5 Best Green House Cleaning Tips

We all know spring really means spring clean. This year, why not make yours a green spring clean -- free of all those nasty chemicals? Here are five top tips to help from our friends at AspenClean, makers of our 100% Ecocert certified natural household cleaners.

Microfiber cloths are better at picking up dust, dirt, hairs, lint and microbes than cloth or paper.

1. To freshen up carpets, try sprinkling them with a little baking soda, leaving overnight and vacuuming in the morning.
2. A soft pumice stone is a great tool for scrubbing away mineral deposits and stains on marble.
3. Instead of focusing on killing germs, focus on getting rid of the carriers. Microfiber cloths and mop-covers are far more effective at picking up dust, dirt, hairs, lint and microbes than cloth or paper.
4. Add a few drops of tee tree oil to your cleaning solutions to add cleaning power.
5. To remove kids crayon marks from walls try applying some baking soda paste and let it dry before brushing it off.

Here's one more general rule to keep in mind to help reduce your workload: always be sure to clean from the top down and the inside out.

Enter for a chance to WIN an AspenClean Whole House Cleaning Kit (value $50) packed with four natural cleaning sprays and four matching microfiber cloths in our Go Green Get Clean Spring Giveaway.

Go Green Get Clean Spring Giveaway

Spring is in the air. It's time to refresh your living space and a good clean is a great place to start. While conventional chemical cleaners are loaded with pollutants to make the job easier, the cost to our health can be high. Breathing nasty fumes only compounds the problems of allergies, sinusitis and asthma. The healthiest path to a great clean is to go green with natural household cleaners. AspenClean is the only Canadian-made cleaning line with the stringent European Ecocert certification for being made of 100% wholly natural ingredients. That means these natural cleaning products are 100% vegan and biodegradable. They also smell wonderful. Lavender and lime, geranium and orange -- the essential oil scent combos are unbelievably fresh. To help you with your spring cleaning, we're hosting the Go Green Get Clean Spring Giveaway! You could win a fabulous AspenClean Whole House Cleaning Kit (value $60) packed with eight different natural cleaning products including four cleaning sprays and four microfiber cleaning cloths. Simply tell us your BEST green cleaning tip and you could win!


WIN IT!
Tell us your BEST green cleaning tip and you could win a Whole House Cleaning Kit from Canadian company AspenClean. Kit contains: Lime Natural Glass Spray Cleaner, Lavender & Lime Bathroom Natural Spray Cleaner, Grapefruit & Lavender All Purpose Natural Spray Cleaner, Grapefruit & Bergamot Kitchen Natural Spray Cleaner each paired with a matching colour-coded, eco-friendly microfiber cloth specifically designed for natural products.

Leave your answer in a comment below or email it to us at customerservice@lavishandlime.com with 'My Best Green Cleaning Tip' in the subject line. **Please be sure to include your name and email address so we can contact you if you win.**

EXTRA ENTRIES:
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The winner will be chosen in a random draw. Deadline for entries is midnight PST Sunday, April 1st. The winner will be notified by email Monday, April 2nd. Open to Canadian residents only.

Campbell's Soup to Phase Out BPA Cans

Campbell's Soup has announced it will phase out the use of the potentially harmful chemical bisphenol-A (BPA) in the lining of its cans. There's been so much talk about the potential risks around BPA in everything from water and baby bottles to cash register receipts, it's welcome news that the world's largest soup maker is finally committing to change. Recent reports from the Breast Cancer Fund which found BPA in some of Campbell's most popular products marketed to children together with the Cans not Cancer Campaign created significant pressure on Campbell's to rid their products of BPA. In an interview with the Milkwaukee Journal Sentinel, Campbell's Soup Company spokesman Anthony Sanzio said Monday the company has been working on alternatives for five years and will make the transition as soon as "feasible alternatives are available." Interestingly, the US Food and Drug Administration is due to decide by the end of March whether to ban BPA in all food packaging. We know BPA-free food cans are out there, Eden Organic already offers them. While anything that reduces risk is a step in the right direction, we hope that Campbell's will step up their research and produce a timeline to prove themselves a true industry leader, living up to the strong iconic brand they've created with their red and white cans.

Sunscreen a Must for Spring Break

Heading somewhere sunny for spring break? Whether you're hitting the slopes or the surf, be sure to pack along sunscreen for the whole family. For natural sunscreen lotions without the nasty chemicals, we recommend Ecological Skincare (Body, Face & Baby), Badger Face Stick and Canadian-made Heiko Kids Sunscreen. Did you know one bad sunburn before the age of 18 doubles your chances of getting melanoma? Or that melanoma is the second most common cancer in children and teenagers? Check out the moving video for more great information on this topic. It features melanoma survivors from Canada and the US -- not actors.

The Power of Nature: a Potent Reminder

A recent walk in Vancouver's Lighthouse Park provided a potent reminder about the power of nature when we came across the fallen tree pictured below. It was two days after a windstorm ripped through the city and while we'd seen a few branches left in its wake here and there on the roads, we hadn't realized the wind's truly devastating effect until we were inside the park. A Cedar tree had been blown down, taking with it this magnificent Douglas Fir that ended up splitting down the middle. When we arrived at the scene, all was quiet except for the eerie call of an eagle circling above. Eerie and, once again, incredibly powerful. Getting outside in the fresh air and enjoying nature is not only good for our health but also for our spirit -- and can be a humbling reminder that there are forces of nature at work all around us, often bigger and stronger than we are.