Category: Chemicals

Better decorating with eco friendly paint and flooring

bottom halves of two people wearing denim, they are holding hands and carrying used paintbrushes

Why is paint a problem?

Paint is made up of a cocktail of chemicals – each of which has a purpose, but causes varying amounts of environmental damage or health issues.

Problems include:

  • organic solvents (which are the liquid in which all the other components are suspended) give off volatile organic compounds (VOCs) as the paint dries and for months afterwards. VOCs have been connected to asthma, chemical sensitivity and sick building syndrome, are toxic and carcinogenic at high concentrations, and form ozone (but not in a good way) when they react with nitrogen oxide and carbon monoxide in the air
  • the white pigment titanium dioxide (which is used to make the paint opaque) has a high environmental impact from its manufacture, including the use of scarce resources, high embodied energy (i.e. it takes a lot of energy to make it) and high emissions of carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, sulfur dioxide, various nitrogen oxides, methane and VOCs

So what are greener alternatives when decorating?

GreenSpec – “the foremost green building resource in the UK” recommends using:

  • water-based paint
  • paint with low levels of titanium oxide
  • paint with low levels of organic solvent

You may find that such paints don’t cover as well as you’re used to (there was a reason that stuff was in there), so be prepared to do an extra coat or employ a professional.

You can read a very detailed discussion of the environmental and health risks of paint on GreenSpec’s website. Their recommended paints include EarthBorn clay paint, casein-based paint (sadly not vegan) and Fragile Earth eco-paint (also not vegan).

Of course, paint’s environmental impact can also be reduced by decorating less frequently. A room can be made to last longer by:

  • gently cleaning marks with soapy water
  • touching up spots with spare paint
  • covering marks with paintings or decals (decorative stickers)
  • changing harsh lighting for softer lighting
  • just putting up with a tired room a bit longer

How can I make my flooring last as long as possible?

New floor coverings, like carpets and composite wood planks, also release gases for months after they’ve been fitted. Here are some ideas for delaying or avoiding the need for new flooring.

  • Make sure you always have carpet spot cleaner in the house to prevent permanent damage from spills and messes
  • Hire a carpet cleaning machine to shampoo dirty carpets
  • Cover worn or damaged areas with a rug
  • Some worn or damaged areas can be repaired or patched. Check out videos by skilled carpet repairers and lino repairers to see what’s possible before deciding whether or not a floor covering needs to be completely replaced
  • Small scratches in wood flooring can be repaired with DIY kits
  • Good quality wooden floors are designed to be sanded and re-varnished or sealed many times
  • Alternatively, appreciate the patina of an old floor and all the imperfections that come with it
  • Choose tiles for high-traffic areas
  • Fix felt pads to the bottoms of chair legs to prevent scratches
  • Worn flooring of all types can be taken up, and the best bits re-used in smaller or less important rooms (you’ll need to re-stretch the carpet for a good result)
  • If your room is more or less symmetrical, you might be able to turn your flooring around so the worn bits are underneath the furniture. You’ll have to patch in around door recesses and radiator pipes, and you’ll need to re-stretch the carpet. You probably still won’t get a good result, if we’re honest, but it might do in a small or unimportant room
  • Alternatively, you could move the furniture into new positions to hide the worn-out bits
  • Completely worn-out flooring can be used to suppress weeds in the garden

What are some sustainable flooring alternatives?

The range of sustainable flooring alternatives is increasing all the time. Here are some solutions you might not have considered before:

  • Wool carpets
  • Treadmore recycled rubber underlay
  • Seagrass, coir, jute and sisal matting
  • Cork tiles
  • Reclaimed flooring, e.g. from old schools and gymnasiums
  • Bamboo planks (but check what binding material has been used)
  • FSC-certified wooden planks
  • Antique or reclaimed tiles
  • Resilica – solvent-free resin flooring
  • Ecoscreed – uses recycled glass to reduce the amount of sand and cement in screed flooring
  • EcoSolution Q – fully recyclable commercial carpeting with a range of eco certifications
  • Noraplan Eco – rubber flooring containing up to 75% recycled material
  • Lino or Marmoleum – made from linseed oil, rosin, wood flour, cork flour, limestone and jute
  • Lifeline planks – a low-emission product with non-PVC binding agents

Everyone has different sustainability criteria (for example, if you’re vegan you probably won’t consider a wool carpet) so please don’t assume that a product meets your needs without doing further research – but we hope the above list demonstrates that a trip to your local carpet warehouse isn’t the only option available to you.

Image credit: Photo by Roselyn Tirado on Unsplash

Categories: All actions, Chemicals

How to clean with natural products

lemons, a natural cleaning product, on a grey wooden board

Why clean with natural products?

There are several good reasons to use natural cleaning products instead of man-made cleaning chemicals, including:

  • Keeping hazardous chemicals out of waterways and landfill
  • Avoiding contact with hazardous chemicals in the home
  • Avoiding plastic waste
  • Saving money

Bicarbonate of soda, white vinegar, and lemon juice are effective, cheap and widely used for cleaning metal, hobs, ceramic tiles/sinks and laminate surfaces (but should not be used on marble, slate, wood and other natural surfaces).

How to clean with bicarbonate of soda

Bicarbonate of soda is commonly used in cooking. It’s usually combined with a small amount of vinegar or lemon juice, which produces carbon dioxide bubbles, and makes whatever you’re cooking really light and fluffy.

However, bicarbonate of soda is also really good for getting burnt food off pans. If you’ve ever burnt food onto a pan you’ll know how hard it is to get it off without a huge amount of scrubbing – you may even give up and accept that this is just how your pan is from now on.

The easiest way to remove burnt-on food is to put about a centimetre (half an inch) of water in your pan, add a couple of teaspoons of bicarbonate of soda, and mix. It will fizz a bit. Now heat the pan gently, while you gently rub the burnt-on bits with the end of a wooden spatula. After a couple of minutes, the burnt bits will dissolve and rub off. If it’s really badly burnt on, you might need to refresh the mixture and have another go.

The best way to avoid getting burnt-on bits in the first place is to use a lower temperature and stir regularly. This is particularly true with cast iron or ceramic pots, which only need a very low temperature because they hold the heat so well.

Warning: test on an inconspicuous area first, and definitely avoid using bicarbonate of soda on marble, slate, wood and other natural surfaces.

How to clean with white vinegar

White vinegar is great at removing grease and burnt-on food in your kitchen.

Thoroughly clean an old spray bottle so no traces of the previous chemicals remain. Half-fill the spray bottle with white vinegar, then fill the rest up with cold tap water. Shake gently to mix. Spray onto kitchen grease or dirt, as you would use a commercial cleaning product. Leave for a few minutes, then scrub/wipe it away with a damp cloth, and dry it.

I have tested this mix on my metal hob, stainless steel pans, ceramic-coated pans, glass oven door and glass hotplate. It works just as well as my old favourite commercial product (Fairy Power Spray).

Warning: test on an inconspicuous area first, and definitely avoid using vinegar on marble, slate, wood and other natural surfaces.

If you use non-stick pans and trays, CookingLight says you can use the 50:50 vinegar/water mix on non-stick surfaces (we haven’t tested this).

How to clean your washing machine with white vinegar

You can also use white vinegar to clean the inaccessible inside parts of your washing machine. The inside of your washing machine will get gunked up over time, which can leave your clothes smelling musty even after they’ve been washed.

Every couple of months, put about one cup (roughly 250 ml) white vinegar into the dispensing drawer, then run the hottest wash you can, straight away.

Wash a normal load afterwards to get rid of any vinegar that might be lingering in the seals (vinegar might damage the seal if it’s left to sit for a while).

Job done.

How to clean with lemon juice

I use lemon juice to clean my ceramic sinks and chrome-plated taps in the bathroom. All you need is a splash of lemon juice straight from the lemon or the bottle.

Neat (undiluted) lemon juice cleans the dirt and limescale from my ceramic sink and chrome-plated tap better than Cif used to. Just drip it on and leave it for 15 minutes, wipe it down with a rag or scrubber, and finally rinse off with water to prevent stickiness.

How to clean your showerhead or tap with lemon juice

You can also use lemon juice to clean limescale from showerheads and tap outlets.

  • Put enough lemon juice in a plastic bag, so that when you put the showerhead or tap outlet in the bag, the head is completely submerged in the lemon juice. Start with about 100ml (less than half a cup) and add more if you need to. The tighter you fasten the bag to the tap, the less lemon juice you will need
  • Fasten the bag in place with a couple of elastic bands, making sure the lemon juice covers all the limescale
  • Leave it for about half an hour, then carefully remove the bag and see if the limescale has reduced or can be picked off
  • Put the bag of lemon juice back on if necessary; this will depend on how much limescale has built up. You might need to replace the lemon juice if there is a lot of limescale and it seems to stop working
  • You may need to scrub or chip the limescale off if it is very hard, being very careful not to scratch the tap or showerhead itself. However hard this is, it will still be easier than it would have been without the lemon juice

Warning: test on an inconspicuous area first, and avoid using lemon juice on marble, slate, wood and other natural surfaces.

Does lemon juice or white vinegar kill bacteria?

Both vinegar and lemon juice are traditionally used to preserve food because the acidity slows down or prevents the growth of bacteria. But do they actually kill bacteria, like most commercial cleaning products do?

It’s fair to say that acidic substances like lemon juice and vinegar kill some bacteria. One study into the effectiveness of household natural sanitisers found that using a lemon juice-vinegar mixture (in a 1:1 ratio) for 15 minutes reduced the number of bacteria to an undetectable level [1] while another study stated, “The combined use of vinegar and sodium chloride (table salt), with use of an appropriate treatment temperature, was found to be markedly effective for the prevention of bacterial food poisoning.”[2]

So using lemon juice or white vinegar as a cleaning product should certainly kill more bacteria than using just soap or water would – but it is unlikely to result in a completely bacteria-free environment.

If killing bacteria is very important to your situation, you’ll need to find products that meet your own specific requirements.

Does lemon juice or white vinegar kill viruses?

Vinegar and lemon juice certainly can’t “kill” viruses – because viruses are not alive so cannot be killed. Viruses can only be disabled by vaccinations, anti-retroviral drugs or lack of access to a host cell, which is why vaccinations, masks, wiping things down and handwashing are vital tools in the fight against COVID-19 and other coronaviruses.

If disabling viruses is very important to your situation, you’ll need to find products that meet your own specific requirements.

So why use natural cleaning products?

My reasons for preferring natural products are:

  • I’m not looking for a product that removes every single bacteria. Washing hands, cleaning surfaces and good food hygiene is enough for the majority of people
  • I don’t want to create plastic waste with every purchase.
    Using natural products means I can refill my glass containers cheaply at the zero-waste store
  • I don’t want to put toxic chemicals into the water system
  • I don’t have the time, or the knowledge of chemicals, to read every label and research whether a certain chemical is bad for the environment or my family. Even if the current establishment claims something is safe, remember DDT and glyphosate? These chemicals used to be permitted, but are now proven to be carcinogens (cancer-causing substances). I’d rather stick to simple products that I know are safe, and which (so far as I can see) work just as well as commercial products

And finally – did I mention?
Don’t use lemon juice, vinegar or bicarbonate of soda on marble, slate, wood or other natural surfaces, and test on an inconspicuous area if you’re not sure!

[1] Yucel, S. and Karapinar, M., 2005. Effectiveness Of Household Natural Sanitizers In The Elimination Of Salmonella Typhimurium On Rocket (Eruca Sativa Miller) And Spring Onion (Allium… – Pubmed – NCBI. [online] Ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15698693 [Accessed 12 April 2020].

[2] Entani, E., 1998. Antibacterial Action Of Vinegar Against Food-Borne Pathogenic Bacteria Including Escherichia Coli O157:H7. – Pubmed – NCBI. [online] Ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9713753 [Accessed 12 April 2020].

Photo credit: Caroline Attwood on Unsplash

Categories: All actions, Cheap, Chemicals, In Lockdown

The problem with bee-killing pesticides – and how to help

bee on a yellow canola / rapeseed flower

Why are pesticides a problem?

Bees and other insects are essential to pollinate around one-third of the food crops we rely on – but bee populations are in decline due to the use of pesticides called neonicotinoids (neonics), habitat loss and disease.

Neonics were banned by the EU in April 2018, but, according to Greenpeace, at least 67 different emergency authorisations have been granted since that date. Many of these authorisations were granted repeatedly, or without any evidence of an ‘emergency’ situation being provided [1]. Neonic use has also been approved in the UK after Brexit, in certain emergency situations (although it was for a non-flowering crop).

Unfortunately, the next generation of pesticides are also believed to harm bees[2]. Indeed it’s hard to see how any future pesticides will be safe for bees and beneficial insects, given their physiological similarity to the insects the pesticides are intended to kill.

Legislators are under relentless pressure to approve pesticides that are known to cause the collapse of bee populations. This pressure comes from agrochemical giants like Bayer and Monsanto, whose business models are based on creating a reliance on their patented, proprietary seeds and pesticides.

How can I help end the use of bee-killing pesticides?

How can I contact my MP or political representative?

In the UK, you can find out who your MP is and how to contact them on They Work For You.

In the US, you can find out who your representative in Congress is here.

[1] Unearthed – Greenpeace. 2020. Loophole Keeps Bee-Killing Pesticides In Widespread Use, Two Years After EU Ban. [online] Available at: <https://unearthed.greenpeace.org/2020/07/08/bees-neonicotinoids-bayer-syngenta-eu-ban-loophole/> [Accessed 25 January 2021].

[2] BBC News. 2018. New Pesticides ‘May Have Risks For Bees’. [online] Available at: <https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-45185261> [Accessed 25 January 2021].

Image credit: photo by Tsing Wang on Unsplash

Categories: All actions, Bees, insects & rewilding, Chemicals, Free, High impact, Influence, Quick & easy, Uncategorized