Tuscaloosa Catagory 1

i went out yesterday to some of the most effected areas to try and take food and water to the areas that service vehicles couldn't make it to. My friend Abner and I spent most of the day with an average of 40 water bottles in a backpack and two boxes of various food stuffs. When we would run out we would hike back out to the access roads and ask donation centers for more whatever and food and then we would turn back around and head into the debris.

I had seen pictures of the area we were before we headed out there and even though I had been going to this particular part of town for almost 15 years (visiting friends and businesses) i wouldn't tell where ANYTHING was suppose to be. For every one house standing there was 5 that were leveled. Cars were laying on their roofs,sections of metal roofing were wrapped around telephone poles like plastic ribbons and what few structures that were standing were marked with Xs and Os along with addition markings indicating that they had been checked and cleared or bodies were found.

We walked out of the debris and into someones front lawn as an elderly woman sat crying with her head in her hand and i felt so worthless because all i could do was offer food and water. She told us about how she lost so much but was lucky enough to have a rental home on the other side of town she was able to open up to those worse off than herself. I was amazed. We wished her luck and continued through the debris. We climbed over trees that seemed to large to fall, through living rooms that were reduced to broken couches and mangled children's toys.

After a few miles we came across a neighborhood that was mostly Hispanic that hadn't gotten aid simply because they were unable to tell people they needed help. Luckily Abner is bilingual and we were able to get Capri sun, poptarts and canned peaches to the kids and hot plates and MREs to the parents. After checking to see if there was anything else we could help them with we were on our way yet again.

We made our way back out to the main road and came across another volunteer tent and we topped off on supplies.We apparently looked burnt and tired because they made us sit down to eat and drink and then sent addition rations for us later down the road (we gave them away). After taking a short break we headed in the direction were some friends of ours lived. We made it to or friends neighborhood, passing supplies out along the way. Once we got there we started looking around to find their motorcycles had been slammed into the side of the house (they were inside detached garage), the floor of the garage was under the house and our friends truck was sitting in was use to be his living room...it was alot to take in and they were beyond lucky to be alive. To add insult to injury someone had stolen his amp and subs out of his truck while he was in the hospital (injury's sustained during the storm).

By the time we were done in our friends neighborhood it was late in the day and we were both badly sunburned, tired, dehydrated and very hungry and since the roads were opening up to service vehicles we decided to start the long hike back to our truck.

Today i am tired, sore, burned and i have blood blisters from the straps on my backpack but every time i want to complain i think about all the people i met yesterday and I know my sacrifice is very little compared to some. I took great joy in peoples gratitude yesterday. Its a shame it takes something like this to bring people together but i am so glad they did.

Google Tuscaloosa Storm damage for images

Another rainy day?!?!?

Isn't it suppose to be "April showers bring May flowers"? Then what's with all this wet weather?....oh, it's almost April.

On days like today I find myself reading and writing more than usual. As I was going through my normal media intake routine, I found myself comparing different Green products and services and it got me to thinking about a VERY popular misconception in our particular field of service. A lot of people ask me if we charge more because we are a Green company. These are typically people who have never used our services or received a quote for service. After reviewing some of the "Green" products I found onlne, I came to a conclusion. Green is expensive.

After a short search of the "World Wide Web" it was easy to see that you can expect to pay between 25-65% more for a product In the name of ecology. I understand a desire to preserve the planet and I understand the need to do our parts as individuals and especially as corporations but I can not see paying $29.99 for a thermos made out of recycled happy meal toys. My biggest problem with this is the fact that a large portion of the time these Green products are actually worse for you and the environment than their $2.00 counterpart. Early in the year I blogged on plastics with traces of BPA in them (read earlier post). This material is used when recycling plastics and has been shown to cause a list of negative effects on the human body especially women and young children. As if that wasn't enough, more often than not the recycled material being used is not post-consumer. This means that the materials they are recycling have never been used. That's a problem for me. This not only offers no benefit to post consumer waste issue it ,in a way, encurages corporations to over product a cheap product and then donate it for a "Green initiative credit" resulting in a much more valuable tax credit. You can see how this slide of hand doesn't benefit anyone but the comoanies making a massive profit on your sympathy for a good cause.


I'm not saying that you shouldn't buy recycled products or that you shouldn't support companies that are genuinely trying to make a difference in their feild, what I'm saying is understand why you're doing something before you do it. Turn the box over before you buy that matching pair of recycled coffee mugs and see where the materials were sourced from 99% of the products will have it listed (at least a percentage of pre or post consumer materials used).

Now that I've gotten way off track from what I originally had planned I will just make a shameless GreenClean plug. We offer a superior service for a competitive price because we not only believe in giving back to our planet but we also believe in giving back to our community. The best way we know how to do that is through the services that we provide and local charities. We encourage you to give freely and live freely. Smile as often as possible and love like there is no tomorrow because tomorrow is not guaranteed.


Help us support the Arnald family by helping to send young Brady Arnold to China to receive stem cell treatments to help in his life long battle agains Optic Nerve Hyproplasia. Visit www.Bradysjourneyforsight.com for more information on Brady and how you can make a difference in his life.

Not in the food! Come on!?!?!

 It's another rainy day here in sweet home Alabama and you know what that means. It's time to get educated. I don't know what it is about dark rainy days that make me want to read but they do...so I am. As I've been watching the stock market lately ,in hopes that our economy will come bouncing back one day soon, I've been spending more time reading the news. Today I came across an article that read "Cereal boxes cause cancer" and all I could think was "I'm doomed". Luckily I read a little further before running into the kitchen and disposing of all my Cinnamon toast crunch. Apparently this particular study found problems in European sold cereals. That got me to thinking about the foods I ,we, cram in our faces and we often don't even give it a second thought. But what if this happened in America? Guess what.

   In this particular case study in Germany & Switzerland, scientist found levels of up to 100 times the agreed safe limit of petroleum oils found in several products sold in supermarkets. Mineral oil hydrocarbons to be exact have been found to potentially cause cancer if consumed. Experts agree that newspaper used to produce the recycled cardboard containers may be the cause of the contamination. The inks used to print the newspaper have been known to be toxic for years and information about them is available at the click of a button BUT old newspaper is cheap and plentiful.

   Some companies like Britain's Jordan cereal have already stopped using recycled cardboard sourced from old newspaper but companies like Kellogg's are still lingering behind. This comes with no surprise as Kellogg's has just recently had to recall 28million children cereals due to contamination from packaging. This is insane! What's even more insane than that is while you're reading this you are starting to think about the cereal in your cabinet.....but what about your rice, pasta & grains? It's not just cereal, anything stored in cardboard covered in colorful images or plastic bags is susceptible to chemical leaching, this includes metal cans lined with polycarbonate plastics. It's kind of a scary thought.

  Now, I'm not saying that you should stop eating food that's packaged in cardboard, plastic or metal because that would just about mean you would have to farm or starve. Though we encourage agriculture and a responsible diet we know there are more reasonable ways to eat healthily.

  By buying locally grown fruits and vegetables as well as livestock you greatly reduce your risk of chemical leaching. Knowing who grows your food and where it comes from is a powerful feeling we ,as Americans, have learned to forget. If you don't have the time or the money required for a localist type lifestyle then at least get involved and send a letter to the companies that manufacture your food, ESPECIALLY when they show up in the news for bone head mistakes like chemical leaching. Let them know the public is aware. This goes for organic and non-organic foods alike. Organic doesn't mean it's exempt from human error, one of the largest producers of organic cereals (in England) found themselves victim in this cardboard caper. This just goes to show that just because the intentions were pure that the product isn't always perfect.


 Clean is a life style just like Green. Though we can't help you make the decisions you need to make we can do our part to make sure you're making an informed decision.

Think before you eat.

How clean is it? Really!

  I joined one of our teams ,this past week, as they went on their route and I observed. This is mostly a quality control practice to make sure everything is getting handled the way it needs to be in a time frame that's acceptable to the client and the company. However, it also gives me an opportunity to visit with our customers and not only get to know them but also it offers me a chance to educate them on some of the products and methods most people use t clean and then I explain how most of those methods aren't as effective as the average person thinks or as effective as the manufacturers of these products would have us believe.

   If you go to any retail store in America and look for a cleaning section, in a very short time you will undoubtedly find yourself in a sea of disposable wet mops, wood polish and disinfectants wrapped in brightly colored packages or bottles. Most of these packages are adorned with spring time meadows, flowers and happy family's, leading one to believe these products belong in a fresh and clean home. The problem is, these products belong no where near your family, especially those with young children.

  Parents find themselves in an overwhelming battle between advertisement geared towards their children and exposure to today's "real world". With things like BPA, lead toys, tainted food, strollers malfunctions and the thousands of other hazards children come in contact with everyday, it's no wonder parents are stressed.

  Most people know it's important to maintain a clean home and like wise, most parents know that goes double for family's with young children. What most people don't know is that more than half of the cleaners they use ,to sanitize and disinfect, don't work as well or as fast as they have been lead to think. If you turn over that can of lemon scented carcinogens and read the instructions you'll see that the average exposure time for most of these "cleaners" is up to 5 minutes. That means the average kitchen counter top in America would take up to a total of  26 minutes to properly disinfect (working in sections to prevent drying). That's a lot of time considering that's JUST the counter tops, not the stove, not the garbage can not even the sink itself. Further more, a lot of these "cleaners" suggest letting these chemicals dry on the surfaces in your home to sanitize them. Forget about pesticides on your fruit, your putting them in the air you breath and on the surfaces you eat from. Sounds kind of crazy doesn't it?

   In 2000, cleaning products were responsible for at least 206,636 (reported) calls to U.S. Poison Control Centers with well over half of those calls being in regards to children. If these products are so bad for us that they have to be listed as a poison and come with a warning label to be sold in the first place...why do we use them so readily? Because most people just don't know. What if I told you that the just fragrances used in products like laundry detergent and room deodorizers have been shown to cause headaches, sneezing and watery eyes in some individuals as well as eliciting allergic or asthmatic reactions in sensitive a-topic individuals. Makes you wonder where that post work headache is really coming from, doesn't it.

  Here's the shocker, it's not just children and the elderly that need to worry about these products. Several of these cleaning and deodorizing products utilize alkylphenol ethoxylates (APE's) to do their advertised jobs. The problem lies in the fact that this material has been shown to memic the estrogen hormone and studies have shown APE to lead to increased breast cancer cell production. This is just one of the countless and often unavailable ingredients used to make the products used to clean your home.

  We as people aren't the only ones effected by the manufacturing or the use of these products. Production bi-products and waste aside, what happens to the cleaners that get poured down the drain or flushed down the toilet. Most of them get broken down or removed during a filtration process before being sent back into the world's water supply but not every negative element can be eliminated from the water and for that reason there are direct and indirect consequences for the environment by continued use and manufacturing of these  and similar products. Why not use a healthier, safer and often times more effective product? Is there such a thing? Friend...I'm here to tell you

  GreenClean uses three different methods to clean and sanitize. The first method, a non-toxic 100% biodegradable cleaner is used in areas requiring stain removal and/or odor elimination. Second. steam-vapor is probably the most used method in the GreenClean line-up. We use high pressure high temperature machines capable of killing up to 99.97% of all allergens and pathogens. Now, I know that's the same thing bleach and ammonia based cleaners advertise as well but... steam vapor is nothing more than super heated tap water but thanks to the high temperature and pressure it is capable of disinfecting and sanitizing most surfaces in about 4-10 seconds. Most chemical based cleaners take between 30 seconds and 10 minutes.Steam vapor also uses pressure to remove debris and reach deep into the pours of a surface, something no chemical cleaner can effectively do without damaging the surface itself. The final method utilizes UV-C or ultraviolet light. Ultra violet light is not effective for removing debris but it is highly effective in sanitizing below a visible surface. The light rays penetrate below the surface of materials such as carpet, pillows, bedding , couches and even wood. This property of the UV-C equipment makes it ideal for use around children and allergy/asthma sufferers.

  There are healthier , and often times more effective, alternatives to the products of yesteryear so why not use them. Keep you and your family safe by reading the label befre you buy.

Chapter 2-Pathogens

It's been an interesting week in the GreenClean house hold. We've been busy, sick and...warm? With an unusually cold winter and snow fall last week, imagine our surprise when the temps hit 70 this week. It's no wonder there are so many sick people running around town.

  With all of this weather change and illness running wild I got to thinking about pathogens and how most people don't know what I mean when I say GreenClean offers allergen & pathogen control . Most people already know what allergens are, they are the things that make you sneeze, cough, drip and ache. Most people also know what cause their allergeies to act up, pollen, pet dander and dust mites are the most common non-food related allergens. However, when I say "pathogen" most people look at me with a blank stare. You already know what pathogens are...you just don't know you already know it. Pathogens are disease causing organisms that cause damage or illness to their host. You know them as "the flu" ,"Staph infection" , "Strep throat"... got it? Good. Pathogens are all the things that cause us to get sick. Mold and fungus are also considered to be pathogens. These little guys find there way into our bodies by attaching themselves to frequently used surfaces such as; bathtubs, counter tops, floors, appliances, door handles....even hand shakes and hugs help to transfer pathogens. Washing your hands frequently is the best way to cut down on your chances of person to person transfer but sanitization is the only way to achieve coverage at home and the work place.

  Most common cleaners/sanitizers that utilize chemicals to clean require up to 5 minutes of exposure to properly rid a surface of illness causing pathogens. The two best methods for sanitizing surfaces are steam vapor and ultra violet light. Steam uses high temp. water vapor to not only clear debris but also to sanitize saurfaces in about 4 seconds. Like wise, ultra violet light can rid surfaces of up to 99.97% of all allergens and pathogens in about the same time. There's an added advantage to using these alternative methods of sanitization....are you ready?...you can clean below the surface AND there is no odor left behind like when using chemica based cleaners. Steam vapor and UV-C (ultra violet light) can penetrate below the surface of items such as matresses, pillows, carpet, couches, stone and wood. Imagine a home that isn't covered with chemicals or allergens....or pathogens. It's possible :)

GreenClean uses both steam vapor and UV-C in all of our allergen and pathogen control services.
The next time you're using a chemical cleaner, read the instruction and see what the recommended expose time is, then see if you can find a list of contents. Steam vapor is made from tap water and heat and UV-C is light, no chemical residue left behind...period. A clean home is a healthy home and removing allergens and pathogens is an important part of keeping your personal area safe but it's just as important to do so safely and effectively.

What is BPA

Someone asked me the other day what BPA means and why they shouldn't buy products that this chemical is found in. I thought that was a very good question mostly because you see "BPA free" as a point of sale on a lot of products used in daily life, without any real explination as to why it's bad.. I will do my best to explain what BPA is and how it effects us.

 BPA is an abbreviation for Bisphenol A, an organic compound with two phenol function groups (acidic compound responsible for specific functions of the compound). These compounds are most commonly used in the manufacturing of polycarbonate plastic and epoxy resins. Known to potentially cause birth defects since the mid 1930's ,BPAs came into public light in the late 2000s resulting in some manufacturers looking for alternatives to the existing manufacturing process of plastics. In 2010 the FDA reported on BPA and the concerns of exposing fetuses, infants and young children to the substance. Canada was the first country to declare Bisphenol A a toxic substance.

 Bisohenol A is an endocrine disruptor, which can mimic the body's own hormones and may result in negative health effects. Studies were released in 2008 showing a possible connection between BPA exposure and obesity. The same year the U.S. National Toxicology Program confirmed the effects of BPA on neurological development. In 2009 a review of studies conducted on environmental chemicals raised concern about BPA and it's effect on thyroid function. In 2008, 2009 & 2010 studies showed that perinatal exposure to BPA lead to increased risk of breast cancer among a multitude of other ill effects.

 You don't have to ingest something with BPA in it to be effected by it. You can breath the chemical in by exposure via evaporation. Heating plastic products releases this chemical into the air...this includes the plastics in your vehicle or home.

 With all of these studies showing the negative results of using these types of chemicals ,not to mention the volume of exposure we suffer, you would think this would have come to light a lot sooner. Be aware of what your consuming and what your exposing your children to.

 Here's s list of everyday items BPA is used in during manufacturing; food cans and water pipe lining, soft drinks containers, baby bottles, automotive plastics, plastic tableware, coolers, sunglasses, cd's, DVD's, plastic dental fillings, construction glazing and bullet proof glass. These chemical is used in so many fields it seems impossible to avoid but with a little research you can avoid the large pitfalls. When purchasing recycled materials look at the back or bottom of the container for the recycle symbol, avoid products with a 3 or 7 next to the symbol. these products may contain BPA.

You can't live forever but you can try.

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