Dressing up for the radio?

I love doing my radio show! I can crawl out of bed, grab a cup of coffee and slip on a set of headphones and I'm on! You don't know what I look like - and trust me, some days you definitely don't want to see how bad I look! Today I thought I'd dress up for the radio. I even put on makeup! I stopped by a Sephora store yesterday and sprung for a new eyeliner. They also showed me how to put it on. Eyeliner is much more complicated than I ever knew - inside - outside - top inside - bottom outside - it started to make my hair hurt!  But I think I got the hang of it. I bought the stila Smudge Stick Waterproof Eye Liner, Stingray ">Stila smudge stick in "damsel". "older women don't want to go too dark" she said.  So I bought it and love it! Thanks Stila for making makeup we ALL can wear.

Gloria Gemma's Carol Donnelly Journey

by Carol Donnelly

 

I have lived with a compromised immune system ever since I lost my spleen in a car accident over 25 years ago and there were periods in my life where it seemed that I was sick more than I was well.  Eventually, I got sick and tired of being sick and tired, and decided to take matters into my own hands.

    
The first thing I did was fill a cupboard with the strongest cleaning products I could find—especially ones that claimed to be disinfectants or had antibacterial agents in them or bleach.  Yes, bleach was my BFF.  I used it to wash my linens. I used it to clean my bathroom, and clean the toilet bowl.  I used it to clean my small white appliances.  I even used it outside on the vinyl siding! I thought that using bleach to clean just about everything would kill the germs, and it was killing the germs, but what I didn’t know was that my BFF bleach was also my frenemy.    
   
Two breast cancer diagnoses in five years got me thinking about how I could reduce my risk of another cancer diagnosis, but the big question was: where to start?  There’s so much material out there, and sifting through endless streams of it to find legitimate information was a daunting task.  Fortunately for me, I began working for the Gloria Gemma Breast Cancer Resource Foundation, and part of their mission is to “increase breast health education…and generate funding for local breast health programs.” The classes they offer at their center, and classes offered by their partners, like Whole Foods, gave me the knowledge I needed to effectuate changes in my environment.
    
One of those classes was taught by Leslie Reichert, the green cleaning coach. What I learned in that hour and a half astounded me! I had no idea that in my effort to keep my house clean and germ-free, I was potentially harming myself and my family. I also learned how to make my own cleaning products for a fraction of the cost of buying them.  Needless to say, I bought her book, and then went home and symbolically kicked bleach to the curb.  Don’t worry, bleach wasn’t alone when it got the boot, I gave a popular scouring powder and several other products the heave ho, too.        

In my journey to get my family and myself healthier, I discovered that “everything old is new again,” and going green is nothing new, nor does it have to be expensive—our grandparents did it, and saved lots of money in the process.    

Fox TV -Living Well With Leslie Reichert, The Cleaning Coach

Cleaning coach Leslie Reichert joined FOX 25 Morning News to talk about how switching to “green cleaning” can not only help the environment, but also keep families and pets safe from hidden toxins and health risks.

Watch this at My Fox Boston

I'm very excited to introduce you to Ava and her business; Ava Anderson Non-Toxic. Ava is a young woman that is changing the way cosmetic business works in the US. Her business has just been nominated as an Emerging Entrepreneur of 2011 by Entrepreneur Magazine! You can go to this link and vote for her company. She was recently highlighted in an article by Eco RI News. Below is the article. Watch a young woman make a difference!

Skin-Product Company Thrives Under Teen CEO
By TIM FAULKNER/ecoRI News staff

Barrington resident Ava Anderson was one of this year's Clean Water Action/Ocean State Action environmental achievement award winners. (Tim Faulkner/ecoRI news)WARREN — Read the back of the label, not the front. It's a practice most health-concious consumers follow while shopping for food, but not always when buying toothpaste, deodorant and sunscreen.

Ava Anderson Non-Toxic, a skin-care company based locally, is helping broaden the public's label-inspection habits with a simple premise: What goes on your body is just as important as what goes in it.

Trouble is the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) doesn't have jurisdiction over personal-care products like it does with food. So companies don't always list every ingredient on their moisturizer or shampoo. In fact, there are some 600 chemicals that qualify as a "proprietary" fragrance or parfum that don't need to be disclosed.

So in 2009, at just 15, Ava Anderson, a Barrington resident and high school student at Moses Brown in Providence, started a for-profit business to educate consumers about the pervasive and harmful chemicals in everyday products — chemicals that if not absorbed by the body eventually wash down the drain and work their way into the environment, drinking water and food supply.

Following in the footsteps of her grandfather Charles Collis, former owner of Princess House, a successful giftware company in Taunton, Mass., Ava adapted the direct sales, party-plan approach to selling personal-care products. The person-to-person model helps deliver an alternative perspective to the feel-good branding from companies such as Johnson & Johnson, Clorox and even Tom's of Maine, companies that sell "trusted" products with unsafe and unhealthy ingredients consumers have dabbed and lathered on their skin for decades. Read more here

Mother Earth News Reviews The Joy of Green Cleaning

The Joy of Green Cleaning: Teaching People What a Cut Lemon and a Little Salt Can Do 5/12/2011 6:11:58 PM
By Robyn Griggs Lawrence
Leslie Reichert ’s mission is to teach and encourage the art of homekeeping and green cleaning so people can enjoy a good life. “I always love to see the faces of people when I show them what a cut lemon and some salt can really do,” she says.

Reichert, a green cleaning coach and owner of the Back Door, a vacuum and homekeeping store in Uxbridge, Massachusetts, runs the website ShopGreenCleaning and wrote The Joy of Green Cleaning, an essential resource full of tips and recipes for cleaning your home without chemicals. She turned to natural cleaning methods after running a large residential cleaning service—and seeing firsthand what the harsh chemicals in cleaning solutions can do to people’s health. Reichert sees three good reasons to green your cleaning:

For yourself- to protect your body from chemicals it is not designed to process.

For your family- because the chemicals we use in the home stay in the home—and affect our family‘s indoor air quality. Fumes from chemical cleaners can linger in the air for months.

For the Earth- to help the waterways, improve air quality and find sustainable alternatives to petro-based chemicals made from a non-renewable resource.

The Joy of Green Cleaning is packed full of great recipes for making your own cleaners. From the expected—kitchen and bathroom cleaners—to the unexpected—Ugg boot deodorizer and a sheepskin cleaner—the book contains everything you need for a sparkling clean home, naturally. It’s available at The Joy of Green Cleaning or can be downloaded as an e-book.

Read more: http://www.motherearthnews.com/natural-home-living/the-joy-of-green-cleaning-teaching-people-what-a-cut-lemon-a-little-salt-can-do.aspx#ixzz1MKicemON

Life.Style with Christine Koh

Car Cleaning Tips From The Pros

Go beyond the basic suds for a vehicle that will shine like it's brand-new, inside and out By Arianna Cohen Posted April 29, 2011 from Woman's Day; June 1, 2011

 

You know the essentials when it comes to washing your automobile. Now, a few tips and products that make cleaning and organizing your car easier.

• Always wash your car in the shade. Washing it in the sun will leave soap spots.

• Lose the hose. Yes, it’s fun to spray your hose Rambo-style. It also uses a lot more water than a bucket rinse does, says Leslie Reichert, author of The Joy of Green Cleaning. A bucket will do just as good a job on everything except your undercarriage.

• Keep a bottle of glass cleaner and some microfiber towels (12 for $24.50; MicrofiberUSA.com) in your trunk. When you’ve got a few minutes, wipe down your windows and the console.

• Never know where your registration is? Sharon McRill, president of The Betty Brigade concierge company in Ann Arbor, Michigan, suggests leaving a car registration pouch in your glove compartment to protect your car insurance and registration…and make it obvious when they fall out of the glove box. We like the Case Logic Glove Box Organizer ($4.96; QVC.com), which also has three small slots for a tire gauge, flashlight and pen.

• Organize kids toys, coloring books and sippy cups with the Sunshine Kids Travel Pal ($13.99; Target.com) that sits on the seat right next to kids or on the floor.

• You'll have no more cord tangles thanks to the Kangaroo Personal Media Case ($12.99; GreatUsefulStuff.com). Slide GPS, chargers and a half-dozen cords into this small case. Its washable, bright-pink exterior makes it easy to find.

Speed Your Way to Clean

Don’t have time for a full cleaning? Just do the following 5-minute clean, suggests Paul Ponzio, Jr., president of Samaritania, operator of the CVS Samaritan vans as well as various state freeway patrols:

• Speed-wash the wheels and body with a soapy sponge. Rinse.

• Wash the windows from the outside with glass cleaner.

• Dry all with microfiber towels.

Protect Your Car

These four protective products all add to your car's resale value by protecting the paint coat—and provide a 20-minute arm workout.

• Clear Coat Protector: “Clear coat is like putting a hard shell on your car” that protects the paint from salt and rust, says Barbara Terry, a racecar driver and car columnist. “Have you seen a car where the paint looks like it’s peeling? That’s the clear coat peeling off.” Spray on and rub in. It lasts for four years or more.

• Polish: Applied directly to scratches, liquid polish actually uses microscopic abrasives to remove a thin layer of the paint, thus hiding unsightly blemishes. After the car is washed and dried, take a dry rag and apply polishing compound directly to small scratches, which will make them disappear.

• Wax: Available in liquid or paste form, wax adds a protective layer above the clear coat and polish, preventing water and grime from pooling so it wicks right off. A test to see if you need to wax: Next time it rains, if the water beads up into little balls, like water on an oily skillet, your car is fine. If there’s no beading, and the water rolls down the sides in sheets, you need to wax. Always apply wax on a clean car with clean microfiber cloths, so that dirt particles don’t scratch the car.

• Windshield Protector: This is like wax for your windshield, preventing the water from pooling. “Apply it about once a year, and it prevents water from staining the windshield,” says Terry.

Top 50 Household Cleaning Blogs - We're #5!

"Need to whip your house into shape? These household cleaning blogs are the top online resources for getting in there and cleaning out any clutter, gunk or goo that’s accumulated over the years. You may think that it’s too big of a task to take on, but getting started is half of the battle and these household cleaning blogs will guide you every step of the way."

5. Happy Cleaning This site focuses on eco-friendly household cleaning products and DIY concoctions you can make for next to nothing for making your home sparkle.

Want to see the other 49? You can go to http://bit.ly/eWSgSt  But you have to promise to come back now- ya here!

Waiting for the call from Martha Stewart Radio!

I love radio interviews. As I sat at my desk waiting to talk to Martha (or at least her radio station) I'm was in fleece pants and a big bulky sweatshirt. I did get up early enough to make sure my voice worked and get some caffeine in me so I sounded "perky", but no shower, no make-up and no worrying about a bad hair day.




So what do you do when your up 1 and 1/2 hours before a radio interview at 7:00 am and have had too much caffeine? Well, for me the answer was simple. You clean! I know, I'm sick but I had to do something to pass the time. And anyway my house needed it. So in when the laundry, the dishes, and even cleaned up the bathroom! It's amazing what a little caffeine can do for you at 5:30 in the morning!

I'm not going to be worth much after 5:30 pm tonight, so I'll share what we talked about now!



Automatic Dishwasher

• Rinse your dishes if you aren't going to run the dishwasher right away.


• When stacking the dishwasher, be very careful to not put the pots and pans on the bottom rack as it will block the water flow to the top shelf.


• Use the right dish soap for your water. Everyone has different water so you have to try different soaps. You can add some table salt to the dish soap to give it a boost.


• Don't put your crystal in the dishwasher as it may bump up against something else and chip.

Hand Washing

• Use rubber gloves to protect your hands.


• Make sure to use a sink mat to protect the dishes and prevent chipping.


• Rinse the dishes with a nice dish brush if you don't have time to wash them. I like the Full Circle Suds Up Brush.


• Towel dry your dishes with a microfiber drinkware towel. There is a nice one from E-cloth.


• Use a green dish soap, specifically one that is scent free for your guests that may have sensitivities. Martha Stewart's works very well.

If you are going to someone else house for the holidays, bring a little gift of some fancy rubber gloves and dish soap. Then offer to help with the dishes. Many a holiday tradition revolves around sharing in the kitchen clean-up!

Boston GreenFest 2010

It was a beautiful day at Government Center in Boston. I was glad I was asked to speak. It was a great event for the entire family. Here are some highlights of the event if you weren't able to make it in!

You couldn't have asked for a better weather day!

The Plaza was filled with people, vendors and lots of great music!

It seemed like everything was green!

I got to meet some great new friends and learn about their businesses. This is Emily form Gazelle. http://www.gazelle.com/ They are into "re-use". They will actually get you cash for your old electronics.

I also got to catch up with some old friends. This is the Bioneers by the Bay booth. They were promoting their Connecting for Change event in October. Make sure you check it out.

There was even something there for Red Sox Fans! It was the perfect event for everyone!

Cleaning Can Be Fun - With Robin Hardy & me!

Join us as we discuss great new ways to make cleaning fun! One hour of tips, tricks and recipes you can try in your own home! We made cleaning fun, fast, green and totally clean!

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This is always the best hour in my Holiday!

Ringing the bell for the Salvation Army is the highlight of my Holiday! It was really cold, but we had lots of layers and laughs. My son even agreed to the antlers!

If you'd like to donate you can call 1-800-sal-army.

They do great work! Merry Christmas!

A green Christmas idea with no carbon footprint!

Here is a last minute idea for those wanting to share green things with friends, but don't want to leave a carbon foot print. Try downloading your favorite book as a PDF, then attaching it to an email and send it off to a friend. No paper, No shipping- No carbon foot print at all!

If you want to share my e-book with a friend, I'm offering a $5 off coupon since I'm joining Coach DQ on WNRI this morning. She is giving my book, The Joy of Green Cleaning, away for her Holiday gift give-away.

Since there is only one winner, I have a coupon so you can download my e-book for only $5! Attach my book as a PDF to an email and send to all your friends. What a great way to save money, time and the planet.

Join me for Coach DQ's Holiday give-away! Don't worry if you can't make it, you can use the $5 off coupon to download my e-book. Here is the link - http://bit.ly/8qmEUC and just use code:CGOJT

The Daily Green does the Math

Save $28 on Green Cleaning Products

Article by Leslie Reichert

Recently, Johnson and Johnson was asked to remove two ingredients in their baby shampoo. If baby shampoo has nasty stuff in it, what do you think is in your cleaning products? Along with knowing what's in your cleaners, you can save money by making your own.

Let's compare the cost of making our own all-purpose cleaner with a gallon of cleaner purchased from the grocery aisle. Here's the math: a gallon of white vinegar will be $3, and if we are being fancy, we'll use distilled water, which will cost us another dollar for a gallon. Combine those two ingredients. Pick up a bottle of essential oil for $4, which will give you enough fresh scent to last a year or more, since you only need to add a few drops to each batch of cleaner you make. All told, we've spent just over $4 to make two gallons of cleaner, or about $2 per gallon.

Now let's go to the cleaning aisle and buy a name brand pine cleaner. We will be paying around $3 for a 12-ounce bottle. There are 128 ounces in a gallon, so we will have to multiply the cost by 10 to get a gallon. So, if we've done our math correctly, we would save just shy of $28 by making our own (the difference between $30 and almost $2).

And the best part is that we KNOW what is in our homemade cleaner. If you can't give up the smell you're used to, trick your nose and use a pine essential oil. You'll still get great quality of cleaning, along with a fresh scent.

This example is just some of the money you can save by making your own cleaners. The underlying advantage is that you won't be surprised someday when a manufacturer is asked to remove a chemical ingredient from the cleaner you've been using around your children and pets. Play it safe and try using a green homemade cleaner. Everyone will be glad you did.
For more green cleaning recipes download the e-book "The Joy of Green Cleaning" or purchase the spiral-bound recipe book from Amazon. (Put in coupon code DG09 for the e-book and get 10% off.)

One Cool Show! Good Taste! Pittsburgh

I just found this on youtube! I had such fun working with the Hearty Boys and the other celebrity chefs. You can see more at http://tinyurl.com/m5j3r8 This was such a great show! One of the highlights, besides my talk :-), was the cake decorating contest. Picking a winner must have been hard. I would have suggested taste tests :-0 You can see all the different entries at their blog. Real talent! I'm glad I didn't have to clean up after that!

Channel 5 @ the Northbridge Middle School

Look who came to visit the

Middle School!

Green Cleaning can be fun!!

http://www.thebostonchannel.com/video/19405790/

The kids at the Northbridge Middle School got a great surprise while learning to green clean! Not only did we mix up some great cleaners that they could take home and use in those "nasty" bathroom sinks, but they got their faces on the Channel 5 ABC News!!! See cleaning can be fun!

By the way, the cloth my "little green guy" is using is an E-cloth and David Brown did mention it in this segment. The program is called www.green4myschool.com and if your interested you can contact me for more information! It is a great way to raise money and awareness for your school.

David Brown, from Channel 5 Boston has a green "mailbag" every Sunday morning. Today the question was:

I like the smell of a clean house... but understand that the clean smell that I'm used to is the result of harsh chemicals... any advice on greener cleaning products?

Barbara

Dighton

And guess where David sent her- right here to the Cleaning Coach! Click here to view the link. Welcome Barbara and everyone else trying to take the chemicals out of cleaning. I'm here to help. David's first piece of advice was to buy The Joy of Green Cleaning, which can be downloaded as an ebook. For more tips and ideas see my list on the left for specific catagories or email me with questions.

Mandy Mommy Reviews My Book!

Mommy Mandy is another converted Green Cleaner. You can read her review below and visit her blog for more fun info! Thanks Mandy and Happy Cleaning!





The Joy of Green Cleaning Giveaway
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Have you been thinking about "going green" but just didn't know where to start? Well now there is a great book that has many different recipies on making your own green products. It is called The Joy of Green Cleaning. A collection of simple yet proven green recipies to help you green your cleaning. And it is now available in print and as an e-Book. Just start by trying one or two and soon you'll be going to your pantry for cleaning solutions instead of the cabinet under the sink.

I was really surprised at how awesome these recipies are, and that they really do work!

WIN:I have one copy of this book (in print) to giveaway!
ENTER:To enter, please visit The Joy of Green Cleaning book preview, and in a comment tell us which section of the book looks the most interesting to you, and that you want to learn about!
Please make sure to follow ALL giveaway rules. You can read them at Giveaway Rules.
Here you will find about the extra ways to enter.
For another entry, donate $1 to my BlogHer Fund.
This giveaway will end on April 12th

Working with Bay State Parent was wonderful!

What a wonderful article in Bay State Parent! I had a great time working with Amy. I have always loved their magazine, and now they are helping me convert other moms to green cleaning. Click here to read the article.

Guest Blogger!

February 3, 2009

Today we are lucky enough to have a guest blogger from www.kidinfo.com - a parents guide to Providence and beyond. Check it out. This site is full of great ideas and information. And they liked my book!

Grocery News: Thrift
By Katy Killilea

Well, I’ve crossed the line: the one between thrifty and cheap. It was an ugly scene that involved two young boys, too few pears, and too many overripe avocados. Sorry, kids. What’s a parent with Boomster scallop dreams and a tilapia budget to do? Shopping at Price Rite, Job Lot, or Building 19 has its place, but only helps so much. For many of us, forgoing the pleasures of buying food in a beautiful setting is far too bleak. And unnecessary. To wit:

1. Buy whatever produce is gorgeous, organic, and on sale. (Caveat emptor re: vast quantities of avocados which are sure to ripen simultaneously.)

2. Buy in bulk: If you use a lot of a particular pantry item, you may be able to get a discount on a whole case.

3. Shop at the Farmer’s Market. Avert your gaze from the pricey jams and focus on the apples and kale, and surely you’ll have $1.50 left for an exquisite cup of New Harvest coffee. Sip slowly, and bask in a sense of luxury on your way out.

4. Give fancy jam as a gift. This allows you the pleasure of selecting and purchasing a small, deluxe object and might ultimately make people love you more. (Everyone likes jam. Raspberry jam.)

5. Make your own sophisticated cleaning products. Leslie Reichert, aka The Cleaning Coach, has written a book that threatens to put Mrs. Meyer’s right out of business. And once you see how well Tang drink mix works in your dishwasher, you’ll be extra glad it has ceased to be a required beverage for children.

6. Think like a Mennonite and stop wasting food. Mennonite cooking emphasizes wasting fewer of the earth’s (obviously limited) resources in order to create a fairer, more humane world. In the cookbook More-With-Less, wholesome, nutritious ingredients (always fun to buy) are used wisely and creatively. These recipes are thrifty in a way that, in some circles, passes as stylish. (Custom-blending your own granola because of your fine palate or frugality? Who can say?)

7. If you have a pricey latte or kombucha habit, learn to make your own, and then open up your living room as a neighborhood speakeasy. You’ll be able to maintain a sense of community while sipping deluxe beverages at a fraction of the retail price.