We are Green at Joseph Michael's Salon and Spa

I work at Joseph Michael’s Salon & Spa and we are green. At least, as green as we can be. There isn’t a certificate or green seal of approval we could apply for, but I think we would qualify if there was one for our industry. We are learning how not to pollute and to be more sustainable every day.
One of the basic and simplest of ways that we try to be sustainable is to recycle. We do a lot of hair coloring services in our salon which means that we throw away a lot of plastic hair color tubes/bottles and plastic developer containers. It would be criminal for any salon to not recycle these things. In Chicago, we have “single stream” recycling, which means that we don’t have to separate basics like plastic, glass, and aluminum. This makes it easy. In Cook County, every business is supposed to recycle, by ordinance, and any business not in compliance with a recycling program could be fined. Seeeee: Criminal!
Did anyone see Chris Rock’s film Good Hair? It’s a recommend and I bring this movie up because it’s about the human hair industry and how hair is “harvested” from the grower and then sewn into “weaves” and used as wigs, pieces and full heads of hair on other people. Talk about recycling! At Joseph Michael’s Salon & Spa, we sweep all the hair we cut off our clients’ heads and we collect it and ship it to Matter of Trust, which uses this hair to dredge and clean up oil spills. Our clients’ hair is getting a second life!
We use washable cloth towels and washable rag mobs for all clean ups, which lets us avoid using paper towels and that can add up to saves trees. At home, I always use cloth napkins and I take home old and holey towels from work and I used them for my own floors and mess clean ups. (I have three dogs!) If you need some rags, just ask us. We would rather them be reused than throw them away.
If you like Bumble and Bumble Products, shampoos, conditioners, styling product: you are welcome to refill your product bottles at our salon and receive 10% off your refill. (We suggest that you call first to make sure your favorite product is one that we have the product to refill.)
Since we do a lot hair coloring in our salon, we ask that our stylist avoid wasting product. We all use grams when measuring color. This actually helps. 160 grams seems like a lot of color, but if we were using 5.7 ounces, which is the same amount… well, it’s a mental thing and it helps us not to use too much and then waste and throw unused color away. Which is another thing: we NEVER throw excess color or any food products down the drains. We know that the Chicago water system is overburdened as it is and to add chemicals or food down the drains only creates more stress on the system to have to remove these things. All waste and chemicals get scraped out of bowls and gets thrown into the trash before things are washed again.
And let me introduce our latest and best green effort, INOA hair coloring by L’Oreal. First of all: it rinses clear when we shampoo it off a clients head after processing. This means less chemicals slide down the drain! AND this permanent grey defying product has no ammonia in it. INOA = Innovation No Ammonia! No ammonia means no smell and no irritation. (More and more clients are becoming sensitive to hair color and I wrote about all that last year.)
I’m jon-david and I’m proud to work at
Joseph Michael’s Salon & Spa
1313 N. Ritchie Court
In the heart of the Gold Coast in Downtown Chicago
Check out my co-stylist’s profiles & find the stylist for you.
Follow me @mafiahairdreser and Joseph Michael’s @mychicagosalon
and buy my book, Mafia Hairdresser at www.mafiahairdresser.com/
and Joseph Michaels Salon & Spa

Bad Swiffer, Baaaad

I just moved in with the person I'm going to live with for the rest of my life. I'm very happy. But, to make this new apartment my home, as well as his, I would like it to be the most healthy environment as possible for the both of us and our dogs. That means a clean house. But a clean house can only be a healthy house only when you use cleaning products that will not hurt your cats, dogs, children and your spouse or room-mates.

On my first foray into cleaning the floorboards and wood floors, I noticed that there was only a Swiffer WetJet system to do so. Oh noooo.... That may make a clean floor and it would certainly be very easy for me to use. But the mechanism is a big waste and the liquid "Multi Purpose" cleaner that you have to use to clean with is not good for my nasal passages, lungs or skin. On the label that I had on the Swiffer Wet Jet Refill, it only stated that it "contains cleaning agents," and yet it warned to keep away from Children and eye contact. The good Housekeeping seal was on the label too! Don't you want to know what is in the product?

I like to used cleaning products that will clean yet have no irritating perfumes nor disrupt my DNA or irritate any part of my body, or cause asthma or cancer. And I'm telling you, that Swiffer WetJet Refill liquid is not as healthy product to put on your floors as environmentally safe products, such as Method or Mrs. Myer's Green Day or make-your-owns. (See previous Cleaning Recipes)

The worst thing about the Swiffer system is that you can only buy their refill bottles with their product in it and their system only operates with a battery, which will run out, and it requires disposable cleaning pads that you have to constantly refill. What a bunch of landfill waste! Add up the costs to you, your health, and the environment. I could never feel good about using this product. I do not care how easy it is. My health and the health of the planet are too precious to me.

So what should you use? Well, don't throw the damned Swiffer in the trash just yet. Use a damp towel wrapped around the base of the Swiffer mop and use it to clean your floors. After each use, throw it in the washer with the other rags you used for cleaning that week. Saving to you, and saving the planet. Use only healthy products on the floor. Again, look at my previous post for that. And think about the next gadget that you buy to make your life easier. Come on: Is it really going to be that easy? Think again.

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10.10.10 Global Work Party

On the same day as the all-city participatory Chicago Marathon, there was something else going on. It was also something that everyone could find a way to participate in and it was something local and Global. On 10-10-10 there were 7347 separate events in 188 countries that all worked together to lower global carbon gas emissions. Globally, we are at 388 parts per million which will increase global warming. And 350 ppm is the minimum to reduce the damage we have already done to our climate and atmosphere. [350.org/en/about/science]
The events around the world were organized through http://www.350.org/ (get it….?) and the only guidelines given was to focus on solutions to the climate crisis. Some small towns and villages installed solar panels or wind turbines. Some cities had repair bike stations and bike rides. There were community gardens being planted, school children cleaning beaches and parks, and lots of farming and education. And hundreds of people around the world met each other, for the first time, and affirmed just how awesome each of us is as individuals and collectively are when we give a Sunday up to work and learn. I was energized by this event. Soul fed and blessed. I know I will be on a high for weeks because of my participation in just one of these 10.10.10 GLOBAL WORK PARTYs.
It was Chef Tom Leavitt’s idea to put together a bus ride from Chicago to Fairbury Illinois to visit Spence Farm. Tom is an advocate of using local produce and meats from sustainable farms. Everyone in Chicagoland uses his talents and catering skills for their holiday parties and events and dinner parties. http://www.whiteoakgourmet.com/ I had heard of Tom from my clients for years and it was his passion that brought together 45 individuals to for the Global Work Party. The day was about work. And we felt like we were at a great party.
When we arrived at Spence Farm, we were given a little introduction about the farm itself. It is completely sustainable, meaning they use every part of the crops they grow, from the seeds to the clippings for mulch. The ducks on the farm eat the insects, so: there is no reason for pesticides. The maple trees are used to tap syrup and their shade protects the pawpaw saplings. I encourage you to learn more about Spence Farm at http://www.thespencefarm.com/ Marty and his wife, Kris and their son Will, steward and operate the family farm and they are all delightful story tellers. We ate up Marty’s telling of how we could and should be eating only good non-genetically-altered fruits and vegetables; and why the pigs on his farm didn’t smell bad. [They are given a natural diet and no un-necessary antibiotics which keeps their digestion working well = no smell!] Particularly interesting to me was how Rick Bayless, of Chicago Restaurant and Frontera Grill fame, asked Marty to save the nearly extinct Iroquois White Corn. [Click here for that one.] We also ate up his heirloom tomatoes, and I had my first pawpaw which, to me, tasted and textured like a banana mixed with mango. Marty told us that science if finding out that pawpaw may be giving a natural hand in the fight against cancer. Keep those stories coming, Marty!
On a simple Sunday I missed this year’s Marathon but I helped harvest Spence Farm’s entire sorghum crop. (Makes Molasses) It was fun and it only took my group less than an hour. For Marty and his clan it would have taken a whole day. We planted his organic garlic crop. And we dismantled the tomato fences because they are now out of season. A delicious lunch of vegetarian and organic meat sandwiches was provided by City Provisions Delicatessen, 1818 West Wilson, which was also where our bus picked us up at 9am and dropped us off at 7pm. Please check them out:
http://www.cityprovisions.com/
Next year: twitter friends, facebook friends, buddies, my clients! & family: you are all coming with me to the farm. I had such a great time and I want to share this wonderful experience with you. It’s great to get out of the city and meet new people to learn, work and laugh with. Now I want to find out much more about natural and sustainable farming – something, I thought, I already knew enough about. I even took home some green tomatoes from Spence Farm and made fried green tomatoes from a recipe recommended by Rob Gardner, one of my farm-mates. He runs http://www.thelocalbeet.com/ which has wonderful information about local and sustainable farming and recipes such as the one I used by Melissa Graham of http://www.littlelocavores.blogspot.com/
350.org is founded by Bill McKibben and is an international campaign that's building a movement to unite the world around solutions to the climate crisis—the solutions that science and justice demand.

Oh yeah: I'm just a hairdresser who writes. I have a novel or two coming out next year. Every bit of my "pulp fiction" profits free me up to do more stories like these. MafiaHairdresser.com will keep you abreast. And please subscribe to this blog!

This is Farmer Marty talking to Rob Gardner of The Local Beet and Chef Tom Leavitt. They are talking about the genetically altered crops being farmed around them. I learned that organic farms have eco systems full of toads, bees, birds, ducks and healthy crops that can be used to seed next years crops. Not so with "Franken-crop" farms.

Please order your copy of Mafia Hairdresser, the novel about my life as a hairdresser to a mob couple in the 80's, and subscribe to this blog!

Anthropologie on State St. in Chicago Wasting Energy

Hey Anthropologie, (I spelled it wrong when I originally sent it to them)I live and work in the gold coast of Chicago. I pass by your store on State St. everyday. I keep seeing your large front doors open and you have your air-conditioner running.
This is silly. You are wasting your own dollars. And you are unnecessarily making your carbon footprint much larger than you have to.
I went in to the store and asked a sales girl why a company that professes to be green would do this. She told me that they keep the doors open so the store looks more inviting.
I’m here to tell you that it is not.
As I informed the State St. manager, I will be “tweeting” and “Facebooking” about your waste until you close those doors; or until you get revolving doors, which will also save carbon output and energy in the winter.
Thank you, ahead of time. I know this is kind of an oversight and I’m going to assume you would like to fix this problem, save money, and keep being green.
Jon-David
UPDATE: this location has closed and one opened on Chicago Ave in its place. I hope they conserve energy at thier new location!

Contact them yourself if you like. service@anthropologie.com

(I didn't mean to take pic like that but I love the part of Anthr-"opologie" came out.

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Hotel Felix in Chicago

This is a rave for a Chicago Hotel. Five stars, two thumbs up, and a big hats-off to this environmentally conscious boutique inn. What originally caught my attention to the Hotel Felix, located at 111 W. Huron St., was that they had applied for their Silver LEED Certificate. For those of you who do not know, a LEED Certificate is an internationally recognized green-building point-rated system that is applied for and given to new and old buildings. Buildings in the Silver rated range must meet minimal requirements for energy savings, water efficiency, CO2 emissions reduction, improved indoor environmental quality, and stewardship of resources and sensitivity to their impacts. Building’s that are under construction must use as much of the old footprint or prior existing building, and recycle or reuse as much as possible of the old building that the new one will be replacing. From the outside, the Hotel Felix looks polished and pretty and the 1920's facade and signage looks like the old Gangster-Gotham that Chicago used to be. That’s because they used as many exterior and interior walls as they could and they tuck-pointed or replaced tiles/bricks/ frontage with the same type of materials that were originally used. (For more information about LEED Certification: http://tinyurl.com/y9lv3u7 )
The Hotel Felix is located in the River North District and is on the south-west shoulder of the Gold Coast. Just blocks from Michigan Avenue, the Chicago River, and conveniently located near the CTA Red and Brown Lines, the hotel is also near the path of the Red Double Decker bus tours stop located at The Hard Rock Cafe. Being so near public transportation and being a local business which encourages walking actually gives more LEED’s points to Hotel Felix. This also makes the hotel a great urban destination to visit or stay at for visitors and locals.
Do I sound like a professional sound piece for the Hotel? Not me. So far, I have never been influenced to write a review or article that I did not want to write. But I live only a few blocks from the hotel, so it is my neighbor. I always like to support (if I like it) my neighboring businesses. Also, the Hotel Felix was in my Twitter Social Network and I really liked, Molly, the voice of the Hotel. Through her "tweets," I learned of the Hotel’s LEED’s goals and of the many amenities that the hotel had to offer. And then I went to the restaurant in the hotel, ELATE.
Let me say this: I am a hairdresser, and if I recommend a restaurant, it is because I have heard more good things than bad about it—I’ve tried it—and I’ve loved it. Elate blew me away with its “American Market” cuisine, which means I was eating seasonal yummy dishes with grilled tomatillo, rhubarb, avocado, macadamia nuts, grilled beets, barata, and Pizza with pork lechon plus black beans, cotija cheese & pineapple mojo. All of the plates are small for share, so you don’t have to be scared or sorry that you didn’t walk down the street to Poritillo's for your regular mid-west fare. You can just stop in for a few appitizers--but you won't stop eating and you will get full--I assure you. And the prices range per plate is from $9 to $14 -- the low twenties for the bigger protein dishes. My favorite waiter is Jordan, “like the country.” He told me all about veteran Chef, Randal Jacobs, who hunts for local grown and organic foods which means that the menu will always be changing. Jordan has done much of my ordering for me. “Trust me,” he always says. I do trust him. And trust me when I say: order the beet dish and the brussels sprout dish if it's still on the menu. I never loved either, before now, and you’ll fall in love with them too. Menu to date and Chef bio: http://www.elatechicago.com/

The bar is zigzagged to accommodate sitters and yet one can still order a drink from the great bartenders. Outdoor seating is available although I love the insides with high ceilings, chandeliers, and big windows. On Elate’s website they call the decor “rustic and sophisticated” with many green elements incorporated into the design such as distressed concrete floors mixed with Herringbone patterned oak. Here’s a professional review from The Reader if you like: http://tinyurl.com/2592dr2

After many tweets and raves about Elate, I asked Molly if she could introduce me to George B. Jordan, the General Manager of the Hotel Felix. I thought, because I liked the restaurant and hotel, that I might write something about it, one day, if I found out anything I thought was interesting.

The first thing that was very interesting to me was the climate control in each individual room. Made by InnCom http://tinyurl.com/2c3ukdc Their software hardware system knows when a guest enters the room and immediately starts heating or cooling the room to the guests’ desired settings. And each room is boutiqued for spare-ity and function so that means Italian type designed beds with drawers underneath instead of bureaus, and closets that double as shelving. Of course there’s every amenity, Energy-Star Flat Screens, blow dryers and, of course, recycling baskets in each bath room. (They even recycle the unused shampoos and conditioner products!)

George gladly showed me around the hotel personally which was very cool. He's funny and his staff likes him and I noticed that he's a happy perfectionist. You won’t see many appliance cords “squimy-sqamin” around end-table legs or coming from the backs of the large flat screens in the conference rooms or media center. He would have wound each loose cord himself because I saw him unconciously do it once. And he very much understands that Social Media specialist like to link & log-in via wireless routers to big monitors so each meeting-room is now equipped to do so.

I think another stamp that George has put on the Hotel Felix is his love of art, which I really appreciate. (Plug: I’m room-mates with the Art Gallery Owner of Curly Tale Fine Art; close to the Hotel.) The very first thing George pointed out to me in the lobby was the Earth, Wind and Fire Element: which were the wall of precision-placed logs, blown glass hanging orbs, and tre-chic fire place. Everyone will notice “Loren the Doorman.” He’s the bright yellow and red sculpture of a happy hearty-sized doorman ready to hail your Chicago cab for you. George seems to be the art adviser and curator for the Hotel’s acquisitions and everyone gets to appreciate.
The staff seems genuinely happy and handsome. And I couldn't go on about the gym and the Spa, of which I have only toured but not used myself. But I can tell you that the Spa is run by ASHA, an Aveda lifestyle salon spa, so I know the staff is trained and professional and their prices are just the same as their downtown salon. (http://tinyurl.com/27y2gbl)

I’ll let you book your next room at Hotel Felix yourself. You’ll love my Chicago neighborhood and cherished neighbor just as much as I do. The spirit and extra effort in which it took to make a green hotel in Chicago is also put into the details such as no VOC paints, and non-toxic cleaners used for a healthy environment that has been beautifully designed and is also a pleasure to rave about. http://www.hotelfelixchicago.com/

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Sensitivity to Hair-Coloring = Toxic you

Just today, a client came into the salon only to be diagnosed, by me, to be too sensitive for the same procedure that she has been having done for years—having her hair colored. Not that it is of much importance to this article, but I usually highlight her dark brown hair which is just starting to gray. And then I “bump” the base, which means that I color the root area not highlighted in foil packets—this is the relevant part: hair coloring product touches her scalp.
In my 30 plus years in the business, I have not heard of hair-coloring or hair tinting ever killing or permanently hurting someone. Oh yes, I’ve seen the rare burn marks and patches on scalps from pasted relaxers or lifting or bleaching or highlighting products. (Not done by me, of course.) But hair-coloring products are mostly milder that those that I just listed and have been very safe for putting on the skin.
But wait—times have changed. I have been coloring a long time and, along with every other stylist in the business; we are all seeing a trend. We are noticing our women clients become more sensitive to hair coloring at a younger and younger age than ever before. Sensitivity means that the body or skin can react in any number of ways; by tingling, burning, itching or aching. One could develop a racing pulse, or have shortness of breath and, I’m sure more or less severe symptoms. My client’s scalp had become sensitive to hair coloring and her skin tingled and then she felt burning. So I knew we could no longer use the same hair coloring products on her scalp that had been perfectly fine for many years prior.
This sensitivity to hair coloring phenomenon is now becoming more common. We colorists have all begun experimenting with new coloring systems. Some without PPD’s (paraphenylenediamine) in them or some with ammonia-free agents. We have learned to use buffers and oils to calm the skin. We recommend shampoos without sulfates or too many chemicals in them and the list is getting longer and longer for the extremes that we will go to keep our livelihood and our clients happy and safe. And, ultimately, all we are doing is trying to keep those “witchy” grays from aging our brunette clients, or keeping our formerly beach-bleached blonde girls light, or keeping redheads from fading into orange mediocrity.
About now, if you are women reading this and you are also someone who is not about to stop coloring your hair, you are looking for that one product, or that one suggestion, that you will glean from this article so that you can tell your stylist to use it just so that you will be able to color your hair till you’re ready to be buried in your favorite black cocktail dress.
But there will be no more chemical jargon in this article. And there is no miracle product to add to the ones I know could be causing sensitivity problems for today’s coloring client. In fact, I know that hair tints and dyes and anything that we use on the skin in this industry is now more safe for your skin and hair that at any other time in my career. Not that I trust the FDA, but the “stuff” they have in professional products is just better. And yet it is not good enough or non-toxic enough if your body is saying, “I am being exposed to too many chemicals—and I want that to stop.” You see, if you are alive today, your body has been bombarded with more toxins from the likes of treated beds and pillows, more poisons from gardening products, more DNA disruptors from paints and water bottles, and more radiation from tech equipment than any generations before. AND you are constantly putting duress-stress on you “mind-body-system” by daily taking in 400 times more information than your grandparents did from: your television and TV monitors everywhere, 3G phones, computers, KIDS, and the whole list of crap you do every day just to get by. Add that up and your body is going to start to react. It’s going to tell you something: Stop. Slow down. Treat me right. Get these built-up toxin out of me!
And how is your body going to tell you all that? By getting tired. By upset stomachs. By sensitivity to products and foods that you never had a problem with before. I know you want a miracle product to patch you up so you can keep doing what you are doing. A pill that you can take so that you can address your toxin intake or stress intake on your own time schedule. But yeah, no. The time is now. Do it before your body breaks down or your stylists tells you that he/she cannot color your grays (gasp!). Or worse, before you spend thousands on hospital bills and doctors--like I have.
Back to the story of my client. Along with her sensitivity to hair coloring she had also begun to have skin and stomach problems. One thing that I’ve notice with people who have sensitive skin, it’s that it started out with a sensitive stomach. Her doctor even suggested she could be Celiac which mean she will have to go on a Glutton-free diet for the rest of her life. (I’m close to succumbing to this realization for myself.) Now, when I suggested that she start using “anti-inflammatory foods” (Google that!), she seemed a little interested. But when I also recommended meditation, her mind put the brakes on.
“Whoh,” she said, “all this sound like a lot of time. I’m in sales and I’m on the road all the time. I don’t have time to meditate or wade through the menus at restaurant just to find things that I can eat.”
I did not explain to her that it did not matter if she would take the time or not. She needs to reverse some of reasons her body is sensitive such as the accumulation of toxin and stress on her body. She may not know it now, but her body will tell her when it has had enough. Years ago, I had a few emergency trips to the hospital myself—stomach problems…, then relaxing problems…, then skin problems…, then: bam! I now meditate, exercise and I eat a lot of anti-inflammatory foods, and I avoid toxins where I can. I also read up on what could be my next step to even better health.
By the end of my client’s appointment, I promised her that I would have a coloring product to cover her grays by the next time she came in. I could still use the highlighter because that does not touch her skin. She seemed put at ease but I knew that the hair was not the most important thing. Her health was.

Here are my suggestions to help you make sure that you are healthy. This is my “miracle product” that I think could help all of us. It’s a path. I just hope I can make the path a little less daunting for you by illuminating the way.


Start to take personal action: Don’t change everything all at once. You can slowly tackle toxin purging by getting rid or your garden poisons or toxic cleaners, little by little, or as they run out. They didn’t come into your life over night and you’ve got a few months to get used to the idea of getting rid of them, slowly but surely.
Green Cleaner news: read my green cleaner blog or go to: http://www.ecomaids.com/

Eat Better: http://nutrition.about.com/od/changeyourdiet/qt/inflamguide.htm
For Babys: http://www.earthbaby-organics.com/

Learn a little more: Read about a mom's journey to a healthy life for her sons through a divorce!: http://ecoactionplan.wordpress.com/
You're welcome: http://storyofstuff.com/ This one's a good start for anyone.
A must: http://www.squidgonegreen.com/
Best articles: http://www.icountformyearth.com/ My personal Fav.
Best of Chicago: http://www.mindfulmetropolis.com/
Go to the Green section of MafiaHairdresser.com. Follow my Green Twitter list @mafiahairdreser on Twitter. And, for heaven's sake, subscribe to this blog!

Empower yourself: Once you start feeling more health and energy, you'll get worked up about more health and you'll see how chemicals and toxins need not be in our foods and environment and then you'll start taking bigger actions.
Sign a petition each week. http://care2.org/
Pass on some information on twitter. http://www.chicagoclimateaction.org/
You can’t save the whole world but you can donate a few dollars a month or join one online organization. http://worldwildlife.org/.

Know that it is enough and stop worrying: Please know that what you are doing is enough--for today. For your health. For your family.
And you’ve got to trust that everyone is going to start walking this healthy path one day as well. Each of us is going to wake up on our own time (you did!) and care for ourselves and then the environment by taking actions. If we all do a little bit, on our own pace—all will be well. If you worry about other people not doing their part, you might have to medicate or meditate and exercise more!....
Exercise: You will suck at it for the first 30 days but do yoga ten to twenty minutes a day. Lock the kids in a closet if you have to but just start doing something. Buy a matt and a DVD and get started. Walk!
If you are healthy or ill: HUG A TREE! One of my client’s doctor’s actually told her to start hugging trees. This woman was diagnosed and treated for lung cancer and was told she would die in two years even after surgery. That was 15 years ago. And she attributes her health to getting outside and getting back in touch with nature and the healing (and free!) vibrations of trees.
Stop, look and listen to your body: If you think that you are stressing out your mind and body, turn off the TV, computer, cell phone… And then start looking into the foods, water and chemicals around you and begin your health journey today. MEDITATE. Think about it, if you do not get healthy, I might be out of a job in few years.

Mwah!
Please order your copy of Mafia Hairdresser, the novel about my life as a hairdresser to a mob couple in the 80's, and subscribe to this blog!

Our Homework is Due and We have an Oilspill to clean up.

The British Petroleum oil spill disaster is disgusting and is the most saddening of holocausts of oceans, nature and human health. But I’m ultimately responsible. And so are you. We’re responsible for letting it happen. And now we are responsible for learning our lessons from this catastrophe, and then making sure something like this never happens again.
Look, I know this is in-your-face. I’m holding up my ugly mirror to myself too. But, we as a collective one-planet, one-society people need to wake up, get educated, and then start voting for leaders who will help us be able to co-exist with nature in harmony. And that means learning how to be green, and taking responsibility for the companies that we buy things such as oil, food and cleaners from. This also means that we might have to read more and learn more than what is in US magazine. It might mean less reality show television per week for some of us, or taking care of yourself so you have the energy to actually register to vote.
Face it, puppets; We’re human and we’re tired from being busy-bees in our buzzy lives. We all just want our lives to be easier and better so we go along with status quo or with what we know is not quite-right-yet. We’re all going to be more green when we get more time to investigate how to do it. We might put our money into religions that discriminate against gays or Jews because they have the best schools in more convenient areas. And we buy products or food from companies that have caused insurmountable agony to God’s little creatures because the product is cheaper or cleans better, or the food is your “little indulgence.” But this negligence builds up and we will have to deal with how we turned our backs on these small atrocities sooner or later.
Every time we just go along with status quo, or put our money into an agency, company or product that hurts someone or an animal or our environment, we are looking away. A company like British Petroleum could very have well by now be making its money by manufacturing solar batteries for clean cars if it had put its vast surplus of funds into this type of research and developement. We could have written them letters or marched against them or stopped driving our Hummers. But hey, we were busy—they’re a big scary company—I’m just one guy…. And they are corporation that responds to supply and demand.
So, we have let the mess get this far. We let our oil consumption ways, our laziness, and our fear of personal change cause a disaster which will affect us all for the rest of our lives in ways we do not yet comprehend. But I’m going to forgive myself. I hope you do too. Let’s dust off the shame. Let’s crack open the “books” and learn and read and do better next time—and let’s vote and make noise where we see injustice or wrong. Let us never let our homework pile up so bad to where we get a big-fat F for fail again.

Here’s were you can start today.
Subscribe to http://www.squidgonegreen.com/ This website is a must-site for everyone. Squid Gone Green lets you ease into green with helpful information, tips, and ways to wrap your mind around your own way of personal Earth stewardship.
http://www.moveon.org/ and http://www.sierraclub.org/ are great political resources which help you make good and sound voting decisions FOR the environment. Join them.
http://www.care2.com/ is the easiest way to do weekly or daily action for a better earth. They will make it easy for you to cast a vote and let your congressmen, senators and our president know that you are watching them and expect a better world.I tweet. And you can go to my personal mafia-green & mafia-solar lists and puruse through the Green tweeps that I learn from and follow. Tweet me personally and I can help you find what you need.
I'll do a special blog to help you along as I grow more green myself. But this is a good start.
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Green Cleaners

These are my two favorite recipes for green cleaners that I use regularly at home. They are the first two recipes that I learned how to make when I became a C-3 leader* in Chicago and I have taught friends and classes of people how to make them.

Oh: Why would you want to make you own home cleaners?

Because cleaning products make up the bulk of our indoor air pollution. Even when they are dry or have dried, carpet deodorizers, window cleaners, tub and toilet scrubbers and disinfectants, and more, can interact with your nervous system, aggravate or activate asthma, irritate skin, eyes, nose, throat, lungs. Vapors and gases emitted from these products constantly release carcinogens into the air and may cause pulmonary edema, and inhibit reflexes. It doesn’t matter if these products cause only temporary headaches or dizziness, or short-lived skin irritation, or if you experience a fleeting slight narrowing of blood vessels or an momentary increase in blood pressure; UNLESS you know that cancer is has gone from 1 in 8000 to 1 in 2 people and Cancer is caused by irritation. Cancer is caused by irritation of an organ or a whole body system. Different cleaners irritate different organs and systems in the body.
Agh. We’ve made the connection. Enough said.
(Mafia Hairdresser will always get to the point quickly, unless I’m writing my “fictionistas.”)

Basic Cleaner:
½ teaspoon baking soda (or 2 teaspoon of 2o Mule Team Borax)
½ teaspoon liquid soap/cleaner (**this is the one I use the most)
2 cups hot water
Mix ingredient to together in a spray bottle and you can clean floors, countertops, kitchens and bathrooms and you will have no headaches, nasal or throat inflammations and your home will begin to smell cleaner and fresher. Add two drops of Tea Tree Oil for extra disinfecting. (I get my Tea Tree Oil at The Aveda Store on Michigan Ave. Tea Tree Oil is a natural disinfectant and there are other bacteria-busting essential oils that you can customize your cleaners with.)


Basic Window Cleaner:
½ teaspoon liquid soap/cleaner **
¼ cup white distilled vinegar
2 cups of water
Mix all ingredients in a spray bottle and go. I like this on stainless too.
I had a room-mate who did not like the smell of the white vinegar (although the smell wouldn’t hurt him like a VOC laden product) so I switched to apple vinegar. That one was good, and once it dried, he couldn’t smell anything at all--and that is the point.




**Mrs. Meyers Clean Day http://tinyurl.com/yfdut67
Seventh Generation http://tinyurl.com/2p7up
www.Ecos.com

Try making your own cleaner. Or try buying the environmentally-safe and health-conscious alternatives to your toxic unhealthy old products.


Here are some links to more in-depth articles if you so desire to read on. You can always come back here once you start breathing easier.

This is from Care2.com, Healthy & Green Living: http://tinyurl.com/yodpym It has more recipes for oven cleaners and carpet cleaners and more. I love Care2.com

A wonderful article about VOC’s and Asthma: http://tinyurl.com/mlfr49
NaturalHomeMagazine.com

Did you know that some of the very grass roots looking websites are funded and operated by big corporations that make new healthier and environmentally friendly products? Go to green-clean websites and keep clicking. Companies like Johnson & Johnson know that you are interested enough to want to make your own green products which means that they know that you will be abandoning their old products.
Most makers of products that currently have VOCs and carcinogens are now making healthier and less environmentally toxic products. They are gearing up for their “regular consumers” demanding to have VOC’s and bad elements taken out of their old products. They just aren’t ready to stop making their old products because most people are not quite up to speed on why we all need to buy healthy and be more careful as to what we pour down the drain. I’m ok with that, right now; so long as I know and you know and we spread the good word.
Two more helpful cleaners:
Hydrogen Peroxide: Typically found in the medicine cabinet, this disinfectant can also be used as an effective bleach alternative in the laundry room. Because it’s also a powerful oxidizing agent, it works especially well on food, soil, plant, blood and other organic stains. Just make sure to spot test in a discreet area because, like bleach, hydrogen peroxide may lighten fabrics. For each average-size load of whites, add 8 ounces of 3 percent hydrogen peroxide after you have filled the washer with hot water.
Salt: Perfect for cleaning grungy ovens, this natural abrasive is also great for soaking up fresh carpet stains such as red wine, coffee or ink. Pour salt on the wet stain. Let dry, then vacuum.

* http://tinyurl.com/ygrbkk6 c-3 Chicago Conservation Corps I'm a graduate and you can be too!


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The Pope and I agree on being green.

http://tinyurl.com/yb4vrqq

http://tinyurl.com/ye7m9ar

The Pope and I finally have something that we agree on. Being Green is our spiritual duty. I have always thought that much of the Catholic rhetoric has been divisive. But because of the Pope's urging of Green consciousness and recent green dialogue, I feel that I can sit at the same table with him and get something positive done. If all faiths came together and agreed to honor this creation, Earth, I believe we'd reverse global warming and, in the process, find the commonality in our societies different faiths. We'd also be putting our faiths into action (do not judge...?) and we'd be doing a little god-like creating ourselves. How about a Utopian co-existence, and clean air and water for our children. Count me in. Let's get started.

I belong to a Science of Mind church. Our belief is that there is one God. And we don't moralize what we call God; Him... Her... Universe... Martini... And we don't care if you don't want to call "it" anything or believe that there is a God at all. We believe that everyone is part of this God, so every individual is perfect in our God's eyes. That means that we are all the same, whether it looks like it or not, or whether you believe that or not--so we appreciate and try to remember that daily. Pretty neat, huh?

But, just like many churches, the people of my congregation have been attending services and classes where we learn how to be better individual spiritual persons and then we take the teachings and try and work them into our daily lives.

There are a few Ministries in our church, like the Animal Ministry, that actively puts to use what they've learned within the community and out. The Animal Ministry serves the "outside" community at-large by collecting funds and donated items and disperses them to needy animal shelters in our area. And they do their own brand of spiritual prayer treatments for pets and their owners and have parishioners sign petitions for better laws for treatment of animals. (I just set up a FaceBook group page, ANIMAL MINISTRY, for them.) I like this ministry because it practices "faith into action," and it allows members and non-members alike to practice our spiritual principals.

But, like many churches, temples, and synagogues etc, I believe my church has been coming up short on the spiritual message to actual action where it concerns being green. Up to now we have not been walking the talk, or actually doing what we preach. Our new-thought and ancient-wisdom has taught me that we humans are stewards of this Mother Earth and we here to take care of this planet, ourselves, and all of Earth's inhabitant, human and non-human alike. But we have not fully made the connection that to change laws which protect our children from drinking tainted water or making sure that we all have clean air in the future is actually spiritual practice and not necessarily politics. We say we should love our fellow man and take car of our bodies but we have continued to buy energy wasting light bulbs in our church and we still use Styrofoam cups and we still buy bleached white paper towels, all of which adds Co2 into the air.

My spirituality says this human existence is the manifestation of our collective spirituality. This is our world. We made it this way. So when are we going to collectively going to make this world of form the beautiful place we desire it to be? It will take everyone to do it. Christians, Jews, Muslims.... The Pope is just one more dude realizing that we got to come together.

Look, I know all churches are worried about the dollars to keep our doors open. How do we get more people to attend church? How can we empower our congregation to be better people? But I don't think that we should have to worry about the bottom line. We should let God do that. I also believe we can attract people and empower ourselves by putting our faith into action. Here's an example:

There is a Rabbi Rosen of the Jewish Reconstructionist Congregation. He and his core council had a choice when their old building was no longer big enough to hold the growing congregation. Either they had to tear down and build a bigger building on the igniting site, or move and buy or build another larger Temple elsewhere. Sometime and somewhere along the way of deciding, Rabbi Rosen had a spiritual epiphany. He had caught the "Green bug." Rabbi Rosen realized that being green and being a steward of this earth was a spiritual edict of his own religion.
By studying the Jewish principle of Bal Tashchit, which appears in biblical text as well as in later rabbinic interpretation, he gleaned that a Jewish environmental ethic teaches "do not destroy or waste."
"God led Adam around the Garden of Eden and said, ‘Look at My works. See how beautiful they are, how excellent. See to it that you do not spoil or destroy My world — for if you do, there will be no one to repair it after you.’" (Midrash Ecclesiastes Rabbah 7:13)

Rabbi Rosen and his core council decided to stay on the same site, tear down the existing building, recycle the demolition, and then make the new building the very first LEEDS Synagogue. http://tinyurl.com/2xqdgy Of course, this was going to take millions more to do this than had they only decided to tear down and build traditionally in this bad economy.
Well, today he preaches that the money for the tear down and build-out for their new building came easier and faster because they chose to go green. The money poured in because they chose spiritual over practical or traditional. Faith and spirit won. Fear lost.
The Jewish Reconstructionist Congregation is a beacon of faith into action and attracts followers, admirers and has shown the religious communities that being green is the way to go. I'm definitely an admirer.
If you'd like a tour of the now famous LEEDS certified Jewish Reconstructionist Congregation:
303 Dodge Avenue Evanston, Illinois 60202-3252
Phone 847-328-7678 info@jrc-evanston.org


Every congregation has to have a pastor or priest or rabbi that gets nipped by the Green Bug. Then the blessings can start happening in our temples, synagogues, churches and mosques. And may that good fortune happen for all of us who run green groups in our churches. Maybe now with the Pope on board it's going to get a little easier to make the connection that this earth and we humans are spiritually connected. (Did you see Avatar?) I never thought I'd say this, but thanks, Pope. I look forward to working with you on this one. Maybe we'll find some other things to work on together. Solar Energy? Feeding the worlds poor? And maybe by working together I'll find out that you aren't so divisive and maybe you won't think I'm so bad and that I'm one of God's treasures just the way I am.

I am the leader of The Green Ministry at Bodhi Spiritual Center in Chicago. WE are GREEN and we are Getting better at it, every day. And we belong to Faith in Place, an interfaith group of like-minded green organizations in different churches, synagogues and temples etc in the greater Chicago Area. http://www.faithinplace.org/