Make a Difference Day
“If you can't feed a hundred people, then just feed one.”
~ Mother Teresa
Either single-handedly, all by your lonesome, with the help of some friends, or volunteering with an organization, cooking up a large or small personal project, family effort, or community-wide endeavor is a wonderful way to score brownie points. Anyone – small fry or senior, individuals or groups, can whip-up volunteer projects that help others. Allow your ideas to percolate, and you’ll soon discover what your community needs. “Make a Difference Day” is really all about neighbors serving neighbors.
No matter whether you’re a scrambled student, a butter-fingered bartender, or even a half-baked housepainter, there are always a few extra hours to consider volunteering an afternoon of your skills: painting a neighbor’s porch or finger-painting with the kid next door; removing a scrap heap of trash from the side of a highway or scrap-booking memories at the Senior Center; granny-sitting or babysitting, swinging your kids at the local park or swinging a hammer to help with some carpentry, twisting a screwdriver to assist with electrical work or twisting taffy with some school kids; you get the idea…you could coach a sporting event, offer computer assistance, replant a flower or vegetable bed, do some office work, visit with someone whose lonely, collect food for the homeless or even work in a soup kitchen.
With all of this not-so subtle discussion of food, food, and more food…on “Make a Difference Day” how about cleaning a neighbor's kitchen appliances? (You knew I was going there - now didn’t ya’!) It doesn’t need to take a month of Sundays to quickly and safely clean a kitchen. Here are a few quick pointers and eco-recipes to make your visit speedy and easy as pie.
Coffee maker:
To clean an automatic drip coffee maker run full-strength white vinegar through a normal brew cycle. Rinse by running plain water through the cycle twice. The pot will be remarkably clean and your coffee will taste better than ever. (Tip: coffee sometimes tastes bitter because of soapy residue…so never wash your pot with soap.)
Dishwasher:
To clean a dishwasher (I know, it sounds like an oxymoron—but the darn things do get yucky over time!), place a cup of white vinegar into the bottom of the appliance and operate through an entire cycle. Do this once a month to reduce soap build up on the inner rollers, racks gaskets and sprayers.
Garbage disposal:
Pour 1/2 cup of salt into the garbage disposal. Then, by running the disposal following manufacturer's directions, you'll send any odors down the drain! And for an extra treat, cut up a lemon and let the disposal do its job.
Microwave:
Boil 1/4 cup of white vinegar and 1 cup of water in a glass or plastic container in your microwave for two minutes. The condensation from the boiling mixture will loosen splattered-on-food and those mysterious cheesy lumps, and will even deodorize the machine in the process. Wipe the inside clean with a damp cloth or sponge.
Oven:
To prevent greasy oven buildup in the first place, dip a sponge in full-strength white vinegar and wipe down all sides of a clean oven, inside and out.
Refrigerator:
Wash out a refrigerator with a solution of equal parts water and white vinegar. It will make everything sparkle.
On “Make a Difference Day” do something – anything – to help out a friend or a neighbor in need. If cleaning someone else’s kitchen isn’t your cup of tea and you don't have a first class project to steak your reputation on - sleep on it, the perfect idea is bound to turnip.
Michael De Jong, is the author of “CLEAN: The Humble Art of Zen-Cleansing,” (www.zencleansing.com) produced by Joost Elffers Design and published in 2007 by Sterling Publishers. He lives in Jersey City with his partner, dog and three goldfish, all of which benefit from his natural cleaning techniques. He is currently writing a companion series of “CLEAN” books dealing with such topics as the body, first aid, organization, as well as posting weekly blogs on Hearst’s “The Daily Green” (www.thedailygreen.com) and the Huffington Post (www.huffingtonpost.com). De Jong is also “Ask Mr. Green” for NBC-Universal-Bravo’s eco-website www.GreenIsUniversal.com. “CLEAN: The Humble Art of Zen-Cleansing” can be purchased at Barnes & Noble stores across the country or on-line at www.barnesandnoble.com or www.amazon.com. “CLEAN” is also an online course about “zen-cleansing” at Latitude U (www.LatitudeU.com).
Please consider the environment.
“If you can't feed a hundred people, then just feed one.”
~ Mother Teresa
Either single-handedly, all by your lonesome, with the help of some friends, or volunteering with an organization, cooking up a large or small personal project, family effort, or community-wide endeavor is a wonderful way to score brownie points. Anyone – small fry or senior, individuals or groups, can whip-up volunteer projects that help others. Allow your ideas to percolate, and you’ll soon discover what your community needs. “Make a Difference Day” is really all about neighbors serving neighbors.
No matter whether you’re a scrambled student, a butter-fingered bartender, or even a half-baked housepainter, there are always a few extra hours to consider volunteering an afternoon of your skills: painting a neighbor’s porch or finger-painting with the kid next door; removing a scrap heap of trash from the side of a highway or scrap-booking memories at the Senior Center; granny-sitting or babysitting, swinging your kids at the local park or swinging a hammer to help with some carpentry, twisting a screwdriver to assist with electrical work or twisting taffy with some school kids; you get the idea…you could coach a sporting event, offer computer assistance, replant a flower or vegetable bed, do some office work, visit with someone whose lonely, collect food for the homeless or even work in a soup kitchen.
With all of this not-so subtle discussion of food, food, and more food…on “Make a Difference Day” how about cleaning a neighbor's kitchen appliances? (You knew I was going there - now didn’t ya’!) It doesn’t need to take a month of Sundays to quickly and safely clean a kitchen. Here are a few quick pointers and eco-recipes to make your visit speedy and easy as pie.
Coffee maker:
To clean an automatic drip coffee maker run full-strength white vinegar through a normal brew cycle. Rinse by running plain water through the cycle twice. The pot will be remarkably clean and your coffee will taste better than ever. (Tip: coffee sometimes tastes bitter because of soapy residue…so never wash your pot with soap.)
Dishwasher:
To clean a dishwasher (I know, it sounds like an oxymoron—but the darn things do get yucky over time!), place a cup of white vinegar into the bottom of the appliance and operate through an entire cycle. Do this once a month to reduce soap build up on the inner rollers, racks gaskets and sprayers.
Garbage disposal:
Pour 1/2 cup of salt into the garbage disposal. Then, by running the disposal following manufacturer's directions, you'll send any odors down the drain! And for an extra treat, cut up a lemon and let the disposal do its job.
Microwave:
Boil 1/4 cup of white vinegar and 1 cup of water in a glass or plastic container in your microwave for two minutes. The condensation from the boiling mixture will loosen splattered-on-food and those mysterious cheesy lumps, and will even deodorize the machine in the process. Wipe the inside clean with a damp cloth or sponge.
Oven:
To prevent greasy oven buildup in the first place, dip a sponge in full-strength white vinegar and wipe down all sides of a clean oven, inside and out.
Refrigerator:
Wash out a refrigerator with a solution of equal parts water and white vinegar. It will make everything sparkle.
On “Make a Difference Day” do something – anything – to help out a friend or a neighbor in need. If cleaning someone else’s kitchen isn’t your cup of tea and you don't have a first class project to steak your reputation on - sleep on it, the perfect idea is bound to turnip.
Michael De Jong, is the author of “CLEAN: The Humble Art of Zen-Cleansing,” (www.zencleansing.com) produced by Joost Elffers Design and published in 2007 by Sterling Publishers. He lives in Jersey City with his partner, dog and three goldfish, all of which benefit from his natural cleaning techniques. He is currently writing a companion series of “CLEAN” books dealing with such topics as the body, first aid, organization, as well as posting weekly blogs on Hearst’s “The Daily Green” (www.thedailygreen.com) and the Huffington Post (www.huffingtonpost.com). De Jong is also “Ask Mr. Green” for NBC-Universal-Bravo’s eco-website www.GreenIsUniversal.com. “CLEAN: The Humble Art of Zen-Cleansing” can be purchased at Barnes & Noble stores across the country or on-line at www.barnesandnoble.com or www.amazon.com. “CLEAN” is also an online course about “zen-cleansing” at Latitude U (www.LatitudeU.com).
Please consider the environment.
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