Janet Schlarbaum Environment Safety Blog

Janet Schlarbaum lives with her two children, Evie Creighton-Schlarbaum and Simon Creighton-Schlarbaum. Janet Schlarbaum has a wealth of knowledge and experience in the vegan culinary arts industry. Janet Schlarbaum has served as a caterer for large and small events, including weddings, where her vegan Carrot Cake has earned rave reviews. Janet Schlarbaum even served her signature dairy-free Carrot Cake at her own wedding in May 2007.

In her professional career, Janet Schlarbaum has teamed up with her catering associate, Margaret Stone, many times to create new ideas and recipes for tangible and tasty vegan desserts. Most recently, Janet Schlarbaum has turned her sights to include spreading Veganism through the written word. Although Janet Schlarbaum has already composed one cookbook, which remains yet unpublished, she is currently hard at work on her second: a children’s cookbook aimed at helping young people cook safely and eat healthfully.

With two school-age children at home in a city characterized by its consumption of red meat and dairy, Janet Schlarbaum holds progressive dietary trends very close to heart. Janet Schlarbaum is an adept chef, a talented and innovative creator of recipes, and a lover of nature. She is dedicated to bringing a little bit of the Eugene earth-loving attitude to the metropolis of Chicago, and she is enjoying every minute of it.

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Wash Day Harms the Environment

Posted by: Janet Schlarbaum
Author: Janelle Elizabeth
We are all becoming more and more aware of the damage we are causing the environment by everyday activities like doing the laundry. The list of potentially harmful chemicals that are contained in laundry detergents is alarming to say the least.

The world of complex ingredients lists and vague labels leave consumers unable to identify potential harmful products, and laundry detergents are no exception.

Specifically, there are certain toxins present in laundry detergents that take particular aim at the environment. Linear alkyl sodium sulfonates (LAS) are more commonly listed as ‘anionic surfactants’ on detergent labels. They are one of the more common surfactants found in laundry detergents. They are a synthetic product.

As they are manufactured, cancer causing or carcinogenic toxins, as well as reproductive toxins are released into the environment. Benzene is one such toxin, and if this were not detrimental enough, these also biodegrade very slowly.

Another harmful chemical that is frequently found in laundry detergents are phosphates. Needed to remove minerals found in hard-water, and as method to prevent dirt settling back onto clothes while they are in the machine. Basically they are needed to make the laundry detergent more effective.

However, their negative impact on the environment is monumental. After their release into the environment, they can actually activate growth in marine plants. This can result in unbalanced ecosystems, forcing a lot of environmental changes that are not positive.

A lot of states have banned or limited the use of phosphates because of the problems they have been proven to cause. Some detergents even advertise their low or nonexistent phosphate level.

To put it succinctly, our environment needs us to start using safer alternatives. Laundry detergents that contain these harmful products need to be altered or perhaps a new method of washing clothes can be implemented.

Since much of these products do not openly delineate the kind of harmful ingredients it uses, it may be difficult for the consumer to know just how detrimental they are to them and the environment.

Avoiding such products that contain anionic surfactants or linear alkyl sodium sulfonates, and phosphates is a move in the right direction.

Quality alternatives are now here for those of us who are willing to step away from the old-fashioned way of washing clothes, and embrace newer, environmentally friendly methods. The cause for concern with laundry detergents and other chemically driven products like it is real, but becoming informed of the hazards can aid in making a change for the better.

Wash Day from Janet Schlarbaum

Choose Computer Recycling

By: Caitlina Fuller

When you get a new computer what do you do with the old one? Do you just bag it up and put it out with the trash? Even if your computer is no longer working you should not simply throw it out with the trash. Why? Because there is a growing problem with electronic waste, also known as e-waste. E-waste is filling up our land fills and is releasing toxins into the earth that can cause toxins to get into our drinking water and into the soil, which will come back to harm us in the future. Computer recycling is something that everyone should choose to take part in, instead of filling the landfills with waste that cannot disintegrate overtime and is poisonous.

If you are updating your computer and you need to get rid of your old one, you should be sure that you take it to a place that can safely reuse or dispose of it. When you throw it in the landfill you need to know that your computer will not break down over time, instead it will simply continue to take up space and even contaminate the land it is in. Because of this, you need to look into the safe computer disposal. In most cities there are now several safe disposal locations for you to bring your computer in for safe disposal. More of these locations are opening up all the time, so don’t assume that your area doesn’t have one.

When you bring your computer to these repositories for safe disposal they will simply take your computer off your hands, they won’t give you anything in exchange for it except the knowledge that you are not contributing to the e-waste that is taking up a lot of space in our landfills! If you would like something in exchange for your computer, you should consider selling your computer through an auction site or to a friend, as most of the safe disposal options are not going to pay for your computer, instead they are going to safely dispose of it for you!

Safe PC disposal should be the concern of anyone who uses a computer and is going to simply throw one away. If you are not sure where you can go to dispose of your old computer you should look in the yellow pages for your city. If nothing else, call a computer shop that you are aware of and ask them if they know where you can dispose of it, in all likelihood they will be able to point you in the right direction. Luckily, the process will not take you far out of your way and it will take just a few minutes of your time to do something great for the environment.

Posted by Janet Schlarbaum

Choose Janet Schlarbaum Computer Recycling