*photo courtesy of Pbroks13

A simple solution for this cleaning problem can be found by just using lemon slices. Take a few slices of a fresh lemon and place them in a microwave safe bowl with some water then microwave for 30 seconds to one minute. This little trick will not only freshen up your microwave and neutralize any of the food odors that have been collecting there but it will also loosen up any of the stuck on food and stains making them a snap to clean up with little effort.

2. Need to Unclog a Drain?  Drain Cleaners are one of the strongest and most dangerous chemicals that we often use in our homes. Not only can drain cleaners pose a threat to us in our homes but once they go down they drain they end up affecting water supplies and the ecosystem in a variety of ways often miles from where they were originally used. There is; however, a safer and more natural way to work on those clogged drains that will also save you a couple of bucks.

Just pour hot lemon juice along with some baking soda down the drain to help loosen those clogs, clear the drain, and kill odors.

3. Have a Stinky Garbage Disposal?  With all of the food and kitchen waste that your garbage disposal tackles you may find that the odor coming from your kitchen sink smells anything but clean. Just as the drains need a little extra attention from time to time, so to does the garbage disposal. For a quick and easy way to clean the garbage disposal, simply toss the lemon peels from your other cleaning tasks in the disposal to help keep it clean and fresh.

4. Need to Take Care of Scratches in Wood and Polish Your Furniture?  No need to waste money on furniture polish or spend the time with costly specialized scratch removers as part of your cleaning regimen. When it comes to polishing furniture and taking care of the wood around your house a simple mixture of lemon juice and olive oil will do the trick. It will give you a great shine, and that “lemony fresh” scent that brightens and freshens your entire home.

5. Get Rid of Sticky Gum, Crayons, and Scuff Marks:  Any parent has, at one time or another, experienced these special cleaning challenges with accidental gum in the carpet or your child’s creative expressions sprawled in crayon along the wall. There is a simple cleaning trick using, believe it or not, a bath oil from Avon called Skin So Soft. Just use a small bit of the oil and let is sit on the gum to clean it out of carpets, hair, etc. You can also use Skin So Soft to clean crayons off of most painted services and to get those unsightly scuff marks off of your floors.

6.Keep Ants Away:  Additionally you can also use this handy bath oil to keep away ants by dabbing it along window seals and door jams or one of many other uses for Skin So Soft that make it a great hack itself. Spraying a bit of lemon juice around problem areas is another simple and safe alternative to pesticides as well.

7. Bleach Alternatives for Removing Stains:  The next time you have a stain on your white fabrics, do not be to hasty to reach for the bleach or a costly stain remover. Instead, try applying a little lemon juice or white vinegar to the stain and let is soak for a bit before tossing it in the laundry for an inexpensive and safe alternative to bleach and stain removers.

8. Carpet Stains:  White vinegar can also be used to help remove dark stains from carpets and other surfaces such as red wine or grape juice stains. Blot up all of the excess liquid after a spill and then apply some of the white vinegar to the stained area. After allowing it to soak into the stain for a few minutes, rinse and clean the area to remove the stain and save the few bucks you would have spent on specialized carpet cleaner.

With regular use wooden cutting boards can store food odors and tiny particles of food become trapped on the cutting board. A very simple solution is to, once again, pull out the lemons. Run some lemon juice over the cutting board after a normal cleaning and allow it to soak over night, then rinse clean in the morning. The acid in the lemon juice can help get rid of some of those left over bacteria causing bits and freshens up your work space.

*Photo courtesy of Donovan Govan

9. Need to Keep Your Cutting Board Clean and Fresh?  With regular use wooden cutting boards can store food odors and tiny particles of food become trapped on the cutting board. A very simple solution is to, once again, pull out the lemons. Run some lemon juice over the cutting board after a normal cleaning and allow it to soak over night, then rinse clean in the morning. The acid in the lemon juice can help get rid of some of those left over bacteria causing bits and freshens up your work space.

10. Get Rid of Hard Water Stains:  Fighting hard water stains can be a breeze using, you guess it…fresh lemons. So there is no need to buy a bathroom cleanser for your showers and sinks, just spray some lemon juice on those trouble areas and let it do its magic then clean as normal.

11. Need an Easy Way to Get Tough Pots and Pans Clean?  Lemons can be used for just about every cleaning problem that you have, especially in the kitchen, and they make a great scrub for your dirty pots and pans. Instead of using brillo pads, put a little baking soda on a lemon after you have cut it in half and then use it as a scrub. It is a very simple way to clean and the lemon juice will help to cut grease, fight odors, and along with the baking soda will loosen stubborn food. Simply rinse clean afterwards.

12. How About a Free (Or Virtually Free) Rust Remover?  Cleaning rust can be one of those chores that seem hopeless and can be a real problem when you have rusted bolts you need to loosen or other such problems; however, you do not need to buy a rust remover because you probably already have exactly what you need sitting in your kitchen- salt and a little lime juice. Sprinkle some salt on the rusted area and then squirt a little of the lime juice over the salt, being careful not to wash the salt away. Let the mixture sit for several hours and you can then scrub away the rust easily with a brush.

13. A Simple and Safe Way to Disinfect Your Home:  Trying to keep your home germ free does not have to mean that you spend all of your time cleaning. Add a teaspoon of natural tea tree oil per gallon of water and use a spray bottle to disinfect around your home. The solution is also great for cleaning windows and floors or any area that you need to kill germs. This works great for getting rid of mildew as well.

14. Clean Your Coffee Pot:  Coffee pot looking a little worse for the wear? Just fill it up with a cup of vinegar added to the pot of hot water then run it through its normal cycle as if you were making coffee. Afterwards run a couple of cycles of plain water to have your coffee pot looking brand new.

15. The Best Cleaning Tip!  Last but not least, the best time saver (and money saver) when it comes to cleaning around your home is…..clean it right away! Ok, this might sound like a no brainer, but the truth is we tend to be a generation of procrastinators and when it comes to cleaning that can end up costing us both time and money. Most spills, stains, tears, etc. do not become a problem until they have been left to settle, dry, etc. and then it takes more time, and often more supplies, to get the job done. Alternatively, if we simply take care of a potential problem the second it happens (wipe up a mess while it is still wet, soak the blouse as soon as the stain occurs, etc.) we will end up saving ourselves a lot of time and hassle that tends to make cleaning such a chore in the first place.

About 85 million tons of paper are used in the U.S. each year, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. More than 2 billion books are published, along with 350 million magazines and 24 billion newspapers. The amount of paper and wood products the average American uses each year is equal to one 100-foot Douglas fir tree. Over 30 percent of the municipal solid waste stream (MSW) is made up of paper and paperboard products, making it the largest source of waste in the country.

But, the good news is that paper accounts for more than a third of all recycling done, by weight, in the United States. Nearly 44 million tons of paper and paperboard were recovered in 2006, according to the EPA, and 33 percent of the materials used to make everything from hospital gowns, to coffee filters, to egg cartons are now from recycled sources. And that is having a positive effect on the environment. Recycling just one ton of paper can reduce greenhouse gases by one metric ton, save 3.3 cubic yards of landfill space, save 7,000 gallons of water, and save enough energy to power an average-sized home for six months.

With all of this in mind, I searched the internet and found five websites that can help anyone reduce their paper footprint with a minimum of fuss. And, while you’re at it, you might just put a few extra bucks in your pocket!

Earth911.com

If you’re like me, and your city currently doesn’t have curbside recycling, the first step in your effort to reduce your paper footprint might be to find a nearby recycling center. Founded in 1991 as a recycling hotline, Earth911 has grown over the years into the web’s go-to-guide for all things recycling. According to the site, their database has over 100,000 recycling locations across the country provided by local governments, industry insiders, organizations, and everyday consumers. The site also has environmental news articles, feature articles, and a searchable database of nationwide recycling events.

Earth911 is easy to use. Just type in your zip code and what it is you want to recycle and the site provides a list of recycling centers in your area. Each listing has a handy chart of exactly what materials the site accepts and whether you can drop them off or have them picked up. Special instructions are also listed. Many sites, for example, ask that you put shredded paper into a plastic bag before dropping it off.

For those wanting to increase their green savvy on the go, Earth911 also now has an iPhone application. iRecycle lets users look up listings, news, articles, and events from their cell phones. It even gives directions and hours of operation. So now, you can find a place to drop off your old cell phone… on your cell phone!

If you want to put an end to all of those pesky mail-order catalogs you get in the mail for stores you don’t even remember visiting, Catalog Choice can help! A non profit corporation based in Berkeley, California, Catalog Choice is a free mail preference service that seeks to reduce the number of unwanted catalog mailings. The Green Certified site also promotes the adoption of sustainable industry practices and has collaborated with The Ecology Center, the National Wildlife Federation, and the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Signing up is quick and easy and, in no time at all, you can browse the site’s database of over 1,000 retailers. Once you find a catalog you want to stop receiving, all you have to do is fill out a form with your name and address, the customer number and source number (if available), and your reason for opting-out. Once the form is submitted, Catalog Choice sends the request to the retailer and then tracks it’s status on the website. If the retailer responds, the site will update you through the Dashboard or by sending you an email. If they don’t respond, the site provides you with the retailer’s customer service phone number so you can contact them personally. Also, if the retailer doesn’t accept requests directly from Catalog Choice, the site provides you with an email template you can use to send the request yourself.

Within minutes of sending my first opt-out email, I got a response informing me that the retailer in question (Eddie Bauer) had received, and was processing, my request. Ten minutes later, another retailer responded and said they were removing me from their mailing list. A good sign! Catalog Choice warns, however, that it can take at least 12 weeks to process a request. Still, thanks to them, I was able to opt-out of half a dozen catalog mailing lists in less than a hour.

Cash4Books.net

You can make a few bucks and get rid of that overflowing library of books at the same time through Cash4Books, an online used book buying service.

How it works: Enter the ISBNs of all the books you wish to sell. The website will tell you whether or not it accepts the books and what they are worth. Next, print out a shipping label from your computer, box up the books, and ship them out. Once Cash4Books receives your shipment, it will send payment. The shipping is free and payment options include either a check or Paypal. There’s a handy little tutorial video you can watch to learn how the site works as well.

Cash4Books buys a variety of books, but there’s also a variety of books that they don’t buy. Advanced reading copies, teacher’s manuals, ex-library books, and Reader’s Digest books are just a few examples of what the site doesn’t accept. They also don’t accept most books published before 2006 or audiobooks on cassette tape. According to the website, what books are bought can change day by day, or week by week, based on resale values, their current inventory, buyer demand, and other factors. They also have to be in a certain condition. Worn out bindings, page and cover tears, cigarette odor, and writing are all reasons why a book might not be accepted. Any unaccepted books can be shipped back to the seller at the seller’s expense, or they can be donated or recycled by the website.

While Cash4Books is a little picky about what it’ll buy, it’s still a fairly effortless way to reduce the amount of old books in your home and make some pocket change in the process. Plus, it gives a portion of its profits to fund classroom projects on DonorsChoose.org, so you’ll be helping more than just your wallet and the environment!

BookCrossing.com

BookCrossing.com is a free online book club that allows you to share books with people from all over the world. Like catching and releasing an animal back into the wild, you can “tag” your book and track its progress as it travels from person to person.

After creating a free account on the website, you can register a book you want to “release into the wild” and will be given a BCID, or Book Crossing ID. Write the BCID in ink on the inside cover. You’re also encouraged to add Book Crossing’s info, stickers or notes to make the book more noticable. Then, pick a spot to release the book, such as a coffee shop, park bench, doctor’s office, bus stop, gym, etc. If you’re lucky, your book will be picked up by someone who will then go to the Book Crossing website and leave a journal entry about your book!

Of course, there’s no guarantee that a book you send out into the world will ever be “caught” and journaled about on the website, but sending your favorite novel off on a little adventure to hopefully find a new home, and catching your own books in return, can be a fun and creative way to reduce, reuse, and recycle.

If you can’t remember the last time you turned to a copy of the Yellow Pages to look up a phone number, you might want to give YellowPagesGoesGreen.org a try. Comparing itself to the National No-Call Registry, the website aims to reduce the number of usolicited Yellow and White Pages books that are delivered every year. According to the site, over 500 million directories are produced a year and generate enormous amounts of waste. It takes 1.6 billion pounds of paper and 7.2 million barrels of oil to print that many books, which then take up around 268,000 cubic yards of landfill space when they are thrown out.

Photo by Taylor Marie Photography (Flickr)

It’s that time of year again. The kids are back in school, the weather is getting colder, and office workers everywhere are lining up for their company flu shots. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 200,000 Americans each year are hospitalized and 36,000 die from seasonal flu complications. With the additional threat of the H1N1 virus, this season could be worse than ever. While the CDC recommends a yearly flu vaccine as the first and most important step in protecting against influenza (locate a flu clinic near you), there are also other steps you can take to naturally boost your odds of surviving what could be a long and severe cold and flu season.

1. Wash Your Hands Frequently

You’ve probably heard it many times but it bears repeating – washing your hands is often the simplest, best defense against germs. Wash up before preparing food, before and after tending to a sick child or spouse, after blowing your nose, coughing or sneezing, and after using the bathroom. Use soap and clean running water and scrub for at least 20 seconds. Having trouble guessing how long 20 seconds is? Trying humming “Happy Birthday” twice, but do it quietly unless you want to get strange looks in public restrooms!

Antibacterial soaps are popular these days. However, according to the Mayo Clinic, they are no more effective at killing germs than regular soap and might even lead to the growth of resistant bacteria, making it even harder to kill those germs in the future.

When soap and water aren’t available, an alcohol-based hand sanitizer will do in a pinch. Antibacterial wipes or towelettes can be effective as well, but are not as good as alcohol-based sanitizers. Make sure to buy a sanitizer that contains at least 60 percent alcohol and stash it at your desk at work, in a purse, or in your gym bag. Use half a teaspoon’s worth and make sure it dries completely.

2. Exercise Regularly

Studies show that moderate exercise can help boost your immune system by causing white blood cells to travel more quickly through your body and fight off infections and viruses. People who are regularly active also have reduced rates of upper respiratory tract infection and, if they do get sick, tend to have less severe symptoms and recover more quickly than people who aren’t as fit. A brisk 45 minute walk five times a week can help reduce your risk of illness, however, too much exercise has the opposite effect and can actually stress your immune system and increase your risk.

If you already have the flu, though, it’s best to postpone your regular exercise regimen, let your body rest, and let it recover. Your immune system works best when it’s not overworked or stressed out.

3. Eat Immunity-Boosting Foods

Did you know that raw garlic has antiviral and antibacterial properties? Garlic contains allicin, a sulfur compound with a strong antibiotic effect that can be released by chopping or crushing the clove. Integrative medicine expert Dr. Andrew Weil recommends eating two cloves of raw garlic when you start to feel cold symptoms. If the thought of swallowing whole garlic doesn’t appeal to you, though, you can try chopping it very fine and mixing it into food. Here is a recipe for a garlicky soup, courtesy of Heather’s Natural Health, that is easy to make and sure to soothe that sore throat.

Heather’s Healing Soup

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup chopped carrots
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup onions
4 cups water
1 whole head of garlic (cloves peeled & coarsely chopped)
1 rotisserie chicken (already cooked to save time)
6 cups chicken broth
2 cups quinoa (rinse before you add it)
1/2 cup chopped flat parsley
1/2 teaspoon fresh black pepper
1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Directions:
In a large pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the carrots, celery, onions, and garlic. Saute for four minutes.

Stir in the water and chicken broth and bring it to a boil.

Toss in the chopped chicken and rinsed quinoa, parsley, salt and pepper. Cover the pan, reduce heat to low, and cook for 20 minutes.

For an even easier, thermos-ready version, just saute the garlic in the olive oil, add the broth and heat until warm. Then, strain out the garlic and drink the broth.

4. Get Lots of Sleep

Getting regular shuteye can lower stress hormones and improve immune system function. Too little sleep can not only increase your odds of getting sick, it has also been linked to a number of chronic health conditions as well, such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, obesity, and depression. The amount of sleep a person needs varies but, according to the Mayo Clinic, adults generally need seven to eight hours of sleep a night, while children need between nine and ten.

If you have trouble sleeping, try going to bed the same time each night and waking up at the same time each morning. Use your bedroom only for sleep and sex, not for activities like reading, watching television, or listening to music. Distracting electronics like TVs and computers should be removed from the bedroom. Also, try to avoid physical activity and large meals a few hours before you hit the sack.

5. Reduce Stress

Studies have shown that chronic, long-term stress can suppress a person’s immune system. To combat it, try keeping a journal. Write down what caused the stress, how you felt both physically and emotionally, how you reacted, and what you did to feel better. By keeping track of what makes you frazzled, you might begin to see patterns or common themes emerge.

Yoga is also a popular tool for stress management and relaxation that nearly anyone can learn. Students are taught a series of poses – many named for the mammals, fish, or reptiles they resemble – along with controlled breathing and meditation. Many poses can be modified to make them easier or more challenging, or to work around a particular injury or condition. Classes are offered in many health clubs, gyms, and recreation centers. To find one near you, try YogaFinder.com.

A Couple of Extra Tips

• Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth.
• Don’t use your hands when you cough or sneeze. Use a tissue instead and throw it in the trash after you use it.
• Get some fresh air. Indoor heating systems can dry out your mucous membranes, making you more susceptible to viruses.
• Cut back on alcohol. It dehydrates the body and impairs liver and immune function.