My Green Winter Visit to NYC: Part 1

I am having the best time being a tourist in NYC even though I''ve lived here my entire life (until just 7 months ago). Here are some of the greener things I've done over the last few days:

I bought an Afro wig! It's acrylic, not so green, but a cute indulgence!

Pure Yoga: You don't need to be a member to visit Pure Yoga. You can take a workshop. I came to the Upper West Side location for JourneyDance class with the founder. I stayed for a little chillout on the comfy couches and in the steam room. Afterward I ate at Peacefood Cafe (all vegan) for the first time. It was okay, but next time I'll stick to my favorite local spot: Josie's. It's not all veg, but they have lots of tasty, hearty, and organic vegan fare.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts at MOB

Maimonide of Brooklyn (MOB): Interesting vegan deliciousness, that manages to dodge being crunchy, served in a clean, hip, and friendly environment. Brunch on weekends. Read more about them on their website or on Yelp.

Oh My Heavenly Hair Red Room Luxe Salon & Store: On my way to MOB, I was drawn to this natural hair salon that also sells their own line of herbal vegan hair and skin care products. The owner Debra was radiant, friendly, and forthcoming with tons of knowledge. I'll share an interview with her here soon! I also purchased some goodies for my mom, so I'll have her report back with a review here on the blog too.

Century 21:  If you don't mind getting fist and elbows with tourist, you can find some deeply discounted good stuff here. I spotted a rack of vegan handbags by Urban Expressions. I bought an awesome teal purse for $44 (the SRP was $70). I also saw lots of bamboo kitchen utensils, bamboo socks, organic cotton basics. Fun! I go to the financial district location, but other locations can be found on their website.

Champs: I met a friend for brunch at this bakery/ diner that manages to be popular despite the dirty bathroom and long waits. Once I ate my Buenos Dia Salad (flavorful tofu scramble, smoky tempeh, avocado, tomatoes, creamy chipotle dressing served on a plush bed of greens), I understood what all the fuss was about. Check 'em out on Yelp.

Sustainable NYC: I used to work at this shop that sells "eco-friendly versions of everyday products and gifts" so it's not really new-to-me, but it's totally worth mentioning. They've got everything from cards handmade by African lady artisan cooperatives to espresso drinks made with fair trade coffee roasted in Brooklyn. When I visited, I bought some awesome ecojot notebooks and econuts soap nuts and ate a yummy bowl of lemon chickpea soup. (Can't make it to NYC? You can buy gifts online at their website too.)

Discovered a new use for coconut oil: I shaved my legs with coconut oil for the first time and OMG! My legs are so smooth, even though I used a cheapo bic razor. I will never buy shaving cream again! During this trip, I've used coconut oil as: mouthwash (via oil pulling), body lotion, hand cream, conditioner, and shaving cream. Hooray for not needing to pack tons of personal care goodies! (Check out more uses of coconut oil here.)

Walking: I have done lots and lots of walking in the cold. I am sure I've lost 5 pounds in just 5 days. Walking is so superhealthy!
 
What have you been up to this week? What's green to do in your city? 

Thanks so much for reading this blog entry! I hope it was helpful. Please like Olivia Cleans Green on Facebook, join my email list, subscribe to my YouTube channel, follow me on Twitter, and subscribe to my blog posts (by RSS or email) to keep in touch and discover more creative green homemaking tips.

Check Out Your Green Resource

"Your Green Resource" is a weekly exchange of links to blog posts focusing on green, natural, frugal, and healthy tips and ideas. I just discovered YGR last week, but it's currently in its 68th week. (Whoa!)

Image via SortaCrunchy.net

I love all the creative tips that are being shared! A few of my favorite links this week include:

• 10 Tips to Kick the Sugar Habit
• How to Use Cloth Baby Wipes
• 15 Ways to Use Vinegar at Home
• Cooking with Cast Iron Review
• Homemade Shampoo Bar & Giveaway

Your Green Resource is hosted by: Stacy at A Delightful Home, Emily at Live Renewed, Mindy at Creating Naturally, Rebekah at Simply Rebekah, and Beth at Red and Honey. You can visit either of these blogs to join in on the fun; see what's there and share a green-themed post from your own blog.

Thanks so much for reading this blog entry! I hope it was helpful. Please like Olivia Cleans Green on Facebook, join my email list, subscribe to my YouTube channel, follow me on Twitter, and subscribe to my blog posts (by RSS or email) to keep in touch and discover more creative green homemaking tips.

Four Fantastic Pot & Pan Scrubbers

Burned cheese sauce, omelets, burned oil, crusty oatmeal... Whateves. They're no problem for these fantastic, all-natural pot scrubbers that you probably already have in your house.

Coffee

Image via the internets. Wish I had captured this in action before I gave up coffee.

Brew coffee at home? Reuse about 1 TBS of the spent grinds to scour your omelet off your stainless steel pan. Coffee grinds keep for several hours so you can use them later to remove other stubborn food from pots and pans. Just make sure you toss them out (or compost them) at the end of the day or else they'll be moldy. Also beware: This will dye your sponge, dish rag, and any other fabric it touches sepia.
This is my all time favorite scrubber! I've used coffee grinds to clean up a variety of burned, crusty food from stainless steel pots and pans and they always work brilliantly. It's so great, it's the thing I miss the most now that I've stopped drinking coffee regularly.


Pine Needles

Omelet meet Pine.

Pine needles have scour power and release a delightful smell. I saved a few branches of our Christmas tree before I tossed it out (making potporri) so I happened to have a lot on hand. You can pull pine needles off the branch, but it's no problem if some are still stuck to a little twig. That will help scour too! It takes about 2 TBS/ half a small handful to scour a pan.
I tried this for the first time today. It worked well to clean up my boyfriend's omelet pan and a pot that I used to cook burn vegan cheese sauce in, though I should note that I pre-soaked the cheesey pot in warm water while I ate breakfast. It isn't the best scrubber but it works well enough. Compost the pine needles when you're done with them.


Baking Soda + Dish Soap + Heat

I damaged this pan, but I also fixed it thanks to Melissa Maker's strategy.

This tip comes from Melissa Maker at Clean My Space. Check out her video and blog post for full details. It is more of a process than a one step fix, but it's a fantastic, low effort way to clean superdurty burned pots and pans. It requires no soaking, so this is great for when you've got company coming over or need to leave town right after you do dishes. It's also the easiest way to clean up burned oil. I imagine it's also safe for pans with non-stick coating so long as you use the soft side of the sponge in the final step.
Confession: This summer while apartment sitting, I badly burned a fancypants All-Clad pan while re-heating seitan cutlets. (Notice a pattern? Yes, I burn food. That's why this is a cleaning blog and not a cooking one.) I tried baking soda and a scouring pad: Fail. I added Ecover dish soap to baking soda and used a scouring pad: Fail. I tried Ecover soft scrub: Fail. Then over Christmas, I apartment sat in the same home and found the same pot was still burned. I tried this along with a scouring pad. Success! And it was so easy!!!
I've used Melissa's method with both Ecover and Seventh Generation brand dish detergent, so I don't think the brand of detergent matters much.

Plastic Produce Netting

This is an easy one. Save the plastic netting that comes with your onions, oranges, pistachios, potatoes- you know the kind, it's usually bright green or red...and  wrap it around your sponge. (The more times you wrap it around the sponge, the more scrubby it will be.) Use this to scrub pots. It's good at removing chunks of food from pre-soaked pots of burned rice and oatmeal.  Obviously plastic isn't natural, but it's a great way to reuse what would otherwise be trash. It's also reusable for as long as you want to keep it. Just remove the netting from the sponge and soak it in equal parts vinegar and water for 10 minutes every now and then to clean it.

Olivia Lane is a Blogger, Green Living Educator, and Health Coach trained at The Institute for Integrative Nutrition. She's also author of Baking Soda & Bliss: The Healthy & Happy Guide to Green Cleaning.   

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DIY Natural Cleaning Wipes

The lovely new-momma Jessica of Krrb recently asked me if I had any tips for making natural cleaning wipes. I'm a spray and wipe kinda gal, so I didn't have any.

I did end up trying this eventually. Here's a picture to prove it!

I took to the internets in search of DIY tutorials that readers loved and discovered one at Homemade Ginger: cut up old cotton t-shirt + diluted Dr. Bronner's + old wipes container  = cleaning wipes. Brilliant! Lots of Ginger's readers suggested adding antibacterial tea tree oil to keep the wipes from getting moldy. That seems like a good idea!

How to Clean a Refrigerator

I cleaned my fridge on Sunday. Cleaning the fridge is one of those things I love to whine about and struggle to avoid procrastinating on, but once I get going I realize: a) it's not that hard, b) it doesn't take that long, and c) the benefits are way awesomer than any I might have gained from sitting on the couch watching football for an extra thirty minutes.

When was the last time you cleaned your fridge from top to bottom? Can't remember. Maybe you should do it now. If you just went grocery shopping you get a pass to wait until next week, but do it then.

Here's how to clean a refrigerator the fast and green way.

This isn't my fridge. It belongs to vegan iron man, Rich Roll and is part of Well + Good's Refrigerator Look Book Series. I'm pretty sure all their participants clean their fridge before W + G comes over. They're always so clean!

How to Organize IKEA Hardware & Instructions

Hooray! Our new dining table and chairs just arrived. No more eating on the couch bent over a little coffee table. We're classing it up in 2013!

In case you are planning to buy, or recently purchased, furniture that requires assembly using weird bits and tools, I've got two tips that will help you keep things organized.

Save the weird tools and keys.
Put the tools in a sandwich baggie, jar, or other sealed container and label them. Store this with the rest of your tools.

Save the assembly instructions.
I store mine in a box with other manuals. It's true a lot of manuals are available online, but what if you move into a place before the WiFi is set up? What if searching the internet for your exact model makes your head explode? Always think ahead!
If it makes sense for you, save the bits in the box along with the manual. You can pack them all together in one big ol' smug freezer baggie of preparedness.

Bonus tip for later!
When disassembling a bookcase for a move, save all the shelf nubbins (that's the scientific name for the metal pegs that hold the shelves in place) in a ziplock baggie and use packing tape to stick it to the case unit. The nubbins will be supereasy to find when you are setting up the bookcase in your new digs.
If you loose any keys or bits, you can contact IKEA customer service for help getting a replacement, but why not avoid the drama.

Olivia Lane is a Blogger, Green Living Educator, and Health Coach trained at The Institute for Integrative Nutrition. She's also author of Baking Soda & Bliss: The Healthy & Happy Guide to Green Cleaning.   

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How to Keep Rubber Gloves Smelling Fresh

Rubber gloves are great for keeping your hands moisturized and protected when cleaning, but their smell can be a major turn off. You know- that funk they get after you wear them a few times.

Everyone says you should just turn them inside out after you use them, but let's be real- that's a total time consuming pain in the ass! (Does anyone actually do this?)

Here's a two step way to keep them fresh that is supereasy and likely to get done!

1. After wearing, sprinkle some baking soda into your gloves. It neutralizes odor, absorbs moisture, and kills bacteria. You can also use natural powdered deodorant.
2. Hang them (upside down/ fingers facing floor) to dry in a well-ventilated area. Keep out of direct sunlight, which can damage your gloves.

And if you're feeling fancy, mix up this herbal glove freshener.

Make a powder to keep your rubber gloves fresh.

1. Combine about 3 T baking soda with 2-4 drops lavender essential oil. (Like baking soda, lavender is antibacterial. It also simply smells great!)
2. Transfer to a clean and dry empty glass spice container with shaker top and sealing cover. You can also use a tight sealing container with a metal top. Just hammer holes into it using a nail. To seal container when not in use, cover the top with foil. This is important, otherwise your powder will be absorbing the funk of your house and not really be useful for your gloves.
3. Store the powder in the same area, or at least the same room, as you do your gloves so that you actually use it.

I reuse a travel-sized candle tin to store my glove powder.

My rubber gloves hang to dry from clothespin attached to a bread tie wrapped around my microwave cart. Self-high five for rigging this one!

Olivia Lane is a Blogger, Green Living Educator, and Health Coach trained at The Institute for Integrative Nutrition. She's also author of Baking Soda & Bliss: The Healthy & Happy Guide to Green Cleaning.   

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