy them direct.

Additional Reading:

Consumers Guide – Get your Power from the Sun

Wholesale Photovoltaics

Learning about Photovoltaics

Solar Energy Technologies

Solar panels on Lake Anna would be a great start. But were not finished yet. Next up, I teach the facts to an institution that could most benefit from a little education.

Environmentally Friendly Cleaners Suck - Not in a Good Way.

Two years ago I was on a green home streak. My oldest daughter had allergies, I was tired all the time, and I was worried about all the chemicals I sprayed around our house on a daily basis. I decided to throw out all my harsh chemical cleaners and clean my house with nothing but baking soda, vinegar, castille soap, water, and elbow grease. The web sites said that was all I needed. I believed them because I can be naive that way. It turns out they were lying like a bleached blonde tramp in a poolroom full of whiskey shooting rednecks. Here’s a summary of my research.

Mold and Mildew

First off, I live in Virginia between two major rivers. There is a lot of humidity here. With humidity comes mold and mildew. It grows on trees. It grows on the side of your house. It grows in your shower. It grows on your front door. Before I went green I would add a bit of bleach to a bucket of water, slop it all the mold growth, and return later to find that the mold had disappeared. A quick spray with a hose and I was good for a month or more. No so with vinegar. The web site said it would fight mold and mildew. Maybe it does a good job on pansy ass mold that spends its days drinking wine and eating cheese. My mold is beer-guzzling steak-eating mold. It takes the freaking vinegar solution and makes a tasty marinade for the pig roast later that night. What I’m trying to say is vinegar was ineffective. I spent way too much time scrubbing my front door and showers with an environmentally friendly sponge. It was time I will never get back. Damn you, vinegar solution. I didn’t feel the least bit guilty when I bought the big ass jug of bleach at the grocery store. Bleach is an effective tool in the war against mold and mildew. I’m sorry it has to be that way, but that’s just the way it is.

Windows and Mirrors

Next up were the windows and mirrors. I tried five different homemade solutions. None of them worked. Maybe they would work on the household grime from a family that doesn’t have children and pets. They do not work on toothpaste dotted mirrors and dog saliva covered patio doors. All they do is spread the muck around and rearrange the dirt from a noticeable pawprint or splatter pattern into nasty streaks. I finally tried Method window wash. I have no idea if it’s any better for the environment than Windex. They don’t list what chemicals are in it. It has a nice minty smell instead of a chemically smell so I decided to use it instead. It did a little better than my homemade window wash. Not perfect, but good enough. I decided to skip the harsh cleaners and homemade cleaner in favor of this one. I also bought a pretty blue chamois to clean the windows with. At least I wasn’t killing trees.

Dusting

Dusting was the next challenge. I am proud to say that I am all natural when it comes to dusting. I found that a slightly damp (with water) baby washcloth works great. When I feel extremely ambitious I use orange oil to condition and polish the wood. I’ve also found that the allergen furnace filters, a HEPA air filter, and daily vacuuming can greatly reduce the amount of dusting I have to do in the first place.

Soap Scum

I have two girls. They like bubble baths. They like fancy soaps. They create a lot of soap scum. The amount of soap scum in my tub in any given year could be recycled in enough soap to clean more than one West Virginia coal miner. I’m talking Sunday morning clean not just a Wednesday clean. The best way I have found to get rid of soap scum is with a Mr. Clean Eraser. I start by softening the scum with a spray of very hot tap water and then scrub. It doesn’t take me much longer than scrubbing with harsh chemicals. The only drawback is I don’t get light headed and floaty when I’m done.

Laundry Detergent

Don’t get me started on homemade laundry detergent. Don’t waste your time, like I did, grating up castille soap and driving to hell and back to find washing soda. It’s not going to work. Your whites will not be white except where the soap dries out and leaves soap residue on your board stiff clothing. I’d suggest a front load washer and some HE detergent. I haven’t tried any of the commercial environmentally friendly detergents. If you have, let me know what you think of them.

Dishwasher Detergent

After the laundry incident I decided to not try the dish detergent. I might one day but today is not that day.

Miscellaneous
Tile floor get clean enough with a bucket of water, a little vinegar and a few drops of dish soap. You can add some essential oil for a clean smell.

Vinegar and baking soda works fairly well on copper.

Baking soda and a lemon in the garbage disposal freshens things up quite nicely.

Go ahead and try baking soda and vinegar in a clogged drain. It might work. Don’t hold your breath. It works a little better on a slow drain.

Tea tree oil is reputed to kill germs but I found the smell to be pretty bad and it caused a mild allergic reaction.

Do you have any environmentally friendly cleaning tips? How about a cleaning/not cleaning story? I’d love to hear them. Leave a comment or leave a link to a blog post. I’ll add the links here:

New Reactor at Lake Anna - Stop Your Complaining!

North Anna Nuclear Facility 

People in the Fredericksburg area are familiar with the nuclear power plant at Lake Anna. Lake Anna was built as a nuclear power plant cooling pond. We call it a lake. Over the past several years people have built houses along side the cooling pond. The asking price of a 4 bedroom 3 bath home located on Lake Anna is currently $1,270,000.

Some of these homes are vacation homes owned by people with enough money to, you got it, buy expensive vacation homes on a lake. That’s why I had little sympathy when I read all the complaints about the facility adding a new reactor in 2015.  This could possibly raising the summertime temperature of the lake to a nice temperature for a bath. (About 3.5 degrees is the estimate)

Don’t get me wrong. I am concerned about our environment. I am concerned about the loss of property value. I do care that we are adding a new nuclear reactor when there are many other ways to produce power. However, I have no sympathy for all the complaining. I have no sympathy because many of these people have the power, money, and ability to make the new reactor unnecessary. 

I can’t help but think time would be better spent providing a solution to the energy needs of our area and less time talking about how bad a new reactor would/could be for the fish.  Maybe we could also stop to consider the environmental impact of non-nuclear power plants as well.

My next series of blog posts will be taking a hard fact based looked at alternative energy and most likely take a few pokes at the folks that most deserve them. As always, your comments and suggestions are welcome.