MOM’s Organic Market’s ER Blog

Last night as I was finishing up dinner and putting away the leftovers, I went in search of some handy containers where I could find both the base and the lid. For all of you who keep a stash of tupperware, you may know that it can be a real challenge at times to find both these things. There is the sorting, searching out similar shapes, and then finally, trying to fit them together.

With this challenge in tow last night, I opened up the drawer to find plenty of bases, and plenty of lids, but no matches for what I needed. Where did it all go? (I often wonder if the dryer sock monster and the tupperware disappearance has any connection.) I don’t want to have to go out and purchase more tupperware, so I looked towards my cupboards for some help. I was then reminded of the importance of reusing the containers that so many people take as trash.

Our refrigerators and cupboards are full of them: yogurt, butter, cottage cheese and sour cream containers, not to mention the endless amounts of jars that products come in now days. These can easily be used as storage containers, and they will be easy to find the top and bottom as each container is unique. So, what’s stopping so many people from using them? I think that it is a habit to finish a product and then throw it directly in the trash. We need to break these habits, use some creativity, and implement the second R: Reuse.

I’ve been reusing food containers for some time now and I feel pretty good about it. Not only am I keeping these things out of the landfill, as a lot of the containers can’t be recycled in the county facilities, but also saving time and money on the tupperware.

The other day I had a co-worker ask me about a good alternative for cleaning up grime and film. After a little while of searching, I came up with white vinegar! It appears that white vinegar has a million and one uses, and not just in baking recipes. Here are a few ideas to get you started:

• * Mildew and Grime remover
• * Removes rust from bolts, nuts or even your old cast iron pan
• * Removes mildew smell from your laundry
• * Place a few drops in vase to keep flowers fresh longer
• * Excellent window cleaner
• * Stubborn stain, odor and gum remover
• * Wall paper remover
• * Remedy for sunburn
• * Weed killer
• * Will remove the smell of skunk from your pet’s coat
• * Removes stains from leather
• * Good grease cutter
• * Use to help unclog drains
• * Remove hardened dryed acrylic paint from paint brushes
• * Natural pest control, i.e. ants and cockroaches

To learn more about the infinite uses for white vinegar, or any vinegar for that matter, visit this page.

Yesterday, while I was answering a cell phone call, to my horror, the phone broke in my hand. I went to my cell phone provider and purchased a replacement, but what to do with my now broken phone. I jumped on the web to try to find a company or facility that would take my cell phone to be recycled. What I found was a company that offered that and more. What I found was TerraPass.

TerraPass is a company that helps to fight global warming by offering ways to help you reduce your carbon dioxide emissions created in your day to day activities. We all have what is called a carbon footprint, which is basically the amount of carbon dioxide we leave behind us after our car trip to the store, our flight to Vegas, or the electricity used to blow dry our hair. It’s our mark.

TerraPass helps to offset your carbon footprint by purchasing and investing in forms of renewable energy, such as wind power. Right on their website there is a calculator where you can enter your car make, year and the amount of miles that you drive per year, and it will show you your carbon dioxide emissions for a year. They will also display how much it would cost you to counterbalance it with renewable energy, which all things considered, is pretty affordable.

What I found on this site was a way to recycle my broken cell phone, and in turn, receive credits toward offsetting my carbon footprint. TerraPass will take just about any old or broken cellphone, and recycle almost every last piece of it. It’s a win win situation. I can only hope that more people take a look at what they are leaving behind in their footprint, and take steps in the fight against global warming.

Recently I’ve been finding more and more ants roaming around my outside garden, which is fine, but where does their trail lead? I decided to follow their trail, only to find that they were walking the perimeter of my house. It wasn’t long after that that they were then showing up in the laundry room and connected kitchen. What to do?

Well, the first move would be to clean, clean and clean some more. Wipe off all countertops, put away all food and dishes, basically eliminate the things that they are attracted to. If that doesn’t work, along with trying to find where they are coming in, which can seem impossible at times, you can try deterring them from their path. Ants, along with rodents, have a distaste for peppermint oil. Try sprinkling that about, or apply to a cottonball and place near a frequented area, and watch how they scurry away.

There is also a product on the market, which MOMs carries, that’s called Orange Guard, which is an enviromentally friendly way of eliminating your pest problem as well. Orange Guard is made with natural orange oils and is non toxic to children and pets. It not only will kill and repel ants, but also cockroaches and fleas. I used this product with the ants, after my other attempts of ridding them failed, and it worked like a charm. I found that you don’t have to spray the ants themselves, you can also spray their path, which will help drive them away. Not only does it smell nice, but I felt okay about using it around my kitchen and allergy ridden roommates.

Since I’ve started using it, the ant problem seems to have slowed down and they have made a new path away from my home. Now, I’m not saying that this is the only solution to an ant problem, but it is one of many options. It’s all a matter of finding what works for you.

Here at MOMs we believe that the smallest things can make all the difference. In each of our store locations, we have a battery recycling container available to both our employees and our customers. It all started when we began calling around to different trash collectors and toxic waste facilities inquiring into where we could drop off some of our batteries we had accumulated. What we found was shocking, yet, not so surprising. They simply said “just throw them away.” That’s when we decided to team with a company called Battery Solutions, based out of Michigan, that would help us facilitate our battery recycling centers. When our battery containers are full, we ship them off to the company to be stripped for their recyclable components, and then disposed of properly. By doing this, it eliminates waste in landfills, toxins in the environment, and new products are created from the salvaged materials.

Battery recycling is just one example of how My Organic Market is helping to create a positive impact on the environment. So, if you are looking around some of your junk drawers and find those small batteries rolling around or have a container of batteries accumulating in your garage that you never knew what to do with, bring them to MOMs.

Types of batteries that you can take into any of our MOMs locations…

• A, C, D and 9volt
• Cell Phone
• Hearing Aids
• Toys
• Camera

* Please, no car batteries

Hi everyone! The MOM’s blog has been pretty sleepy for the past few months, but its time to fire it back up. I’m Jen, My Organic Market’s new Environmental Coordinator. I’m really excited about helping to make MOM’s as environmentally responsible a company as possible, and I’ll be using this blog to give you updates on the different projects I’ll be working on. I’ll also throw in a few news tidbits, green tips, and any other environmental information that I find interesting… and I hope you’ll share your views with me, too!

The best way to reduce populations of mosquitoes:

• Remove or empty water in old tires, tin cans, buckets, drums, bottles, even children’s toys left out in the yard, or other places where mosquitoes might breed. Be sure to check clogged gutters and flat roofs that may have poor drainage. Make sure rain barrels and trash containers are covered tightly with a lid or with 16-mesh screen.
• Empty plastic wading pools at least once a week and store indoors when not in use.

• Change the water in birdbaths and plant pots or drip trays at least once each week.

• Store boats covered or upside down, or remove rainwater weekly.

• Empty your pet’s water bowl daily.

• Fill in tree rot holes and hollow stumps that hold water.

• If you have an ornamental water garden, stock it with mosquito-eating fish (e.g., minnows, “mosquito fish,” or goldfish). They eat mosquito larvae.

• Keep weeds and tall grass cut short; adult mosquitoes look for these shady places to rest during the hot daylight hours.

• Avoid places and times when mosquitoes bite. Generally, the peak biting periods occur just before and after sunset and again just before dawn.

• Be sure door and window screens are tight fitting and in good repair.

• When it is necessary to be outdoors, apply insect repellent as indicated on the repellent label

MOM’s carries several safe and natural repellents for our customers to choose from. You could use BUZZ AWAY, which has citronella oil as the active ingredient, or BURT’S BEES Herbal Insect Repellent with lemongrass, citronella and rosemary oils. BITE BLOCKER contains a variety of plant oils; plant extracts and even includes a skin moisturizer. GONE is a repellent that also boasts of an SPF 10 to help guard against sunburn. These products are packaged ready to use as sprays, lotions and even roll-on applications. Oh yes, and they really do work!