If you're like me, your mood is reflected by the cleanliness of your apartment or home. This morning, I am sitting atop a mound of paper and antacid wrappers that encompasses my entire desk. My laundry is testing the tensile strength of its hamper, and my dishes are covered in what could only be the leftovers from a meal of breaded-spackle. It shouldn’t surprise you that a spate of bad news has been trickling into my life recently. I’ll spare you the specifics, but know that I will never trust the Psychic Friends network again. I won’t go into a hyperbolic tirade about how the world is a horrible place, people are soulless automatons, and the end times are upon us ... because I’m bigger than that. I’m going to do my laundry, even though it means walking down the hall in a 15-year-old Martha’s Vineyard t-shirt written in Hebrew and a pair of seersucker pants. I’m going to do the dishes, even though the steel wool will bloody my hands beyond recognition. And I’m going to clean up my entire apartment, even though I’d rather drive over to Krispy Kreme and smash glazed doughnuts into my face until my eyes roll back in my head and I pass out,
But how do I accomplish these three sanity-reclaiming tasks without bumming out the environment also?
Yay for Vacuum cleaners! No matter what I say later, electric dishwashers, laundry machines, and especially dryers are terrible for the environment. But, vacuum cleaners are actually not so terrible anymore. You can buy one with multiple power modes, which runs on rechargeable batteries, and is made from recyclable, non-toxic materials. Depending on your needs, you can even use a simple rechargeable dust buster that’s been made responsibly, and not cause the environment too much harm. These devices are getting more efficient all the time. Vacuum-Home.com as an entire section dedicated to green vacuums, check it out at www.vacuum-home.com/green-vacuums/.
2) Run the dishwasher.
Dishwashers can be green, and you don’t have to hand wash everything, but there are a few things that you need to remember. Buy an Energy Star approved brand like Electrolux (a great green appliance company www.electroluxappliances.com). Replace it every few years before it gets too inefficient, only run it when full, try to avoid hand washing before loading, and use a dishwashing soap made from non-toxic materials.
3) Run the laundry-machine and dryer.
In terms of the environment, dryers are slightly different than dishwashers, in that they are essentially the world’s worst thing. Don’t get me wrong, I love the feel of clothes right out of the dryer, sticking my face into the pillowy, hot fabric, and inhaling like Dennis Hopper in Blue Velvet. I want to get to a place in the world where we have limitless energy to use dryers as we want, regardless of how inefficient they are. But that day is yet to come. After a wash in an Energy Star approved laundry-machine and dryer from Electrolux, if you’re unwilling to use a clothesline, get an Energy Star dryer also. There are a few models that are made responsibly, and that aren’t pure evil.
I will need to make sacrifices to get this place cleaned up. But, I will get it done. I will clean my home and I will do so greenly. I will lift my mood in the same way that we humans have been doing it for thousands of years, by getting down on my hands and knees and scrubbing. I’ll put more of my own energy into it than the planet’s, and I’ll feel better for it. So, let’s get cleaning, let’s get positive, and … actually I’m gonna head to Krispy Kreme.
Doughnuts Photo courtesy of www.themugshow.com
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