Turning Green
I am slightly suspicious of the new squeeze bottles standing proudly beneath the kitchen sink.
Motivated by a Tribune article about the toxicity of household cleaners, we headed to Target and bought a boatload of non-toxic, biodegradable cleaning supplies. (We rented a car to get to Target, but I believe our new mixtures also remove unsightly carbon footprints.)
So far so good; the tableware is emerging clean as ever from the dishwasher. But I’m not sure what to make of the non-specific ingredients that comprise these green cleaning solutions. “Grease-cutters” and “soap scum dissolver” sound like things a seven-year-old would invent while playing in the bathtub. However, our Tilex bottle lists only two ingredients: Sodium Hypochlorite and “97% other ingredients.” It seems we’re moving in the right direction.
Green is the new black. Even web design is getting into the action; my co-worker turned up a blog post about the thousands of kilowatts that would be saved if Google switched its background from white to black. Mull that one over for awhile.
Back on the homefront, we can’t decide what to do with the offending cleaning materials that remain. They’re mostly full; it would be a shame to waste good Windex. And isn’t it just as bad to throw them into a landfill? What Would Al Gore Do?
April 22nd, 2007
I am not sure what Al Gore would do but it would probably take him 3 hours to explain it to you. In the mean time sucking all the energy out of the room and using it to power his enthusiasm and metaphor burning hybrid. Come to think of it I am pretty sure he doesn’t do any of the cleaning on his massive estate, which by the way was on the news as having a gigantic energy bill. I like the google thing though, with all the traffic you are getting you should consider going all black, or at least dark green.
April 23rd, 2007
You’re far too kind. I think an off-white eggshell would be plenty at this point.
April 23rd, 2007
Al is my guy - always has been. And the carbon-footprint of his own home is not as big as initially reported. (I’m a reader, ya know.) I think Al would say, “Use up that bad stuff; don’t pour it down the drain. It’s already been made, and the damage has already been done.” Can you donate it to some organization hard up for cleaning supplies? As to Al ever cleaning his own house, my nickel says Tipper would never let him get away with that!
April 23rd, 2007
I see jsj isn’t quite as busy as he pretends to be - apparently he has time to check blogs and rant (even though I.T. had him convinced he should buy a hybrid)
Did you get the method dishwasher ‘cubes’? I didn’t think those cleaned as well as Cascade. Everything else I’m happy with though. The smell of Tilex should be the first clue that brain cells will die upon use. I see bottles of homemade cleaner in our christmas future. Forget the liqueur.
April 23rd, 2007
We went with Seventh Generation dishwashing detergent. It works, but the dishes smell funny.
Heck with homemade cleaner, we’ll just pour the store-bought stuff into jars and pretend we made it. Problem solved!
May 8th, 2007
Hey, don’t bother coming in tomorrow. They gave me your job.
May 8th, 2007
Just what we need, another jokester in the office. (And an off-topic one at that.)
May 9th, 2007
Well the problem, Drew, is that since you are barely posting anymore, those of us leaving comments need to make our own topics, since really, there’s only so much you can say regarding cleaning products in 2 weeks time
May 9th, 2007
Posting frequently is so late 2006.