Hello Annie,
I am a new mother who is planning to puree and freeze foods for my infant. The most popular method of doing this is by using ice cube freezer trays. I have found some trays that are PVC, phthalate and BPA free. I am trying to decide between using this “safe” plastic or silicone. What do you recommend. Also someone just developed stainless steel ice cube trays that are due out this month. Do you know if that’s the best option? Thank you. —Jasmeen

Dear Jasmeen,
Awww, your question brings back memories! I remember making my own baby food and freezing it in freezer trays! Doing this is a great idea, and your questions about which ice cube trays to use are right on to protect your baby’s health. Your very best bet is to use the stainless steel ice cube trays. That being said, until they are available, I personally would choose the PVC, phthalate and BPA -free plastic over silicone. While plastics in general are under scrutiny for more endocrine disrupting chemicals than the ones you mention, in my opinion the jury is out regarding silicone. The chemical hazard database at Scorecard repeatedly reports that there isn’t enough research to determine the hazards for silicone.

The oil that makes silicone so malleable is the same oil that leaks from silicone breast implants and emerges, bit by bit, from silicone bakeware and bracelets, according to an engineer who works with it. Very small amounts of migrating silicone oil could get in food.

An FDA study found that women who had silicone breast implants that leaked had a statistically higher incidence of fibromyalgia and neurological symptoms.

I’m a firm believer in The Precautionary Principle, which recommends only using materials that have proven their safety over time. Especially for babies! I’d go for stainless steel. While not perfect (it can leach nickel), so far it is the safest food container besides glass. I envy you those baby years. They go by so fast!

Dear Annie,
I am such a fan of you and your wonderful books! I do have a question for you….in the Clean & Green book, you suggest the Auro Organics brand of boiled linseed oil for some of the recipes in the book. I have had a difficult time getting in contact with this company, so I “goodsearched” “raw petroleum free linseed oil” and found the following product/link. I am hoping to find out if you are familiar with this brand, and if it would be a good choice…..or if there are any other brands you could recommend. This site Solvent Free Paintoffers the raw & boiled lineed oil.
Thank you for the good work you do & for your time!
–Christy B.

Dear Christy,
Wowza, I am so excited about that site! Thank you *SO* much for the reference. The site is fascinating, such as that their paint is “zero waste” and that organic linseed oil actually gets better over time. They write, “In old time painter manuals you could find recommendations for the painters to store the cold pressed linseed oil for 2 years before it was made into paint. Linseed oil is basically like fine wine, it gets better over time.” I personally adore the nutty smell of linseed oil soap, which they also offer. I am really grateful for the information about this product line. I am going to try their linseed oil exterior paint. Thank you! The company seem to search the world for manufacturers of old-time, chemical free formulas that work.

Dear Annie,
When I saw this lamp, I thought of your work space. As your friend and colleague, I know the area where you write your books, articles and blogs is bathed in natural light and abuzz with activity during the day. Since I write about green home design (see below), and like you, have no stake in the products that I sometimes write about, I thought you might want to share this product with your readers. The lamp is just about to hit the IKEA stores. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to harness all that illumination for the cool spring evenings?

This lamp is designed by Nicolas Cortolezzis and is called the SUNNAN .It features solar cells to transform sunlight into electrical energy. It requires no electrical connections. The lamp runs on solar cells that transform sunlight into electricity.

Annie, I know you and I do everything in our green power to save energy and reduce our family’s environmental footprint. I like the whole idea of this lamp because LED light consumes 70% less energy and has at least 4 times longer life than incandescent bulbs in similar decorative lighting.

Here’s the kicker…It is $19.99 and comes with two rechargeable AA batteries for solar cell driven products! The recharging time is 9-12 hours in sunlight, but over 12 hours on a cloudy day.

The colors are eco-chic enough for you and I, and the price is right for our kids on a college budget. Just think about how cool they would think we were if these lamps landed in their college postboxes!

What do you think?
–Ronnie, Author of EcoNesting blog

Dear Ronnie,
Wow! I think the lamp looks great and surely eco-friendly. While the lamp isn’t a replacement for natural light, natural light power’s the lamp, and that is great. Thanks for giving us the heads up about this.

Dear Annie,

What eco-friendly solution do you recommend for spot cleaning carpet? I don’t need to clean the whole carpet because I am happy with a local person who steam cleans them without fragrances. Thanks!

–Sarah M, TX

Dear Sarah,

Good question! One spot cleaner I really like is to make a special carpet foam cleaner. To make it squirt a few teaspoons of a good liquid green detergent into a bowl (your green hand dishwashing detergent is fine), get out the handmixer or a whisk, and agitate it all until it comes into a big foam. Scoop some of the foam onto a clean sponge or rag and scrub into the spot. Rinse. this formula is easy to do on the spot (as it were). Just make enough for what you need at the time.

One hint is to blot up carpet spills immediately before cleaning.

Dear Annie,I want to go back to basics and make my own laundry soap. What do you suggest? Brenda,  NY

Dear Brenda,
There must be an uptick of interest in back-to-the-land living because I’ve had a number of people ask me this question recently!

First, while I am all for simple, nontoxic living, washing clothes with soap and not a vegetable-based, green detergent, will result in the greying of your clothes if you have hard water. When hard water minerals combine with real soap, soap scum forms. If you have hard water I’d consider buying a good green detergent, such as from Ecover or Seventh Generation.

If you want to wash laundry with soap, here is a tip from a friend of mine who had 11 siblings and her mother washed a-l-l the clothes with soap. She would buy high quality castile bar soap (traditionally made from olive oil), grate it on an old-fashioned laundry board, and use the resulting soap flakes in the laundry. Given that soap boards aren’t readily available, you could substitute a cheese grater.

If you do end up with some soap scum, add 1 cup of white distilled vinegar to the rinse. Let soak for an hour or so before rinsing as usual. Good luck!

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Dear Annie,

I have heard that disinfectants can cause superbug overgrowth, and besides, I don’t like using synthetic chemicals around my pets. What do you suggest I use instead?

Thanks, JC, FL

Dear JC,

The cheapest way to kill bacteria in your home is with vinegar. If you add some herbs your kill rate is even higher. Here are three ways to kill bacteria with vinegar, each with their own attributes. Note, however, that to be called a disinfectant, a product has to be registered with the EPA as a pesticide. Vinegar isn’t so registered. If you are interested in buying something with a 100 percent kill rate, I recommend that you buy a botanical disinfectant.

#1: Straight white distilled vinegar. By far the easiest and the cheapest solution, put the vinegar into a spray bottle and spray straight onto the area of concern. Don’t rinse. The smell will dissipate in a few days. Why the the white distilled? Organic apple cider vinegar will be fine, too, but it could stain.

#2:  Straight white distilled vinegar with a few drops of lavender essential oil. I recommend this formula for those who don’t like the smell of vinegar. The drops of lavender mellow the smell considerably, and they also provide some antibacterial qualities of their own.

#3:  The most ambitious formula but also the most fun, make the famous Vinegar of the Four Thieves, made famous during the Black Plauge when a family of perfumers used it to rob the dead, knowing that the antiseptic herbs would protect them from the germs. To make it place a small handful each of lavender, rosemary, sage, rue and mint in a large jar, and cover completely with organic apple cider vinegar. Cover tightly and set for six weeks. Strain into a spray bottle.

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