Wednesday, November 14, 2012

How to make your own cleaning products

Here a few tips to make on how you can make your own green cleaning products.
 
Windows: Mix 3 tablespoons vinegar with 2 cups of water. For a larger job mix 1/2 cup vinegar and 1 gallon of water and spray the mixture on right your windows.
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If you can’t stand the smell of vinegar you can also use fresh lemon juice or club soda to get your windows clean. Just spray the glass with club soda or lemon juice and use a micro fiber towel to get it clean.

lemons

All Purpose Cleaner: 1 cup vinegar, 2 cups water and ½ a lemon.

Hand Cleanser and Softener: Use 1 part Baking Soda and 3 parts water.



Air Freshener: 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon vinegar (or lemon juice), and 2 cups hot water into a spray bottle

Scrubbing toilets: Pour 1 cup of borax into the toilet at night and let it sit over night.  In the morning scrub and flush.  Or you can pour it in the morning and when you come home from work scrub and flush.



Monday, November 12, 2012

Soap Nuts



 I recently heard of a great product called Soap Nuts.  Soap Nuts are actually dried berries that grow naturally in the Himalayas in India and Nepal.  The Soap Nuts produce a natural soap call saponin.  Saponin acts as a surfactant, which breaks the surface tension in the water which lifts stains and dirt from clothing.  



Soap Nuts are a very gentle detergent on both clothes and skin making it a great option for those with sensitive skin, allergies and eczema.  Because Soap Nuts are actually berries those with nut allergies are not allergic to Soap Nuts.  To wash your clothes all you do is place 5 soap nuts in to a small bag.  The soap nuts can be reused over and over again until they turn gray and begin to fall apart.  

 

Soap Nuts are a great all natural alternative to laundry detergent.  They are the only organic and biodegradable laundry detergent on the market making it a great eco-friendly alternative to what you currently use.

Monday, November 5, 2012

Who's Going Green for You ?


With the 2012 Presidential Election only a matter of hours a way, You may wonder who is going green for you and your family ? Here at My Planet Green Clean we have done some research.

Which candidate has been an activist for renewable energy in efforts to stimulate job growth, boasted that he has created over thousands of new green jobs, and personally written government checks for millions to green start ups, which later filed for bankruptcy?

Answer: Mitt Romney

As governor of Massachusetts, Romney supported state loans given to the solar companies Konarka Technologies and Evergreen Solar, both of which went under after receiving help from the state. However, it has not prevented Mitt Romney from bashing the Obama administration for backing Solyndra, a solar company which also filed for bankruptcy after receiving loans as part of the federal stimulus package.

Which candidate is a supporter of expanding oil and gas drilling off the coast of the U.S.,and approves of "fracking," a controversial technique for exploiting natural gas reserves ?
Answer: President Barrack Obama 
While granting tax credits and loans to green companies, the president has also expanded oil and natural gas drilling in an effort  to reduce America's dependence on foreign oil. Obama has implemented a policy of all of the above, signifying support for both fossil fuels and alternative energy technologies.

Which candidate aims to expire the tax breaks for Wind Energy Producers by the end of the Year.

Answer: Mitt Romney

Governor Romney stated this in a conversation about new energy policy, 'You can't drive a car with a windmill on it.'... I don't know if he's actually tried that. I know he's had other things on his car.Meanwhile Iowa was one of the states that benefited the most from President Obama's support for wind power. The American Wind Energy Association claims hat 37,000 jobs will be lost in Iowa and elsewhere if the tax credit isn't extended this year

Another issue affecting their “stance on going Green” is the estimated $52 billion a year in federal subsidies for America's oil companies. President Obama plans to end them, whereas Romney supports granting these corporate tax breaks in perpetuity.(See Above Answered Question Romney aims to end tax breaks for Wind Energy)
Mitt Romney’s affection for the oil companies may stem in part from their graciously funding his campaign. Rolling Stone has reported that by the end of August, the oil and gas industry had already given more than $36 million to candidates and their PACs -- nearly 90 percent of it to Republicans. In just one fundraising event in Texas, sponsored by ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson, oil company executives pledged $7 million to the Romney’s campaign. This is actually quite small in comparison to the $400 million that the billionaire oil magnates David and Charles Koch donated to Romney.

Although Romney is clearly the first choice for America's fossil fuel industry, we must state that Big Oil and Gas have thrived under President Obama, even though he has not given them free reign, as other candidates plan to do.  
In our Opinion neither candidate is proposing policies, which will seriously challenge the continued dominance of fossil fuels in the years ahead. Which can be arguably be "good news" for the American economy in the short run, however the impact on our planet and in the long run is uncertain and up for discussion for another blog. 

 We will say its is quite clear on who supports Oil companies and who is being supported by oil companies. But we don’t was miss green, we mean miss lead you in the right direction.

Top 10 reasons to use green cleaning supplies



10. Save your cloths: Strong and corrosive cleaning supplies can ruin cloth and towels. Bleach can leave spots on cloths and towels. 


9. Support green cleaning: When you choose to use green cleaning supplies, you will be supporting companies that are more eco friendly.


8. Save Money: Green cleaning supplies are concentrated; this means they clean more with less, last longer and save you money.


7. Cleaner home: Common cleaning supplies can leave residue, which will attract more dirt. Do the job right the first time with green cleaning supplies


6. No flumes: Harmful chemical can cause fumes, which are very dangerous, and can seriously affect people with asthma.


5.  Less Worry: There is plenty you have to deal with in your life, with green cleaning supplies you will have one less thing. Many commercial cleaning supplies are Hazardous. Use Green cleaning supplies in your home with fewer concerts on where and when you use them.


4. Smaller footprint: We should all try to lower our harmful effect on the planet. The cleaning supplies we use are an area where we can improve our impact. On average the American household produces more than 20 pounds of hazardous waste each year.


3. Home air pollution: We spend most of our time in doors. Common cleaners can cause harmful air pollution.


2. Safe home: Most poisonings happen in the home. Green cleaning supplies will rid your home of many poisons.


1. Your family will be safe: Provide a save environment for your kids, pets, and visitors.

Sunday, October 28, 2012

In Summary and What is to Come

My Green Planet is a small company started by six college students for the purpose of helping people and saving the environment.  We have discussed the negative consequences of using non-green cleaning products for both your own health and the the planets. We have provided our readers with tools to make their own green cleaning products and shown off examples of great green practices in the community.  We hope that everyone has found this information insightful, inspiring and empowering to make green decisions while staying clean. This being said My Green Planet will soon be taking our efforts one step further to make it easier for our readers to make a difference.

We have begun construction on our official website that will offer a wide selection of green cleaning products sold both in bundles and individually. We are designing each bundle to cover different areas of the household and we hope that our efforts to bring forth this information along side our soon to be price friendly service, will make it even easier for everyone to make a green switch.

Once the site is completed we will post a direct link from our blog and also discuss our product selections and make recommendations on each bundles use. We thank our readers for their time and welcome any feedback that you would like to share with us. Please email us at mktg455csuf@gmail.com to share your opinions.    

Monday, October 22, 2012

A Chemical Not to Go Bananas For

In a previous post we talked about some dangerous chemicals that are found in cleaning products. However, there was one chemical that we did not discuss and I think that it deserves our attention. The chemical is called Alkylphenolic ethoxylates. The main application of APEs is that they are used in detergents. 

APEs are synthetic surfactants. What a surfactant does is help dissolve matter (dirt, blood, ect.) that would not easily be dissolved by water. However,  APEs are very hazardous to human health. The World Health Organization and the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have recognized APEs as carcinogens. In addition to causing cancer, APEs are believed to mimic hormones in your body and cause disruptions in your endocrine (the system responsible for regulation of your hormones) system. Some examples of the health effects that result from exposure to APEs are that it disrupts  your immune system and can cause breast cancer cells to grow more rapidly

In addition to human health effects, APEs causes harm to the environment. When APEs are introduced into a water supply, it can cause disruptions to the wildlife that dwell there. For example, APEs have been shown to cause harm to many salmon populations in the wild. When a salmon comes in contact with this chemical it can cause reproduction damage and feminization or hermaphrodation. Since this chemical can mimic estrogen, it can cause male salmon to become female salmon or develop female sex organs in addition to their male ones.

As you can see this chemical can cause harm to our bodies and to the environment. That is why you must check that the product you use does not contain APEs. At Planet Green Clean, we make sure that all products we sell do not have this chemical because we care about our customers' health and the well being of the environment.

Sources: http://www.healthychild.org/issues/chemical-pop/alkylphenols_and_alkylphenol_ethoxylates/

Monday, October 15, 2012

On a budget


Green cleaning supplies are the future of cleaning product industry. As we know this trend has been taken on by many large corporations in efforts to fulfill needs demand of green products. At My Planet Green Clean we provide consumers with links on where to buy green cleaning products, but we also would like to show you other ways of obtaining green cleaning products by making your own. As we know times can be tough and people can be on a budget we still would like to make sure people are keeping their houses clean the green way. Below is a video on how to make some green cleaning products.