Earth Day and Beyond

22 Apr Earth Day and Beyond

Today is Earth Day. I don’t know how many years we have been recognizing this day but it seems to have grown into a meaningful reminder for us of our responsibility to maintain this planet. I have recently been researching about “Living Green” concepts in preparation for my upcoming articles on Green Spring Cleaning. Today’s Oprah Show had many good suggestions for recycling, cleaning green and living in ways that will help shrink our carbon footprint. I do have some concerns about reusable grocery bags. I, too, use reusable grocery bags which I keep in my car so they are always ready for use. But the suggestion of keeping them in your trunk might be a mistake- depending upon the cleanliness of your trunk (or “boot” if you are in UK). Those bags are filled at the store, loaded into the trunk of the car and then taken directly to the kitchen counters. Later, sandwiches are often prepared on that surface without cleaning it. Now, I am not suggesting that countertops be sterile or high-level disinfected like we do in the hospital – but one must consider these potential sources of contamination and act accordingly. I think it is wise to keep the reusable bags in the car – but in a clean place – either inside the cabin or the trunk but not where they can be walked on by kids and dogs. Bags should be routinely cleaned. And the countertops cleaned after groceries are unloaded and before meal preparation. There is a commercial on TV for an “antibacterial” product that dramatically demonstrates the need for cleaning countertops. It shows a housewife wiping the countertop with a piece of raw chicken.   Hopefully, it is hard to watch and will remind us of the need for cleaning countertops in food preparation areas. But hot soapy water is enough – no sense adding all those chemicals. But that is a whole other story I will save for later…………………..