Columnists

Stop putting nasty chemicals down the drain. That was the message I got loud and clear while listening to a water treatment expert from the City of Toronto, who was speaking at a conference I attended last June. I went over my cleaning arsenal in my mind. Vinegar? OK. EcoLogo certified glass cleaner? Check. Dye-free, scent-free, phosphate-free, biodegradable detergent? Yes. Toilet bowl cleaner? Gasp! Yes, that drain matters too. And I was using something nasty to clean my bowl because, well, that’s what I’d always used.

I just finished testing several types of ecologically better toilet bowl cleaners (some general purpose cleaners that work well on toilets). That will appear in the December/January issue of Homemakers magazine. But I wanted to share this interesting interview with an expert from Nature Clean, a Canadian company that makes all its products here, gets them EcoLogo certified (the ultimate endorsement) and that seems to actually give a d*mn about the environment. Here’s that interview.

Jess: Is the goal of a toilet bowl cleaner to kill bacteria / other life or, like using a dish soap, are we really just trying to dislodge material so it can be suspended in water and washed away?

Nature Clean: The goal of our toilet bowl cleaner is to clean the toilet – meaning dislodge material so it can be suspended in water and washed away. If you’re cleaning your toilet regularly, there really shouldn’t be any need to disinfect it. However it is a good idea to disinfect the seat and bowl every so often as you see fit. We recommend our disinfectant spray (100% natural ingredients). You just spray the surface, let sit for a few minutes and then rinse clean.

Jess: Why do you have a dedicated toilet bowl cleaner while others are offering a general purpose bathroom product?

NC: Our product is specially formulated to clean toilets. The liquid is more viscous so that it clings to the bowl – the product can then soak into stains and work better to clean the toilet.

Jess: Why should we concerned about what cleaning products we flush?

NC: Yes we should be concerned with the products we flush into our waterways. Not just the toilet, but also sinks, tubs, any drain! There are many chemicals used in traditional cleaners which are not necessarily earth friendly. Take a look at phosphates and the destruction they had on our lakes! Now most companies have limited or removed phosphates from laundry and dish products, but what about household cleaners? EDTA (Ethylene Diamine Tetra Acetic Acid) is another widely used ingredient that doesn’t biodegrade! It accumulates in our waterways, lakes and rivers after it’s flushed down the drain. It can remobilize heavy metals such as zinc, nickel, mercury, copper in our waterways. This sediment can eventually end up in our food chain!

So that’s it, folks. Consider the toilet bowl cleaner you’re using, and look for a better choice next time you’re shopping. If you have questions about this or other green living products, please ask me about them by posting a comment.

Have you changed to a more eco-friendly product because of environmental or health concerns?

Looking for a zero-waste, guilt free way to water your plants? I was. And finally, after having the gear to do it for months, my partner and I installed a drip irrigation system this past weekend. It’s fed straight from one of our rain barrels. If I sound smug it’s really just because I’m relieved. I find it stressful when we’ve gone more than a week without rain. I’ve planted a fairly drought-tolerant garden, but I know that my black-eyed Susans, wild bergamot, coreopsis and other native plants, not to mention the few cute annuals I’ve planted, will be much happier after a good soak.

You’ll need a few things in order to install a rain barrel-fed drip irrigation system.
1. A rain barrel. Duh. I recommend a big one – a few steady hours of rain fills a barrel to the brim. I bought this 190 litre barrel from Canadian Tire (shown above).
2. Some eavestrough elbows so you can redirect water from your downspout to your rain barrel.
3. Some stones or pavers, or some other means of elevating your rain barrel. You need to raise up your barrel in order to create water pressure.
4. Some screening. Your water will be nicer if you can keep stuff – leaves, mosquitoes, pollen – out of it. Put layers of screen over your barrel and under your downspout so you can remove it and clean it periodically.
5. A low-pressure irrigation system! I used this one from Lee Valley. It’s easy to set up.
6. An irrigation plan. Decide where to route your irrigation hose such that the water never needs to run uphill. That should ensure all of your plants get watered.

It took about 45 minutes to set up our system, and within moments of opening the rain barrel spigot my garden was being watered. I like that the slow-drip system will absorb well into the soil instead of flooding the area, washing away soil and nutrients.

Most of these plants are getting watered by the hose.

A close-up of a drip spike.

Have you tried ways of using rain water or water conservation techniques on your garden?

Where did the lake go?

That great Canadian summer pastime — hanging out by the shore — needs to be defended. Blue-green algae, or cyanobacteria — a toxic algae that is harmful to people and wildlife — is growing out of control in many watersheds. Cottagers, beach-goers and the hook-and-reel crowd may find really gross evidence that their favourite waterway is under pressure from industry, agriculture and residential sources.

The offending blue-green algae, also known as cyanobacteria, is bad news because:
– It looks disgusting
- It smells horrible
- It can cause skin infections among those crazy enough to swim in it
- It can cause stomach cramps and even liver damage in those who consume it (see WHO fact sheet)
- It takes over habitats
- It can kill fish, birds and other wildlife through toxins and reduced oxygen levels in the water
- It can introduce toxins into drinking water sources.

Why is this happening? The simple answer is too much nutrient. There’s simply too much food for these bacteria, and they’re growing and blooming out of control.

Where is the nutrient coming from? Three main areas:

- Agricultural runoff. Fertilizer and animal manure are two key sources. Farms that don’t work to contain nutrient, particularly those with drainage to a waterway, are contributing to the problem.

- Industrial runoffs of high-nutrient materials

- Water treatment runoff, from our own wastes and from the soaps and other products that go down our drains

- Septic systems from rural and cottage residences along the water

This nutrient runoff is compounded by climate change, since most areas are experiencing a general warming trend with of higher daily low temperatures. Warmer water temperatures also cause changes to the water column.

So, if you like cottaging, hanging out by the water, fishing, safe drinking water, biological diversity… what can you do?

- Ask your MP to push for adoption of the Wastewater Systems Effluent Regulations, which would harmonize standards across the country, linked here.

- Change household habits. Switch to phosphate, scent and dye-free personal care and cleaning products. The lake doesn’t need a “spring fresh” scent.

For an in-depth look at how a lake can be affected by blue-green algae, watch Save My Lake, a CBC documentary.

Do you think we need better pollution controls and water monitoring in Canada’s lakes and rivers?

Water: The Exhibition is now on at the ROM in Toronto. While I’ve seen gems and antiquities and incredible works of art at the ROM, the exhibit proves that water a resource most precious.

Part of the American Museum of Natural History traveling exhibit but curated for a Canadian audience, Water shows just how little fresh water we have, the increasing demand for a share of that water and the struggle for life going on in the natural systems within the water.

In the opening ceremonies, which took place this past Wednesday, John Wilkinson, Ontario Minister of the Environment welcomed the education that the ROM program would bring, calling it a “wonderful world-class exhibit.” Citing Ontario’s access to the Great Lakes, he said, “Here in Ontario, we are water hogs.” He noted that, “Our job is to protect our sources of drinking water.”

The exhibit itself is a visual stunner, beautifully done with a mix of movies, graphic artistic and interactive displays, living species and more that bring a global focus to water as a resource.

How much water is in me?

Interactive displays such as this one, that calculates how much water is in your body, help the visitor relate to water.

Ontario's own mudpuppy

Highlights on native species, and the pressures they face from climate change, invasive species, pollution and more were brought home by showing off who’s affected, such as the mudpuppy (above) and the musellunge (below).

Baby muskellunge

Eel invader

The ROM exhibit is on until September 5. For more information, click here.

Are you concerned about our future access to water?

Do you like vinegar on fries? Well let me tell ya, it’s not as good as vinegar on your shower surround. I just took the “Allen’s Ultimate Vinegar Cleaning Challenge” — a dare to try their Double-Strength Cleaning Vinegar in shining up (OK, de-scumming) my bathroom. Here’s how it went.

Allen’s (a Canadian vinegar brand from Reinhart foods, available in grocery stores) didn’t need to convert me from nasty, skull-and-crossbones cleaners. Part one, I have asthma, so if I clean a small space with something super-noxious and irritating, guess what? I can’t breathe. (I had my first serious asthma experience when using a conventional cleaning product to clean my shower.) Part two, I’ve been testing and using “green” cleaning products for several years now. You may have seen my column, “Jess Tests”, which appears semi-regularly in Homemakers magazine, in which I test stuff ranging from cleaning fluid to organic, Fair Trade chocolate (that’s delicious test is in the February/March 2011 issue, out January 17th). I’m a big fan of green cleaners, particularly those bearing the EcoLogo certification.

If you haven’t done major cleaning with vinegar before, you should know that, while vinegar is edible and all that good stuff, it contains acetic acid. That’s a good thing – that’s what can kill mould, loosen soap scum, dissolve calcium and lime scale and more. It’s one of those powerful natural substances. But just because it’s natural doesn’t mean it isn’t volatile – that is, the acid evaporates into the air. If you use a whole lot of undiluted vinegar (either regular vinegar, which is 4 to 7 per cent acetic acid, or cleaning vinegar, which is 10 per cent acetic acid) in a small space, particularly if you has asthma as I do, it can irritate your eyes and lungs a bit (click here for the safety data on regular vinegar). So keep the lid on the vinegar bottle, open your bathroom window and turn on the fan if you’re planning to do some clean a whole bunch of surfaces with undiluted vinegar, as I did. And I was fine.

The test: How well does double-strength vinegar clean my tub, tiles, grout and faucet compared to plain water and soapy water?

The tools: Spray bottle containing straight double-stength vinegar; cleaning brush; old toothbrush; microfibre cloth

The method: I misted one third of my tub and surround with vinegar, the rest with plain water. I then scrubbed down one third with additional vinegar, then rinsed; one third I just scrubbed with just water and the remaining third with soapy water, then rinsed. (Thank goodness for handshowers – they make rinsing so easy!) After rinsing, I polished the tile with a microfibre cloth to remove any remaining residue for a nice, shiny look.

The results: The vinegar proved better than water alone and soapy water at removing soap scum and rusty marks around the drain. Considering I was going a bit nuts on the grout using a stiff cleaning brush and an old toothbrush it’s hard to say if it did better than just using water at grout sanitation, but I hope that it’ll keep it cleaner for longer. My bathroom smelled a bit of a french-fry truck, but I left the bathroom  fan on and that vinegar smell dissipated about an hour later. And my asthma didn’t act up, so the inhaler went unused once again. (Yay!)

Obviously this isn’t a very scientific test, but I am convinced that the vinegar works the best. I also think it outperforms general green bathroom cleaners on removing scaly rust gunk. When my test was complete, I went over the remaining problem areas (where I’d cleaned with just water or soap) with vinegar and they all came out clean.

Have you tried cleaning with vinegar or other home-made solutions? Is there anything else you would like me to test?

Fresh thinking on fresh water

In this land of abundant water, can we see it as a precious resource? I’d like to think so, but, at least in my city (Toronto) as lately as last summer l saw people out cleaning their sidewalks with a hose.

Perhaps a name change will help. It’s my understanding that the City of Toronto water services staff are working on changing the way they talk about the city’s most essential service. Instead of talking about “water” they’re trying to talk about “drinking water.” The city points out that what comes from our taps is better than what comes in some individual bottles (it’s more closely monitored). They’d like us to think of that pure, perfect, healthful water we see in advertising messages, and to curb the immense amount of energy (and money) used to process and deliver it, stop using municipal water where purity isn’t critical. Like in our toilets and on our gardens.

I did a little research and found out that rainwater is actually very clean in terms of pathogens, but the level of industrialization in your area likely affects its pH. For a helpful backgrounder on acid rain, click here. Acid rain may diminish the health of your plants, so I’m going to find out whether there’s anything homeowners using rain barrels can do to neutralize the pH of the water.

As I’m planning what I’d like to add to my garden this spring, I’m certainly looking for plants that don’t need drinking water – they have to be able survive from what my rain barrels can provide. For a terrific list of native plants that can handle less watering, have a look at the current issue of Homemakers magazine. “Grow a Greener Garden” by Deanna Dority offers beautiful ideas for drought-tolerant flowers, grasses and shrubs. She also describes moisture-savings ways to set up your garden’s soil and mulch.

In recognition of the fact that many people around the world don’t have access to sufficient drinking water, there are a few events coming up. Two events in support of Ottawa-based WaterCan sound interesting. Wine for Water is a gala fundraiser, taking place in Toronto on March 26. Walk for Water, on April 22 across Canada, is a six-kilometre fundraising walk led by the local Aveda salon. For more information on both, click here.

How is water regarded in your home town? Do you think uses are shifting, or is water just so abundant we shouldn’t worry about it?