September Meeting Recap: How to Clean Naturally & Reduce In-Home Chemical Use

Julie Ruffolo delivers an engaging presentation at September Greener Grove Meeting

Conversations around green DIY household cleaners often start with questions like “Why should I make my own household cleaners?”, “Are DIY cleaners any good? I like things really clean.” and “Don’t you have to use special ingredients?” 

Greener Grove member Julie Ruffolo addressed these questions and others at our September meeting. We concluded the night with mixing up a natural scouring scrub to use on sinks and tubs using easy-to-find (and often on hand) ingredients. 

Why Make Your Own Natural Cleaners

Many of the store-bought cleaners have ingredients that go above and beyond what is needed for tackling everyday cleaning projects at home. And, given their ingredient list, have an impact on…  

• Health - The individual chemicals used in cleaning products often have health risks. For example, many come with warnings to only use the product in well-ventilated spaces. Or, include detailed safety measures to follow if, for example, the product splashes on unprotected skin. Long term, we are all exposed to chemicals from an array of sources. Scientists are even finding that chemicals are with us from the beginning: According to an article in The Guardian, toxic PFAS chemicals are found in umbilical cord blood samples which can lead to health challenges throughout life. Converting to DIY cleaning products is one way to reduce in-home chemical use. 

• Environment - Many cleaning products eventually make it down the drain or into the soil - for example, when we empty a bucket of soapy water used to wash the kitchen floor. Using natural ingredients like lemons, baking soda, and white vinegar to clean is much kinder to the environment. To learn more about wastewater treatment in Downers Grove, visit the Downers Grove Sanitary District website or attend one of their open houses.  

• Indoor Air Quality - Artificial scents used to make our home “smell” clean and mask chemical smells can lower indoor air quality - and be harmful to people with asthma and allergies. 

• Cost - Cleaning supplies are expensive compared to the DIY alternative. 

Check the environmental score of the cleaning products in your utility closet on the Environmental Working Group (EWG) website. 

Common Ingredients in DIY Household Cleaners

Many of the key ingredients used in DIY household cleaning recipes come straight from your pantry or fruit bowl; others can be found online or at most grocery stores…

• Fresh lemon juice

• Baking soda

• White vinegar

• Club soda

• Borax - like 20 Mule Team Borax

• Liquid soap - like Dr. Bronner’s Unscented Pure Castile Soap

• Washing soda - like Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda

Here’s how these ingredients work on different stains (see recipes further down in this post):

Other cleaning products/supplies to have on hand include:

• Spray bottles for holding your DIY liquid cleaners

• Wide mouth jars with tight-fitting lids for holding DIY cleaning powders

• Cotton rags

• Cellulose sponges

• Squeegee (great for wiping down shower walls after each shower)

  
  

DIY Recipes

Here are several common recipes for everyday cleaning projects to try in your own home:  

Acid Cleaners Lemon Juice Club Soda Vinegar	Use on Rust Soap Scum Water Spots
Basic Cleaners Soap Baking Soda Borax Washing Soda	Use on Body Oil Food Stains General Dirt & Grime

Cleaning Projects that Call for Something Stronger

Many of the DIY recipes work best on everyday cleaning tasks. Staying on top of cleaning projects before they become big ones helps to minimize the need for stronger solutions. When that is unavoidable or the stain/issue is beyond what a DIY product can do, spend a few minutes researching more green options. For example, check out these sites: 

• Blueland 

• Environmental Protection Agency’s Safer Choice website - Helps consumers find products that are more safe for human health and the environment. 

• Environmental Working Group - Search for products that have the EWG Verified mark

• Meliora Cleaning Products

Follow us on Facebook, too, to learn about member experiences with different products - and share your own. 

We’ve shared some great links in this article. Here are a couple of others to check out - Toxic Free Future and Allergy Buyers Club.

Take Action - Clean Up Your Utility Closet

So, to green up your household cleaning chores, give some of these DIY recipes a go. Take it a step further by surveying all the cleaning products you use, including laundry and dishwasher detergents. Look at the ingredient list and the packaging - even those pods and laundry sheets contain plastics. Can you replace the cleaning products you currently use with more environmentally-kind, human-friendly solutions?

Join us at our next meeting on October 22nd:

August Meeting Recap: Understanding Recycling

Greener Grove Meeting August 27. 2024

One of the easiest ways to have a positive impact on our environment is to recycle everyday items like food packaging, boxes, and plastic bags. Key to the success of any community recycling program is making sure what goes into a recycling bin belongs there - and that is where it can get complex.  

Amy Glawe presentation @ Downers Grove Public LIbrary

At our August meeting, Greener Grove member and Senior ESG Portfolio Manager Amy Glawe shared her expertise about how the recycling process works, what industry is doing to improve recycling (especially in the area of plastics), and specifics about recycling here in Downers Grove. 

The Recycling Process and Industry Changes

The recycling process begins with collecting items at curbside or recycling drop-off locations, then processors sort the items by material, manufacturers reprocess materials into new items/inputs which are then delivered to end markets. 

We’ll dig into curbside sorting guidelines below but keep in mind that the choices we make as to what to put into the bin has a big impact when those items are processed: For example, if plastic grocery bags or plastic wraps make it onto the recycling conveyor belt and get entangled in the equipment, it can shut a line down for hours and cost thousands of dollars as they work to clean it out. 

Innovation is happening along the way, especially as manufacturers set goals aimed at using more recycled content in their products and making their products easier to recycle or reuse. One example Amy shared is how toothpaste tubes used to contain a layer of foil, which made the tubes difficult to recycle. Colgate developed a new tube that eliminates the foil layer. Rather than keeping this to themselves, they shared this innovation with other toothpaste manufacturers so that they could adopt this in their own processes. Check your own toothpaste tubes - as long as they don’t have foil, you can toss used ones into the recycling bin. 

Partnerships between the public and private sectors are forming to help identify opportunities for reducing and eliminating waste and educating the public. For example, Circular Great Lakes is bringing many voices to the table to find solutions aimed at eliminating plastics in the Great Lakes.  Find out more on the Circular Great Lakes website.

Recycling Guidelines

Below are general guidelines about recycling specific materials. Always consider, too, if you can reuse an item. For example, use an empty jar as a flower vase… if you are composting, add cardboard to your compost pile. (See our composting post from last month’s meeting here.)

Material	Recycling Benefits	Recycling Guidelines
Plastics	Can be recycled up to about 5 times Reduced fossil fuel consumption CO2 emission reduction Can be used to produce new plastic bottles, decking, outdoor furniture, etc.	Recycle items that are larger than a 2” cube Leave caps on bottles  Rinse bottle out first Number 1- PET - water, Gatorade, soda bottles Number 2- HDPE - milk jugs, detergent bottles Number 5 - PP - containers, cups NO plastic bags, plastic wrappers from food or packaging; bubble wrap; packing peanuts, styrofoam
Cardboard	Can be recycled approx 5 to 7 times Preserves natural resources Reduces water usages Goes into new products Reduces energy/GHG emissions	Flatten boxes Recycle pizza boxes after removing food residue Remove any plastic liners or bags first NO wet or soiled cardboard or used paper plates
Paper	Can be recycled approx 5 to 7 times Helps preserve trees	Make sure paper pieces are LARGER than a credit card Remove staples and paper clips NO tissue paper, paper towels, napkins, or (most) wrapping paper
Glass	Conserves our natural resources 80% of recycled glass ends up as new glass containers, tiles and flooring, and other products	Not all communities allow glass recycling. Downers Grove currently accepts glass - clear, brown, and green

Source: Amy Glawe, Presentation to Greener Grove.

Take Action - Recycling in Downers Grove

A big takeaway from our August meeting: We can all up our game when it comes to recycling, sharing what we learned with others in our community. 

Recycling guidelines change over time, check the Village’s recycling page from time to time. Currently, the Village of Downers Grove website lists the following items that are accepted for recycling by Republic Services: 

A caveat about wrapping paper. Many types are not recyclable includes:

• Foil: Foil wrapping paper should be thrown away.

• Metallic: Metallic wrapping paper should be thrown away.

• Heavily laminated: Heavily laminated wrapping paper should be thrown away.

• Glitter: Wrapping paper with glitter should be thrown away.

• Plastics: Wrapping paper with plastics should be thrown away. 

Before recycling wrapping paper, it's best to remove any bows, ribbons, or sticky tape. When in doubt, throw it out!

As mentioned above, but is worth repeating, flexible plastic wrap and plastic bags including plastic shopping bags and ziplock bags CAN NOT GO INTO RECYCLING BINS. Here in the Downers Grove area, Jewel, Fresh Thyme, and Mariano’s all accept these items - much of which is used by NexTrex to make decking and outdoor furniture. You can learn more here - https://nextrex.com/ and https://nextrex.com/view/educate.

Home Compost Meeting Recap and Clarification

There were so many great questions at the July 23rd Greener Grove Home Composting meeting, we wanted to follow up with a quick recap to aid in improving everyone's home composting experience.  

Active and Passive Composting Processes

Composting can be as passive or as active an endeavor as you choose to make it. 

An active composting process, also called hot composting, involves turning the compost on a regular basis. This will speed the decomposition process along as the pile heats up to somewhere around 120 to 160 degrees Fahrenheit and bacteria breaks down the organic matter. You can begin using the compost in about 6 months. It will have the consistency of coffee grounds.

A passive composting process, also called cold composting, is simply adding materials like food and yard waste to your compost pile and leaving it alone to decompose. It's recommended that you dig in food scraps to a depth of about 12” to deter pests and flies. You can begin using the compost in about 12 months.

The key takeaways are that either way you compost, you are:

• Creating a valuable garden soil amendment or mulch from materials otherwise seen as waste

• Saving money

• Diverting organic waste from the landfill, thereby reducing greenhouse gas emissions

Getting Started

The first step in composting is creating a space in which to compost. 

The Bin/Pile

This can be as simple as a pile in the corner of your yard or a purchased container that rotates to mix the materials. Many folks choose to construct a bin out of wood and or wire to contain the organic material. These materials can be re-claimed, such as pallets or old fencing. 

Many gardeners find that a bin that has an open front or a removable side is most effective. This provides an easy access point to load the organic material, to turn the pile as needed, and from which to remove the finished compost for use in your yard and garden. It is recommended that the space you create be three feet square (3’x3’x3’) or larger.  This volume holds enough for effective decomposition to occur, creating and holding enough of the heat from the decomposition process to kill off possible weed seeds and other pathogens.  Creating a larger bin or a multiple bin system is certainly possible if you need to hold greater volume.  There are many images and plans available online.

The Place

Your compost pile/bin can be wherever you want, but consider access in & out, size of bin you need and working space available around it. 

What To Add

Once a bin is constructed or purchased, and is set up in your yard, you are ready to begin. You can add most any organic material to your bin. All leaves, grass clippings, weeds pulled from your yard are all excellent materials to be added to the mix and in many gardens make up the majority of what is put in the bin. Other outdoor generated materials could include wood ash from a fire pit, straw bedding waste from pets/chickens, sawdust or wood shavings (if not from treated lumber) and evergreen needles. Materials generated indoors that can also be incorporated into the compost pile include; coffee grounds, egg shells, vegetable scraps, tea bags, and shredded paper (avoid glossy/shiny finished paper). DON’T INCLUDE any meat waste, grease, cat/dog manure, fats or oils. These are things that can attract unwanted visitors. In general, materials from plants are good and material from animals should be avoided.

Several questions were asked about woody materials such as sticks, branches, or stiff stalks of larger plants.  All of these are definitely compostable material, but take much longer to break down and decompose.  If you have a way to grind them up, before adding them to the pile, then certainly do.  Otherwise, it was suggested to tie them up and place them at the curb for yard waste pick up where they will be ground up and composted.  Materials that are stiff, but not woody, like large seed pods or taller weeds can be mowed up with most lawn mowers and then added to the compost pile.

Within the pile, natural organisms break down the materials you have added through the process known as decomposition.  These organisms use the carbon and nitrogen found in the materials added to the pile.  Most materials added to the compost pile are thought of in two categories, browns and greens.  The browns provide the carbon and the greens the nitrogen.  Ideally, a mix of three to four parts browns to one part greens is desired, but this definitely fluctuates for the seasons.  Here are a few examples of these materials.

BROWNS	GREENS
Fall leaves	Grass clippings
Shredded paper and cardboard	Vegetable scraps
Woody chips	Trimmings from annual plants
Straw	Fruits peels and cores
Saw dust	Coffee grinds and tea bags
Dryer lint and cotton fabric	Egg shells

The Process

You don’t have to be exact about this. Turning or mixing the organic materials keeps your decomposition going and the organisms happy as their carbon and nitrogen needs are available throughout the pile.

If you have chosen a bin that is elevated off the ground you may want to throw some more finished compost in to “seed” the decomposition organisms for the process.  If your bin is just on the ground, there is no need to add anything further as the soil under the pile will provide opportunity for organisms to enter from below.

With the organic material now in the pile, your want or ability to speed the process will be driven by how much you turn the materials.  A key element resulting from turning is the reintroduction of air (oxygen) to the process.  Decomposition requires both oxygen and water to progress effectively.  There were several questions about adding water to the pile, but under most conditions, natural rainfall will provide what is necessary to keep the pile moist.  You don’t want the material to stay saturated.

You will notice the pile will drop or go down over time if you aren’t adding to it much.  This is a good sign that the decomposition process is occurring.  While the material on the outer edge may not look that different, a couple of inches into the pile should reveal some nice “earthy” humus.  You shouldn’t recognize much in this finished material as decomposition has turned your yard and kitchen waste into a natural gift for your plants and soils.

There were several questions on vermiculture (worm bin composting); those we will save for another post.

If you have any further questions on home yard composting, please ask us here at Greener Grove. Alternatively, the DuPage County Master Gardener Help Desk can be reached at 630-955-1123.