Green & Clean

Queen of Clean Linda Cobb shares some fabric softener tips.

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Are you the green hero around your office? Or would you like to be?

Most workplaces could benefit from a few green tips, whether it’s more recycling, switching Styrofoam cups for reusable mugs or scoring a day off for carpooling. But sometimes worker bees and bosses alike just need a little inspiration (after all, no one really wants to screw the environment). That’s why the folks over at Small Business Trends have launched a contest:

“Please share a tip about how YOU are going green in your business, or how others can go green. No matter how small you think a green activity is, it’s worthwhile. And I want to hear from you…I will publish the best ones in a “Top 100 Tips for Going Green in Your Business” roundup.”

To sweeten the deal, Small Business Trends is going to randomly select one entrant and give them an HP computer suite. Nice! Enter over at Small Business Trends.

You can also win green cleaning supplies from Ecover

Consumer Reports tested a combination of chemical as well as eco friendly shower cleaners to see which worked best.   They tested tiles covered with soap scum, rust, & mildew and none of the chemical aerosols were able to break down the grime.  However, GreenWorks natural bathroom cleaner toped the list as the most effective shower cleaner

Click here to win FREE Green Cleaning Supply’s from Ecover

Gone are the days when houseboats were pokey little barges, all of a similar design. These days you can find some truly amazing designer floating homes in a variety of different shapes and sizes. Many are eco-friendly, while offering the style-conscious homeowner a designer home. Here we present seven really cool floating homes.

Confused-Direction

1. Schwimmhaus

This elegant houseboat, designed by German architects Confused-Direction, is ideal for those looking for a compact, stylish and environmentally friendly floating home. Built using reclaimed wood from an old farmhouse and other sustainable building materials, the green roof adds to the eco-friendly appeal. The simple-yet-sleek interior design offers all the conveniences you could want and is thoroughly modern and unique. The Schwimmhaus was designed to float around or to stay docked permanently.

X-Architects

2. Dubai Houseboat

As with most architectural designs coming out of Dubai, this houseboat is simply stunning. The 220-square meter home was cleverly designed by Dubai-based architectural firm X-Architects. Set on two catamaran beams, this two-story structure is practically encased solely in glass windows, allowing sunlight to flood the interior. It’ll take the average person more than a few bank loans to get their hands on the swish fittings and up-market features of this chic and spacious floating home, even if it’s just to rent for a week!

Covey Island Boatworks

3. Arctic Houseboat

The term “really cool” takes on new meaning with this amazing houseboat, developed specifically for the Arctic winter. Inspired by the Inuit practice of turning their hunting boats upside down for winter shelter, the builders of this unique structure — Covey Island Boatworks — took the idea to a new level by creating a prefabricated, highly insulated home that can endure harsh climates. Equipped with solar, wind and marine power systems, this self-contained unit can be placed virtually anywhere. The interior is cozy and compact and contains all the modern conveniences most people crave.

Mark Kingsley Architects

4. Floating Solar House

Environmentally conscious, UK-based Kingsley Architects have reinvented caravan holidays with these unique and eco-friendly solar-powered houseboats. Apparently, the ingenious design enables the structure to be totally self-sufficient for up to a year at a time. It can also be docked at a floating home community to utilize their power, fresh water and sewage treatment facilities. Similar in design to a campervan, this 75-square meter houseboat has an open kitchen and living area space, with enclosed sleeping areas in the back.

Vladimir Plotkin/Archstoyanie

5. Summer Houseboat

This completely unique design, by Russian architect Vladimir Plotkin, was created for the 2008 Archstoyanie Summer Festival in Russia, where the theme was Noah’s Ark. A rather odd-looking structure, the giant disc-like living space is suspended above a floating platform and is accessed via ladders. The interior is very compact, but by no means claustrophobic. The lattice walls ensure constant ventilation and the large portholes provide ample natural light.

www.planeboats.com

6. Cosmic Muffin

This extraordinary home certainly gets tongues wagging. Once owned by Howard Hughes, the 1930’s Boeing 307 Stratoliner was converted into a houseboat, and is now a famous tourist attraction in Fort Lauderdale. Surprisingly roomy inside, it houses a small sleeping area and bathroom at the rear of the aircraft, while the main hull is dedicated to living space that features a large bar area and even a PC workstation.

www.keralagreenery.org

7. Indian Luxury Houseboat

This beautiful houseboat is an ideal holiday home for those wishing to explore Southern India without having to change hotels on a regular basis. This two-bedroom, three-bathroom luxury houseboat is fully air conditioned and even has a Jacuzzi onboard. All the crew are English-speaking and there is a chef aboard to whip up amazing gourmet meals. What a wonderful way of seeing the rural area of Kerala!

From the staff of moneycompare.com.au

The dailygreen.com is giving away Ecover Green Cleaning Supplies.

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Win toilet bowl cleaner from Ecover, made with natural ingredients to put the “green” back in your clean and to help the environment, too!

by Lylah M. Alphonse

I try to watch what my kids watch, which means that the commercials I sit through are geared mostly either to kids (Toys! Games! Candy!) or to moms (Body wash! Convenience foods! Cleaning products!). Or, I should say, “moms,” because really, a commercial pitched to directly me, and most of the working moms I know, would involve wine and sleep.

The commercials for cleaning products bug me the most, because they just seem completely unrealistic. I mean, really — who takes time away from their work-life juggle to wipe down an already pristine living room? I’m looking at you, makers of a certain multi-surface cleaner, the commercial for which caught my eye the other morning. A woman, in a glass cage filled with already-clean kitchen appliances and cabinets, quips that she doesn’t have time to clean because she has to go pick up her kids, but is able to wipe up a few smudges and smears without having to use several different cleaners. After she’s done, the place looks exactly the same, but she looks tired and relieved.

I don’t know about you, but my housework workload would not be significantly reduced by not having to switch cleaning products while dusting my bookshelves. For one thing, my bookshelves are too cluttered for me to see the actual shelving and, for another, who’s going to scrutinize my bookshelves besides my mom, who gave up on my cleaning decades ago?

I guess I just don’t relate to these commercials. Who are these women? I do not have snow-white carpets throughout my home and, if I did, I would not smile and sigh ruefully when my child spills a glass of grape juice upon it, because who lets their preschoolers wander through the house with open, breakable glasses of anything, let alone something that stains?

I do not vacuum a perfect pattern into my carpets — I vacuum to stop dog-hair tumbleweeds from forming, and to pick up crumbs that are so big my toddler would try to snack on them if I didn’t get to them first. My bathroom is not bigger than my living room; it is not filled with dainty accessories, and I have never looked around it in smiling satisfaction while leaning against my mop. I do not gracefully traipse down the stairs, in a cute little dress with matching purse and perfect lipstick and high heels, to go walk the dog. I never stop on my way out the door to inhale the perfumed air of my home.

Here’s my reality: My dog gets pushed out the partway open door so that my neighbors don’t catch a glimpse of me looking the way I do in the morning, while I sniff the air to make sure I’ve gotten him out into the yard on time. My carpets are hardwood, and any actual carpeting in my house needs more than a spray can of cleaner to make them look like new again.

If you want me to buy your products, you’re going to need to come up with a commercial that shows me how they really work. Take a harried mom — I’d prefer you use a dad, but I’m not completely unrealistic; with certain wonderful exceptions, women still do the bulk of the housework. So, take a busy working mom who can’t afford a cleaning service, and show me how your amazing product will make the kitchen full of dirty dishes, the mountain of laundry, the crunchy carpeting, the pile of mismatched shoes in the entry way, and the smudged windows all be magically clean by the time she gets home in the evening.

That’s a commercial I’d be happy to watch. And I might even buy your product.

Lylah M. Alphonse writes about juggling career and parenthood at The 36-Hour Day and Work It, Mom!, is the Child Caring columnist for Boston.com/Moms, and blogs at Write. Edit. Repeat.

Queen of Clean — Clean Your Counters Naturally!

Indoor gardening is becoming a popular activity worldwide. Indoor plants not only detoxify the air, but also provide a charming and decorative addition to any home or apartment.  Below is a video guide showing you how to start your own indoor herb garden.

click image to play the movie

Simply choose herbs that compliment your cooking style. Chives, parsley, thyme, sage, and cilantro grow well indoors. Find small containers that fit your home’s style and have proper drainage. You can leave herbs in their original plastic containers and plant them in a larger container. This creates more room for the other herbs because their roots are contained. For fun, paint each pot with chalkboard paint. Then write the name of the herb on the pot.

Use gravel in the bottom for aeration and use a loose soil mix and fertilizer suited to your herbs’ needs. Herbs require air, water and plenty of sun so choose a south or west window.

Cut back herbs to keep plants from reseeding and turning bitter. Clean and snip as you need them and crush herbs to release flavor in food. Watch for bugs on your plants and clean the herbs weekly with soap and water if you see some pests. If your herbs aren’t getting enough sun, buy a “grow lamp” or fluorescent lamp from a garden center to supplement daylights. Water herbs regularly, but don’t flood them in water. Don’t use insecticides. You’ll be eating the herbs!

Now top off a favorite snack with a colorful sprig.

You can also click here to watch the video

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