Resolutions for the New Year - Healthier Cleaning

With a new year coming up, you are probably making resolutions about being a better you this year. Here's an idea to consider that will keep you and your family, as well s the planet, healthier...
When you have put so much effort into creating a home that is free from toxic compounds during the construction process, it doesn't make sense to use harmful and often toxic chemicals to clean it once you're living there. Unfortunately, it can be nearly impossible to determine what is safe and what isn't because there aren't any standards for identifying the chemicals in your cleaners. And if you hire a cleaning service, you have even less of an idea what they're using in your home. Many cleaning agents have VOC's that linger long after they are actually used (that "clean" smell).
Enter a cleaning service that is different - they are healthier for you and the environment. The Maid Brigade has crews available all over the US, Canada and Ireland. they offer Green Certified cleaning services that are guaranteed to be free of harmful substances and still give you a clean house, with superior service.

A Green Idea for Gift Wrapping

While it makes a fun tradition, gift-wrapping packages with paper and tape is an inherently unsustainable practice: think of all the paper and ribbon that goes into the trash each holiday season for the sake of making presents pretty.

Here’s a lovely green gift-wrap idea: wrap your present in a silk scarf this year! Not only do scarves make beautiful, easy gift wrap that requires no tape or scissors - but the durability and multiple uses of scarves mean that the gift-wrap itself becomes part of the present that can be worn and reused again and again.

BOBO wrapping scarves are silk scarves that are designed for the express purpose of wrapping presents. They can mold into a variety of shapes and the cloth material can be re-used over and over again.

Glowing Light Wallpaper

Swedish designer Camilla Diedrich has imagined lighting our homes with glowing wallpaper rather than having to rely on electric lights, and created a stunning line of luminescent wallpaper. Her Nature Ray Charles Wallpaper (available in 8 colorways)features floral motifs that shine through in delicate lines using fiber optics, adding a touch of energy-efficient ambiance to any room.

"With the bold, light-drenched Nature Ray Charles wallpaper series, Diedrich’s goal was to inject an intrinsic luminance using a single colour….’searching for light without light’
This visually striking wallpaper brings nature home and is the result of Diedrich’s efforts in repeating patterns of vaguely organic forms, which are cast in vibrant hues and resemble some sort of luminous deep-sea invertebrate. The result is simply breathtaking."