In this day and age you really can turn any common and seemingly mundane activity into a social occasion. One of the latest excuses to host a party? Getting together to make green cleaning products with your friends.

The idea originated with Women's Voices for the Earth, a national organization that encourages women to advocate for the right to live in a healthy environment. WVE started the green cleaning party initiative as part of their efforts to educate women about the 85,000 chemicals currently on the market in various products, most of which have not been tested to see how they affect human health. Until companies provide full disclosure regarding the chemicals in these products (unlikely), WVE believes individuals should make their own to reduce the risks of asthma, birth defects and infertility.

WVE offers a Green Cleaning Party Kit to help party planners get started. The kit includes a booklet with background information and party planning tips, as well as an educational video that can be previewed at the event, recipe cards with instructions for making the products, supply lists for guidance about what is needed for the party and container labels for the products themselves.

Party hostesses (or hosts!) can be creative with the additional details, such as serving organic wine and snacks or requesting that guests wear green in honor of the occasion. For larger events, hostesses will need to find a space with several tables so each party guest mix ingredients without bumping elbows with their neighbors, as well as a sink since many recipes call for water.

To top off the party, WVE encourages women to carry the idea of non-toxic products beyond a social event and suggests taking action by signing a petition to companies asking that they remove toxic ingredients from their products or list all ingredients on the products.

Find out more about hosting your own green cleaning party, as well as to request your party planning kit, after the jump.

» Women's Voices for the Earth (Official Site)

Last summer CeeBee introduced us to some tips to get started herb gardening, and there are numerous kits available that make herb gardening super-easy.

Growing an herb garden in your kitchen makes green sense in a lot of ways:

1. It's a great way to try your hand at a little gardening without making a big commitment.  The green thumb requirement is pretty low and it makes a great project for kids!

2. With a nice planter they make a great decoration to beautify your kitchen.

3. You can grow one little pot or parsley or a fantastic multi-tiered herb garden like the one pictured.  So regardless of the size of your kitchen you can create an herb garden to suit.

4. The aroma of fresh herbs in your home is fantastic, especially first thing on a lazy Sunday morning.

5. It's so convenient you'll find yourself adding fresh herbs to all of your cooking.  A sprig of parsley here, a little mint there... it's a fun way to jazz up your meals.

6. Herbs aren't just for cooking.  You can also grow your own medicinal herbs or even your own tea garden.

I could go on, but you get the idea.  Now I'll be the first to admit that I would have a hard time keeping a chia pet going, so I'm the type of novice gardener that's looking for some kind of starter set to help me get going.  If you hit the jump you can check out this great site I found called HerbKits.com which carries kits for culinary herbs, tea, medicinal herbs, even kits so you can grow your own salsa veggies or strawberries.

So don't just sit there, get growing!  (oh, haha I crack myself up)

» HerbKits.com

A typical kitchen in North America has several appliances to make our lives easier and more efficient, or so it seems. Here are few thoughts about some kitchen appliances and how you can save energy in your kitchen.

Dishwasher
Dishwashers use a lot of water and a lot of energy to heat the water. To get the most out of your washer make sure you have filled it up as much as possible before running. A dishwasher should be able to handle most small food remains so you shouldn’t have to pre-scrub the dishes before loading. Use the regular or normal setting and you should be good.

Microwave
The only reason to keep your microwave plugged in when you aren’t using it is to read the time and most of us have a wristwatch or other clock near the kitchen anyways. Most mics have converters in them that are constantly draining a bit of electricity so go ahead and unplug your microwave and your going to saving a bunch of useless standby energy.

Stove
No one likes burnt cookies so make sure you cook at suggested temperatures and set a timer so you don’t overcook your food. Another simple trick to save energy is set your timer about five minutes shorter and turn off the stove when it rings. Your food will continue to cook as long as you don’t open the door.
 
Fridge
Keep the temperatures set properly and the coils cleaned regularly and you should be good here.

Ditch landline Phone
I still have a landline but I’m seriously thinking of discarding it. They suck up more energy than a cell phone especially with an answering machine included or separate. It seems that the cell phone technology is pretty solid and if you want to be reached or reach someone else the cell phone makes much more sense.

» CWAC.net

In an average North American home 15 % of its energy will go towards powering the refrigerator. I don’t know what that would work out to if you calculated the consumption across the United States but it’s huge and definitely worth the effort to conserve a bit of energy. Here are some tips on keeping your refrigerator as efficient as possible.

Ideal Temperatures
Fridge = 37 to 40°F ~ 3 to 5°C
Short Term Freezer = 10 to 15°F ~  -10 to -12°C
Long Term Freezer = 0 to 5°F  ~  -15 to -18°C

Clean the Coils
The coils are located on the outside of your fridge, usually on the back or bottom and radiate heat away from the refrigerator using the principle of surface area. In order for the coils to work efficiently they need to be cleaned and the easiest way is to simply vacuum them. If you have pets you should do this up to two or three times a year but if you’ve never done it before cleaning them once would be a good start.

Keep your Fridge Cool
Your fridge is trying to keep your food fresh and cool so don’t put it right next to your stove, dishwasher, and microwave or in direct sunlight. All these little things add up so if you’re redesigning your kitchen keep this in mind.

Keepin’ it Tight
Standing in the kitchen with the fridge door open might be a nice way to cool off in the summer but it’s not helping your produce much. Likewise, if your fridge door isn’t airtight you’re basically holding the door open 24-7. If you can close the door on a piece of paper and pull it out easily you’ve got a leak. Replace the gasket as soon as possible, your money and energy is keeping the floor cool.

Cover Food
Food left uncovered will lose moisture and in turn can increase humidity in the refrigerator requiring increased energy usage.

Extras
If your fridge has an icebox or water dispenser that doesn’t work make sure you shut them off or they could be sapping energy for no good reason.

» Reliant Energy

Of all the seasons, spring has to be my favorite.  After living through another cold, Canadian winter, nothing is better than having sunny, warmer weather.  This also means having more opportunities to enjoy the local wildlife.  Even if you live in the middle of the city, wild birds are around and can help bring nature to your balcony or backyard.  Making and hanging homemade bird feeders not only allows you to enjoy birdwatching from your kitchen window, but allows you the opportunity to provide another healthy food source for our feathered friends. 

What makes bird feeders a nice project to do is how easy they are to make.  With a few simple ingredients, you can make a homemade tasty treat for your backyard feathered friends.

Main Ingredients

1. The Base:  The first important ingredient to many homemade bird feeders is the base, which you can stick the other ingredients to.  For birds, there are two edible       
    and easy choices.
               Peanut Butter:  It doesn’t get any easier than this.  Any store bought variety will do.
               Suet (animal fat):  Just as tasty for birds as peanut butter.  Suet is simply the fat from bacon or ground beef, or a combination of the two. Because suet involves heating the fat to a soft or liquid form, adult supervision is a must if children are involved.
2. Seeds:  You can either purchase a bag of wild birdseed from the store, or get   creative putting ingredients together yourself.  Popular seed choices are sunflower seeds (either shelled or whole), shelled peanuts, cracked corn and millet seed.
3. Dried Fruit:  Cranberries, raisins and pieces of dried apricots or apples all work well in a feeder. 
4. Fresh Fruit:  apple peels, diced pieces of apples, apricots or berries. 

Now that you have the basic ingredients, here are some popular and easy homemade bird feeders.

1. The Pine Cone Feeder
Take one large pinecone, or a few small pinecones.  Spread thoroughly with peanut butter or suet and roll in birdseed and dried fruit.  Tie a piece of string around the top of the pinecone and hang outside.

If you have old bagels around the house, try replacing the pinecones with a bagel for a 100% edible bird feeder.  Don’t have pinecones or bagels?  Use a cardboard toilet paper tube as a base instead.

2. Milk Carton Feeder
Take any sized milk carton.  Cut two squares on opposite sides of the milk carton (cutting holes in all four sides will make it unstable).  Punch a hole in the top for string and fill the inside with birdseed.

3. Citrus Bird Feeder
Take an empty grapefruit of orange half.  Cut three holes equally around the grapefruit and attach string to create a hanging bowl.  Simply fill the inside with birdseed and hang.

This feeder can also be made using half of a coconut shell, although a drill will be required to make the holes for the string.

4. Fruit and Popcorn Garlands
Take a long, heavy thread and needle.  String the thread with popcorn and dried fruit or fresh fruit, and hang in trees for a decorative and tasty bird treat.

5. Suet Cakes
Melt suet in a pan.  Mix with desired birdseed, dried fruit ingredients.  Pour into a mold (old yogurt or other disposable plastic containers or aluminum pie plates work well) and put into the fridge until solid.  When ready put inside of a suet cage (available at wild bird stores) and hang.

Extra tips:
1. If using fresh fruit, be sure to take the feeder down after a few days.  Nobody wants rotting food around.
2. Don’t overfill the feeders.  Birds are messy eaters, and if you fill that grapefruit half all the way up to the top the seeds will end up all over the ground.
3. Keep the area around the feeder clean.  Especially if using commercial bird seed some of the seeds can sprout if they end up in your lawn.
4. Hang your bird feeders in a safe area.  For example, hanging your bird feeder directly next to the fence your cat likes to sit on wouldn’t work out too well.  Also, try to keep out of areas that get heavy wind.
5. If you are a real bird enthusiast, consider adding a small dish or bowl of water close to the feeder for a bird bath.
6. Keep putting bird feeders out year round.  Once the birds realize they have a reliable food source, many will come around to check out the action. 

» Audobon

If you currently use the balcony of your apartment for storage, you may not be taking advantage of the aesthetic potential of the space. Instead, keeping your junk up there makes it look - well, junky. It's bad enough that we subject ourselves to basements or secret closets that are full of crap, but now our neighbors are becoming victims of our pack-rat ways.

Homeowners are instead encouraged to think back to the 90s when balconies were miniature retreats where one could relax with a cup of coffee and the newspaper and enjoy surrounding sights - yes, even in a concrete jungle. To achieve this, try turning the space into a "pocket garden" with a few well-placed plants in containers and perhaps a couple of comfortable chairs and maybe even a small table.

The plants should be as low-maintenance as possible. Let's face it, we're all busy and if you don't think you'll have the time to maintain upkeep of a particular plant, don't bother planting it or you'll just end up frustrated when it dies and turns into an ugly, brown shriveled mess. Focus on ones that are easy to water and can withstand heat. Ideal flowers are petunias and geraniums. Bougainvillea vines and their vibrant flowers will thrive in balconies facing south, east or west and even better, can withstand the winter if moved indoors and then put out again next season. Balconies facing the north make good homes for begonias, ferns, lobelia and impatiens. Vegetables and herbs are other great options. Red lettuce and curly endive are known to have calming properties (similar to those of flowers), while basil, oregano, marjoram and dill are useful to have around for cooking.

So what are you waiting for? Grab a coffee (or a margarita) and go enjoy all that your balcony has to offer. You'll probably enjoy it more than your pair of skis will anyway.

» househunting.ca