Eliminate Water Waste — From Car Wash Products to Home Tips

Water is an extremely important resource, and yet there is very little of it that is available to humans. In fact, although our earth is covered by a vast majority in H2O, only about 3 percent of it is fresh water. And of the 3 percent, only about one-third of it is available to humans—the rest is locked up (at least for now!) in ice caps around the globe. And of that 1 percent that is fresh and available to humans, much of it has already been contaminated by pollution or drained from aquifers, lakes, rivers, and streams.

It’s obvious that we must protect our water, but how do we do that as consumers? Here are some simple tips for saving water around your home—in your bathroom, your laundry room, your kitchen, and yes, even in your garage.

• We need about 200 gallons of fresh water per person per day to water our collective lawn “crops.” You can reduce your impact by cutting back on the size of your lawn by planting hedges, trees, and shrubs, adding hardscape features to your landscape design such as stone walkways, brick patios, or retaining walls, or installing a porous patio.
• Choose a low-water lawn species to reduce the amount of water used to keep it green. Native grasses are ideal since they have survived in the wild for centuries without human intervention.
• Use smart watering methods, like drip irrigation and soaker hoses. Better yet, collect rainwater and use it to water everything outdoors.
• Start saving water at your sinks by installing faucet aerators which can cut water consumption by 13 percent.
• Install a low-flow showerhead to save between 15 and 20 gallons of water per shower!
• Use a shower timer to cut the time you spend under the water—keep it to 5 minutes or less to be really water-conscious.
• Fix leaks in your toilets to stop the 20 percent water leakage most homes experience.
• Install dual flush toilets (the most efficient options around these days) to reduce water use there by 23-32 percent.
• Use an Energy Star dishwasher which should be 41 percent more efficient in terms of energy consumption and uses 1,000 gallons less of water every year.
• Reduce water and energy use in the laundry room by 18 to 25 gallons of water per load by using a Energy Star, front-loading washing machine.
• Wash your car with a waterless car wash product to eliminate the 80 to 140 gallons of water people normally use to clean the outside of their vehicles. Laura Klein’s Waterless Car Wash system is both eco-friendly/nontoxic as well as water-saving, making it a really green choice.

These are some very practical, mostly inexpensive solutions to save water around your home. Implement them all and you’ll see a drastic reduction in the water you use every month!

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Secret Green Car Detailing Products the Pros Use

Keeping your car looking as beautiful as the day you drove it off the lot can be a full-time job if you’re not careful with your time. With so many different car detailing products on the market, knowing which ones to use where can seem a bit daunting, especially for the new car owner.

Most of the traditional car cleaning products on the market today are full of toxic and petrochemicals that are not healthy for you and your family to breathe, or for mother earth. With recent innovations in the cleaning products, non-toxic car cleaning products are now coming onto the market. A great example are Laura Klein's Green Car cleaning products.

Here are some simple tips for a car detailing regimen:

• Exterior wash: weekly
• Thorough detailing: monthly
• Paint wax: 10-12 weeks
• Wheels: monthly
• Glass: weekly
• Vacuum interior: twice monthly
• Interior stain removal: monthly
• Leather conditioning: monthly
• Seal cleaning: monthly
• Clean and preserve/protect cracks: monthly

That doesn’t seem too bad, now does it? But what if you’re going to do several car cleaning projects in one day? What order do you attempt the various tasks in?

As a general rule of thumb, this is the best order in which to be cleaning your vehicle when you’re working inside and out in a detailed manner:

Step 1: De-clutter
It's time to de-clutter the interior. That means removing all of the trash from the interior, and remember to recycle as much as you can.

Step 2: Vacuum
Remove the floor mats and vacuum. Using your vacuum’s crevice and upholstery tools, vacuum the floors and the crevices between the seats, console, dash, seats and vents. If you do this on a regular basis, the job will take you less than 5 minutes.

Step 3: Clean floor mats
Look over your floor mats and check for stains. Use your Laura Klein’s Green Car Carpet Spot Remover by spraying it on the stain, lightly scrub with a damp rag or scrub brush, and blot dry.

Step 4: Remove carpet and upholstery stains
Follow the same procedure that you used with the floor mats, check the interior carpeting and upholstery for stains and treat as necessary with Laura Klein's Green Car Carpet Spot Remover. For leather and vinyl seats, use Laura Klein’s Tire & Dashboard Cleaner instead.


Step 5: Clean interior panels
Spray your Laura Klein’s Green Car Tire & Dashboard Cleaner full-strength on the interior panels in your vehicle—the dashboard, steering wheel, center console, etc., and wipe clean with your microfiber cloths. It conditions, protects and restores natural suppleness and beauty to rubber, vinyl and leather. This highly concentrated formula gives long lasting protection & shine! It is a water- and plant-based cleaning product that is free of petroleum ingredients and harmful silicone oils. It does not leave a sticky residue, and there are no smelly fumes for you or your family to inhale. There are no harsh chemicals. Just environmentally friendly, easy green cleaning at its best!

Step 6: Wash exterior.
Use Laura Klein’s Green car Waterless Wash & Shine to get an easy, streak-free finish without water. It even works on bird poop. To clean and degrease your engine, use Laura Klein’s Green Car Cleaner Degreaser . When using products that require a hose move your car over your grass or a gravel area to prevent toxic runoff of heavy metals, oil, gas and more from going into the storm drains.

Step 7: Polish and wax paint finish.
With Laura Klein’s Green Car Wash & Wax Concentrate, you’ll get a beautiful finish to your car washing efforts. Plus, this product contains ingredients that will provide full-spectrum UVA and UVB protection for your car’s exterior finishes. Remember, when using products like these that require a hose move your car over your grass or a gravel area to prevent toxic runoff of heavy metals, oil, gas and more from going into the storm drains

Step 8: Clean nooks and crannies
Use a good interior cleaner that has a UVA/UVB protectant in it like Laura Klein’s Tire & Dashboard Cleaner. Use it to clean various nooks and crannies in your vehicle, including cup holders, crevices in and around your center console, dashboard displays, and so on.

Step 9: Clean windows and mirrors
Finish by cleaning your windows and mirrors with a good non-toxic streak-free formula. Most conventional window cleaners contain asthma triggers that can set off an asthma attack at any moment. Toxic chemical cleaners can also trigger allergies, which is another good reason to choose non-toxic cleaners. Laura Klein’s Green Car Glass & Mirror is an excellent non-toxic choice for sparkling streak-free windows and mirrors. Simply spray your windows and mirrors and shine dry using a dry microfiber cloth.

It’s a great idea to have a regular cleaning schedule for your vehicle in order to properly maintain it, inside and out. After all, it’s much easier to remove dirt and grime on a regular basis then have to scrub to clean surfaces with an accumulation of debris. This will help to keep your vehicle looking newer for longer, which ultimately helps to keep your vehicle’s residual value high as well. And we all want that!

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Expert Advice for Green Auto Detailing Products and Tricks

It’s that time again—time to work on turning your dirty vehicle into one that sparkles and shines. But taking your vehicle to a professional car detailing service center will cost you upwards of $100 every time, making this an expensive process most of us can’t afford these days. Becoming a DIY car cleaner is a simple way to save money without a lot of hassle.

So, whether you’re a seasoned car cleaner or are new to doing it yourself, you’ll benefit from these expert tips on using auto detailing products and processes to getting your car looking as stunning as the day you picked it out.

• Choose green car cleaning products. Traditional car cleaning products can be full of toxic and petrochemicals that are simply unhealthy for you and the environment.

• Always start with the interior of your car and move outward. That means start by removing floor mats, then vacuum and clean interior surfaces, then move to cleaning the exterior of your car.

• Use cotton swabs and toothbrushes to get in the nooks and crannies to get the interior of your vehicle really clean.

• To protect, condition, and restore natural suppleness and beauty to rubber, vinyl and leather, choose a non-toxic product that doesn't off-gas toxic chemicals. Laura Klein’s Green Car Tire & Dashboard Dressing is just the right product for the job. This highly concentrated formula gives long lasting protection & shine! It is a water and plant based cleaning product that is free of petroleum ingredients and harmful silicone oils. It does not leave a sticky residue, and there are no smelly fumes for you or your family to inhale. There are no harsh chemicals. Just environmentally friendly, easy green cleaning at its best!

• Use a degreaser like Laura Klein’s Green Car Cleaner Degreaser to remove build-up of grease under the hood of your car. Spray it and your engine down, scrub with a brush or a cloth, and then wipe dry with a microfiber cloth. If you use a hose to rinse down your engine, move your car over your grass or a gravel area to prevent oils, heavy metals from flowing into storm drains.

• Choose a waterless car wash product to clean your car. It will save you time, water and money on expensive car washes. All you do is simply spray it on a two foot square area of your car and wipe away the dirt and grime with one microfiber cloth, and polish and shine with a second. It will not scratch your car and even removes bird poop. However if you do have caked on mud and crud from 4x4ing, take your car to the professional wash where the water is recycled and use the waterless car wash product to maintain it. Laura Klein’s Green Car Waterless Wash & Shine is an excellent product.

• Once your vehicle is clean, do a thorough check of the paint to see if there are any scratches or spots where the paint has been chipped. You’ll want to treat these areas with color-matched paint and then be sure to apply enough protectant to prevent these areas from wearing sooner than the rest of your finish. Apply a product like Laura Klein’s Green Car Wash & Wax Concentrate to provide your car’s exterior with full-spectrum UVA/UVB protection. Remember to move your product over a grassy or gravel area when using a hose to wash your car to prevent toxic runoff into storm drains.

Finish off your cleaning job with the other products in the Laura Klein Green Car line, including the Tire & Dashboard Cleaner, Carpet Spot Remover, and Glass & Mirror cleaner. Together, they make a truly green system for your eco-friendly car wash dreams.

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A Greener Wash Wax for Safer Car Cleaning

Protecting your car, truck, RV, or boat from enemies such as ultraviolet light, ozone damage, and inclement weather is important if you want your vehicle’s appearance to have a fresh, new look for a long time. You can accomplish this by applying a protecting finish to the interior and exterior surfaces of your vehicle to guard against damage from environmental elements as well as scratches, spills, and stains.

Unfortunately, many of the car cleaning waxes and sealants on the market today may actually be contributing to your car's damage, especially if they contain petroleum distillates as ingredients. Petroleum distillates are used in car care products because they dissolve waxes and silicones in order to make them spreadable. They will also cut through oily dirt, light grease, and help to lubricate your car’s surface to prevent scratching.

However, that’s not the whole story. What they haven’t told you is that if the petroleum distillates used in your car care products are not formulated properly, they can cause cracking of plastic, rubber, and vinyl. Additionally, when applied to the new generation of softer, water-based paints, the petroleum distillates can remove the sealant, leaving your paint vulnerable to the aging effects of the environment.

They can also dissolve the adhesive on the back of decals, striping, or lettering. Both 3M and Avery, makers of adhesive-backed striping and decals, have specifically recommended against using petroleum distillate-based products on their products.

Petroleum distillates also come with health hazards. They can cause eye irritation, respiratory irritation, and gastrointestinal irritation. And if you’re a green car owner, you’ll want to find an alternative to petroleum distillates since they’re obviously derived from crude oil.

Not all petroleum distillates will cause problems, however. There are different grades of petroleum distillates, but unfortunately, there is no way of know what type of petroleum distillate is used in any one product you may want to use on your vehicle. The only way to be safe, therefore, is to avoid petroleum distillates whenever possible.

Protect your vehicle with a greener, safer wash wax, like Laura Klein’s Green Car Wash & Wax Concentrate. This is a plant, water-based, nontoxic, biodegradable cleaner that is free of petroleum distillates and is safe for all vehicle surfaces, including plastics, rubber, vinyl, metal, paint, and more. Its proprietary blend of protective, wax-like coatings that work in all types of water providing UVA and UVB protection for full sun exposure.

Finish off your cleaning job with the other products in the Laura Klein Green Car line, including the Tire & Dashboard Cleaner, Carpet Spot Remover, and Glass & Mirror cleaner. Together, they make a truly green system for your eco-friendly car wash dreams.

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Car Care Products for Cleaning Your Carpet

The carpeting in your car can be one of the first things to start to look old and dated. A proper maintenance regimen and the right car care products will help keep your vehicle looking its best inside and out. We’ve got all of the tips and tricks you’ll need to keep your carpet looking just like new for years to come.

First, remember that preventative maintenance is the key to maintaining beautiful carpeting in your vehicle. Proper maintenance includes the following steps:

• Keep the floor mats in your car to protect the carpeting beneath them.
• Avoid direct contact between your shoes and carpeting on the side interior of your car as these spots are harder to clean.
• Vacuum your carpeting on a regular basis to keep dirt and grime from being ground into the fibers.

Next, practice regular deep cleaning to lift deep dirt and grime out, and plump the fibers. Do this by taking the carpeting to the car wash on a regular basis and hosing the mats down thoroughly. You can then steam clean the interior carpet using the tools found at the car wash station.

But what do you do if your carpeting becomes stained? Keep a toolkit of effective environmentally friendly car care products on hand that will make it easier to avoid permanent stains on difficult-to-clean areas. Recommended products include Laura Klein’s Car Carpet Spot Remover is great at eradicating hard to remove oil and grime stains. Part of her Green Car care product line, this carpet cleaner is environmentally-friendly and highly effective and won't leave your car smelling like toxic chemicals.

To use this carpet cleaner, simply spray the product on the stain and then scrub with a damp rag or brush. You then simply blot the spot dry. This same car care product can be used on the floor mats, upholstery, and even on the carpeting in your home, making it both versatile and economical (you won’t have to buy other expensive carpet or upholstery cleaning products!).

Laura Klein’s Car Carpet Spot Remover has been recognized for safer chemistry by the EPA’s Designed for the Environment program because it is nontoxic, non-hazardous, completely biodegradable, and petrochemical-free. It is also free of harsh chemical fragrances and has never been tested on animals. The ingredient list includes natural substances such as coconut, pine, and citrus-based cleaning agents, purified water, and glucose-based sequestering agents, making it a back-to-nature alternative to potentially toxic carpet cleaning products commonly available today.

Finish off your cleaning job with the other products in the Laura Klein Green Car line, including the Tire & Dashboard Cleaner, Carpet Spot Remover, and Glass & Mirror cleaner. Together, they make a truly green system for your eco-friendly car wash dreams.

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Use Eco-Friendly Car Cleaning Products for a Healthier Home

Did you know that every time you wash your car in your driveway or at the curb that you could be washing toxic chemicals into the environment that are harmful to you, children, pets, and wildlife? These same chemical car cleaning products could then travel from your property into the environment, our water systems, and fresh water resources, causing health problems for humans and marine life alike.

The truth is that we don’t often think about where the dirt goes after it leaves our vehicles. Most, commercial car wash companies have to think about this issue since they are required to filter the water leaving their facilities, yet for consumers, there are no such regulations. There are nearly 30 million people in our country washing their cars at home every day, using between 80 and 140 gallons of water each that can then take with it the toxins that are so harmful for human and marine life alike.

So what is in our car cleaning products and water runoff that makes this such a concern? Well, there are many toxins to be concerned about when considering your regular vehicle vanity routine:

• The soaps, waxes, degreasers, sprays, wipes, and polishes you use for cleaning your vehicle may contain non-biodegradable, hazardous detergents that are harmful to fish and other marine and wildlife. Detergents are surfactants that destroy a fish’s external mucus layer that protects them from parasites and bacteria. Fish that come into contact with water that contains 15 parts per million (ppm) or more of detergent will likely perish.

• The National Water Research Institute (NWRI) has categorized car debris as a major source of heavy metals, grease, oil, and rubber that gets pulled into the environment and our water supplies. In fact, three-fifths of all samples of road runoff contain potential, confirmed, or severely toxic components.

• Synthetic phenol-based surfactants (chemicals used to get cleaning supplies to rinse off easily with water) used in many car cleaning products have been labeled by the US Environmental Protection Agency as potential endocrine disrupters. As such, these can wreak havoc with natural reproduction systems in the fish colony, causing the population levels to decline.

• Another potential car wash pollutant is benzene. This is a flammable solvent that is poisonous if ingested and therefore a danger for pets and children.

That’s just a quick summary of some of the dangerous substances that enter our waterways when we wash our cars and allow untreated water to run away into our storm water system.

You can do something about this problem by using a nontoxic, plant and water-based, waterless car wash system. This has two main benefits. First, it will eliminate the need for water, which means you won’t be releasing oil, grease, and other automobile fluids into the environment. Second, if you choose a natural, plant-based product, even when the rain washes your car, the substance will not cause environmental damage.

Laura Klein’s Green Car cleaning system is the perfect solution. All of the products in this line are water and plant-based and biodegradable, they are nontoxic, not caustic, and contain no petroleum solvents, phosphates, nitrates, enzymes, sulfates, or silicates. These are truly green car cleaning products.

Finish off your cleaning job with the other products in the Laura Klein Green Car line, including the Tire & Dashboard Cleaner, Carpet Spot Remover, and Glass & Mirror cleaner. Together, they make a truly green system for your eco-friendly car wash dreams.

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What Makes Green Car Care Products Eco-Friendly?

Until recently, car owners were faced with limited choices for getting their cars clean inside and out, most of which were not green options. None of the three most common choices were all that attractive for green car owners:

• Professional auto detailing services: You’re certain to get a great job done when you take your vehicle in to be detailed by a professional team, but at what cost? These jobs can run upwards of $120 depending on what services you opt for. Plus, if you’re concerned about your health and the environment, you may not like the chemicals and toxic air fresheners used to get your car clean with these companies.

• DIY car wash bays: Alternatively, you can take your car to the local vehicle washing bays to spray it down yourself or run it through a touchless system, but these commercial washing services use enormous quantities of water and again, questionable chemicals. It can also be costly, including your time, especially if you’re doing a thorough job on your own.

• Wash car at home: While this is an economical solution, it involves dragging out the rags, hose, buckets, toxic cleaning products, which aren't healthy for you or the environment. Washing your car at home with a hose can consume up to 140 gallons of water with one wash. Not only do you pay for that water, but all of toxic chemicals, oil, gasoline, heavy metals are washed straight into storm drains. And, it can take several hours to get the job done when washing a car the old-fashioned way with a hose and a bucket and dry time.

Most green car drivers looking for an economical way to clean their vehicles feel stuck between a rock and a hard place. They either choose something that’s expensive with a few green attributes, or they do something inexpensive with fewer environmental benefits. There have been very few green car care products on the market until recently.

Thanks to some cutting edge technology and a real green spirit, the new Laura Klein’s Green Car care products will get the job done in a fraction of the time, with zero water waste, and without harming the planet. These car detailing products are biodegradable, made from plant- and water-based ingredients, and they’re non-toxic which makes them safe and healthy for you and the planet.

Laura Klein’s Green Car Waterless Wash & Shine is a truly amazing product. All you need is the spray bottle and two microfiber cloths. You simply spray the solution on a two-by-two foot square area on your car and wipe away the dirt and grime with the first microfiber cloth, then polish and shine with a second microfiber cloth (or use a clean section of the first cloth) and you're done! No pre-wetting or rinsing required. It will not scratch your car. It cleans and shines lightly to moderately soiled surfaces, lifting dirt and soil off surfaces for easy cleaning (they admit: their Green Car Waterless Wash and Shine isn't for caked on, four-wheeling dirt...its specialty is every day grime-fighting!). No water, no bucket, no hose, or messy clean up! One 32 oz bottle will give you 10-16 car washes per bottle (depending on the size of your car) and can literally save $100s a year in professional car washing fees (depending how much you spend of course).

Other products include, the Laura Klein Green Car Cleaning Kit that comes with the Waterless Wash & Shine, Tire & Dash Dressing, Glass & Mirror and two microfiber cloths. If buying a hybrid doesn't fit your budget, greening your car with Laura Klein’s Green Car Kit couldn't be easier.

Finish off your cleaning job with the other products in the Laura Klein Green Car line, including the Tire & Dashboard Cleaner, Carpet Spot Remover, and Glass & Mirror cleaner. Together, they make a truly green system for your eco-friendly car wash dreams.

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Use a Waterless Car Wash to Cut H2O Waste

It’s the perfect summer afternoon activity. Slather on some sunscreen, put on a pair of tattered old shorts and a grubby T-shirt, and head outside to spend some quality time with your car. As Americans, we love to keep our automobiles looking their best, and most of us prefer to add some spit and polish to the exterior of our cars and trucks right in our very own driveway. In fact, nearly 50 percent of us enjoy washing our cars curbside rather than at a commercial car wash. Some of us are even obsessive about keeping our cars looking perfect, falling into the “chronic car washer” category.

Yet while washing your car at home might seem like the greener option because you don’t have to expend energy driving to a commercial car wash, it can actually waste an enormous amount of water compared to the average gas station wash bay. In fact, according to the International car Wash Association, the average curbside car wash afternoon will cost you between 80 and 140 gallons of water! And with over 27 million home car washers in our country, the potential for environmental harm is pretty big.

So, what’s the alternative for a green car washer like you? Opt for a waterless car wash, of course! These eco-friendly car wash products will accomplish two important goals: they will eliminate the need to use water which will save you money and they will save you time you can quickly wash your car depending upon its size in 20-30 minutes vs an hour with a hose.

Laura Klein Green Car Waterless Wash & Shine allows you to wash any vehicle, motorcycle, boat, airplane without the use of water. It lifts dirt and soil off a lightly- or moderately-soiled vehicle with ease. It works by following these simple steps:

1. Leave the bulky pail, soapy water, and handfuls of rags in the garage—you won’t need them!
2. Take the Laura Klein Green Car Waterless Car Wash & Shine bottle and spray the product on your vehicle, one panel at a time (you can cover about 2 square feet of your car at a time).
3. Use a microfiber cloth to remove the wash and the dirt and grime along with it.
4. Using a fresh microfiber cloth, to polish and shine!

The Laura Klein Green Car Waterless Car Wash & Shine will not only help you save money on your utility bills and at the car wash, you’ll also be conserving water for the planet’s sake. Use the Laura Klein Green Car products with confidence, knowing that they are made from nontoxic ingredients. Finish off your cleaning job with the other products in the Laura Klein Green Car line, including the Tire & Dashboard Cleaner, Carpet Spot Remover, and Glass & Mirror cleaner. Together, they make a truly green system for your eco-friendly car wash dreams.

Finish off your cleaning job with the other products in the Laura Klein Green Car line, including the Tire & Dashboard Cleaner, Carpet Spot Remover, and Glass & Mirror cleaner. Together, they make a truly green system for your eco-friendly car wash dreams.

Want more information on green living tips and tricks? Sign up for the OrganicAuthority.com newsletter and get your free report How to Shop for Organic Foods on a Budget, brought to you by Laura Klein Green Living Expert.

Having the Right Car Cleaning Supplies for a Perfect Finish

Stocking your vehicle cleaning arsenal with all of the supplies that you’ll need for keeping every inch of your vehicle spick and span will make it easier to get the job done in less time. Having a well-stocked car cleaning kit that’s handy and ready to go makes for quick work, even if you’re on a tight schedule.

Your car cleaning supplies list might be quite long, especially if you use traditional car washing methods. For instance, it might contain the following products and tools:

• Wash mitts
  
• Two or three buckets
  
• Cotton rags
  
• Microfiber cloths
  
• Cleaning brushes
  
• Toothbrushes
  
• Polish
  
• Sealant
  
• Car wash concentrate
  
• Tire cleaner
  
• Vinyl protectant
  
• Interior cleaner
  
• Glass cleaner
  
• All purpose cleaner
  
• Wax
  
• Wax applicators
  
• Wet-dry vacuum
  
• Leather conditioner
  
• Carpet shampoo
  
• Newspaper (for polishing)
  
• Hose and nozzle
  
• Lambskin cloths
  

That’s a long list, and heaps of products. Not only is it costly to keep these car cleaning supplies and products topped up and in good working condition, it makes for a very high-maintenance car cleaning system. Gathering all of the supplies each car cleaning day and juggling them out to the driveway is time consuming and annoying.

If you want to simplify your car cleaning routine, you need to whittle down your list of car cleaning supplies. Today, there are car cleaning systems that significantly shorten the required number of cleaning supplies.

Many of these efficient car cleaning systems are also better for the environment. Take Laura Klein’s Green Car Cleaning Kit, for instance. It contains three cleaning products—Green Car Waterless Car Wash & Shine, Green Car Tire & Dash Dressing and Green Car Glass & Mirror—as well as two soft microfiber cloths to help you really take care of your vehicle.

This car cleaning kit can be used for cleaning cars, trucks, RVs, boats, and any other vehicle you’re looking after. The cleaning products work equally well in hard or soft, hot or cold water and require no special handling or storage requirements because they’re non-flammable, non-explosive, and non-fuming.

And while this cleaning kit may be simpler than the list above, it packs a great cleaning punch. Made with biodegradable, water-based, nontoxic ingredients, Laura Klein’s Green Car cleaning supplies will have you polishing and shining quickly, easily, and with no hazards to you, your family, or the planet.

Finish off your cleaning job with the other products in the Laura Klein Green Car line, including the Tire & Dashboard Cleaner, Carpet Spot Remover, and Glass & Mirror cleaner. Together, they make a truly green system for your eco-friendly car wash dreams.

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How to Find Green Car Cleaning Products

Green is all the rage today. Advertisers are telling us about their green products. Local and federal governments are pushing for greener technologies and clean energy. Organic food choices are becoming more readily available and more cost-effective. You name it, if it can be greened, it is being greened.

Amidst all of this talk about the environment, it can be hard to spot a truly green product in the crowd. Many companies make claims about the eco-friendly attributes about their wares, but few do anything to verify these claims.

So when it comes to buying green car cleaning products, what are you to do? Are there particular characteristics you can look for that would point you in the direction of a sincerely earth-friendly product? With this checklist, you’ll have no trouble spotting the real thing:

• Biodegradable: First and foremost, the product should state that it has been tested by a third-party certifier to ensure that it will biodegrade in the environment within a certain period of time (less than 30 days would be ideal). This ensures that it won’t be persisting in the environment for an extended period of time.

• Free of petroleum ingredients: By their very nature, petroleum-based products are not sustainable or renewable, and so you should avoid them whenever possible. They also tend to be laced with unhealthy properties.

• Non-toxic ingredients: Many car cleaning products use toxic ingredients such as silicon, mineral spirits, and petroleum distillates that can cause both human and environmental illness. Look for options that have the US Environmental Protection Agency’s Design for the Environment (DfE) seal of approval to ensure that your auto detailing products have a low chemical risk and are made in an energy efficient fashion. Plant-based ingredients are also a great option.

• Phosphate-free: Common in soaps, phosphates reduce oxygen levels when they enter waterways which encourages the growth of algae that in turn squelch all other marine life.

• Waterless car cleaners: Choosing a waterless car cleaning system will help you do your own car cleaning without wasting the 140 gallons of water common to DIY car washers.

• Reusables: You’ll also want to look for a car care system that don't require the use of disposable products that just add to landfill waste and cost you money. Microfiber clothes are a great option since they can be used hundreds of times without losing their effectiveness.

If you’re looking for green car cleaning products that meet all of these eco-friendly standards and more, look no further than Laura Klein’s Green Car cleaning system. With a product for every cleaning project, this system is eco-friendly, economical, and time-saving.

Finish off your cleaning job with the other products in the Laura Klein Green Car line, including the Tire & Dashboard Cleaner, Carpet Spot Remover, and Glass & Mirror cleaner. Together, they make a truly green system for your eco-friendly car wash dreams.

Want more information on green living tips and tricks? Sign up for the OrganicAuthority.com newsletter and get your free report How to Shop for Organic Foods on a Budget, brought to you by Laura Klein Green Living Expert.

Washing Your Car More Sustainably

With hose in hand and sponge in the bucket, you’re ready to get your car spick and span. But you may be washing toxic chemicals and too much water into your local waterway, adding to pollution and over-worked pumping stations. And you wouldn’t be alone. Nearly half of all Americans like to wash their cars at home. While this may be a cheaper option, it isn’t less costly for the planet.

Cultivating green living choices in your life doesn’t have to be hard, and how you wash your car is just another way to reduce your overall impact without much hassle. But why is this important? Well, because with the over 27 million car wash sessions that take place in the US every year, we’re adding polluted runoff to our rivers, lakes, and streams. The soaps and other cleaning agents you choose can contain acids, dyes, and ammonia, all of which can harm wildlife and harm human health, too.

More than that, washing your car in your driveway could mean that you’re adding toxic vehicle fluids to our fresh water sources. As you spray and sponge, things like oil, rust, grease, and residues from brakes and exhaust all run down the street and into the storm drains where they are taken into our drinking water supplies.

Additionally, most people washing their cars at home do so with much more water than they require. Every car wash at home could waste 100 gallons of water or more, which will tax your bank account as well as the planet.

There are better ways to wash your beauty. First, look for cleaning products that are nontoxic and those that have been tested for biodegradability. You want to choose soaps that are dye- and fragrance-free, and those that will biodegrade in the environment in days, not months or years.

Next, put down the hose and go waterless! Instead of running the water repeatedly over your car, most of which will get wasted, try waterless car cleaning supplies, like cleaners that you apply with soft and highly effective microfiber cloths. This is not only more effective than trying to spray off the dirt, it can also help you see where you may be having problems with your car (you’ll see rust, scratches, and nicks much better this way).

We’ve got a great line of waterless cleaning supplies for every nook and cranny of your car, including Waterless Car Wash & Shine, Glass & Mirror Cleaner, and Tire & Dash Dressing, all of which contain biodegradable ingredients (they break down in 7 days) that are free of synthetic fragrances and toxic chemicals. These low-VOC, petroleum-free options will also save you money ($90-162 per Green Car Kit), time (it’ll take you about 30 minutes to clean your car), and will add a layer of oprotection to your vehicle’s interior and exterior. It’s an all-around solution that will help you protect the earth while making it easier and cheaper for you to keep your car looking its best.

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Lighten Up by Air-Drying your Laundry

There’s no better time than the summer to develop this green living habit: air-drying your laundry! The sunshine, warm breezes and fresh air make hanging your laundry to dry in the great outdoors a fun and refreshing experience.

Not surprisingly, running the dryer in your laundry will be costing you energy with every use. In fact, the average American home will run up a $135 electricity bill for operating the dryer every year. Think of the money you could save by choosing a less-polluting method of getting your clothes dry!

One of the reasons dryers use relatively high amount of energy is because the industry isn’t really doing much to improve their efficiency. ENERGY STAR, a program by the US Environmental Protection Agency to spur energy efficiency improvements in American products, will certify all types of home appliances like dishwashers, washing machines, and refrigerators, but they do not certify dryers!

As a result, those who use their dryers exclusively for drying their laundry are contributing a relatively large amount of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere—over 2,000 pounds every year, on average.

Drying your laundry without your dryer is relatively simple. First, get yourself a sturdy drying rack. There are many models on the market today—from ceiling-hung options (to save space for indoors, and ideal for apartment-dwellers) to folding dryers that can be used indoor or outdoors to permanently-installed rotary dryers for outdoors only. Each one has advantages and disadvantages, so choose the model that’s right for your climate and your home.

Those living in dry climates will appreciate the added moisture that drying laundry indoors affords (this method is cheaper than running a humidifier!). But if you live in an already humid climate, you can speed the process of drying clothing indoors by putting your washing machine on the highest spin speed to squeeze as much water out of it as possible.

If you’re concerned about fading your laundry by hanging it in the sun, there’s an easy solution! Simply turn your clothing inside out to protect the exposed side of your fabrics from the fading effects of the sun.

Amazingly, if every US household chose to dry just one load of clothes without the dryer, we’d be able to save enough energy to close down 15 nuclear power plants! So get fresh and dry your clothes the lighter way—with only air.

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Add to your Outdoor Wardrobe with Eco-Friendly Clothing

Getting ready to hit the trails? Wanting to do some camping this summer? Outfit yourself with eco-friendly clothing that’s made from natural, renewable fibers that are less harmful to the planet. These textiles may also to help reduce odor and keep you cooler than conventional outdoor clothing options.

In the landscape of green living choices, opting out of conventionally-grown cotton is one important step to take. Although cotton is a natural fiber, growing cotton is far from green. Cotton is the most pesticide-intensive crop in the world. In fact, by weight a cotton T-shirt is 73 percent cotton and 27 percent chemicals and chemical residues! These pesticides flow into our waterways and wreak havoc on water ecosystems. They can create dead zones, which are areas in which nothing can grow, choking out all life. Growing cotton also requires heavy infusions of water—about 400 gallons per cotton T-shirt.

Synthetic fibers derived from petroleum byproducts (such as GORE-TEX, polyester, and lycra) are also unsustainable and non-renewable, given what they’re made from. They are also not biodegradable.

So, whether you’re in the market for a new T-shirt, looking for some hiking shorts, or in need of a good hat to protect you from the sun, there are greener alternatives. Here are some of the options available to outdoor enthusiasts:

• Bamboo is a relatively new kid on the textile block. A very large grass, bamboo can grow up to 30 inches in a single day, making it a “rapidly renewable” fiber and very sustainable. It doesn’t require pesticide support, doesn’t need to be irrigated, and is virtually infinitely renewable. Plus, it helps to shore soil against erosion, retains water, and creates habitat for other wildlife and plant species. It is also really soft and has an internal “bamboo kun” which helps to control odor-creating bacterial and lower moisture levels, making it a great fiber for active people.
  
  
• Hemp, used for decades by hippies and earth-conscious communities, is a great choice for many reasons. It produces more fiber per acre than cotton, requires little chemical support from pesticides, insecticides, and herbicides, and is natural like cotton. Hemp crops also help to boost the soil’s nutritional value and foster microbial life. It does, however, require a lot of water like cotton.
  
  
• Organic cotton should be chemical-free, although it doesn’t solve the water consumption issue. Just be sure your organic clothing is from a reputable company that reports on how their clothing was made.
  
  
• Soy, developed from the byproducts of the tofu, soybean oil, and soy milk industries (recycling!), soy fiber is another totally natural product. It has been called the vegetable cashmere because of its incredible softness, and it retains heat well and is easy to care for.
  
  
• Wool is completely renewable and a great choice if you’re going to colder regions. You will, however, want to look for organic wool to ensure that the animals were treated humanely (although this is not guaranteed).
  

Get geared up with this summer with sustainable clothing, and have a good time enjoying nature.

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Greener Cleaning for your Teeth

How your brush your teeth might not be the biggest way you have an impact on the planet, but it’s another in the long list of green living choices you can make every day. If we each live to the ripe old age of 80 years, we contribute on average 300 toothbrushes over our lifetimes. That’s a lot of wasted plastic! Annually, we Americans add 50 million pounds worth of toothbrushes to landfills, most of which is non-biodegradeable plastic that just sits there for hundreds of years.

Or, your old toothbrush may make a trip to the ocean where it can choke wildlife, end up floating in the middle of the sea, or wash up on the beach where it’s not only unsightly, it’s a hazard for land animals. No one wants their romantic walk along the beach to be marred by the discovery of someone’s old teeth cleaning products!

We as consumers need to speak with our shopping dollars to signal to companies producing these products that we want greener options that don’t litter the planet. There are, thankfully, some green products on the market today that make it easier for you to brush more greenly. Try the following:

• Recycled content: Some manufacturers have capitalized on the recycled plastic possibilities by producing entire toothbrushes that are made from recycled materials. Recycling rather than using virgin materials has three-fold benefits: it saves energy, saves water, and reduces the amount of waste going to the trash. Don’t worry, the bristles are usually made from new plastic. Radius and Recycline both carry recycled-content toothbrush options.
  
  
• Replaceable heads: Some toothbrushes can now be found with heads that you replace when they’re worn out. This way, you reuse the handle over and over again, reducing the overall non-recyclable waste that you create. Eco-DenT, Radius, and Fuchs Ekotec have all developed options along these lines.
  
  
• Biodegradable content: Another great option for greener teeth cleaning is to buy a toothbrush made from natural, biodegradable materials rather than plastic. A company called Acca Kappa makes a toothbrush from a cotton extract, which will apparently biodegrade in about six months!
  

And if you’re addicted to your electric toothbrush, you, too, can get a greener toothbrush by opting for one powered by the sun! Although still relatively untested these could reduce your energy consumption, and many come with replaceable heads, making them somewhat more eco-friendlier than conventional toothbrushes.

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Develop a Green Diet with Sustainable Seafood

It may be impossible to certify fish and seafood as “organic,” but that doesn’t mean it can’t be sustainable. Overfishing, fish farming, and other not-so-green ways of getting protein from the sea are contributing to declining healthfulness in both human bodies and marine ecosystems. So while you can’t put Certified Organic fish on your organic food to-do list, you can shop more sustainably when looking for food from the sea.

It is estimated that in the wild, a full 75 percent of all commercial fish stocks have been either fully exploited, overexploited, or depleted. This is due to several seriously destructive ways of getting fish from the sea. Of course, the first is overfishing, which is the process by which commercial fishing operations take more fish from the sea than the system can sustain. Over time, the population of reproducing adults declines to the point where the species can no longer replenish quickly enough. Eventually, commercial fishing operations shut down due to low populations with the potential of the species disappearing from the wild altogether.

Another major problem with conventional fishing is bottom trawling. Huge commercial fishing vessels drag massive nets behind their boats, which scrape the bottom of the ocean floors clean in an effort to get as much shrimp, flounder, rockfish, or cod as possible in one move. Unfortunately, along with these fish, the nets destroy coral reefs, which are the nurseries for all ocean life, and take with them bycatch.

Known in some places as “incidental catch,” bycatch is when the nets capture unwanted species such as turtles, dolphins, sharks, whales, and other marine mammals. These mammals can’t get away, and as a result, often drown. By the time they are brought up to the surface, they have died, and are simply discarded over the side of the boat.

We can help to stem the tide of these tragedies by choosing sustainably-caught fish and seafood. When shopping for your evening meal, look for line-caught fish. This means that the fish were caught selectively so that there is little to no bycatch.

There are a number of systems now available to help you make good fish choices. The Marine Stewardship Council Certification program ensures that fish is line-caught. The Environmental Defense Fund also has a Seafood and Sushi Selector To Go which helps you find sustainable seafood while at a restaurant or at the grocery store. Finally, the Seafood Choices Alliance has a Buying Seafood Guide which lists other certification systems.

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Save thousands and reduce your carbon footprint with solar pool heating

Have you ever calculated how much money you spend on heating and maintaining your pool every summer? If you haven’t, you really should. According to the US Department of Energy (DOE), the average homeowner spends upwards of $2,000 every year on pool heating and upkeep, making it one of the most expensive “appliances” in your home.

While we may not think of our pools when searching for ways to increase our green living habits, there are some big-impact things you can do to reduce the energy you consume to keep your pool warm and comfortable all summer long.

First, and most importantly, get a pool cover. While these may seem like a real pain, you’d be amazed at how effective they can be. Shockingly, even if you cover your pool for only half of the summer, you could cut your heating energy consumption by 50 percent! Any conventional pool cover will do the trick, but the best option around is a solar pool cover. These have pockets of air in them which insulate and pass the sun’s heat onto your pool water, further reducing heating costs.

Once you’ve got a cover, think about how you’re heating and pumping your pool water. A solar thermal water heater for your pool is probably one of the best solar investments around. In fact, the amount of money you save on heating your pool water in one year can almost pay for the solar water heating system—in one season! So the payback period on a solar water heater is very short.

A solar water heater comes with many parts, all of which absorb the sun’s energy as heat and pass it along to the water that’s circulated through the system. It usually includes tubing or piping made of dark rubber or copper, which is snaked through an insulated box and often covered with glass. You can install your solar water heater on your roof or anywhere on your property.

You can further reduce your pools operating expenses by choosing solar power to run your water pump. These little systems include a solar photovoltaic panel which collects solar energy and converts it to electricity, which is then used to run the pump.

Together, these three solar products for your pool—a solar pool cover, solar thermal water heater, and solar pool pump—could totally eliminate the regular energy costs for maintaining your pool, making your summer swim completely sustainable! Jump in, the water’s warm.

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Go Native in your Garden this Summer

Do you find yourself drawn to the bright colors, fragrant blooms, and interesting flower shapes as you walk down the aisles of your local greenhouse or garden center? We’ve all got different reasons for choosing the plants we do for our gardens. If you’re into green living, you’ll want to choose native, drought-resistant plants to help reduce your outdoor landscape’s impact on the environment. Doing so will save you money and make your job of maintaining your garden less time-consuming, too!

What are native plants? They are those species that grow wildly in your area and have done so for many decades or even centuries. Native plants require no irrigation, do not depend on anyone to get extra nutrients, fend off pests naturally, propagate without any help, and otherwise thrive without any outside human intervention. Native plants are also likely to be drought-tolerant, able to withstand the stress of occasional dry periods throughout the various seasons.

Unfortunately, though local nurseries carry an abundant supply of interesting and beautiful plant species, they don’t always stock the best native plants. And since the native species specific for your climate will be different from the ones best suited to my area, you have to do some research to find out what will work in your particular garden.

To determine what plants will work best for you, check out these resources:

• Old Farmer’s Almanac Frost Chart will tell you the length of your growing season and may help you find out what plants are ideal for your garden.

• Hardiness Zone Map by the Arbor Day Foundation will tell you your region’s overall rainfall, temperature patterns, and other important factors which influence what plants will grow in your area.

• Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center’s Native Plant Database helps you search for species that thrive in your particular climate to find the ideal options for your landscape.

• Virtual Plant Tags helps you see what plants work in particular growing conditions.

Since native plant species thrive so well on their own, choosing these varieties will mean less work for you—lower watering requirements, fewer applications of soil amendments (like organic fertilizers and compost), less weeding (they can fend them off on their own), and virtually no need for insecticides. That means you’ll have more time to sit back and relax, knowing you’ve cultivated an outdoor space that’s less toxic and safer for your family, friendlier to wildlife and beneficial insects, and generally more, well, native!

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Out with Disposables and in with Reusables

You may be planning a summer wedding, hosting a big birthday bash for your parents, or getting ready for a holiday celebration. Regardless of the occasion, an easy way to take green living into all of your events is to incorporate reusable dishes and cups rather than disposables.

An astounding 25 billion polystyrene cups are trashed in the US every year! Styrofoam plates and cups are awful things to have in our environment. They are made from petroleum by products, making the extraction of their base components totally unsustainable and non-renewable. Plus, they take hundreds of years (about 500) to break down in the landfill, can leech chemicals into the soil and water in the process, and if they’re incinerated, can add toxins to the air as well.

Plastics are no better. Also made from crude oil, these are equally non-biodegradable and non-renewable. In all, plastics make up around 11 percent of municipal landfill waste in the US. Plus, many plastic disposables end up on beaches and in the oceans, which can injure marine animal.

And then there’s paper, which takes up 35 percent of landfill space. Using paper for disposable dishes and cups is equally disturbing. Take trees for disposable products causes deforestation (which has enormous environmental implications) and when these are sent to the landfill, they contribute to climate change—as they decompose in an anaerobic (oxygen-deprived) environment, they generate methane gas, a greenhouse gas that is greater than 20 times more potent as a heat-trapper than carbon dioxide.

There are many ways to green-up your barbecue dish habits, including:

• Durable Reusables: It may take a little more effort, but choosing reusable plates, cups, and cutlery for your next function will mean less waste is created and fewer resources are trashed after a single use. So pack some dishes for your next picnic, ask your caterer to only use china and real cutlery, and stock your kitchen with enough utensils for your next dinner party. Your dishwasher can do the clean-up for you, and in time, you’ll save a lot of money with this method as well!

• Biodegradable: Whether you need containers to take food to the party or are looking for more eco-friendly reusable dishes, you can get even more eco-friendly by looking for pieces made from biodegradable materials such as bamboo, corn plastic, and even switchgrass (a North American perennial grass). Many of these can be used multiple (hundreds!) of times, but when you’re done with them, they can be composted.

• Recycled-Content: The last best choice, this is the one you use when you can’t do without disposables for your next function but want to be a little more eco-friendly about your choice. Today, there are several brands now creating paper and/or plastic plates and cups made from recycled content.

An easy way to take green living into all of your events is to incorporate reusable dishes and cups rather than disposables. So ditch the traditional disposables and you’ll be on your way to creating a greener event in no time.

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