Ten Simple Ways to Green Your Spring Cleaning

Spring is in the air, inspiring many to clean, toss and beautify their homes for the warmer months. Traditionally, this has meant piling lots of unwanted junk into garbage bins, then dragging out toxic cleaners -- leaving a trail of harmful chemicals that pollutethe earth and a mound of stuff to fill our already overcrowded landfills. There is a better way! If every inspired spring cleaner took
these ten simple suggestions, spring cleaning would be greener and safer for all.

1. Don't Forget the Recycling Bin
2. Give Unwanted Items a New Life
3. Target Cleaning to Reduce Energy Waste
4. Take Old Batteries to a Recycling Center
5. Plug up Drafts under Windows and Doors
6. Trade in Harsh Cleaners for Green Ones, or Make Your Own
7. Look for Leaky Plumbing
8. Move Stereo and Electronics Power Plugs to Power Strips
9. Use Rags Instead of Paper Towels
10. While Cleaning Light Fixtures, Swap out Incandescents for Compact Fluorescents

Spring time is the time for all green things to grow and flourish, which means being green is "in". If everyone did their part to save the earth, the impact would be unstoppable!

Let Go of the Old Phone

Of all personal electronic devices, cell phones probably represent the greatest combination of ubiquity and replacement frequency. Even this writer, who holds onto his devices long after they have gone out of vogue, has at least two old cell phones lying around, and the EPA estimates that there are 100 million others like it across the country. What’s an ecogeek to do?

Fortunately, there are plenty of options. All of them facilitate the recycling of your phone, which is good for theenvironment. But they also offer you the chance of either getting a little extra cash for yourself, or making a charitable donation.

If you’re in it for the cash, you can try the aptly named CellForCash website. If your phone isn’t relatively new, though, you probably won’t get anything (though they will recycle it for free). If you want your phone to go to charity, you can try Collective Good or Cell Phones for Soldiers. Sites such as ReCellular offer you a wider array of options, including buying used phones.

It is also possible to recycle phones through your service provider. Sprint, for example, will recycle your old phone and credit your account. It doesn’t seem worth it to recycle through the other carriers, though – they tend to use the phones for tax deductions; not that there is anything wrong with that, but if there is a tax deduction involved you might as well cash in on it yourself through one of the above mentioned services.

Dishpan Hands Go Green

You've cooked up a tasty meal of fresh, local ingredients. Maybe you even relaxed with a glass of organic wine. Now it's time to
clean up after dinner.

What if your charmingly retro house or tiny apartment doesn't include an automatic dishwasher? Can handwashing the dirty pots and pans still be earth-friendly? Sure, but it takes a little elbow grease.

An oft-quoted study from the University of Bonn, Germany, found that people who hand-washed dishes used 27 gallons of water and 2.5 kWh of water-heating energy on average to clean 12 place settings. This was dramatically less efficient than the dishwashing machines tested -- they used about 4 gallons of water and 1 to 2 kWh of energy.

But if you just can't afford an Energy-Star machine right now (or, like me, your 1940s kitchen is too narrow for one to fit into!), you can still learn to wash dishes better.

First, install an aerator on your faucet. These inexpensive little devices turn a wasteful sink into a low-flow water saver, and you won't really notice any lack of drippage. Put one in the bathroom sink too, while you're at it. It'll cost you maybe $3 per faucet.

Next, scrape your dishes after eating, instead of rinsing. You shouldn't need to soak them unless food has burned on. And try not to let food sit and dry on dishes, if possible.

When it's time to wash a load, do it efficiently by using dishpans or getting a plug for your sink. If you wash dishes with the faucet running, you might as well pour money down the drain. Your water bill goes up, valuable resources are lost, both you and the planet suffer. Who wants that?

Wash the dishes in a pan of hot water and rinse in a pan of cool water. Or if you have a double sink, use plugs and fill up the sinks.

Fun Things To Do in April

04/17 to 04/19 - Toledo Mud Hens vs.Indianapolis Indians at Victory Field
04/18 to 04/25 - Sesame Street Live: Elmo's Green Thumb at The Murat Centre
04/20 to 04/25 - A Chorus Line at Clowes
Memorial Hall of Butler University
04/24 - Earth Day Indiana Festival at White River State Park
04/25 - Spring Choral Concert at Christel
DeHaan Fine Arts Center at the University of Indianapolis
04/25 - Mutt Strut at Indianapolis Motor Speedway
04/28 - A Celebration of the Life of Ryan Whitefeaturing Elton John at Clowes Memorial Hall of Butler University

Current Market Statistics - Marion County

Look for Hendricks County statistics in next month’s newsletter.