Fall Aster

Native plants have adapted to our hot, dry conditions and will require far less water. They’ve also evolved to handle our local bugs and pests, so they’ll stay healthier and so will you because you won’t be needing those carcinogenic chemicals! Less pesticide use also means less chemicals running into our waterways.

Texas Lantana

These local lovelies also attract birds and butterflies, exponentially increasing the beauty of your landscape. Add a rain barrel or two, and you may never pay to water your landscape again!

Blackfoot Daisy

The City of Austin Watershed Protection has a great site and they publish a beautiful, full color guide to help you in your selections. They even have a resource to help you design your landscape!

So go forth and plant green! And yellow, and purple and red…

In our words, we’re very excited to find a source for inexpensive refurbished rain barrels. The planter boxes are made from re-purposed fencing and I’m certain they’ll find their way into more than one Figger’s garden/porch.

I think Charlene is very seriously considering the Adirondack chairs as the plastic ones tend to bend in the Texas heat.

I’m in love with this bench:

The verdict: A great, family owned, local company that we hope you support along with us!

• Get rid of the bottled water. Drink tap water, get a filter or make a tiny investment in a reusable drinking vessel.
• Eat less meat and/or cheese. Animal products heavily contribute to carbon. Even if you just cut it out once a week, you’ll make a huge difference.
• Try growing a few vegetables. You don’t have to have a full garden. Maybe a container or two on the porch. You’ll know it’s fresh, pesticide free, and you will shop a bit less in the produce section.
• Keep your vehicle’s tires properly inflated. The recommended psi is inside of your door jam. This will make your vehicle a bit more fuel efficient.
• Rain barrels can be an expense and you may (like me) live in an apartment. We use a couple of buckets to trap water when it rains and we use that water to nourish our plants on the porch.
• Walk to your corner store or bike to the grocery store. I just purchased very inexpensive panniers for my bicycle and I may never drive for groceries again.
• Shop at second hand stores. Even if I’m flush, I still do this. It helps reduce production of new materials and I find I enjoy that pretty skirt more knowing that it was inexpensive and reduced my carbon footprint.
• Low-flow toilets can be a great way to reduce water consumption. Again, I live in an apartment and even if I didn’t, I wouldn’t want to replace a perfectly good toilet just to reduce water. Put a brick in the cistern! It will displace the water so that the toilet uses less to refill the tank.

Chime in and share your great, low-cost carbon footprint reducing ideas!

We all know some things about fish. They’re chock full of Omega-3 and good fat, plenty of protein. Most people know that we have over-fished many populations and that new fishing regulations are slowly helping rebuild our wild stock. We like fresh over frozen because it tastes better. But do we, as a large group, pay attention to wild versus farmed? The subject is coming up more and more and I was able to glean some useful information.

Basically, go for wild caught when you can. Frozen, if that’s what it takes. Don’t get me wrong, there are some responsible fish farms out there and I’ll give you some links at the end of this post. But for the most part, a lot of the farms are using pesticides, antibiotics and dyes. Studies of the Omega-3 and protein content of farm raised fish have shown that they have less of both. I didn’t stop there. I kept looking for the most recent information I could find on fishies and fisheries.

There are definitely wonderful changes in the fish farming industries. There are farms that don’t use antibiotics, pesticides, GMOs or cloned fish. There are even changes in the diets of these farm raised fish that have brought up the natural level of Omega-3 you usually find in wild caught fish.

Go forth and find healthy fish for you and your family:

GreenYour – great resource of links and ways to make sure your fishing is responsible.

Whole Foods – Whole Food’s stance on their farm sourced fish. We here in ATX have plenty of stores.

CleanFish – while not exactly consumer based, you can find restaurants in Austin they recommend and there is some good information in general on the site.

Happy Fishing!

Consumers have been running around, looking for ways to make their homes greener and bamboo flooring and textile has been a way to attempt to accomplish these eco goals.

I made a pro and con list from some research I’ve done about bamboo, it’s processing and it’s effects on the environment.

The ‘con’ side of bamboo includes soil depletion, a lack of biodiversity where it is grown and it’s exportation costs. Many companies use urea to finish bamboo flooring, a chemical that is a type of formaldehyde that is a Volatile Organic Compound (VOC). Farmers that were profiting from increased bamboo production are now trying to keep up with larger producers and have resorted to using pesticides and fertilizers that seep into the water. Bamboo doesn’t really need these things unless you’re trying to mass produce the product for a larger profit.

The ‘pro’ side argues that bamboo depletes the soil less than trees and in fact, produces more oxygen. It has a high yield and is fast growing while controlling soil erosion. Bamboo  can be grown alongside other crops, minimizing negative effects on biodiversity. Shipping timber coast to coast in the US uses as much fuel as exporting bamboo from Asia.

So what is a consumer to do? What we’ve always recommended. Do your research! Some textile manufacturers like White Apricot use a ‘closed loop’ process that recycles the harmful chemicals involved in turning bamboo into cloth. They do not let the chemicals reach water. There are companies, like EcoTimber, that do not use urea in the finishing of their floor products. In fact, EcoTimber goes one step further in stating that unless a hardwood floor manufacturer is certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), you cannot be sure that you are getting a product that was managed by best practices.

Did you know that bamboo products are easily recycled and are digested in sewage? They break down in waste treatment in 80 days. Cotton and wool are also exported. If you look into it, unless it’s organic cotton, it actually is more harmful than bamboo.

Sure, there are drawbacks to bamboo. But there are drawbacks to any product. You have to stay informed and really look at the product you are buying and the company that produces it. There are no easy answers to staying green and doing the very best that we can. We have to put some effort into it!

Happy cleaning and happy research!

EcoClean on Guadalupe is centrally located and offers a delivery service that helps keep more people from driving to and fro. They also have eco-friendly bags!

We all have heard that dry cleaning is bad for the environment, but have you looked into the ‘why’? I did, and while I generally don’t own anything that I feel needs to be dry cleaned, there is the occasional special garment or blanket that could use expert services.

Most dry cleaners use a solvent commonly known as ‘Perc’. If you’re into the science part of it, Wikipedia has all the details you’ll ever need.

Trimming down to the basics, the things that concern me the most are the following:

California declared perc a toxic chemical back in 1991. Minimal exposure to it can cause dizziness, headaches, nausea and irritate the skin and respiratory system. Longer exposure leads to further badness. Like cancer or neurological effects. This chemical can be brought home on the garments you were having ‘cleaned’. And if perc spills? It doesn’t stop until it hits ground water.

How do we stop this? By not using it! EcoClean makes it very convenient. And if you’re willing to spend a bit more time, you can probably take care of most of your stains at home, safely and naturally!

Happy laundering!

So, in discussing blog subjects with the inimitable Charlene, I finally heard (because I always listen) her suggestions for some topics. We don’t have to be all about cleaning here! We’re green, which encompasses a whole host of as yet unexplored possibilities. Look for a more diverse subject matter hitting this page soon!

There was something on my mind today that I wanted to let people know about. Sometimes, equipment can make the difference. Being a photographer, we learn that it is the person and their ‘eye’ that makes the photograph, not the fancy camera. My mind opened when I was using one of the new floor mop rags that I had purchased from reusit. I noticed that since it hasn’t been washed (in Seventh Generation) countless times, that it was more efficient at picking up dirt. The new, deep waffle pattern hadn’t yet been degraded from hundreds of washes and dries. So, while we strive to use everything to it’s fullest potential, sometimes we have to let go. The old rags will rotate into use as counter wipes and general cleaners until they have enough holes in them that even this task is too much.

So, what does everyone have planned this weekend? SXSW is over and the roads are clear, the weather is conducive to outdoor activities!

Happy Cleaning and have a relaxing, fun-filled weekend!

Kids these days.

They’re pretty great, actually.

It often appears to the parents as if I’m some sort of Pied Piper to their children. I know that it’s just the novelty of having someone new in their homes.

However, children can absolutely help around the house. It can be fun, too! I remember one client had told her kids that I was the cleaning fairy. Besides being sweet (and not calling me ‘the maid’,) this gave me an idea.

The Cleaning Fairy Game

Game Pieces:

• a tulle skirt or elfin shoes
• an elfin hat or tiara
• microfiber cloth (optional)
• tiny broom (optional)

Goals:

• dust
• sweep
• organize toys/books

Guidlines:

• Set a timer. Use age and attention span appropriate times, usually 3 to 15 minutes. You know your kids best!
• Only bring out the game pieces for the game.
• Invite them to play and try to avoid making it an order. (I was a foot-stamper as a child, but I’d do anything if I was asked to help!)
• Ask which goal they would like to play that session.

We invite you to come up with your own games and share them here with other parents looking for inspiration.

Happy Cleaning!

There are two standouts, though, that I admire every time I’m in their homes. Privacy concerns stop me from naming them, but they know who they are!

Both have children, pets and careers. They hang much of their laundry. They have gardens, rain barrels and compost. They keep natural grasses and plants in their yards that can take the ATX heat and conserve water. They use natural, organic products in their hair, on their skin and in the laundry. Their windows are open this time of year and it gets dusty, but I don’t mind because I know what they’re saving and it’s not just money. They have cloth products instead of disposables and use towels instead of paper towels. In short, they take the time and make the effort. Hats off to these two lovely ladies and their family members!

Happy (green) Cleaning!

I’ve seen a few brands repeatedly amongst the cleaning supplies our clients (and we ourselves) keep. I thought I would check out some of the details about the ingredients of these popular products since some clients have asked what our thoughts are.

Mrs. Meyer’s:

Nothing smells as heavenly or comforting as Mrs. Meyer’s. According to their site, they have no antibacterial agents by design.

If used incorrectly, antibacterial agents can actually strengthen bacteria, evolving a ‘super bacteria’. My research on essential oils turns up the very same conclusions. Mrs. Meyer’s philosophy is that normal, well kept households just need soap and water cleaning regularly.

Method:

Method brand offers two types of product. The ‘regular’ brand and antibacterial versions. since products go through testing to achieve that label, I’m concluding that the percentage of botanical oils is high enough to be effective, which is great news.

Seventh Generation:

Seventh Generation offers a similar lineup, but their antibacterial is based on (and smells like) Thymol. ‘Nough said, that’s already in my cabinet!

So it all boils down to this: What to you want to accomplish? A house can smell and look and even be clean with soap and water. the antibacterial solutions take a bit of time to sit and silently kill, but we at the Fig let things ‘cook’ so that’s what we use.

Keep in mind what you want the product to do, read the website and not just the label and you should be just fine.

Happy Cleaning!