A podcast with my thoughts on people’s perception of the word “chemical” (be patient, it may take a moment to load):

Right click to download the audio MP3 file: Meaning of Chemical

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Interesting question isn’t it?

Read the short post below and listen to the podcast above and see why I believe a lot of people really don’t know the answer!

Many people seem to think that if household cleaning products (or other products for that matter) contain chemicals, they must be toxic, unsafe or not earth-friendly.  Part of the issue again comes down to a combination of multiple meanings for a term, in this case chemical, as well as confusion about chemicals that might be in various products.

The fundamental meaning of the word chemical relates to the fact that all matter is made of the chemical elements.  Therefore the only time there would not be chemicals present if there was an absolute vacuum.  We could not survive in an absolute vacuum!

Everything around us is chemical.

The air is a mixture of nitrogen, oxygen, water vapor, carbon dioxide, etc.

Water is H₂O and we can’t live without it!

Arsenic is a naturally occurring chemical element we can pretty much live without!

Every material in the environment around us including our household cleaning products consists of chemical compounds and nothing, other than an absolute vacuum can be 100% chemical free ….

Keep these facts in mind as you listen to the podcast and please leave a comment below and let me know your thoughts!

Is this mild? .. Ouch!

We’ve all likely done it, run out the door on a hot summer’s day after forgetting to anoint all exposed skin areas with our favorite sunscreen or other means of sunburn prevention.  In a few hours we start to notice several of the exposed areas feel warm and tight then later … wham, the full effects of the sunburn hit home!

Fortunately most of us have a number of nature’s green remedies (plus a few other items) readily available around the home to help alleviate the pain and inflammation.

Green Home Sunburn Remedies from the Kitchen

• Take a chilly bath or shower for several minutes. Try not to use soap or only use mild ones if you must then rinse off and do not use a washcloth finally patting yourself dry with a soft towel;
• Add ½ to 1 cup oatmeal to the cooled bathwater rather than bath oils.  You can also use Aveeno powder (oatmeal-based) found in my drug stores.  Air dry your body to let the effects of the soothing oatmeal linger (baking soda is another alternative);
• Use honey as a salve by coating the burned area to promote healing;
• Take a couple of washed potatoes, cut into small pieces, add to your blender then process until they take on a liquid or pasty form (if pasty, add water to liquefy), pat the sunburned patches with the liquid then allow to dry before rinsing with cool water; and
• Soak a washcloth in cool water then apply to burned areas as a cool compress.

Home Sunburn Remedy Selections from the Bathroom Medicine Chest

• Apply a skin moisturizer after bathing to help with dryness and pain (chilling the moisturizer before use can help add relief);
• Use pure Aloe Vera gel (98% or greater) which helps increase blood flow then lower pain and inflammation;
• Sometimes cream or spray topical anesthetics can help if used correctly (be sure to use as directed and check ingredients to insure safety and minimize health issues);
• Use an over the counter pain reliever such as aspirin, ibuprofen (preferred) or acetaminophen (if the first two are problematic for you) to lower both pain and inflammation.

Each of these remedies should help you tolerate the pain and discomfort brought on by mild cases of sunburn. Remember, however, to take the proper actions to prevent future issues the next time you head out for some fun in the Sun!

Note that these remedies are primarily for small areas and minor sunburn cases.  If the burn area is extensive (whole back for instance), if you experience fever/achiness, or the burn develops blisters or forms a light brown crust, seek medical advice immediately.

Energy issues are usually floating around amidst the myriad of thoughts in our heads especially this time of year as vacation season approaches and historical price increases occur.  Events of the recent past have finally resurrected interest and development of viable alternative energy systems like wind, solar and bio-fuels (biodiesel from algae is one I am keenly interested in) as green transportation energy sources.

After last summer’s dramatic price swing in the cost of crude oil and refined products, America and the rest of the World’s interest in alternative energy options swung almost as dramatically.  Although the interest in alternative energy decreased during the last quarter of 2008 and earlier this year (mainly related to the economic woes across the globe), we are fortunate it did not die off completely.  Perhaps the reality of fossil fuel limitations (both natural and imposed by the producers) has finally sunk in so alternative energy projects can continue development and ultimately implementation.

I came across a news report today summarizing a report of substantial progress by diesel engine manufacturers in drastically reducing the emission of particulates, CO and NOx compounds over the last half decade.  This change was in response to new diesel engine emission standards set by the U. S. EPA that went into effect in 2007.  It was reported that most manufacturers had not only met but greatly reduced emissions below the standards.

Just think …. diesel engines not puffing out plumes of black, sooty, smelly smokes each time they drive down the road (or at least far less of it) …. COOL!

If the diesel engine companies can continue to further reduce emissions and alternative energy companies can develop a non-petroleum source of diesel (like aquatic algae a.k.a. pond scum fuel), we may be on the way to seeing a significant change in how we power our transportation needs!

Regretfully it’s not quite as easy as that since the biodiesel from algae (pond scum fuel) is in the latter stages of R&D. A few of those companies claim they could be producing substantial quantities of biodiesel within a three to five year period with continued support and resources.  It seems to me this is an area of upcoming alternative energy development deserving attention and support …

Here are the links to a few sites with additional information:

Advanced Collaborative Emissions Study (Diesel Engines)

Biodiesel from Algae (Pond Scum) by Valcent/Vertigro

University of New Hampshire Biodiesel Group

Yesterday’s post posed a simple question about baking soda … is it natural?

After providing a little background information about the composition and sources of baking soda (sodium bicarbonate), it was clear that there is a considerable amount of processing taking place in both the older Solvay process as well as the current processes to produce baking soda from the mineral trona.

But is it really the amount of processing that determines whether or not something is natural?

Let’s consider a few facts and see what we uncover!

According to the American Heritage Dictionary online, the basic definition for the word “natural” as an adjective is:

“Present in or produced by nature; and as used in Biology – Not produced or changed artificially; not conditioned”.

Based on this definition, my understanding is that for something to be natural it must either be the raw material supplied by the Earth system or a material existing in the natural material that can be extracted or refined without changing it.

So when we use a raw material directly, say salt as a preservative; nahcolite (mineral form of sodium bicarbonate) as baking soda; or fine grit mineral as an abrasive, those materials are indeed natural.

The other case I see as being natural is when we extract or refine a substance to purify without adding anything to the product such as extraction or refining of essential oils and even extracting components existing in a mineral (so long as nothing new is added).

Thinking back to the two processes to produce baking soda, when the Solvay process was being used to produce baking soda (which it really is not today), baking soda was essentially manufactured and not natural.

In the case of processing trona (Na₃CO₃(HCO₃) – 2H₂O), since the mineral contains NaHCO₃ this is really a matter of extracting sodium bicarbonate from trona.

Because it is essentially an extraction process, today’s baking soda is indeed “natural”.

Do you agree?

A simple title isn’t it?

If you do a web search for that phrase, you will find link after link touting baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) is an agent for natural cleaning, skin care, tooth care and the list goes on and on ….

The more I thought about it however, something didn’t quite seem to fit …

Part of the issue relates to where most baking soda comes from, while the other is due to an understanding of the meaning of “natural” when discussing these types of substances.

Is there a “natural” form of sodium bicarbonate (baking soda)?

Now I am totally aware sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO₃), a.k.a. baking soda, does exist in large quantities within Mother Earth’s system in the form of a mineral called nahcolite.

Even though nahcolite is the natural form of sodium bicarbonate, is it used as the source of baking soda?

Baking Soda (Sodium Bicarbonate) Production ….

Historically, baking soda was manufactured using the Solvay process (developed in the mid nineteenth century) by processing calcium carbonate (usually limestone) with salt brine (sodium chloride) that had been saturated with ammonia.  Other products derived from this process includes sodium carbonate (Na₂CO₃) also known as soda ash and calcium chloride (CaCl₂).  This Solvay system is definitely a chemical manufacturing process for producing baking soda!

After the discovery of substantial deposits of another sodium carbonate mineral called trona (Na₃CO₃(HCO₃) – 2H₂O), the use of the Solvay process fell off by 1980.  The shift away from using the Solvay process was two-fold:

1)      it was less costly to mine and process trona to produce baking soda and soda ash;

2)      hypothetically, processing trona is more “earth-friendly”.

Like nahcolite, trona is an inorganic, evaporate mineral forming as mineral-laden waters evaporate away causing the chemicals in solution (like Na⁺, Ca²⁺, HCO₃^-, CO₃^2-) to recombine and precipitate out forming beds of new minerals.  Significant deposits of trona and nahcolite were formed as ancient lakes (>50 million years ago) evaporated away in parts of western Wyoming and northwestern Colorado.

The trona deposits of this region are now the targets of several mines and the companies produce more than 17 million tons of trona (and a few hundred thousand tons of nahcolite) each year from the Wyoming deposits alone.

More than 95% of the baking soda and virtually all soda ash used in the U. S. each year is derived by processing trona (per the Wyoming Mining Association).

Since trona (Na₃CO₃(HCO₃) – 2H₂O) is not pure sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO₃) it has to be processed to derive soda ash (sodium carbonate or Na₂CO₃) first then baking soda (NaHCO3) is produced from the soda ash by adding CO₂.

So technically speaking, the bulk of the baking soda we buy in the grocery store is a material that is produced by first mining the mineral trona which is then processed into soda ash (Na₂CO₃) which is subsequently mixed with more CO₂ to finally produce baking soda (sodium bicarbonate).

Does this sound like a completely natural product to you?

To me it seems like there is an awful lot of “production” going on when making baking soda!

“I read the news today, oh boy” is the opening line from the Beatles song “A Day in the Life”. But yesterday it went well beyond “oh boy” when I was left dazed and confused by the stupidity in the news.

I mean there are some days when I read articles in the news and I just sit shaking my head mainly due to all the negativity. Yesterday’s shaking however, is an example of stupidity centering on an issue continuing to persist because of the news and questionable advertising.

The story from lovely old England was partly about the bottled water companies trying to wage war against tap water dues to falling sales.

Now I realize the story was merely reporting the state of bottled water industry trying to regain lost sales through advertising and marketing but sheesh!

The piece noted one of the tactics used by the bottled water industry was to attack the degrading water quality of municipal tap water.

Although some municipal water systems may have degraded water quality, those systems (at least in this country) are constantly monitored (not the case for the bottled water industry in most instances) and still have to make minimum water quality standards as set by the Safe Water Drinking Act (again here in the U.S.).

Does that really warrant spending $5.00 to $8.00 per gallon (even more in some places) for bottled water versus a few cents per gallon (unfiltered) and maybe up to $0.25 per gallon (if filtered) from our tap?

Not in my mind!

A few other issues with bottled water include:

• Greater than 25% of bottled water providers here in the U.S. are not from remote “pristine” springs but are actually filtered municipal water;
• There are many cases where bottled water quality has been determined to be degraded;
• Bottled water companies also process the water prior to bottling;
• Tap water is delivered via an existing piping system usually driven by gravity; bottled water has to be packaged and shipped to end user (often with several intermediate stops);
• Bottle water comes in bottles (usually plastic, sometimes glass) with most of them being discarded as trash; &
• It takes extra energy and resources to make the bottles (most of which end up as trash) and ship them as noted above.

So please ….. GIVE ME A BREAK!

In what alternate reality does anyone think bottled water is better than tap water?  (Assuming not in an under-developed country of course) ….

Only in the alternate reality of the news, advertising and marketing.

Are you one of those people who use commercial dryer sheets to help your clothes feel soft, smell nice and so they don’t cling?

If so, how often have you stated to get dressed only to be greeted by the abrasive patch of porous material left over from the last drying cycle?

It’s a simple fact that many people use commercial dryer sheets several times during any given week as they complete their laundry chores. Each time they complete a load, another swatch of crinkly scrap is produced.

Ever since they were first introduced over twenty years ago, people have been either chucking the spent sheets into the trash can to head off to the local landfill.  After realizing that many of the commercial brand’s sheets are not readily biodegradable people started to find new, innovative ways to reuse them.

Reuse ideas range from dusting your TV screen; wiping up spills of powdery substances (like flour or body powders); stuffing them in sneakers or hampers to help control odor; use to remove pet hair from clothing; clean the chrome on your cars; and the list goes on and on …

Well here’s another tip for reusing those scratchy little swatches that is spun from an earlier post on home-brewed pest control tips.

Reusing Spent Dryer Sheets to Make Cedar-Chip Pouches

If you are anything like our family, closet and dresser drawer space is often at a premium. So each Spring and Fall we pack away one set of seasonal clothing and break out the next seasonal wardrobe.

A few decades ago, we typically added moth balls to the clothes being packed away reducing problems with moths and other pests.  That was until we learned of the potential health effects from the chemicals in moth balls (naphthalene and dichlorobenzene), especially on our kids and pets.

From that point on we started using cedar blocks or cloth bags filled with cedar chips. As it became more difficult to find small cloth bags, we looked around for an alternative and came up with the idea to take a handful of chips, place them between two spent dryer sheets then sew the seams together. You can also easily change the shape of the pouch (square, rectangle, circle, oval) for any specific need by leaving a little extra room around the edges and trimming accordingly.

Since the sheets are extremely porous, the cedar gets to do its job and help keep more waste out of the landfills.

And we even keep the pouches out of the landfill by recycling them at a local facility as part of an alternative energy project ….

An audio recollection of my early days of living a green lifestyle (be patient, it may take a moment to load):

Right click to download the audio MP3 file: Early Green Living

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So what do dairy farms, old cardboard boxes plus Simpson Spring soda and Hood milk bottles have to do with living a green lifestyle?

Take a few moments and listen to the audio file to find out (you may even hear my old New England accent pop out).

Next, take a moment or two and reflect back to your early years and let me know your earliest memories of green living activities.

It’s amazing what we find when we take the time to stop and think back to years gone by and how much early routines might reflect some of the newer trends around today!

As we slide along getting ready to make the transition from Spring to Summer, another warmer weather issue soon re-appears and springs to life trying to steal some of the fun from the season …. Pesky Insects!

Most of us will experience many encounters with those little pesky insects popping out of borrows in the yard or the dark and protected cracks and crevices around our homes.

Everything from ants parading across the counters or picnic tables to different types of beetles invading our gardens, flying insects (flies, stinging varieties, moths, mosquitoes) buzzing about and roaches just being completely gross!  They are definitely more than a little irritating …

They’ll soon be attempting to join in and ruin many a summer party or picnic unless you bring out the heavy artillery ….

So rather than reaching for the Raid or other popular, chemically-laden, off-the-shelf variety pesticide, here are a few home-brewed natural remedies that are definitely more in tune as you are living your green lifestyle …

General Purpose Insect Spray Mixture:

Here is a great all purpose spice natural remedy mixture that is a very effective insect spray you can by combining and mixing:

• 1 to 2 Tablespoons Plant-based soap;
• 1 Tablespoon (or a clove or two) Garlic;
• 1 small onion
• 1 Tablespoon of cayenne or hot chili pepper (chopped or powder); &
• 1 quart very warm water.

Mix ingredients together and allow brew for several days.

Filter fluid through cloth or coffee filter into spray bottle and you are ready to go (or should I say the pests will be ready to go!).  And don’t just throw the spice mash away; mix it into the topsoil around some of your various planting!

Here is a video from “The Produce Garden” You Tube video site (full of helpful tips for anyone trying to live a simpler life close to nature) with a slight variation of the above natural remedy receipt:

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A couple of suggestions for those pesky little, hard exoskeleton black or red ants:

Natural Remedy Ant Repellant – place a line of dried peppermint leaves (or dilute peppermint spirits*), 50/50 mix of vinegar/water; chili powder, black pepper or cream of tartar in front of their entry point(s) to keep ants from re-entering area.

*Note – peppermint spirits (an essential oil) can be harmful to cats!

Natural Remedy Ant Exterminator – Mix equal parts of fine-grained sugar (or sometimes grease) with Borax** then place in area when ants enter or congregate.  The ants are attracted by the sugar and carry the mix back to the next where the poisonous Borax** does its deadly deed.

**Note – Borax is poisonous and potentially lethal to people and pets (as little as a few tablespoons can be very dangerous to deadly) so only use in isolated areas where people (especially children) and pets can not access!

I have also tried pouring a pot of boiling water down the opening to ant hills with some success (mixing it with a plant-based cleaning product like Shaklee H2 helps!)

Using Cedar as a Natural Remedy for Moth Control

Moths are another pest that are both irritating when  buzzing around lights in the evening but are more of an issue when they get into closets and make their homes in various articles of clothing.  The simplest way address moths in the clothes are to add cedar blocks or chips (in cloth bags) in amongst the various garments as a natural remedy.

Rhubarb Leaves and Beetles

Another useful tip when dealing with beetles is to make a pesticide brew by steeping several chopped rhubarb leaves in a few quarts of boiling water followed by straining into spray bottle.  Another note of caution is warranted here since rhubarb leaves contain oxalic acid which is poisonous to humans and animals.

Diatomaceous Earth and Hard Exoskeleton Critters

One last tip to consider when dealing with hard-bodied pests (ants, roaches, beetles), get some food-grade diatomaceous earth (a soft, chalk-like) sedimentary rock material) and sprinkle the powder around the pest’s pathways. The silica in the powder abrades through the hard exoskeleton penetrating the body cavity and desiccating (drying-out) the pest!

I admit, not the some of these prettiest of natural remedies but often effective ones …

A little change from the normal posts of tips and technical issues, I was inspired to assemble this piece after watching a PBR segment of this “Man” in concert.

A little tribute to an environmentalist, ecologist and humanitarian, John Denver …

It has almost been 12 years since John Denver left the Earth and people he loved so much.  One of the most memorable and inspirational folk singers of our time, John left a legacy of music and actions most will never know.

Environmentalist, ecologist, humanitarian … John Denver wore a coat of many colors and wore it exceptionally well.

Beyond the music and videos, he also left part of his heart and soul in the Colorado Rockies when he helped establish the Windstar Foundation located on 1000 acres near Snowmass, CO.

As described on the Windstar Foundation website,

“Windstar is non profit environmental education organization which promotes a holistic approach to addressing environmental concerns”.

Stop and take a few moments and listen to a couple of John Denver’s environmental classics (one a tribute to another great naturalist and ecologist – Jacques Cousteau):

And before you go, ponder this quote from the “Man” as well …

“No one person has to do it all but if each one of us follows our heart and our own inclinations we will find the small things that we can do, and together we will come up with enough to create a sustainable future and a healthy environment.” – John Denver