Environment-Friendly Unbleached Coffee Filters:

• PC GREEN Coffee Filters (using – or more accurately, my fiancé)
• IF YOU CARE Coffee Filters

If you know of other companies, please let me know. Thanks!.

Products I’ve used:

• Homemade Natural All-Purpose Cleaner
• Homemade Natural Window Cleaner
• Natura Cleaner (from Home Hardware)

Greenpeace has this GREAT guide on the foods that are safe to eat (Non-GE/GMO) and the foods to avoid (contain GE/GMO).

Greenpeace Canada Shoppers Guide

A lot of foods (produce, grains, packaged and pre-made foods, etc.) contain GE (Genetically Engineered) or GMO (Genetically Modified Organism) and we don’t even know. Labeling of GE/GMO foods isn’t mandatory (but should be) and a lot of companies choose not to label all their ingredients that are GE/GMO. You could be eating GE/GMO foods and not even know it. Wouldn’t you want to know what you and your children are eating?

If you don’t like the idea of GE/GMO foods in you and your children, that a look at this guide.

As for produce, buy organic and locally-grown (farmer’s market in your town) to help local farms and NOT from big corporations, and all the while helping the environment (the produce travel less). Big corporations usually use GE/GMO and the produce travels much farther distances, which increase emissions and pollution.

If you want more info on GE/GMO foods, watch the documentary The Future of Food by Deborah Koons Garcia. IT’S WORTH WATCHING

I went to the Home Hardware and asked if they sold biodegradable garbage bags (I thought the other brands were a little expensive and wanted to check out all the brands to see which ones were cheapest), and they did: Bio-Solo. 20 Fully Biodegradable Mini Kitchen Bags (17” x 16”). They cost 2.59$ CAD (about 13¢ a bag), the cheapest I found.

With my goal of trying to be non-recyclable products free, and with food scraps, coffee filters, tea bags and other compostables going in the composter, my garbage bags doesn’t fill as fast. My fiancé and I throw out maybe one garbage bag a week.

I went to Réno Dépot, in Gatineau (Hull), QC. I bought a Warneckei, a Chrysanthemum and a Peace Lily. Finally! I’m so happy! I’ve wanted to buy air-cleansing plants for a long time. And it didn’t cost me too much. Also, I recently join Freecycle. I made a post saying I wanted air-cleansing plant and put the ones I was interested in. A lady says that she can give cuttings from her plants. She has English Ivy and Spider Plant. I want to get them but I’m not sure where I’d be able to put them. I also got a little cactus at Loblaws in Hull. It was so small and cute, I had to buy it. It was only 4.99$ CAD + tax.

Hypoallergenic, ideal for laundry for infants and allergy sufferers. Safely eliminates static, reduces wrinkles, softens fabric and lasts over 500 loads.

• will not stain
• contains two chemical free dryer sheets

http://www.homehardware.ca/en/exclusive/12_naturasheet.php

I have bought 5 so far: for my mom, my brother, my dad and his girlfriend, my best friend and my fiance’s sister and her husband. And next, I’ll buy 2 more for my fiance’s 2 nieces.

When we run out of the dryer sheets we have, which won’t be until next year probably, I’ll by some for us. I use half a sheet for a few loads at a time. I try to make them last. I hang the clothes to dry (3 or 4 loads – depending), then I put everything that can go in the dryer (except for a some pieces of clothes that I don’t mind if they don’t get fluffed-up, like pj’s, clothes to wear around the house, underwear, etc.), in the dryer for 15 mins on Air-Dry, or if they are still a little damp, I put them on Low Heat for 10-15 minutes.

Better for the environment because I’ll be able to recycle it afterwards. Not like the tubes of toothpaste that aren’t recyclable. I sent an email to my city and asked them why it’s not recyclable and they told me that it’s impossible to wash the tubes of toothpaste. Check on your city’s to see if they are recyclable and if not then maybe it’s a good idea to try the containers. I looked at the containers at the grocery store and they have the recycle symbol and the number on it.

I’ve noticed Tom’s of Maine, Colgate, and Crest, have them. I’m not sure what else. Aquafresh has a toothpaste for kids that’s in a tall, solid container, but I’m not sure if it’s recyclable (that ’s it for them). AIM, Sensodyne, Close-Up, Arm & Hammer don’t have recyclable containers. I looked at their products on their websites.

It will be Tom’s of Maine for me from now on. A natural, vegan, cruelty-free toothpaste with fluoride. They have non-fluoride toothpastes as well.

This will mean less garbage to throw out. I decided to buy Lasy’s Stax because their container is recyclable. I wonder if certain potato chip bags are recyclable? Like transparent ones. I know the metal ones aren’t.

I don’t think they exist yet. I know that GE has night lights that use 1.5 watts but they are single use, so when they die, you need to buy another night light. I just want to be able to buy individual fluorescent light bulbs that use 1.5 watts (but lights like an incandescent light bulb of 7 watts), that I can screw in any night light.

The soups that I want to get in bulk are the ones that usually come in non-recyclable packaging, like soup mixes (in non-recyclable envelopes), in noodle soups in Styrofoam containers (if they have those), etc.

I’m trying to be “non-recyclable packaging” free as much as possible.

Hmm, what other packaging isn’t recyclable?

• Potato chip bags (some kind of metal packaging)
• Cereal, cracker, rice cake bags (waxed plastic)
• Frozen juice containers (cardboard outside, plastic inside, metal at bottom and rim of container, plastic lid)
• Tea, hot chocolate, Pirngles containers, etc. (cardboard outside, metal inside and at bottom and rim of container, plastic lid)
• Envelopes likes the soup ones: Tea (for tea bags), Kraft Mac & Cheese (and other brands of Mac & Cheese), etc.
• Pudding container lids (metal/plastic, I think)
• Instant soup lids (plastic/fibre), with Styrofoam containers
• Granola bars wraps and other individual wraps like that (metal/whatever else or just metal)
• Envelopes (pasta, sauces, seasonings, dressings, etc.): Sidekick, Knorr, Old El Paso, No Name, Uncle Ben’s, Betty Crocker, Sun Bird, St-Hubert, Gattuso, etc. (metal/plastic – or something like that)
• And much much more