How Food Wastage Makes It Harder To Clean Your Home (Plus Causing Other Problems)

Does this scenario sound familiar? You want to grab a few snacks – preferably healthy ones – to nibble on while you watch that TV show you’ve looked forward to all week. You head for the refrigerator, and the little light comes on and shows you that your fridge is full. You start to poke through everything and you make a horrifying discovery: most of the things in there have passed their use-by dates. Some of the fruit and vegetables are growing interesting moulds. You don’t even want to think about what that half-used can of baked beans looks like. And what is that bizarre shrivelled thing right at the back? In disgust, you chuck everything into the rubbish bin and grab some of the good food before heading back to the TV with your cheese and crackers.

Welcome to the world of food wastage.

What Is Food Wastage?

Food wastage is just what it sounds like. It’s when something that was originally grown (and then processed) for human consumption ends up in the landfill instead of in your stomach (or another human being’s stomach). On the home front, it’s what happens when you don’t actually end up eating what you bought. Maybe you left whatever it was in the fridge for too long and it started going mouldy. Perhaps you overcooked that lasagne and you had to throw the burnt result out. Perhaps you tried some new cereal but found that it tasted like straw mixed with dirt.

According to the UK organisation Love Food Hate Waste, we throw out, on average, 50% of the food we buy. This adds up to 7 million tonnes of products. It’s the equivalent of taking £60 per week (in the typical London household) and throwing it in the bin. It just doesn’t make sense, does it?

How Does Food Wastage Make My Home Dirtier?

You may wonder what food waste has to do with domestic cleaning. Surely it’s more of an environmental or economic problem than a cleaning or hygiene problem. But if you stop to really think about the issue carefully, letting food go to waste is probably making your house a bit dirtier and less healthy than it would otherwise.

Here’s how food going to waste affects how clean your home is:

• Food being left too long creates bad odours in the refrigerator. Instead of putting out little containers of baking soda to absorb smells (a very common home cleaning tip), avoid having stale food in the first place!
• Food rubbish in the bin goes off very quickly and smells terrible. It is also more likely to leak and leave a foul-smelling residue inside rubbish bins despite what you try with plastic bags. This food residue makes for extra work as you try to wash it out as well as smelling terrible and attracting flies.
• Wasted food in the rubbish bin also encourages pets to break into the bins, which means that you end up having to clean the resulting mess off your floor. A similar thing occurs if you put the bins out to be emptied – food rubbish is more likely to attract the neighbourhood dogs, cats and foxes, which means a big mess for you to clean up.
• Leaving food in your cupboards or pantry for too long makes it more likely for pests to come in and raid it. These pests will bring disease into your home and they also create extra mess in the form of droppings.
• If food that was once liquid or semi-liquid is left for too long, then it tends to crust onto containers. This is very hard to clean off!
• As food breaks down in your fridge or pantry, it tends to smear itself all over your shelves and containers. This makes more work for you as you try to clean it up.

What Other Problems Does Food Wastage Cause Beyond Hygiene And Cleaning?

As you can imagine, wasting food is a waste of money. It’s also a waste of the dwindling resources of this planet. I know it’s a bit of a cliché to trot out the old line of “Think of all the starving children in Ethiopia/Rwanda/Syria/North Korea. They’d be grateful to have what you’ve just thrown out.” But it’s true. The planet can only produce a limited amount of food with the current resources we have (e.g. land that’s good for farming and suitable water). And if we want everybody in the world to have enough to eat, we need to make sure that we’re not buying too much and then just chucking it out.

But don’t forget to consider the problems food waste causes on a more local scale. By putting food in the rubbish bin, you’re taking up more of your local landfill. Seven million tonnes of wasted food and drink takes up a lot of space! You’re also wasting your money and even your petrol.

Domestic food wastage is just part of the bigger problem. The food production industry – or the planet, should we say – also has to tackle food wastage by retail outlets (e.g. supermarkets), suppliers (all those wonky veggies that get rejected for sale because they don’t look up to scratch even though they’re perfectly OK), transporters (crates of fruit going off while a ship gets stuck at the docks) and growers (who often lose crops thanks to pests and bad weather). There are things you can do and organisations that you can join (such as food rescue organisations) but don’t forget to do what you can about the food in your pantry and fridge as well as looking at the bigger picture.

It’s time we thought twice about putting that shabby looking lettuce in the bin.

What Can I Do To Reduce Food Wastage?

• Plan your meals carefully and don’t buy (or cook) more than you need.
• Get creative with using leftovers instead of throwing them out (nearly anything can be put into a soup!).
• Clear out your fridge more often – weekly if your current home cleaning schedule allows this. This means that you get to spot items that are getting close to their use by date before it’s too late.
• Instead of throwing food into the rubbish bin, look at other ways of disposing of it. Perhaps you could feed it to your pets. Or start a compost bin so you can turn scraps and things you really can’t eat into fertiliser for your garden. Neither of these is ideal but it’s a lot better than sending food to the landfill. It also means you don’t have to clean your rubbish bin out more often!

Keeping Carpets Healthy With Professional Cleaning

Regularly cleaned carpet improves indoor air quality 

Carpets, rugs and upholstery get populated by a large number of different microorganisms. Some of them can be harmful for a person's health while others can peacefully co-exist with humans, without causing any potential risks to their well-being. And yes, those guys are so tiny, you cannot detect them with your naked eye. Using a special Ultra-Violet light can help you see what a horrible bunch of bugs you share your bed and carpet with.

Due to the carpets' role to act as a filter in the room, they get infested with all the microorganisms that you and the open windows bring into the house. You need to remove all the bacteria and mites from your carpet fibres on frequent intervals because they can cause allergies and asthmatic deceases. In other words - bad stuff. You don't even want to be thinking about this kind of stuff. All you have to do is keep your carpets constantly clean and healthy.

A lot of people had already realised that while vacuum cleaning can remove to some extend these little buggers, the process on its own is not potent enough to get rid of the tiny invaders completely.

Some people try domestic grade carpet cleaning options like Rug Doctor and Vanish - pure waste of time due to the lack of strong suction in the first and the lack of effective stain removal qualities in the latter. I mean, how can you you use one product to remove different varieties of spots? Impossible.

OK. So What Do We do?

As you can see, there are not so many choices left but call for help the professionals. Wait, it is expensive and... somehow...unknown. It surely costs an arm and a leg.

The Professional Carpet Cleaning Company

There are many businesses who provide homes and offices with carpet and upholstery cleaning services in London and the Greater London area (this is if you live in the capital, that is). So many firms, big and small, that you are faced with the almost "impossible" tasks of choosing the right one.

I have done a short research and found out the following you should be looking for when hiring your carpet cleaner:

1. NCCA members. This helps a lot and is a great starting point. This association requires a lot from its members and is a guarantee that you will not be cheated, conned or left with a half-finished job. This point ticks a lot of boxes, so look out for NCCA membership (http://www.ncca.co.uk)

2. Businesses that have been around for a while. Staying in this competitive business for years is an excellent marker whether a company is doing well or not. With the current stiff competition I wonder if a rubbish company will stay in the black for long.

3. Guarantees. Look for guaranteed services. If a guy/company values its clients, it will make sure they are left satisfied and happy with the work. A guarantee is a good peace of mind and shows transparency and straightforwardness - both a must when dealing with businesses you haven't dealt with before.

Here is a quick list of some companies that cover different parts of the UK:

In London you can find quite a few (http://www.pilgrimpayne.co.uk, http://www.carpetfirst.co.uk). In Bedfordshire I chose these guys http://www.supremecleancarpetcleaner.co.uk, in Oxfordshire -  http://www.spotthedifference.biz.

If you happen to live in Surrey, you are in for a special treat - this website (http://www.healthyhome.co.uk) belongs to no one else but Paul Pearce - the guy that runs the NCCA Training Programs and is currently the Immediate Past Chairman of the Cleantrust (formally IICRC). Wow! You can get your carpets cleaned by the top UK specialist. Nice!

Well, nothing stops you now from keeping your soft furnishings in a top condition and most importantly - clean and healthy. Remember - cleaning is for health, not just for looks.

Home Cleaners Using Essential Oils

A number of good home cleaning products can easily be made using essential oils and old-fashioned natural ingredients. The benefit of making and using your own home cleaning products is that you know exactly what is in them and they are less damaging to your skin and your respiratory passages than the majority of synthetic commercial cleaning things. In fact, when you breathe these cleaners in, you’ll probably do yourself a lot of good, thanks to the health-promoting properties of the essential oils.

You can take a bit of a mix and match approach to the essential oils used in these recipes. Many essential oils have germ killing properties, so you can combine and substitute depending on your preferences and what you have in your cupboards. The good germ killing essential oils that are best to use in home cleaning products are lavender oil, tea tree oil, lemon oil, eucalyptus oil, pine oil, thyme oil and clove oil.

General cleaner for hard surfaces

·         1 cup soap flakes or grated soap
·         2 cups powdered chalk or diatomaceous earth (find this at a swimming pool supplies store)
·         1 cup baking soda
·         6 T glycerine
·         5 drops tea tree oil

Combine the dry ingredients in a blender, then put in a screw-top jar. Stir in the glycerine and the tea tree oil, stir thoroughly and close the lid.

Glass cleaner

·         2 Tablespoons cornflour
·         2 cups vinegar
·         1 cup methylated spirits or vodka
·         15 drops thyme oil

Put everything into a spray bottle and shake very well. To use, spray onto the window or glass surface. This will need to be shaken before each use to disperse the cornflour.

Floor cleaner

·         1 cup soap flakes or grated soap
·         ½ cup washing soda (sodium carbonate – do not substitute sodium bicarbonate or baking soda)
·         2 cups salt
·         1 litre hot water
·         20 drops lemon oil

Stir the soap, washing soda, water and salt together in a non-reactive saucepan until the solid ingredients dissolve. Once the mixture has cooled, stir in the essential oil. Store in a screw-top jar or bottle. To use, add about half cup of the mixture to a bucket of hot water. If desired, follow this mixture with a rinse made from hot water, half a cup of vinegar and a few drops more of lemon oil.

General round-the-house disinfectant

·         250 mL methylated spirits or vodka
·         1 litre vinegar
·         30 drops tea tree oil

Shake together and store in an air-tight bottle (a spray-top bottle if you like). Use on carpets, in the laundry, in the bathroom and toilet, etc.

Loo cleaner

·         1 cup baking soda
·         1 cup vinegar
·         10 drops lavender oil

Pour the baking soda into the toilet bowl and leave overnight. In the morning (before anyone uses the loo), combine the vinegar and the lavender oil. Pour most of this mixture into the bowl and let it react before flushing. Scrub if necessary. Use the remaining vinegar and lavender mixture to wipe down the seat and the lid.

How To Stay Clean And Healthy In The World of Fast Food

I've always been the kind of person that stays skinny, no matter what or how much I eat. But although dieting has never been a matter of great concern to me, I did some serious thinking about eating habits, last night. Yesterday, some friends and I decided to skip McDonald's and go to the nearby restaurant. Next to us, a nice young couple was discussing the menu:

She said 'It's a little late for carbohydrates, I think I'll have chicken steak and fresh salad.'

'I'm thinking about beans and steak, I need more proteins. I should gain some weight, don't you think?..', he replied.
Quite interesting attitude towards food, I think. In a world, controlled by the big fast-food chains, more and more people are becoming obsessed by healthy lifestyle. Is there a war between fast-food 'culture' and the cult of youth and beauty? Or is it just a kind of protest against a world in which, children easily recognize Ronald McDonald, but don't know who Pippi Longstocking is...

Of course, not only huge advertising makes fast-food so popular? Truth is, it can be prepared and served very quickly. And we are all becoming busier and busier. We literally fly from the office to the kindergarten, then home, fix something to eat and then off again, to the gym...Sounds like one should have superpowers! It is much easier to get something quick and cheap on our way home. But although these products might look appealing and tasty, they are a major cause of obesity, especially in children. They are not only very rich in calories, but also contain a lot of unwholesome additives, saturated fats, sugar, artificial colours, preservatives and so on. Besides, soon after we had a meal, it is very likely that we feel hungry again, because a hormone imbalance occurs in the organism. We develop a chemical dependency, similar to that of a drug addict, and big chains are constantly increasing the dose as portions become bigger and bigger...

A lot can be said about the dangers of fast-food. The American journalist Morgan Spurlock proved them by his experiment. He ate three McDonald's meals a day every day (and nothing else) for 30 days and ended up overweight, with high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and the risk of heart attack increased twice for him. In the end, he had a liver of an alcoholic, without drinking any alcohol.

On the other hand, a lot of people have started to develop another mania lately– healthy eating disorder, or orthorexia. This is a fixation on eating healthy, 100% organic food. Well, we sure don't want to be one of them, but if we really are what we eat, we can at least try do pick healthier products. Even if they are more expensive,  it is better to chose some of the scarce healthy food available on the market, than spend money on medical treatment later. Here are some tips for healthy eating:

- don't overeat
- eat less meat
- buy more fruit,vegetables and nuts
- cut soda and replace it with water
- drink plenty of water, that will make you fill fuller
- try to eat slowly.

It turns out, nowadays eating has become a process controlled rather by the brain than the senses. We should not underestimate healthy lifestyle, but going to extremes is no good, neither. So we'd better have greasy pizza once a week, and spend some time in the gym, than constantly count calories and stare desperately at the mirror. My personal advice though, is: Avoid fast-food! Ladies, because of its poor nutritious qualities, it reduces the elasticity of skin and hair is not shiny. And gentleman, it lowers the sexual drive and abilities...you choose!

Handy Cleaning Tips

There’s so much coverage on cleaning methods it leaves me with little to say on the subject. In particular this website here has a lot to offer in terms of articles, tips and eco-friendly advice.

So I’m not going to write about the obvious ones like mix bicarbonate of soda and water to make a great scouring paste for saucepans and dirty ovens or white vinegar and water to clean windows and polish off with kitchen roll. No, I’m just going to write about the ones I have found really useful over the years through my own experience.

Putting a quarter cup of vinegar in the final rinse will give your hair a lovely shine.

Bleach: If you are a keen golfer then soak all those dirty golf balls that you might find in the rough in a good squirt of bleach, hot water and a squirt of washing up liquid and soak for an hour or so. They come up like new.

Also, if you want to sterilise china plates, cups etc., especially pretty second hand ones soak in some hot soapy water with a squirt of bleach. It gets rid of tea stains in cups and teaspoons.

Of course any bleach should be kept out of reach to children

I hate it when I get a grease mark on my clothes. Try placing a sheet of kitchen roll on top and press lightly with a warm to hot iron. It should absorb the grease. Years ago they used to advise using brown paper but I don’t come across that very often.

When dealing with blood stains always soak in cold water first. Another way is to wet the mark with cold water and cover with table salt before washing.

Put all flour, cereals, dried fruit and any foodstuff in air-proof containers to avoid the dreaded flour weevil or beetle. They look like a small brown beetle. It’s not enough to leave food in its paper or cellophane packaging. Obviously tinned and bottle foodstuff should be OK.

Make sure food cupboards are emptied, vacuumed (important) and make sure you throw the vacuum bag in the outside bin and not the kitchen bin as they could come back. If your vacuum is bag less then empty contents in an old carrier bag and again, put in outside bin. For good measure rinse the vacuum container in soapy water and dry before you put it back. Wash inside cupboards with hot soapy water. Get into all those little crevices and corners. You could also wipe down with some diluted bleach afterwards.

Prevention is better than cure they say. If you do have an infestation you might need to get professional advice.

You can save all empty plastic ice cream tubs to reuse for storage for all sorts of things like buttons, bolts and screws etc. I just give them a hot soapy wash.

To deal with a horrible smell in the kitchen or bathroom try striking a match and blowing it out. It has to be one of those red tipped matches that you can strike a flame on anything not the grey safety match. It seems to works as the smell vanishes.

Can’t open a jar, run the lid under very hot water and it should loosen and open. Be careful you don’t scold yourself though.

How to Stay Healthy in the World of Fast Food

I've always been the kind of person that stays skinny, no matter what or how much I eat. But although dieting has never been a matter of great concern to me, I did some serious thinking about eating habits, last night. Yesterday, some friends and I decided to skip McDonald's and go to the nearby restaurant. Next to us, a nice young couple was discussing the menu:

She said 'It's a little late for carbohydrates, I think I'll have chicken steak and fresh salad.'

'I'm thinking about beans and steak, I need more proteins. I should gain some weight, don't you think?..', he replied.
Quite interesting attitude towards food, I think. In a world, controlled by the big fast-food chains, more and more people are becoming obsessed by healthy lifestyle. Is there a war between fast-food 'culture' and the cult of youth and beauty? Or is it just a kind of protest against a world in which, children easily recognize Ronald McDonald, but don't know who Pippi Longstocking is...

Of course, not only huge advertising makes fast-food so popular? Truth is, it can be prepared and served very quickly. And we are all becoming busier and busier. We literally fly from the office to the kindergarten, then home, fix something to eat and then off again, to the gym...Sounds like one should have superpowers! It is much easier to get something quick and cheap on our way home. But although these products might look appealing and tasty, they are a major cause of obesity, especially in children. They are not only very rich in calories, but also contain a lot of unwholesome additives, saturated fats, sugar, artificial colours, preservatives and so on. Besides, soon after we had a meal, it is very likely that we feel hungry again, because a hormone imbalance occurs in the organism. We develop a chemical dependency, similar to that of a drug addict, and big chains are constantly increasing the dose as portions become bigger and bigger...

A lot can be said about the dangers of fast-food. The American journalist Morgan Spurlock proved them by his experiment. He ate three McDonald's meals a day every day (and nothing else) for 30 days and ended up overweight, with high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and the risk of heart attack increased twice for him. In the end, he had a liver of an alcoholic, without drinking any alcohol.

On the other hand, a lot of people have started to develop another mania lately– healthy eating disorder, or orthorexia. This is a fixation on eating healthy, 100% organic food. Well, we sure don't want to be one of them, but if we really are what we eat, we can at least try do pick healthier products. Even if they are more expensive,  it is better to chose some of the scarce healthy food available on the market, than spend money on medical treatment later. Here are some tips for healthy eating:

- don't overeat
- eat less meat
- buy more fruit,vegetables and nuts
- cut soda and replace it with water
- drink plenty of water, that will make you fill fuller
- try to eat slowly.

It turns out, nowadays eating has become a process controlled rather by the brain than the senses. We should not underestimate healthy lifestyle, but going to extremes is no good, neither. So we'd better have greasy pizza once a week, and spend some time in the gym, than constantly count calories and stare desperately at the mirror. My personal advise though, is: Avoid fast-food! Ladies, because of its poor nutritious qualities, it reduces the elasticity of skin and hair is not shiny. And gentleman, it lowers the sexual drive and abilities...you choose!

Chemicals Do The Cleaning Only If You Let Them To

I have always wondered how ineffectively people do their house cleaning.

"I've been scrubbing all day long and the tiled floor is still dirty...". I've heard this many times in my life. So what seems to be the problem?

Have you noticed that when you spray your chemical on the dirty area and start scrubbing and rubbing immediately, the result is almost always nott perfect...or it requires more time and effort to remove the mark. If you leave the chemical to do its job (and that is chemically reacting with the dirt substance) you will see that it is almost an effortless job to wipe and scrub off the mark that has been bothering your in-laws for more than a month.

Big cleaning supplies manufacturing companies spend an awful lot of money in research and development of new stuff that cleans better, smells better and is safe for people and the environment. Why waste the chance to have this mountain of dosh to work for you but put in large amounts of elbow grease? I can't find a reason good enough.

Now that you know what to, go grab that mop and blitz the entrance tiles for Grandma is off to Barbados for a week :)

Cleaning Rusty Metal Bolts

One day I had this guy come to me and ask for some Coke. "Not for drinking" he said.

He explained he was repairing an old car and a few of the bolts and nuts were so tight that they had joint togeher permanently. They have not been undone for many years and were all corroded and covered in rust. The guy needed some Coke to pour on the rusty joints. Using the acidity of this popular soft drink he was planning to remove some of the rust in order to untie the nuts.

I was so intrigued I took a bottle of Coke and went with him to watch the procedure. I didn't quite believe what he was saying and thought he was taking me for a ride.

To my absolute amazement, the Coke that I love taking regularly with my Jack Daniels, ate away the years old rust and freed the bolts and nuts to be easily undone. Brilliant!

So, whenever you have any rusty problems, Coke them well and rust will disappear.

The Best Way To Clean Your Glasses

I know it is something many of you may already know but for people who wear glasses and don't know this tip it could be a life changing thing.

It is quite simple actually. Kitchen towels and toilet paper cleans glasses exceptionally well. Forget about microfibre or any fancy silky pieces of fabric your optician has enclosed in your glasses holder - waste of time and effort. I have been there and tried from the entry level cleaning cloth to the top of the range designer cloths. They all smeared the glass and could never leave a smudge free surface. Yeah, you can still have an acceptable level of cleanliness with microfibre colths but after you have used a piece of good old kitchen towel or toilet paper to clean your glasses, you will never come back to using the standard cloths.

Cheap, easy to get hold of anywhere, brilliant result every time. What's even better - you go once with the kitchen towel and the glass is nice and polished. When I was using clothes I used to go countless times over and over again - you clean on side but smear the other. Duh! Nightmare. Not anymore though :)

Enjoy the tip!

If you know a better alternative way of cleaning glasses, I need to know. Send your tip immediately so it can get published.

Natural Cleaning In The Office - The Power Of Vinegar

Yesterday I wanted a cup of tea so badly that I went straight to the office kitchen and filled the kettle. Just before I started to boil the water I glanced inside. Phugh! What a disgusting slimy thing has accumulated everywhere over the last few months. Limescale. When you shake the kettle big pieces of the thing started to float around like a massive pile of plankton. 

Not a very pleasant site. Probably OK if you don't watch inside the kettle but I just can't help it.

Then I decided to do something about it. Clean it. I remembered once a friend of mind told me about the cleaning power of vinegar. I never put any weight to her words back then but now I had a challenge and I needed a solution. I reached for the vinegar.

The secret for success when cleaning your kettle with vinegar is to boil the vinegar and keep it boiling for a good 5-6 minutes. I know, the smell is not one of the nicest, but it's definitely worth the sacrifice of a temporary indoor air quality discomfort. 

Open windows in order to keep good ventilation. Vinegar in kettle, kettle switched on, boily, boily for 5 minutes and switch kettle off. Drain the vinegar in the kitchen sink. Do not try to re-use the vinegar for cooking - it won't give the required result. Rinse kettle well with fresh water. 

If your limescale problem is quite big you can repeat the vinegar boiling procedure before throwing the waste vinegar. 

You may still feel a funny smell coming from the kettle during the next few water boils but don't worry. This is absolutely normal and the smell will go away soon.

I would like to confirm that no animals were harmed while experimenting with the boiling vinegar kettle cleaning apart from a few kit-kats.

Happy Easter everyone!