Earth Day - Clean Green

Earth Day falls on April 22, 2008. This year, thanks to a wide variety of inspiration and information, I have made many more personal changes to green things up around the house.

If you have yet to start on making any green changes, here are a few recipes for easy, healthy cleaning products. Making one change per month makes it easier to make ongoing changes. But really, my motivation was set once I started to do the research about the chemicals and their side effects in many of the products we used.

So here's a quick green clean shopping list:

Vinegar
Borax
Salt
Lemon Juice
Essential Oils for fragrance
Vegetable Oil and Castile Soaps
Baking Soda
Spray Bottles (check out the beautiful linen spray bottles here)

From these ingredients you can make:

Countertop/Surface Cleaner
Combine Vinegar and Salt for a great scrub for many surfaces and non-porous surfaces

Window Cleaner
Vinegar & Water is a classic window cleaner. Use newspaper for a bright shine

Room Freshener
Pour vinegar in a cup to remove odors from your room. Or use vinegar to clean and freshen fabrics (test in an inconspicuous place first)

General Cleaner
With a bit of water the castile and vegetable oil based soaps will clean almost any surface.

Borax (about 1/2 cup), Splash of Vinegar and 1 Gallon of Hot Water can be used to clean and disinfect your rooms and make them sparkle.

When you bottle your cleaners, be sure to order some cute and creative labels to let everyone know what ingredients are included, and what you can use them for.

Think Creatively, Live Longer

Last night while blogging I watched a segment on TV about living longer. The researchers at Blue Zones are on a quest to find the common traits of people who live to be 100+. So far they've found these common factors:

• Family
• No Smoking
• Plant-based diet
• Constant Moderate Physical Activity
• Social Engagement
• Legumes
• Empowered Women
• Sunshine
• Gardening
  

These make sense to me. And of course, I think that creativity is a driving element to encourage a long life. For example, creative planning can bring families closer together, creative recipes and menu planning can certainly make it easier to use more legumes and other vegetables. Planning social engagements (celebrations); family gatherings; traditional Sunday family meals, and gardens all require the use of your creative energy.

So thank you to all the researchers at Blue Zones. I feel good about where we're headed!

Be well, be creative!

Lise

Our Place in the World

Today wraps up yet another tumultuous day in our collective history; and for obvious reasons; I feel disingenuous in writing about the comforts of home. When for so many in the way of peril - the ideas of home, style, and comfort are entirely irrelevant.

Today my thoughts dwell on:

• The reporters who are embedded alongside the military; stuffed into cramped vehicles, covering stories in the middle of the night from putrid hotels having long ago dispensed with anything remotely called an "amenity".
  
• The travelers. Inconvenienced, stranded, uncomfortable, harried... Traveling throughout the world and calling the cold tile floors in random airports - "bed".
  
• The places. Where people once gathered. Places called home which no longer exist in these war-ravaged areas. Places where hopes are lost and despair has set in.
  
• Being thankful. For a home; health; peace; silence; safety; room to breathe and stretch; and for time to reflect and say prayers for those who are not as fortunate.

Be well,

Lise