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Here is a list of 10 items, or categories, that need to be cleaned regularly and are often neglected:

1. Those wonderful green, reusable shopping bags which, if we do not wash them every other month or so, can be teeming with bacteria. I throw mine in the washer on gentle with some detergent and hang dry.
2. The steering wheel, door handles, shifter and wiper and directional controls in our cars are things that get used almost every day and can get unbelievably grimy.
3. Our keys, talk about something we use every day that we often don't wash, can be easily washed in soap and water. I always remove my remote-key-fob before washing so I don't ruin it. I wipe that down with a lightly vinegared rag.
4. Our purses, briefcases and tote bags need to be regularly cleaned because more often than not they wind up on the floor or ground. We would not want to see the swab from one of these puppies under a microscope. Follow the recommended cleaning instructions--leather cleaner for leather etc.-- and do this fairly often. This goes double for kid backpacks!
5. Our vacuum cleaner and its attachments, yup that's right, get dirty beyond dirty. I wash the brushes and tools on mine about once every other month. The vacuum body itself should be wiped down as well.
6. Switch plates and doorknobs need regular wiping down for obvious reasons, we sneeze, we eat, we work in the garden, need I go on? I use a rag with diluted vinegar on mine.
7. Dog and Cat toys and beds should be cleaned regularly to help insure our pet's health. Pets need clean living and sleeping areas just as much as we do. My dog sleeps on white sheets--easier for me to spot fleas and ticks--that get washed once a week. Our pets have a much better sense of smell than we do and they do not like to be dirty. I always wash my pet's bedding and toys in fragrance-free detergent.
8. Toaster oven shelves and crumb trays, microwave ceiling, walls and trays and ye olde toaster should all be cleaned regularly according to manufacturer suggestions. They can be a wonderland of rotting, yeasty detritus. Reusing a soiled toaster oven shelf is like taking out a dirty dish and serving food on it, mine gets rinsed every time I use it.
9. Laundry baskets should be washed inside and out in order to keep them sanitary. Dirty clothes leave an invisible residue on the sides of baskets and then we dump warm clean clothes in. I wash both my plastic and natural wood and reed baskets outside in the yard with a hose and mild detergent, I then dry them in the sun.
10. And last but not least, computer keys and mouse should be cleaned often according to manufacturer suggestions.
11. OK I fibbed, here is one more: sink sponges should be tossed in a dishwasher basket and washed every time we do a load of dishes. This keeps them fresh as a daisy.

According to a study, Public perceptions of energy consumption and savings, some Americans do not have a clear idea about how to make a real difference in their energy consumption.

Twenty percent of the people polled voted for measures like turning off lights and unplugging phone chargers, instead of buying more energy-efficient vehicles and upgrading to Energy Star rated appliances.

Participants in the survey didn't know that things like washing clothing in cold water and switching from central air conditioning to in-room air conditioners can make a huge difference. They also didn't realize that, while recycling is crucial for conserving precious resources, it is not energy saving.

Micromanaging our carbon footprint with small things is by no means useless, but it must be accompanied by larger, more sweeping moves such as auditing and upgrading larger items and making wise lifestyle choices. Ideally, conservation and efficiency should go hand in hand.

We here at Super Eco agree with Guardian Environment Network  when they say that "this is the sexiest topic in the world!" and agree with their suggestion that the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy is a great resource.

(Photo credit:ms.lume on flickr)

On the fringes of what was once touted as the "Paris of the West," "Motor City" and "Motown," Detroit's outlying areas have long suffered from profound vacancy issues.  Contrasted with the city's burgeoning downtown renaissance, this vast patchwork of abandoned parking lots--approximately the size of the entire city of San Francisco--has consistently evaded redemption.

According to our friends at Change.org.'s Sustainable food blog, some 33,000 abandoned lots are now being primed to form a beautiful chain of new urban farms. Not-for-profit groups, such as Earthworks Urban Farm and Urban Farming, seek to un-pave and recreate these eyesores into a viable, sustainable farming model.

This growing trend of urban farming has the power to transform and reprocess our urban nightmares into really sweet green dreams. The emergence of city farmers along with homegrown efforts, such as Spin Gardening, and Guerrilla Gardening are the culmination of the reformation begun by the wartime Victory Garden.

Feeding our cities from within is an idea that is sweeping the world like a sustainable green wave, bringing us one step closer to solving some of the world's most pressing hunger issues.

I think Thomas Kuhn, the father of the "paradigm shift," would not mind my using his term to celebrate this series of peaceful green vicissitudes punctuated by sustainable green revolts as "one conceptual world view being replaced by another."

(Photo credit:jodelli, creative commons, flickr)

These are some mighty dark days for oil. In the wake of the still unfolding BP disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, news of another massive oil spill in the U.S. is mighty bad news indeed--bad news for residents, bad news for wildlife, bad news for air quality and bad news for Lake Michigan should efforts to control this spill go awry.

According to an article in The Michigan Messenger, a state of emergency has been declared by Gov. Jennifer Granholm in southwest Michigan's Calhoun county, as more than 800,000 gallons of oil accidentally released into Talmadge Creek began making its way downstream into the Kalamazoo River.

The spill, resulting from a leaking pipeline owned by Enbridge Energy of Canada, has caused a massive environmental catastrophe along the Kalamazoo River. The oil slick has traveled more than 16 miles downstream. Hopes were that booms placed in the water just outside Fort Custer State Park near Battle Creek would prevent the slick from progressing any further. Gov. Granholm has criticized the EPA and Enbridge for a "completely inadequate" response to the spill, which has now reached Morrow Lake, stating that only eight of the 20 boom sites promised by the EPA have actually been set up.

As begins the clean up so begins the complicated unraveling of exactly what went wrong here. Congressman Mark Schauer has accused Enbridge Energy officials of not being quick to report and respond to this massive release of crude oil into Talmadge Creek, indicting Enbridge for under-reporting the magnitude of the spill and for not reporting it in a timely manner. There was apparently a lag-time of some three hours between the discovery of the leak and the first official reporting of the event.  As the tooth-pulling of facts begins in Michigan, you can bet that this is going to be a long, painful process for all parties involved, though not as painful as it probably should be or as painful as it already is for affected wildlife, citizenry and the environment.

Catastrophic events such as these, happening worldwide, are like a persistent bell that keeps knelling. The time is ripe for a change from business as usual. Here's hoping that we can muster the strength as a nation and as a world community to plot a better, cleaner course forward.

(Photo credit:kevindooley, creative commons, flickr)

Summertime is here and it's time to get our green in gear.

Typically summer is a time where we waste a great number of resources, like water to fuel our summer fun and energy to keep us cool. We tend to travel more by land and air in summer, which drives our carbon consumption off the charts.

Here are some simple ways to help green our summer:

1. Try a staycation instead of a no-holds-barred, see-the-world vacation. Vacationing closer to home will save energy and can ultimately be more relaxing than a full-on travel adventure. Exploring our local environs can be very rewarding and surprising. We certainly won't miss getting a ripping cold from recirculated air on a plane.
2. Conserve and recycle our gray water for the garden and lawn. This is a wonderful way to green our summer, literally and figuratively. A small bucket in the shower to catch over-spray, a small pan in the sink to catch the mostly clean water we use to wash our summer bounty. These two things alone can make a great overall difference. We can also try diverting our washing machine rinse water onto our gardens and lawns. Water is so precious, we don't have a drop to waste.
3. I know this next one is going to sound like a bummer but we need to get real about separating what our needs are and what are our desires are if we want to make a difference. We humans oftentimes get to feeling that we are entitled to more than our share of comfort. Turning off our air-conditioning and feeling the summer through our windows and doors is what I am talking about. Unless we are elderly or have health issues like asthma or some other serious disease, there is no reason why healthy humans can't put up with a little, or a lot, of heat in summer. In case you are wondering, we installed only one air-conditioning window unit at our house this year, a little oasis of cool for those especially desperate hot days. We use old-fashioned oscillating fans to cool ourselves when needed. The good news is, we have not melted yet.
4. This is an important one: Let our lawns be. Stop trying to kill every weed and bug in sight. Pesticides and herbicides are harming much more than what we intend them to harm. They can ruin our health, environment and wildlife, all for the sake of what? A green lawn that looks like a carpet? Are we crazy? We need to live and let live, in some great measure, all of the cogs in this great wheel.
5. Support local farming by shopping outside the box at your local farmers market or CSA. Becoming a locavore is a great way to keep our dollars working to better our own communities. It also saves on fuel consumption and fosters a great sense of community. Treat yourself this summer to some great local dining out as well.

People all across the country will be joining Hands Across The Sand tomorrow.

Hands Across The Sand is a movement that inspires people everywhere, to transcend their social borders and barriers, to raise one voice to the powers that be. Their mission is to raise awareness in a peaceful way, about the tragedy that big oil is wreaking globally.

Their website instructs that this is not a movement about politics, it is about safeguarding and "protecting our coastal economies, oceans, marine wildlife, and fishing industry." It is an opportunity to, "share our knowledge, energies and passion for protecting all of the above from the devastating effects of oil drilling."

Organizer Dave Rauschkolb believes that "It’s time for leaders to start listening to Americans... The metaphor of joining hands goes far beyond what they are going to be doing on the beaches tomorrow. This is a change of consciousness."

Information about the more than 740 events planned in 510 U.S. cities and 34 countries is available on their website.

The very simple guidelines for this event are:

1. Go to the beach at 11 AM in your time zone for one hour, rain or shine.
2. Join hands for 15 minutes at 12:00 forming lines in the sand against oil drilling in our coastal waters.
3. Leave only your footprints.

A website called, How Can I Recycle This, asks the question: "How do I recycle 1000 mugs?" Super Eco has some suggestions.

Well, here goes:

1. Drill a hole in the bottom of each mug and fill it with potting soil. Plant a seed, water it well and then donate to a local school for students to nurture as a class project.
2. Buy packets of Tea or Hot Chocolate and pop one in each cup. Donate to a local Woman's shelter.
3. Donate them to Animal Shelters where they may be used to scoop up chow at feeding time.
4. Donate them to a local Art school where they can be upcycled into art.
5. Hand them out on a street corner with eco-quotes or quotes on compassion inside as a kind of Art Happening.
6. Take them to the next local event or community clean up day and give them out as thank-you-for-attending favors. 
7. Donate them to a local Visiting Nurse or charity fundraiser to be sold.
8. Use them to store leftovers in the fridge, buy neat little reusable shower-caps for the top. Make pudding in them!
9. Fill them with good will and distribute at random to co-workers. Who can't use another mug?
10. Sink them up-side-down part way into the ground around a flower bed to make a festive border.

"The time is now for us to go beyond simply being less bad and to lead the world in the invention and innovation of more good with Cradle to Cradle products and a prosperous Cradle to Cradle economy. Together, we will inspire and transform the world."  Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger

Cradle to Cradle (C2C) announces the launch of their Green Products Innovation Institute. The Green Products Innovation Institute (GPII) is a brand new spin-off non-profit created to "bring about a large scale transformation in the way we make the things we make." Our friends at Treehugger credit the C2C model as being "a blueprint for redesigning products and ingredients to become nutrients, enabling old products to become the raw material for new goods and services."

Founded on Cradle to Cradle principles developed by William McDonough and Dr. Michael Braungart, the GPII will work towards establishing transparency in the chemical industry. Transparency and disclosure are the only way forward if we want to ensure a safer environment, population and future for our planet.

It is only fitting that the launch for GPII was held in California where in 2008, with the signing of a bill, Governor Schwarzenegger established the first green chemistry program in the United States. This signing made California a leader in green chemistry initiatives.

An article in the New York Times states that" The group will attach cradle-to-cradle certification to products that pass its litmus test and work to have its seal stamped on products, in much the same way LEED standards have become widely adopted as a recognizable label."

Ever wondered what a city that commutes by bicycle would look like?There's no better cure for hump day apathy than this vision of commuters in The Netherlands headed to work on their trusty bicycles. Rush hour in Utrecht (the country's fourth largest city) looks very different than most large cities—but if they can do it, so can we ... I think I can, I think I can, I think I can ...

First, a few links on bicycle commuting to inspire you:

• Google Maps now suggests bicycle routes
• No-sweat bicycle commuting
• Tune up your bike for a season of warm-weather riding
• Biking in Amsterdam: Policy makes perfect
• Five ways your city can be more bike-friendly
• Large riders: Super-size your bike
• 5 ways to use your bike to carry stuff

(Photo credit:kamshots, flickr)

Kurt Hoelting's The Circumference of Home is less remarkable as a memoir of the author's radically car-free year than it is as perspective on his return to "civilization." A conversation with Hoelting as his book hits the shelves reveals that his take-away may be more practical and far less radical than a year of limiting his movement to a 60-mile radius by bicycle, kayak and foot.

"I am using my car again, but a lot less than I did before," he admits. "I certainly better understand the transportation alternatives, and a much greater willingness to use them. I travel now by bicycle or public transportation whenever it is a reasonable alternative, and my definition of what constitutes a 'reasonable alternative' is much enlarged.

"It is difficult to make use of alternatives when you don't know they are there, and especially if you are not open to them to begin with."

The commercial fisherman, wilderness guide and meditation teacher has once again resumed travel outside his immediate home region. "I drive a Prius, so using the most efficient technology available also plays into the fomula in an important way," he notes. "And when I do use a car, I carpool as much as possible."

"... Apart from a family emergency, I have maintained my commitment to not flying on jets, which are the biggest source of personal carbon emissions for people who travel a lot, dwarfing the emissions from the use of our cars," he continues. "A single flight to Europe from Seattle, for example, is responsible for roughly the equivalent emissions (per passenger) or driving an SUV for six months, or a hybrid car for a full year. When I travel to Alaska now for my summer guiding season with Inside Passages, I take the ferry from Bellingham both ways rather than flying. When I travel east, I take the train and use the time for work en route. It is not a trip I can realistically take very often, so I don't travel outside the region as much as before, and I try to cluster my engagements when I do."

Ultimately, Hoelting reports the changes to his travel patterns were much easier than he had anticipated. The real benefit, he adds, is an increased sense of engagement and belonging within his own home region—"an extraordinary opportunity to wake up to the richness of what is right on the ground beneath our feet."