Eco Green Tips

photo credit: Lachlan Hardy

Vinegar is one of the most versatile natural products available and can be used not only in cooking and making a tasty salad dressing but as a potent cleaning agent around your house as well. It is inexpensive and can serve as a disinfectant, fungicide and a fabric softener, to name a few. And most importantly, vinegar is a safer and more environmentally friendly alternative to the chemical cleaning products, which not only are toxic but pose many health risks as well.

Here are a few tips for vinegar use around the house:

?  Mixed with water, vinegar is a powerful and environmentally safe all-purpose cleaner.

?  It can be used for cleaning old paint brushes instead of turpentine.

?  Vinegar is a great antiseptic that can be used on minor injuries.

?  Can be used to ease the pain on minor burns and stings as well as speed the healing of bruises (soak a cotton pad or ball in vinegar and apply to the bruise).

?  Great for removing pet stains and odors (dab a small amount of vinegar to the area and wipe off).

?  Works well to combat mold and soap scum as well as various stains around your house.

?  Mixed with water, vinegar is an effective and streak-free glass cleaner.

?  It can be used as for polishing stainless steel or chrome.

?  Pouring boiled white vinegar down the drain will remove all the clogs.

?  It can be used as a deep facial cleanser and it helps with preventing dandruff.

?  Serves well as an oven cleaner (soak tough baked on stains for a while in vinegar and then remove with a sponge).

?  Adding vinegar to your laundry will keep the fabrics soft. Spraying some on the stains will make the removing process a piece of cake.

?  Placing a bowl of vinegar in an area where you want to get rid of bad odor works well too. The smell of vinegar will evaporate quickly, if it bothers you.

These are only a few of the numerous uses this incredibly handy and multipurpose product offers. Combined with other natural agents, such as baking soda, lemons and borax, there is absolutely no need for harsh chemical cleaner to creep their way into your household. And these natural cleaners are so much more inexpensive!

According to the latest Reuters report, greenhouse gasses (which are the greatest contributor to the global warming) hit record highs last year and are still steadily rising. The World Meteorological Organization stated that concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2) and nitrous oxide (N2O) reached the highest levels yet in 2007, and methane was recorded at its highest annual increase in a decade.

Furthermore, both CO2 and N2O have been increasing steadily and the scientists say they do not see signs of reducing their levels any time soon. And the more greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere (emitted by factories, cars, agriculture and nearly every area of modern life), the more climate problems we will face, such as rising sea levels, increasing intensity of storms and hurricanes, more heat waves and droughts.

It seems that the only positive news is the decreasing amount of ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbons, which is the result of the 1987 Montreal Protocol designed to protect the layer of ozone (which blocks the harmful solar rays) by phasing out the use of all ozone depleting substances.

Unfortunately, the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012 and the governments all over the world are trying to come up with a new treaty that hopefully will include the United States (one of the biggest gas emissions contributor) as well as developing countries like India and China and will commit them to some form of emissions targets.