Clean Cut: Cutting out chemicals without cutting down on clean

by Leah R. TroianoMy cutting boards are my most treasured — and most used — kitchen items. I rely on these workhorses many times a day, and since they have contact with just about all my food, I’m very careful about how they’re maintained.

My gorgeous butcher block board is near and dear to my heart, but is off limits when preparing animal products. Since wood is porous, secretions from meat and fish can become trapped in the wood when the knife breaches the board’s surface. Caring for this type of board requires specific attention and care. The product you use to clean a wooden cutting board could potentially end up in your food. So I make my own cleaning product using only food-grade cleaning products.

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Windows 2.0: Non-toxic window cleaner so you can see clearly

story by Leah R. TroianoAs April nears, I’m always looking for the first signs of spring: crocus breaching the soil, warmer weather and abundant sunshine. But what I most look forward to is replacing my storm windows with screens, so I can open the windows and let in fresh air. Doing this is always a reminder that I need to scrub the winter grime from my windows.

The first cleaning is never a quick spray-and-wipe job. There’s a lot of muck that needs to be washed off before those windows can shine. It would be easy to buy a bottle of commercial window cleaner, but I’m usually not satisfied with the end result, and I’m almost never happy with the ingredients. Many well-known cleaners contain ammonia, ethanol, isopropyl alcohol or methanol, all of which can be harmful if swallowed or inhaled in large quantities. So I make my own. It’s so quick and easy to put together that I don’t lose my window-cleaning motivation.

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The oldest Irish pub in Philadelphia looks to become the greenest in America

Maurice Sampson, president of Niche Recycling, lead a three-day waste audit last week at McGillins Olde Ale House. | Photo via McGillinsChristopher Mullins Jr. has a vision for his little block of Drury Street and his pub McGillin’s Olde Ale House, which has been in his family since 1958. It includes thriving restaurants, a hotel and a bustling commercial destination for Philadelphia residents and visitors alike. What doesn’t it include? Dumpsters – up to 22 of them at one time – crowding the sidewalk, stinking up the block and forcing pedestrians to walk in the middle of the street like a bizarre throwback to Philadelphia’s colonial era. 

Instead, Mullins wants to create a “zero waste zone.” The parking lot adjacent to McGillin’s (currently owned by Goldman Properties) would become “Drury Street Garden,” a centralized waste collection area for the entire neighborhood. There would be a dumpster for trash, another for recycling and a BiobiN for composting kitchen waste. Neighbors would be paying the same price to use these facilities that they currently pay to trash haulers.

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Invasion of the Delicacies! Sometimes the best weapon against alien invaders is a light vinaigrette

story by Alex ZorachI like to eat invasive plants. Sounds scary, right? Invasive species are plants or animals that have been introduced from other regions, accidentally or on purpose, and have negative impacts on local ecosystems. Whether or not you realize it, you have probably seen many invasive plants—they’re in gardens, vacant lots and even between cracks in the sidewalk.

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Garden City: Cornerstone business changes with the community

story by Courtney Sexton | photo by Albert YeeWhen Bill Green started Primex Garden Center in 1943, his business was predominantly a wholesale agricultural distributor, serving farmers in then-rural Glenside, Pa.  Seventy years later, Green’s grandson, David, his wife Joan, and their son-in-law Danny are running a different kind of business at Primex, but one that’s proven to be as equally important to the community.

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