Improving Your Indoor Air Quality

We tend to think of air pollution as something outside -- smog, ozone, or haze hanging in the air, especially in summer. But the truth is, the air inside homes, offices, and other buildings can be more polluted than the air outside. The air inside your home may be polluted by lead (in house dust), formaldehyde, fire-retardants, radon, even volatile chemicals from fragrances used in conventional cleaners. Some pollutants are tracked into the home. Some arrive via a new mattress or furniture, carpet cleaners, or a coat of paint on the walls.

In that mix, you'll also find microscopic dust mites -- a major allergen --plus mold and heaps of pet dander, even if you don't have pets! It's become what we call a community allergen. Pet owners carry it around on their clothes and shed it throughout the day.

Children, people with asthma, and the elderly may be especially sensitive to indoor pollutants, but other effects on health may appear years later, after repeated exposure.

Indoor allergens and irritants have become much more important in recent decades because we're spending more time indoors. And because modern homes are airtight, these irritants can't easily escape.

5 Simple Steps to Improve Indoor Air Quality

1. Keep your floors fresh.
• Suck it up. Chemicals and allergens can accumulate in household dust for decades. By using a vacuum with a HEPA filter you can reduce concentrations of lead in your home. You can also get rid of other toxins, like brominated fire-retardant chemicals (PBDEs) as well as allergens like pollen, pet dander, and dust mites. Using a vacuum cleaner that has strong suction, rotating brushes, and a HEPA filter ensures that dust and dirt won’t get blown back out in the exhaust. In high traffic areas, vacuum the same spot several times. Don't forget walls, carpet edges, and upholstered furniture, where dust accumulates. For best results, vacuum two or more times each week and wash out your filter regularly.
• Mop it up. Mopping picks up the dust that vacuuming leaves behind. You can skip the soaps and cleaners and just use plain water to capture any lingering dust or allergens. New microfiber mops (and dust cloths) reportedly capture more dust and dirt than traditional fibers and don’t require any cleaning solutions whatsoever.
• Keep it out. Put a large floor mat at every door.People track in all sorts of chemicals via the dirt on their shoes. A door mat reduces the amount of dirt, pesticides, and other pollutants from getting into your home. If the mat is big enough, even those who don't wipe their shoes will leave most pollutants on the mat -- not the floors in your home.

If you live in a home built before 1978, there's a good chance that lead paint still exists on your walls. But even in a newer home, you may face lead exposure -- from lead dust tracked in from outside. Lead dust can raise the risk of exposure for young children -- a serious problem that can damage the brain, central nervous system, and kidneys. Pesticides are also linked with brain damage in young children. Kids are vulnerable to higher exposures because they tend to get dust on their fingers and then put their fingers in their mouths.
To best protect your family, ask people to remove their shoes when entering your home. Keep house shoes, slippers, and socks near the door.

2. Keep a healthy level of humidity. Dust mites and mold love moisture. Keeping humidity around 30%-50% helps keep them and other allergens under control. A dehumidifier (and air conditioner during summer months) helps reduce moisture in indoor air and effectively controls allergens, Lang says. An air conditioner also reduces indoor pollen count -- another plus for allergy-sufferers.

More tips for dehumidifying your home:
• Use an exhaust fan or crack open a window when cooking, running the dishwasher, or bathing.
• Don't overwater houseplants.
• Vent the clothes dryer to the outside.
• Fix leaky plumbing to prevent moisture-loving mold.
• Empty drip pans in your window air conditioner and dehumidifier.

3. Make your home a no-smoking zone

Cigarette smoke contains more than 4,000 chemicals. Research shows that secondhand smoke increases a child's risk of developing ear and respiratory infections, asthma, cancer, and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). For the smoker, this addiction causes cancer, breathing problems, heart attacks, and stroke.

If you want to stop smoking, support groups, nicotine-replacement therapy, and other medications can help. Find a method that works for you, get some support (friends, family, fellow quitters, counseling), and think positive. Focus on your reasons for quitting -- not on your cravings.

4. Test for radon. Whether you have a new or old home, you could have a radon problem. This colorless, odorless gas significantly raises the risk of lung cancer. Radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer in the U.S. today. If you smoke and your home has high radon levels, your risk of lung cancer is especially high.

Radon is a radioactive gas. It comes from the natural decay of uranium found in nearly all soils. It typically moves up through the ground and into your home through cracks and holes in the foundation. Drafty homes, airtight homes, homes with or without a basement -- any home can potentially have a radon problem.

Granite countertops have also been linked to radon. While experts agree that most granite countertops emit some radon, the question is whether they do so at levels that can cause cancer. Testing is easy, inexpensive, and takes only a few minutes. If you discover a radon problem, there are simple ways to reduce levels of the gas that are not too costly. Even high radon levels can be reduced to acceptable levels. The Environmental Protection Agency offers a "Consumer’s Guide to Radon Reduction."

5. Smell good naturally.

You may associate that lemony or piney scent with a clean kitchen or clean clothes.But synthetic fragrances in laundry products and air fresheners emit dozens of different chemicals into the air. You won’t find their names on the product labels. Conventional laundry detergents, fabric softeners, dryer sheets, and air fresheners in solid, spray, and oil form may all emit such gasses. In one study, a plug-in air freshener was found to emit 20 different volatile organic compounds (VOCs), including seven regulated as toxic or hazardous under U.S. federal laws. But these chemicals were not included on the label -- only the word "fragrance" is required to be listed. But the actual composition of the fragrance is considered a "trade secret."

Most fragrances are derived from petroleum products, and generally haven’t been tested to see if they have any significant adverse health effects in humans when they are inhaled. (Tests usually focus on whether a fragrance causes skin irritation.) Some that have been tested raise concern. Phthalates are a group of chemicals often used in fragrances and also used to soften plastics. Studies show that phthalates disrupt hormones in animals.What can you do?

• Look for fragrance-free or naturally-scented laundry products.
• Switch to mild cleaners that don't include artificial fragrances.
• Stop using aerosol sprays -- deodorants, hair sprays, carpet cleaners, furniture polish, and air fresheners.
• Let in fresh air. Open windows so toxic chemicals don't build up in your home. What if you or your child has pollen allergies? Then keep rooms ventilated with a filtered air- conditioning system.
• Use sliced lemons and baking soda to get a clean scent in the kitchen.
• Bring nature indoors. Any room is prettier with a fern, spider plant, or aloe vera. It’s also healthier. NASA research shows that indoor plants like these act as living air purifiers -- the foliage and roots work in tandem to absorb chemical pollutants released by synthetic materials. If you have kids or pets, make sure the plants aren’t poisonous if ingested.

Improving your indoor air quality is one of the first steps to ensuring your family's health is put in first place. What better way to show you care than to grab a kit of Green Cleaner's Products today?

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Eco Myth #1

Eco Myth #1: "Green products always cost more..." = WRONG!!

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Get social with Green Cleaners and Win!

Hi Everyone!

To our most valued clients and friends, you do not want to miss what we have in store for you: pre-Christmas green spring cleaning packages, promotional discounts on our home cleaning services and very exciting news about Green Cleaners’ products coming very soon!

We welcome you to ‘like’ our new Facebook page, where you can stay up to date with all of our offers, news and updates! Starting with this one – simply ‘like’ us on Facebook now and you’ll stand a chance to win a FREE bottle of a Green Cleaners’ product of your choice!*

We're eager to showcase very exciting things that we have brewing behind production lines - please continue to support us and stay connected on Facebook, plus you’ll also find links to Green Cleaners on Twitter, Blogger and Pinterest too!

*Visit our Facebook page and ‘like’ before 30/11/12. 50 winners selected at random. Winners will be notified via Facebook. Free product can be redeemed when purchasing one or more products. All rights reserved.

The Nose Knows!

Everyone takes pride in their home - it is where we lay our hat, where we welcome friends and where we find sanctuary from the razzle dazzle of our bustling lives.

Be honest though - do you ever wonder about those mystery scents (everybody has them!) coming from under the sink and the shoe cupboard? Luckily we don’t have to be stuck between the musty dog smell or the ancient potpourri of Grandma's house.

After a quick study, we dug up a few tips to help your home smell pretty nice. After all, a fresh smelling house makes it a nicer place to be. It isn't simply about making your house smell better, it’s also about the air you’re breathing. Cleaning the air indoors is just as important as living a healthy life that’s more in sync with nature. So here are some tips to make your home smell fresh and delicious while conserving money, using natural products, and having some fun along the way!

1.Fresh air: this may sound simple, but open a window! Unless you live in sub-zero temperatures, even in winter the windows should be opened for a few minutes each day. Especially in winter, the indoor air can be more polluted than the air outside due to the outgassing of different plastics, paints and surfaces in our homes. So let the air circulate and refresh the oxygen.

2.House plants: our favourite weapon against unclean air. In addition to purifying the air, they make any room feel more alive and cheerful. You can never have enough plants! Keeping plants of all different sizes and types while sticking to the low maintenance varieties are an absolute must for any living space.

3.Odour absorbing miracles: baking soda and vinegar. Most readers will probably have some idea about the powers of these two wonder products. Unpleasant odours in your fridge, closet or bathroom are typically caused by strong acids. Baking soda neutralises odours by balancing the pH levels of the air, and using it can even be pretty! There are plenty of creative DIY baking soda container ideas, so spread them around the house. You can put them in closets, the fridge and freezer, under the sink, shoe cupboards and bathrooms. Just be sure to remember to replace the baking soda every month or so to keep the air fresh. Dislike the smell of vinegar? If you plan to leave the house for a few hours, pour vinegar in a shallow bowl. While you're away the smell of vinegar evaporates, taking much of the unpleasant scent with it by the time you return.

4.Quick fixes: if you’ve got company coming over soon, candles can work wonders. Make sure they’re made from sustainable beeswax or soy wax, which can not only zap away odour particles but also improve the air quality. Lighting these candles in a bowl of cinnamon sticks or coffee beans not only looks beautiful, but the heat from the candle can warm the cinnamon or coffee and give the room a nice aroma. But be sure to avoid paraffin candles because they often do more damage to the environment and add even more nasty chemicals to the air, especially the scented ones!

Another quick fix to have on hand is a spray bottle filled with essential oils to give your house a quick burst of clean scent. As a general rule, the measurement would be 35 drops of your favourite essential oil (we would suggest eucalyptus or sweet basil) for every 500 mL of water. Combine these in a spray bottle and spritz as needed. Essential oils have natural anti-bacterial qualities so they can purify the air and last a long time in the bottle for any quick fix moment.

5.Finally, potpourri: like fashion and hairstyles, the classic potpourri recipes have also been updated and modernised. Life is fast paced and busy, and we don't always have the money to spend on dried flower petals or the time to dry our own. But there are always things in the cupboard and by using some fresh ingredients now and again like leftover herbs, you can make a spontaneous air freshener recipe and breathe happy.

Check out this method: Bring a pot of water to a boil and add the ingredients. Reduce to a simmer and let the aroma fill your house. Simply replenish the water as it evaporates for a heavenly scent around your house. Recipes for summer days are adding fresh basil or rosemary, sliced lemon pieces and bay leaves for a refreshing and rejuvenating smell. Alternatively, fresh mint and ginger with quartered mandarins and limes is another stellar combination. If you have a little more time up your sleeve in winter, slice an apple and orange, and combine in a pot with vanilla extract, cinnamon sticks, whole cloves and some water. Feel free to experiment with what you have in your garden and fridge.

Green Parenting

Hi, Friends! We are extremely excited to let you in on what's behind the Green Cleaners curtain - here's a sneak peak! Oh, and check out our top tips on Green Parenting; the best way to reduce our carbon footprint is to start at home, with our little ones.

Top Tips from eco-experts on Green Parenting and how easy it can be:

1. The main carbon and environmental impact of cotton clothing is in its production. Taking hand-me-downs from friends and family or getting clothes from charity shops extends the life of a garment and diminishes its carbon impact.

2. The same goes for baby furniture. If you use second-hand buggies, cribs, highchairs etc, you are extending the life of that object and meaning a new one doesn’t have to be created.

3. Babies are incapable of staying clean for longer than five minutes. This means lots of washing is unavoidable. Keep the washing machine set to 40 degrees C and if possible always air dry clothes as the tumble dryer uses enormous amounts of energy and adds a big chunk on to baby’s carbon footprint.

4. Breast milk is best for so many health reasons, but it’s also a really green source of food for your baby. The milk you produce will be environmentally friendly because it doesn’t need to be processed, packaged and shipped to the shops, unlike formula milk.

5. Once baby is ready to be weaned you can try to keep their diet as low carbon as possible. Choosing foods that don’t need a lot of extra resource when they are been grown means less energy is wasted so less carbon is produced.

6. Try to feed baby seasonal fruit and vegetables. It’s less likely to have been grown in a greenhouse which requires a lot of energy to keep warm and have huge carbon footprint.

7. If you have the time and the green fingers, growing food at home is fun and rewarding.

8. One of the best things a parent can do is create eco conscious offspring. Talk to your kids from a young age about the importance of a low carbon lifestyle and explaining your reasoning. They will grow up to follow your example and pass the message on to their own babies.

9. Keep lavander oil available in your household. This oil has varied uses ranging from treating cuts, grazes, spots, skin irritation, burns, headaches and even kills bacteria! It is your best source for natural remedies around the home.

10. Use eco friendly products to clean your home - chemicals leave traces of odour that are harmful to your children. Remember - clean does not have a scent! Choose products that do the job while keeping your loved ones safe and healthy.

What A Wonderful World

Happy Weekend, everyone! Some light browsing for you on this warm Friday evening. Have a look at the beauty that surrounds us, and allow for it to motivate you to take part in preserving our Earth. Enjoy!

Going Green Takes Flight!

Green Cleaners firmly believes in fully supporting companies and establishments who choose to put in efforts towards eco awareness. That having been said, we would like to share a brilliant step taken by Virgin Atlantic!

One of the world's leading airlines Virgin Atlantic is now using 100% recycled materials in its amenity packs.

Following six months of work on design and development, Virgin Atlantic has launched their kits, made entirely from eco-friendly materials, for passengers in Upper Class and Premium Economy seats.

The recycled Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) material created from a workable yarn is produced from smashed, melted, polymerized and spun recycled plastic bottles.

Using this method, Virgin Atlantic believes around 4 million bottles each year could be recycled to use in the kits. As the fabric produced uses recycled materials instead of new ones, it produces a carbon footprint 90% lower than nylon.

Upper Class passengers are encouraged to take their kit with them after the flight as it can be used as a stylish tablet or e-reader case. Premium Economy kits can also be used as a travel wallet.

Any kits left behind are collected for re-use. The contents of open packs are recycled by MNH Sustainable Cabin Services.

Last year, MNH and Virgin Atlantic prevented almost 700 tonnes of cabin waste going to landfill sites by recycling various items such as amenity kits, pillows and headsets.

Recycling materials is just one way in which Virgin Atlantic's Change is in the Air sustainability programme is making a real difference. Although the main priority of Virgin Atlantic is fuel and carbon efficiency, it also concentrates on other eco-friendly practices, such using sustainable materials in its products.

Head of Product and Service for Virgin Atlantic, Paul Sands, says, "Our passengers love receiving their amenity kits and it's the little extra touches that make all the difference. At the same time, we are passionate as an airline about making sure everything we do is reviewed through a sustainability lens. These kits not only look great but also have better sustainability profile."

The new kits are dark grey and have a black cherry lining. They contain various items such as socks, eyeshades, earplugs, toothbrush and toothpaste.

For more information, you may visit http://www.earthtimes.org!

United, We Stand.

Here at Green Cleaners, we take pride in the quality of service we provide to our clients. We also do our best to offer you more than just a cleaning service - going beyond the realm of the daily grind, we hope to be able to keep you in the loop with regards to what is going on with our world and what we can do together to preserve Mother Nature.

Below you will find an excerpt from ABC's article, "Seven Continents, Seven Ways to Save the World", where ABC news assembled seven leading experts on the environment -- from scientists to businessmen -- to bring you Earth's most pressing problems. Being believers in a world capable of change, we will follow it up with some promising solutions.

Pressing Planetary Problems

Water: Too much water (from melting glaciers and ice packs) may flood the coasts. Too little water in drought-stricken Australia and Africa is caused by the changes in weather and habitat.

Forests: Up to 20 percent of our greenhouse gas problem can be attributed to loss of forests and trees, often called "the lungs of the planet" by environmentalists. Trees take in the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide, and give off oxygen. But in countries with vast forest acreage, like Brazil, the forests are disappearing as people harvest the timber, plant crops and look for pasture land for animals.

Extinction: As habitats are destroyed, thousands of species may become extinct, from polar bears to vast numbers of fish species.

Power: As more and more people come onto the energy grid in emerging nations, and first world countries continue to gulp power at an alarming rate, power plants are a major source of dangerous greenhouse gases. These pressures all threaten the Earth and affect thousands of animal species, including our own.

Promising Solutions

Choose efficient vehicles: According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, a car that gets 20 miles to the gallon emits 50 tons of carbon dioxide over its lifetime. A car that gets double that mileage emits half as much -- and will save you roughly $3,000 in gas.

Drive smarter: Don't add extra weight, don't speed, don't drive aggressively and don't overuse your air conditioner, all of which decrease fuel economy.

Unplug phone chargers, televisions, VCRs and other electronics -- don't just turn them off. According to the Department of Energy, nearly 75 percent of all electricity used to power electronics in the average home is consumed by products that are switched off.

The Three Rs: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. It seems like something from a kid's sing-a-long, but sometimes we lose sight of just how much we buy. Try buying less, and reusing and fixing things when you can instead of buying new. And for a lot of people, recycling is as easy as rolling the trash bin to the curb. Just remember to do it at work, too.

Window shop. If you have the urge to spend, try window shopping or browsing first. This helps ensure you are only buying things you really need, or really want, and you're not just impulse buying. Remember, every item in a store, no matter how small, has a footprint — so if we are conscious consumers, we can reduce our own footprint and the overall footprint of our nation.

Take a direct flight. If you need to travel by airplane, try taking a direct flight when at all possible. Your impact is reduced when you take one flight, as opposed to hopping on a couple or more passenger jets to reach your final destination. You might also feel a little less harried when you arrive, because changing planes can be a real hassle.

Go native. Use native plant species to landscape around your home or business. The plants will probably grow better in a familiar environment, and the plants may also get shipped a shorter distance to get to your local nursery. Also, use organic soil when planting — it's made using more eco-friendly methods, and uses less resources. And remember, green plants are a good way to offset carbon. So plant something, anything — it helps.

These solutions seem simple enough to accomplish, and easy for us to maintain within our lifestyle - let's do our part and encourage everyone else to hop onto the eco conscious bandwagon.

Greening It Up for Diwali

The festival of lights -- Deepavali, or Diwali -- celebrates the victory of good over evil. The lighting of diyas on a dark, moonless night signifies the end of all things negative. This festival, if celebrated in the traditional sense, has little to do with fireworks. So instead of polluting the environment with them, go ahead and celebrate a 'Green Diwali'.
Here are 10 creative ways for you to make it an eco-friendly affair this year.

Cut down on electricity usage.
Do not use electric lights to illuminate your home. Instead, opt for diyas (earthen lamps) and candles. This will not only reduce the amount of electricity being consumed, the flickering diyas will look prettier too. If you must use electric illumination, opt for LED lights. They use at least 80 per cent less energy than the regular ones and also come in various hues!

Opt out of using Firecrackers and find an alternative activity.
Although there are a number of environment-friendly crackers that have begun to flood the market and are definitely less polluting than others, this Diwali give the fireworks a complete miss. Instead, why not get all the children of the community to go for a nature walk the evening before and collect dry leaves, grass, twigs - then celebrate this festival of lights by lighting a bonfire on the terrace or in an open space and serve homemade sweets and sherbet.Fill up balloons with glitter or small pieces of coloured paper and spend the evening bursting them, either with your family at home or with a lot of friends. You could even have the kids blowing up brown paper bags and bursting them by jumping on them. The cheerful sound will be enough to usher in Diwali.

Go for what’s natural!
In earlier times, rangolis were made to feed the birds. This Diwali, go back to doing that. Instead of using artificial colours, make your rangoli with spices and other food items as follows: • For white, use rice powder • Yellow: Pulses or turmeric • Brown: Cloves or cinnamon • Green: Cardamom (chhoti elaichi) or fennel (saunf) • Red: Dried chilly or even kumkum, if you wish • You can even make a rangoli out of fresh flowers -- their fragrance is sure to create the perfect festive ambience. • You can decorate the doorway with garlands of marigold and jasmine and set up vases of roses and lilies. They will enhance the beauty of your house way better than the paper streamers and artificial lights would have.

Do DIY decorations!
If you must paint your home during Diwali, then use eco-friendly paint. Besides, here are a few ideas to decorate your home without having to paint it at all.
• Twist colourful saris and dupattas to create streamers. Or paint old newspapers and hang them up as wall decorations. • Use brocade saris or gold embroidered dupattas as drapes and curtains instead of going on a shopping spree. • Use your child's leftover craft materials like tissues, sandwich or rice paper to make paper lanterns (kandeel). You could use match sticks to form the spokes. • Save on electricity and stop using the doorbell for a few days. Instead, hang a bell at the door entrance and let all visitors ring that instead. It will definitely add to the puja feeling. • Bandanwars or traditional door hangings are the first thing that welcomes every guest. Make these with leftover papers or bright coloured cloth and then add glitter or paper flowers to them. • Don't throw away any fused incandescent bulbs. Instead, turn them into small flower vases by placing an orchid in the centre as a decorative accessory. You can also paint them different colours and hang them from the ceiling. • Use organic incense sticks and fresh flowers to create that heady fragrance that one associates with a puja. Do away with the synthetic room fresheners.

Choose homemade sweets.
Although innumerable options are available commercially, many of them come with artificial colours and way too much sugar. So this Diwali make your own sweets instead, using only natural products like milk, chickpea flour (besan), coconut, jaggery, dry fruits, sugar etc and keep them both nutritious and unadulterated. Some of the choicest Diwali sweets you can try making at home would be: • Laddoos made of besan and rava (semolina) • Barfi made of coconut and milk • Kheer made of milk, rice and jiggery • Shakkarpare made of flour, ghee and sugar • Gajar ka halwa made of carrots and milk

Organize Activities
Instead of buying expensive crockery for all your parties this festive season, go traditional and stay eco-friendly. Use banana leaves and small earthen glasses to serve the guests. Organise community competitions both for adults and for the children. Some options: • Rangoli competition • Flower arrangement competition • Sweet-making competition • Paper lantern competition for kids • Organise music programmes, puppet shows, talent shows and other cultural events • Throw a dance party. All you need is a music player and you will have all the sound you need without crackers. It will also be less expensive.

Personalize Presents
If you are shopping for gifts, don't buy any wrapping paper; save on it and stop trees from being cut. Instead, wrap your gifts with painted newspaper / make your own gift bags with newspaper / use pieces of cloth lying about in the house, which you can embroider or handpaint, or even jute. As for the gifts, instead of buying them, this year make them at home. Some options: • Bake cookies or cakes • Make homemade sweets • Make candles of different shapes and colours • Paint a picture • Create an artwork by using pieces of bright coloured cloth on a canvas • A potted paper plant or a bouquet of paper flowers • Try your hand at pottery and make a small decorative vase

Make your own cards this year.
Cut out pictures and stick them on craft paper to make your very own customised rangoli drawing on the card. Use kumkum and haldi to create Goddess Lakshmi's footprints on your card. You can even use ribbons, bindis, old clips and pieces of cloth to design your card with bright colours

Give back to your community
Instead of spending hours bursting crackers or drinking and partying, spend some time with underprivileged children. Donate old clothes, stationary etc, play games with them or make sweets at home and celebrate Diwali with them. Share your smile and spread cheer during this Festival of Lights. You can also visit an old-age home and spend time with the elders sharing stories, listening to songs from old movies and eating good food.

Lend a helping hand
When you go shopping, lend a helping hand to the elderly. Arrange for an afternoon of mehendi sessions for all the ladies in your neighbourhood. Spend an evening filled with card games and lots of sweet and salted snacks with everyone who lives nearby. With these simple tips, I wish everyone a very Happy Diwali! I wish all of you a lot of happiness, health, prosperity and safety. This year, let's try and make the festival more meaningful and delightful. Let us promise that in our pursuit of happiness, we will not harm the environment and ourselves.

Hollywood Goes Green

Hi, everyone! Here are five of the most eco-conscious Hollywood stars to inspire you on your path to going green.

Gisele Bundchen: The eco-friendly supermodel is no stranger to spreading her love for the earth! She shares green tips on her official website, founded the Clean Water Project, launched an eco-friendly skincare line, and even lives in a 22,000-square-foot green home to boot.
If that's not enough, Bundchen also has her own cartoon on AOL called Gisele and the Green Team aimed at helping kids become environmentally responsible. Gotta love a gorgeous gal with such a big heart!

Hayden Panettiere: America's favorite former cheerleader is not only a teen queen, she's a green queen too!
Well known for her fight to save marine life (who can forget her arrest warrant in Japan after protesting whale and dolphin hunting), she's been given the prestigious Genesis Award by the Humane Society for her environmental and animal activism. The real-life hero is also not afraid to get snapped by paparazzi showing off her recycling skills, frequently carrying reusable grocery bags.

Olivia Wilde: Olivia Wilde proves that being vegan helps one shine from inside out. The animal lover and activist is an avid supporter of green living, having said she aims to leave the planet "a little better than she found it".
She also launched a website, Wilde Things, that serves as a forum for her thoughts on the environment, her favorite charities, a vegan lifestyle, and much more.

Natalie Portman: From designing a vegan footwear line to her involvement with Global Green USA, the talented Natalie Portman is clearly oh-so-devoted to the environment. The stunning vegetarian is even eco-friendly when it comes to her jewels, using certified conflict-free diamonds and recycled platinum in both her engagement ring and wedding bands from hot hubby Benjamin Millepied.

Alicia Silverstone: The adorable actress is a devout vegan, environmentalist, and animal-rights activist-which means she swears off all fur, leather, and pretty much any food from an animal source. Even her rescued four-legged friends are vegans! With such a passion for the environment, it's no surprise this celeb cutie lives in a solar-paneled home and is creator of The Kind Life, a guide to living your healthiest, happiest life to the fullest, while taking care of mama Earth at the same time!

Hilarious Mop Babygro - Clean While You Crawl!

Since it's almost the weekend, we wanted to share this humourous article with everyone to get you through the last few working hours. It's a funny idea that somehow seems to be thriving, and for all they claim it to be efficient, we are merely trying to put a smile on your face with the help of a silly idea and a cute little baby.

An enterprising designer has come up with a unique way to get children involved with the housework: by turning crawling babies into cleaning machines.

The entrepreneur has combined the traditional 'onesie' babygro with specially designed mop heads fixed to the arms and legs which enable babies to polish the floor as they learn to crawl. The $40 (£25) Baby Mop is the brainchild of U.S. website BetterThanPants.com and was inspired by a spoof Japanese advert of a similar invention.

In their blurb for the novelty product the writers on the website joke that the outfit will 'teach your baby a strong work ethic early on in their life while burning off energy, aiding in allowing them to sleep better too.'

Mike Parker from BetterThanPants.com said: 'We have sold about 100 in just one month since adding it to our site. So far all the feedback from customers has been very positive, however we get some negative emails surrounding the idea of the actual product.'

The idea was formed to make the actual product from a Japanese commercial on the web.

'I believe the idea was submitted as part of a contest on ridiculous inventions in Japan but was never actually sold anywhere,' says Parker.'But this is the real deal, it's a legit product and is proving very, very popular.'

Shoppers visiting the site have reacted with good humour, saying they love the product - with one jokingly suggesting wetting the mop to make the baby more efficient.

10 Tips to Save Energy (and Money) in Your Home

Hopping on the eco firendly bandwagon is not as complicated, time consuming and expensive as you think! Browse through this list of simple solutions designed to save energy and reduce carbon emissions for the planet, and at the same time save you money.

A whopping 46% of home energy use is energy loss. Here are simple ways of reversing this, mostly by changes of habit.

1. Each degree you turn down the heat saves 3% of heating costs, while each degree you raise the temperature of your air conditioner saves 3-4% of cooling costs. By changing the temperature by 2 degrees all year, you can save about 2,000 pounds of C02 a year.

2. Cook with a slow cooker or a toaster oven (or even a solar oven) to reduce electrical use from kitchen appliances. For a meal that requires one hour to cook in an electric oven, and which uses 2.7 pounds of C02, a crockpot uses 0.9 pounds of C02 for seven hours, a toaster oven takes 1.3 pounds of C02 for 50 minutes, and a microwave only 0.5 pounds of C02 for 15 minutes of cooking. A solar cooker requires NO C02!

3. Switch to a laptop instead of using a desktop computer and cut three-quarters off your electrical use. Turn off the laptop at the end of the day.

4. Switch to cold water washing and save 80 percent on energy used for laundry and save an estimated $60 a year. Hang dry your clothes instead of using the dryer and save 700 pounds of C02 a year.

5. Plug anything that can be powered by a remote control or that has a power cube transformer (little black box) into a power strip, and turn it off, and/or unplug, when not in use. (Power cubes are 60-80 percent inefficient.)

6. Turn off the lights when you aren’t using them and reduce your direct lighting energy use by 45 percent. Stop using heat-producing halogen lamps (they can also be fire hazards). Install occupancy or motion sensors on outdoor lights.

7. Switch to compact fluorescent from regular incandescent bulbs and use 60 percent less energy per bulb and save 300 pounds of C02 a year.

8. Wrap your water heater in an insulation blanket and save 1,000 pounds of C02 a year. Insulate your hot water pipes.

9. Use public transportation whenever possible, carpool, shop locally, and ideally switch to a hybrid or energy-efficient car (if you haven’t already).

10. Keep your tires inflated to improve gas mileage by 3 percent. Every gallon you save also saves 20 pounds of C02 emissions.

Thanks to climatecrisis.net and The Home Energy Diet for many of the carbon savings figures.

Efforts in Asia to Go Green Makes Waves!

Iskandar Malaysia – opposite Singapore located across the strait of Johor, houses the beginnings of a new project that will shape the future. With a surface area the size of Luxembourg, the site is being developed into what architects hope will be a mega city built along eco-friendly lines, using green energy to put to an end the pollution afflicting many Asian cities today.

With an expected population of 3 million by the year 2025, this booming city aims to provide energy from renewable sources, providing public transport and diverting waste to be made purposeful once more. The Malaysian government aspires to showcase this to be copied on a bigger scale across the region.

The world's urban population overtook the number of rural-dwellers for the first time in 2007, and future population growth in south-east Asia – at least 9bn people are expected to inhabit this planet by 2050, up from 7bn at present – is expected to be mainly in cities in the developing world. By far the greatest growth will be in slums, by current estimates.

Iskandar Malaysia offers an alternative. The plans are for a city that not only incorporates the latest in environmentally friendly technology, but that is designed for social integration. Green spaces and areas where people can mingle and relax will improve people's mental wellbeing and encourage social cohesion, it is hoped. Skyscrapers will be mixed with low-rise buildings and more homely, intimate neighbourhoods.

Najib Razak, prime minister of Malaysia, said in a speech: "Iskandar Malaysia [is] a smart city template – protecting the environment, promoting equitable development and addressing urban development challenges [through] the creation of smart, liveable urban communities that will yield an improved quality of life for thousands of citizens, with safer, cleaner, healthier, more affordable and more vibrant neighbourhoods, serviced by more efficient and accessible transportation systems – great destinations for businesses."

Ellis Rubinstein, president of the New York Academy of Sciences, which is working on the "edu-city" university campus area, said it could be "a model to countries needing to accommodate the social and economic needs of fast-rising populations and environmental challenges".

However, the project's developers will have to overcome significant obstacles. New eco-cities have been planned in the past, from China to the US, most of which have floundered. China's Dongtan was heralded the world's first planned eco-city, but plans have been mired in difficulty for years; a UK project for "eco-towns" was widely ridiculed and has been all but abandoned.

So far, the Malaysian government has managed to attract support from Pinewood Studios, which will build new facilities in Iskandar, and Legoland which will build its first Asian theme park in the city. Several UK universities – including Newcastle and Southampton – are also planning to open up remote campuses. More than $30bn has been promised for the city, of which more than a third will come from outside Malaysia.  

A Clean and Green Singapore

Clean and Green Singapore 2013 kicks off today at the Gardens by the Bay, boasting of live music performances, exhibitions and workshops to promote green practices.

Organized by the NEA, Central Singapore Community Development Council, PUB and National Parks, this event also brings together residents from the five districts of Singapore (Central, South West, North West, North East and South East) to showcase their ground-up programmes and community projects from agencies and key non-governmental organisations.

The public is encouraged to participate in the numerous activities ranging from environmental fashion shows to recycling craft workshops. There will also be a hack-a-thon, which will have programmers and developers brainstorm ideas to build and launch applications to help the community to adopt eco friendly practices.

Through various programmes with partners such as the Public Hygiene Council, Keep Singapore Beautiful Movement and Singapore Kindness Movement, the event offers opportunities for individuals to volunteer and make a difference.

Some 600 volunteers from schools, grassroots organisations and non-governmental organisations are contributing to the preparation and running of the event.

What are you waiting for? Head down to the beautiful Gardens by the Bay and take part as history unfolds for a better future.

Green Oddities

Hi, everyone! We love to embrace the unusual and here is an article found on www.oddee.com that covers the wierdest eco friendly products.

The green technology industry is booming: from recyclable earrings to a banana coffin, meet some of the weirdest eco friendly products.

Eco-friendly Burial

A Colorado company sells caskets made from banana sheaves, bamboo or pandanus that decomposes together with the body as a way of promoting ecologically-friendly burials. The so-called Ecoffin, short for eco-friendly coffins, of Ecoffins USA takes six months to two years to biodegrade. The company's marketing director, Joanna Passarelli, said the Ecoffins is better for the environment than cremating bodies. The lowest price for this eco friendly product is $800.

Eco-friendly Remote Control

Sony challenged Industrial Design students from China to design and eco-friendly device. One of the participants from Dong Hwa University came up with this unique creation called the Sony Conductor TV Remote. It's a wand shape kind of remote that needed to be swayed side to side to power it on and the green LED light fire up to indicate its power level. To start navigating, one can wave the conductor left and right to change your TV set's volume, up and down to change channels and in a circular motion to switch your TV set on or off. Sounds really tiring to me.

Eco-friendly Pet Furs

If you think making clothes out of human hair is weird how would you feel if I told you humans are making clothes from their pet's fur? It isn't much different from using sheep's wool or natural animal fibers from alpaca, angora, llama or camel, right? Danelle German doesn't think so. She is a professional cat groomer from South Carolina. She started a business called Catty Shack Creations as a means of reusing beautiful cat fur instead of throwing it away. Her inspiration came when a friend of Danelle's asked her to clip her pet's hair so that it could be spun into yarn. First the pet is thoroughly washed to make sure the fur is clean and tangle free. Then the pet is shaved. Many pet owners have their pets shaved to help their pets survive the hot summer and to help make it easier for the owner to keep their pets well groomed. The fur is then collected and cured for a few days. The hair fibers are then carded, spun into yarn and finally knitted into handbags.

Eco-friendly Moss Carpet

They say walking on fresh grass increases your blood circulation; I can't vouch for that! Anyways, it is a reason to get going to the nearest park, remove your expensive Jimmy Choo's and prance around. The Moss Carpet, created by Nguyen La Chanh, looks at getting the grass to your feet, and that too in your loo! Made from imputrescible foam called plastazote, the mat includes ball moss, island moss and forest moss. The humidity of the bathroom ensures that the mosses thrive. And that's why you need to place it there and not anywhere else. Little gnomes not included.

Eco-friendly Umbrella

Conventional umbrellas come with a fixed surface. Although it is changeable, you cannot replace it easily. This eco-friendly design is more flexible. It is actually only a collapsible umbrella skeleton without any surface, so you can put anything such as newspapers, plastic bags or whatever you want to serve as the protecting surface.

Eco-friendly Edible Shoe Cream

Probably the weirdest on the list, this product was designed by Greenfibes, eco goods and garments. It's organic edible (yes, edible!) shoe cream. Apparently, it can be used for other purposes such as spreading on toast or as a lip balm. I don't know about you, but eating something that is advertised to be spread on a shoe does not interest me in the least.

Eco-friendly Clothing for Babies

Maybe you weren't the best to the environment, but darnit, your baby hasn't destroyed anything yet. Whether your child wants to be condescending with a onesie reading "Thanks For All the Global Warming," cutsie with a "Give A Hoot, Don't Pollute" shirt, or even disgusting in a onesie reading "Ask Me About My Compost Pile," strangers everywhere are sure to take a second look at your sassy starlet. And lest you worry about making your baby a hypocrite, all three tees are organic. Oh, and if your child is actually the K-9 variety, there are plenty of cute eco-friendly shirts for pups as well.

Pollution-Sensitive Dress

Don't be caught outside unaware of pollution levels in the air. The pollution-sensitive ‘EPA Dress' by Stephanie Sandstrom detects pollution in the air and wrinkles accordingly. That's right, this dress – which is actually quite pretty – looks like you pulled it from the bottom of the dirty laundry heap when the air is dirty. It might protect your health by advising you to stay indoors for the day, but it won't do you any favors if you're meeting with clients.

Eco-friendly Car Racer

Can you image a car racer is so eco-friendly that it is all made from plants. Just take a look at the picture, you gonna know that it's soooo natural. Eco One was designed by Dr Kerry Kirwan, a researcher at Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG), the university's academic department which provides solutions to industry, and built by student Ben Wood over two months at a cost of £20,000.

Eco-friendly Earrings

A wonderful and great green product from Kitten Lab is now available for purchase to those who wanted to accessorize themselves in a green way. The eco fashion accessories by Kitten Lab are made by the artistic hands and from a vintage IBM Selectric typewriter balls. The balls are made of plastic, that is why it is light enough to be on your ears. With this creation, there will be no need for us to spend too much to be fashionably trendy, and it will dramatically reduce landfills, which is great in reducing the harm that we have for the environment.

An Awesome Discovery: Ekocycle!

Global music artist and producer will.i.am and The Coca-Cola Co alongside Levi's Brand MCM, RVCA and Case-Mate will join the Ekocycle brand. The Atlanta-based beverage giant announced in July a $1 million commitment and the launch of the brand with partners Beats by Dr. Dre and New Era.

The Ekocycle brand initiative aims to educate consumers about recycling, identify products that can be recycled and tout the positives of recycling. EKOCYCLE finds products, such as assorted plastic bottles and aluminum cans, that can be repurposed into recycled content for fashion-forward lifestyle products through the help of some of the industry’s hottest trendsetters.

Products from the partners include:
•Limited edition Levi’s 501 Waste Less jean, which is made with an average of eight recycled assorted plastic bottles per pair of jeans. The jeans will be available in April 2013 for $128 with global distribution via Levi’s retail doors and online at levi.com.
•Beats by Dr. Dre EKOCYCLE headphones contain 31 percent recycled material and deliver exceptional sound. They are now available online at Beatsbydre.com and global e-tailers, priced at $349.95.
•Case-Mate EKOCYCLE Barely There Case is molded from a 100 percent recycled PET -- a translucent, glossy finish that showcases more of a smartphone. It retails for $35 at Best Buy stores and the company’s website.
•New Era caps’ EKOCYCLE Cap Collection features two caps - a 59FIFTY fitted and a 9FIFTY Strapback. Both are made with a recycled fabric that consists of a traditional polyester fabric and recycled plastic. They sell for $30-45.

We support and admire people and companies who use their funds and fame for the benefit of the Earth. Check out Ekocycle today and tell us what you think!
http://www.facebook.com/EKOCYCLE

A Greener Singapore

As small a city as it is, Singapore finds itself vulnerable to the consequences of climate change. It is also particularly concerned with the need to use resources efficiently, especially energy and water. As part of the global community, Singapore has been doing its part to reduce the overall carbon footprint.

As part of this effort, the national target to “green” at least 80% of all buildings in Singapore by 2030 was set in 2009. Championed by the Building and Construction Authority (BCA), the green building movement has come a long way since it was started in 2005. Public sector buildings took the lead to go green to be certified under the Green Mark scheme.

But green buildings are only a part of the solutions. While energy efficient buildings and technology enhancements are important, the intelligent and conscientious usage of energy at the workplaces and our homes are just as crucial. This is because close to 20% of the total amount of electricity produced in Singapore are consumed solely by households.

Studies have also shown that in office buildings and shopping complexes, the occupants and tenants are typically responsible for about half of the total energy consumed in such buildings. The green movement must therefore go beyond buildings to reach and galvanise the community and individual into green action.

The movement for change has begun, and the time to act on it is now. With the support and encouragement of those behind the first steps toward making a greener Singapore, we are left with no excuses not to care. Small changes in lifestyles often turn out to have massive chain reactions, such as packing your own lunch to work, bringing a bag instead of using those provided by the shops, running your errands for the week in one day instead of spreading them out across a matter of days – all of these efforts add up and make a dent in changing our environmental impact for the better.

Take the time to care for the earth, and it will honour you the same courtesy. Respect our home and guide others around you to do the same. We hope you have had a fantastic weekend, and urge you to start your week right. Live healthy. Live green.

Big Things Are Brewing!

There's something slow roasting in the Green Cleaners Headquarters and it's about to get crazy! Before we get into that though, we'd like to begin by sharing our new and improved brochures.

Please note that during October we have a new client sign up offer!
At Green Cleaners we pride ourselves on our high standards of cleaning and service. We’re confident once you’ve had your first Green Home Cleaning appointment, and seen, felt and smelt for yourself a home that is clean and healthy - you won’t want to leave us. With this in mind, you may wish to take advantage of our ‘Kick the tyres’ Promotion in October; For new clients, we’re offering your first appointment with 50% discount when you sign up for a regular service with us!* Offer ends 31/10/12. Subject to availability – please check for available dates early!

Staying Lean While Keeping It Green

Happy Wednesday, everyone! We really enjoyed sharing our DIY pampering recipes with you all last night, so tonight we’re carrying on the path to health and happiness. Did you know that your daily workout is another lifestyle area where you can make earth-friendly changes? There are countless eco-savvy ways to get in your daily dose of physical fitness. Here are some of our favorite tips for energizing your exercise with a green boost:

Take it outside whenever you can.
Instead of increasing your energy consumption via home and gym exercise machines, take advantage of hiking and biking trails in your area. One big advantage to the great outdoors - it’s 100% free and always interesting! If you don’t fancy going solo, invite a friend or two and take in some quality time as well.

Inspire a green makeover at your health club or gym.
If the great outdoors just aren’t for you, consider encouraging your gym to make some eco-friendly upgrades. Make sure your club offers recycling bins and energy efficient machines, and remind the staff to ask patrons to limit their towel usage.

Car pool to your local gym with a friend or neighbor.
Not only does carpooling cut down on your fuel costs and usage, but having a gym buddy is an instant incentive to keep up with your fitness goals and resolutions. For extra support, consider joining a soccer, volleyball, or kickball league in your neighborhood. No one to car pool with? Your bike is another great way to get where you’re going and warm up for your workout at the same time.

Dress the part.
Looking for some new workout clothing or gear? Organic cotton and bamboo threads are a great place to start for sweat-friendly green fabrics. For eco-conscious equipment choices, check the web or a local sporting goods shop for great deals on secondhand bikes and weights.

Give in to the bottle.
The water bottle that is! Move on from one-time use plastic water bottles. It’s time to commit to using refillable water bottles for workouts and everyday hydration. Using a refillable bottle means less waste in landfills and more money in your wallet.

Get creative with your workout routine.
It’s not always easy to find time to head to the gym or commit to an after-work jogging schedule. Try to throw in an extra walk or bike ride during your lunch break for a calorie-burning boost. Another great way to supplement your gym routine: Try knocking out some house or yard work by attacking the job with gusto! Shoveling snow, raking leaves, vacuuming and dusting can be great activities for burning off a greasy business lunch or the sins of the weekend roasts and barbecues. Do you have more ideas on how to stay lean and keep it green? We would love to hear from you. In the meantime, stay fit, happy and healthy the Green Cleaners way!

Pamper Yourself the Eco Friendly Way!

Who says you have to spend thousands of dollars on spa treatments and undergo the pain of going to the dermatologist? We at Green Cleaners believe that only the most organic of ingredients should touch your skin, and we have found some simple, easy and fun recipes for you to make and apply in the comfort of your own home! So whether it's a girls' night in or much needed time to rejuvenate, we hope you enjoy the experience of pampering yourself - because you deserve it.

Pore Scrub
Though it is not really possible to shrink your pores, keeping them cleansed makes them appear smaller than they really are. For this Pore Minimizer Scrub (to be used every other day), you will need:

1 tablespoon of warm honey
1 tablespoon of brown sugar
3 drops of lemon juice

After cleansing your skin, massage into pore-plentiful areas for 3 minutes. Keep those circular motions going and rinse with lukewarm water. Remember that hot water opens pores, so keep it at room temperature.

Banana Peel Facial
There's something assuring about knowing you can have a full facial treatment with ingredients found in your kitchen all year round! Follow these simple steps to smoother skin. For this recipe, you will need:

1 banana, just ripe
1 tablespoon honey
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon wheat germ oil
1 tablespoon finely powdered oats
1 teaspoon lemon juice (optional, if mask will not be used immediately)
2 drops of essential oil (your scent of choice)

Peel and mash banana. Add honey, egg yolk, wheat germ oil, oats and lemon juice, if used. Mash further to form a smooth, creamy paste. If mask is too thick, add a bit of distilled water, and stir well until smooth. Add essential oils last, and stir to mix well. To use, apply to clean face and neck, avoiding eye and mouth areas. Rest for 10 minutes, or longer if your skin is very dry. Rinse with warm water and ta-da! Baby soft skin.

Sweet and Zesty Body Scrub
Body scrubs have numerous benefits - it cleans and exfoliates the skin, improves blood circulation and helps remove toxins. For this lemon and brown sugar infused scrub, you will need
1/4 cup coarse brown sugar (to gently exfoliate without drying) 1 cup grapeseed oil (to moisturize) 1/4 cup grated lemon peel (to invigorate your senses)

Mix together all of the ingredients. Gently rub this delicious scrub all over your body in a circular motion. Concentrate on rough areas like elbows, knees and heels. Let it sit for a few minutes and rinse off with warm water.

Homemade Chocfull of Beauty Facial Mask
Who doesn't love everything about chocolate? With this yummy recipe in tow, you can enjoy the benefits that this treat has on your skin whilst having the lovely aroma surround you as you beautify yourself! For this mask, you will need
1/3 cup raw cacao powder or cocoa powder 1/4 cup of raw honey 2 tablespoons of mashed avocado 3 teaspoons of cornmeal (if you're looking for a great natural exfoliator)

Simply blend all the above ingredients together until creamy. With clean hands, apply the mask to your face and any other part of your body that you so desire (hands and feet can greatly benefit). Gently massage your mask into your skin, leaving it on for 15 - 20 minutes, and then rinse it off with warm water.

So there it is, a green way to end the day. We hope you give these home spa recipes a try and have a wonderful time making yourself look and feel beautiful!

A Green, Ghoulish Halloween

Halloween is just around the corner and we have everything you need from prep to clean up to ensure that your celebrations will be ghoulishly green!

Like many of our holidays, Halloween can be an expensive and wasteful experience. Don't let the commercialism take all the fun or eco-friendly opportunities out of it! Check out our simple tips to make sure you don't spook Mother Nature this October.

Green Halloween Costumes
Consider reusing or recycling costumes from previous years, or recycling old clothing into new costumes. Before you set out your paper recycling, set aside cardboard boxes and large pieces of paper that you can use to enhance ideas.

Green Halloween Treats
Instead of giving out high-sugar candy, consider giving pennies for UNICEF, pencils, erasers, or temporary tattoos. Besides reducing the waste of all the single-serving packaging, you’ll be providing a healthy alternative to candy. If your kids won’t let you give up food treats, consider small boxes of raisins or other semi sweet treats which have recyclable paper packaging.

Green Halloween Decorations
Halloween decorations can be natural and non-commercial, with gourds, pumpkins and Jack-o-Lanterns! Lower your emissions on Halloween by buying locally grown pumpkins, and then lower your waste by composting them after Halloween is over. Use recycled paper to make window decorations, and then send them on for another round of recycling after the holiday. Paper grocery bags can be cut and molded into spooky Halloween trees, masks, and painted white for ghostly effects.

Green Halloween Trick-or-Treating
Send your children trick-or-treating with reusable buckets, canvas bags or pillow cases. Lower emissions by trick-or-treating in your neighborhood and get to know your neighbors better by inviting them over for an old fashioned bobbing-for-apples competition at your house.

Green Halloween Party
Send electronic invitations instead of paper to lower waste. Instead of using plastic plates, cups and utensils, compostable silverware and party plates are now widely available. Go to your neighborhood store and purchase a pile of mismatched cloth napkins and then have guests toss them in a bin for washing and reusing at your next party. Be sure to recycle bottles and cans, and compost leftovers.

Green Halloween Cleanup
Once Halloween is over, recycle your pumpkins, the straw you used to build scarecrows and any other organic material by composting it. For inedible items, add them to your composting pile (or start composting now!) for great, nutrient rich soil in the spring.

If you have any further ideas to keep the festivities eco friendly, let us know! In the meantime, Trick or Treat!

We Reap What We Sow

Happy Sunday, everyone! We spent the better part of the weekend watching the film "The Lorax", and just had to share the finale with you. It sure teaches a valuable lesson - that change begins and ends with us. What better time to start than right now? Enjoy!
Let It Grow, finale from "The Lorax"

Media Frenzy!

Hi Everyone! We are so excited to announce that Green Cleaners has jumped on the media bandwagons of both Twitter and Pinterest! Follow us on @GreenCleaners09 and http://pinterst.com/greencleaners09 to learn more about the latest in the world of going green! Share your own home remedy recipes, or pin us with ecofabulous ideas that you want us to feature! We look forward to taking cybermedia space by storm with all of you.

Thin Slicing, Malcolm Gladwell, and the Chinese character for listening

Apparently, the Chinese character for listening is made up of other characters (or perhaps traces of characters) for the ear, the eye, and the heart. That surely suggests something vital about listening. And listening is a skill that is in desperately short supply in this era of overstimulation and information overload.

One of the worst pieces of advice in recent years came in the Malcolm Gladwell book Blink in which he described the phenomenon of ‘thin-slicing’ people when you meet them by just getting a quick gut read on them in a matter of seconds or nano-seconds and then assuming that you’ve got all you need to know. Malcolm argues that thin-slicing is a reasonably accurate way of checking someone out.

Of course, if everyone did that, none of us would ever listen to anyone again. We’d save loads of time, and we’d learn virtually nothing about the external world. It’s a recipe for global disaster from an otherwise brilliant writer.

Which brings me back to listening and that Chinese character. We don’t need to listen less, or faster; we need to listen to each other more, and more deeply. We need to hear, and appreciate, and learn, each other’s stories. If you don’t think so, ask yourself this: when are you going to start paying attention? In the next life, whatever that is?

We need to listen to each other because life is precious, and short. We need to listen to each other because despite our superficial disagreements and differences, we humans are still the best hope and the gravest danger for the planet we call home. We need to listen to each other because we need to work together in peace in order to build a better world. We need to listen to each other because lives need to be shared, we are a communal species, and isolation kills.

Please. When you listen, listen with your whole body. Use your ears, of course, but also use your eye and your heart. Listen for the facts, of course, but also listen for the underlying emotions and values of the other person. Only when you listen that carefully and deeply can you begin to understand and then communicate with another person. I don’t know if the Chinese character for listening really does include the characters for the ear, the eye, and the heart, but I do know that listening needs to include all those things.

Let's start listening better to one another and maybe -- just maybe -- we can save this magical planet and the precious, irreplaceable people on it.

With thanks to Dr. Liane Davey for explaining the Chinese character to me.

Reposted from; http://publicwords.typepad.com/nickmorgan/2012/09/thin-slicing-malcolm-gladwell-and-the-chinese-character-for-listening.html

India's richest shrine goes green

India is one of the world's largest producers of carbon credits. The clean development mechanism is offering an incentive of companies to innovate and find low cost green technologies.

Shilpa Kannan gets an exclusive look at how one temple in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh is going green.

See the video here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-16798580

Singapore top carbon emitter in Asia-Pacific: WWF

Singapore had the largest carbon footprint per head in the Asia-Pacific in 2010, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) said on Monday.

The environmental advocacy group said Singapore's 2010 per capita gross domestic product of more than US$40,000 (S$50,314) - one of the highest in the region - fuelled exorbitant consumption habits.

But the group also fingered the corporate sector and in particular the construction industry for crowning the tiny city-state as the region's top per capita carbon emitter. Precise figures for various nations in the Asia-Pacific will be released together with the WWF's Asia Footprint Report in June. But WWF President Yolanda Kakabadse revealed on Monday that Singapore topped the list.

'Every member of the population in relation to the size of the country is consuming a lot in food, in energy,' she said. 'Singapore... is a society that maybe is one of the best examples of what we should not do.'

Green Cleaners success on AG - Feb 2012!!

Green Cleaners' founder Colin Pudsey, successfully pitches our growing business opportunity and increasing demand for our services/products to Asia's leading VC's. As featured on CNA's Angel's Gate - Feb 2012.

For more information on Angel's Gate please visit:
http://www.youtube.com/user/AngelsGate
http://angelsgate.com/tv/prj/green-cleaners

Green Cleaners' on the Angel's Gate - Monday 13 February 2012

Hi Friends!

As we usher in the year of the dragon and welcome new challenges, Green Cleaners’ will be expanding in Australia & APAC and our journey continues with an exciting appearance on the new Angel’s Gate TV show and we’re asking for your support!

Angel's Gate is Asia's latest reality TV series focusing on business and entrepreneurship (think: Dragon’s Den Singapore!). Backed by Asia's leading venture funds, the Angel's Gate is a 360-degree platform spanning the TV, Web and Mobile that gives entrepreneurs the opportunity of a lifetime to pitch their dream business ideas to some of Asia’s most successful investors.

You can see Green Cleaners featured on next Monday’s episode (13/02/12) on Channel News Asia @ 8pm (SG/HK time). Angel’s Gate episodes and interviews will also be available the day after on their YouTube channel.

This is where we call to all of our friends and need your help...

Angel's Gate is honoured to have CapitaLand Hope Foundation as a Charity Partner. The Foundation will donate S$1.00 for every "like" that Green Cleaners’ receives on our online business profile.

We’re asking for your support to help a very worthy cause with only one click of a button! All proceeds up to S$100,000 will be donated to 4 children's beneficiaries (see below). We need your help to get to our donation target.

Please follow the link and click “like” today! http://angelsgate.com/green-cleaners

The power of social media is unbelievably strong and we do hope you can share this with your friends, family and colleagues too! :)

Thank You!

More eco friendly toys for tots

As more and more consumers are becoming environmentally conscious, simple solutions for adopting a green lifestyle have become readily available. While you once had to seek out eco-friendly products in specialty stores, you can now find them nearly everywhere for all needs, from home appliances, to cleaning products, to clothing, to modes of transportation. Toy makers are even starting to offer eco-friendly toys and games, making now the perfect time to introduce your kids to the idea of going green.

There are many benefits, for both children and the environment, to buying eco-friendly toys. Young children have a tendency to put everything they come in contact with into their mouths, but with eco-friendly toys you don't have to worry about them encountering harmful materials since all green toys are non-toxic. These toys are also often made with age-appropriate classifications in mind, so they're made to withstand the hard play habits of toddlers and the curious disassembly phase that many older children go through.

Eco-friendly toys are usually made out of recyclable and/or biodegradable materials, so if a child outgrows them or they should break beyond the point of repair, disposing of them won't harm the environment.

While it would be easy for any manufacturer to put a "green" label on its products, there are certain questions to consider when shopping for eco-friendly toys:

Are both the toy and its packaging made from recycled/recyclable and/or biodegradable materials? Where is it made? Part of what makes a toy eco-friendly is it being manufactured by energy-efficient operations. The farther a product has to travel to make it to your local store, the bigger a carbon footprint it's leaving, so truly eco-friendly toys are made locally.

How sturdy is the toy? Well-made toys will last longer and can be handed down to other children once the original owner has outgrown them. Toys that can stand the test of time are naturally eco-friendly as they don't wind up in the garbage after one extremely rough play session.

There are several toy manufacturers that focus exclusively on making eco-friendly toys. Green Toys Inc., located in California, makes it their mission to create safe, fun toys made from recycled materials that are manufactured in a socially responsible way. Recycled plastic milk jugs are the main ingredient in all of their products, and all of the production occurs locally in California, from the collecting of raw materials to the final packaging (which is 100% recyclable corrugated boxes). All of their toys--like building blocks, play dining sets, and toy vehicles--also go through safety testing in nationally-recognized, USA-based labs, where they must pass a series of tests before being sold.

Sprig Toys Inc. in Colorado is another great source for eco-friendly toys. All of their toy series are primarily made of recycled wood and plastic, and focus on being kid-powered, rather than running on batteries that will ultimately wind up in landfills. Having distributors in both North America and Europe, Sprig Toys has manufacturing operations set up on both continents in order to minimize the amount of traveling their products have to do.

Also based in Colorado is ImagiPLAY, whose motto is "Toys with Integrity." Offering a wide selection of toys--including wooden puzzles, fabric dolls, and themed building block sets--everything ImagiPLAY produces is made of eco-friendly materials, a favorite being the wood from rubber trees that can no longer be harvested for the sap used in making latex. They even set up their factories in areas close to where the raw materials come from and aim to hire locally-based laborers, who they encourage to walk or bike to work.

As more parents are becoming eco-savvy, more eco-friendly toy makers are creating products from locally sourced, recyclable materials. There may even be some setting up shop in your neighborhood, or at the local farmer's market or craft fair. Introducing kids to well-made, environmentally-conscious toys is a fun and smart way to start creating a new generation of green-minded individuals.