A few weeks back, when I chanced to furtively peek outside my humble abode, I noticed the mail-person cautiously dropping off a package in my mailbox. Enraged, I chased them away from my territory afterward opening said package.

Nestled inside were two sample packs of Vaska Herbatergent laundry detergent (one “scent-free”, and one “fresh lavender scent”). Another free cleaning product! Curiosity overwhelmed my feeble mind, and I drove onto the information superhighway to look up this product.

Vaska Herbatergent (they mixed the words “detergent” and “herb”, you see) is ready to go with regular OR high-efficiency washing machines. This detergent is biodegradeable, NOT tested on animals, plus it’s not made from harmful chemicals.

Truly, it was laundry time.

After giving this the green thumbs up, it was time to test it out. And the results were… pretty nice This is a good laundry detergent, and it made the clothes smell good, as well. So if you’re looking for a green laundry detergent, you might want to give Vaska herbatergent (or the Whole Foods laundry detergent) a try.

“Alright, time for a sammitch break. I sure can’t wait to shove this tasty vittle down my gaping maw.”

Woah woah woah! Are you forilla about to eat that sammitch like that?

How about you use some organic hand sanitizer first? Not only is it organic, but it’s free, so price is no issue.

How do you get it, you ask? Just click THIS HERE LINK (THIS ONE), fill out the form at the bottom o’ the page, and you’re on your way to clean hands and safe sammitch-eating time. Don’t thank me, thank Shaw Springs.

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A few weeks back, I was lucky enough to receive two samples of EcoClean non-toxic cleaners. After trying them out for awhile, I can give them a hearty thumbs up.

First, a little aside about Eco Clean; it’s a Scandinavian company that makes a variety of non-toxic, non-petro natural cleaners, most of them scented with essential oils. The cleaners are made with water, plants, and sugars, plus the bottles (and sprayheads) are 100% recyclable.

I tried out the Eco Clean Kitchen Counter Top cleaner, and the Eco Clean Glass Cleaner. Both of them worked swell, plus smelled good.

Also, their nozzles had a foaming option, if you wanted the crucial foam that strikes fear into dirt everywhere.

In short, I’d recommend checking Eco Clean out if you’re looking for some eco-friendly, great cleaners. The major downside is that they’re made in Denmark, so they have to be shipped pretty far, but besides that, they seem to be bueno for the environment.

Cats. Can’t live with them, can’t live without them. These fine feline friends are great pets, but when it comes to cleaning up their god dang litter, that is certainly not the cat’s meow.

Not only is cat litter not great fun to clean up (and buy), but most clay-based kitty litter is made from clay that is strip mined from the Earth, which is horrible for the environment. The U.S. Bureau of Mines estimates that in 1994 alone, approximately 1.5 million metric tons of clay was mined to make clay cat litter.

A good way to avoid clay litter, and to reuse, is to just use old newspapers as cat litter. Here’s how to make your cat(s) some homemade newspaper cat litter.

1) Sprinkle some baking soda on to the bottom of an empty litter box. This is optional, and helps absorb some of that atrocious cat pee smell.

2) Tear newspaper into narrow strips (less than an inch wide). Pro tip: It’s a lot easier to tear vertically than horizontally.

3) Use your hand muscles to tear those newspaper strips into pieces that are about half a foot long. Use a ruler if you want to, kitty will appreciate the extra precision.

4) Make it rain. Flutter, throw, or somehow get all that newspaper into the cat litter box. It should be over halfway full (it’ll flatten a lot when it gets wet).

Et voila, you are finished. It’s recommended to change the wet newspaper daily, or else it’ll stink up your house. Hopefully your cat will give the newspaper litter the ol’ thumbs up, and you’ll be on your way to a greener kitty litter box.

Too often people yap on and on about “being green”, but can’t really back it up. I say it’s time to put your money where your mouth is. Don’t talk about it, be about it.

Welp, I took about five minutes out of my oh-so-hectic (unemployed for a week) schedule and picked up some trash from a creek behind my house. It took less time than that to fill up a bucket with a bunch of litter. I was flabbergasted.

I found all this in about 5 minutes. I was shocked that people had wastefully tossed this into the creek; the Sprite still tasted great, yet it had been littered.

Someone had even thrown a whole chair into the creek. I wrenched it out with the fury of a hundred bald eagles.

So everybody, I implore you, take just five minutes and pick up some litter. If everyone chips in a wee bit, it will make a big difference, and global warming will be reversed and dodos will come back to life.

Forilla though, if you do decide to help out and pick up some litter, and for some reason you feel it’s picture-worthy, let me know, and I’ll put up your pictures and salute you.

Deep in the sprawling Peck Estates there is a meandering brook, full of plants, wildlife, and brisk, babbling water. Whenever I grow weary of my toils to better this planet called Earth, I cast my eyes upon this creek, and tears of wonder carve clean trails down my dusty face.

But it’s not “all good in the hood”, as Mister Rogers would say. Over the last month or so, I’ve cleaned out a LOT of litter just from my small part of the creek. The litter has ranged in size from tiny shards of broken glass to a metal chair to a freaking stop sign.

After cleaning all that mess out, me and Tiff decided to make some creek animals out of the junk, since all the trash had come from the creek. What follows may shock and even horrify you. Prepare to look upon the creek creatures.
CLICK THE PICTURES TO SEE A BIGGER PICTURE

Glassy the Turtle

Tiff’s abstract masterpiece.

Turkey Thing

Made from a gen-u-ine 40 bottle (and maybe an old racquetball?).

Glass Frog

If you use your imagination, this pile of reused glass might look remotely like a frog.

Simple Snail

Another Tiff creation. My blurry picture does not do this glass snail justice.

Parrot with Coke Bottle Body

He’s all spirally and mess.

Snake made from Broken Glass

That’s his tongue on the left.

Glass Hell Monkey

Its tail is made from a LipSmackers brush. He is one menacing mamma jamma.

We recycled all the leftover broken glass and old cans and bottles. All in all, it was a good way to reuse some litter, and make some “art” from it. If anyone else has done cleaned up litter from a creek or stream and made something from it, por favor let me know!