Clean and Green

From pesticide products to airtight filtration systems, environmentally friendly green products are making life a little healthier and cheaper for businesses and their consumers.

New Resident Solutions members, like builder Pete Bikas of Bikas Building of North Carolina LLC, embrace the benefits of going green and continue taking greener steps to a better environment. Bikas will soon join forces with Melissa Andron, owner of Realm Design Studio, to open an office in downtown Durham that will focus on green and sustainable designs. He’s just finishing up two building projects in Raleigh—Penn Station East Coast Subs and Security Force Inc.—and will soon begin work on two Massage Envy clinics.

Carolina Cleaners’ Willow Creek Shopping Center laundromat offers front load washers: two 5-load, 50-pounders; the rest are 40-, 30- and 20-pounders. These washers are known for their extremely efficient consumption of water and have a super high extract, which means the clothes require less time in the dryer.

The Bona Hardwood Floor Mop, available at Vacuum Cleaner Hospital in Chapel Hill, is GREENGUARD-certified and combines a no-residue cleaner with microfiber technology to safely and effectively clean hardwood floors. The GREENGUARD Environmental Institute (GEI) oversees the GREENGUARD certification program. This industry-independent, non-profit organization establishes acceptable indoor air standards for indoor products, environments, and buildings.

Also worth noting is the Bona Hardwood Floor Mop dispels the myth that water mixed with vinegar is the best floor-cleaning solution. Since vinegar is an acid, it can dull and damage hardwood floors over time. A 2006 independent consumer study showed that half of the participants who had wood floors cared for them with wet mopping, and 75 percent of those consumers were actually damaging their floors by cleaning them with the wrong products. Click here to learn more about the Bona Hardwood Floor Mop and other cleaning products available at Vacuum Cleaner Hospital.

Green Does a Body Good

Yes, it’s possible to have a greener body by consuming natural, non-traditional medicines and vitamins, since they typically contain herbs and nettles proven to fight infection and illness. Great Earth Vitamins recommends Silver Biotics for naturally treating low-grade infections. This liquid product is backed by evidence-based studies and kills harmful bacteria. Unlike medically prescribed antibiotics, it doesn’t destroy the healthy bacterial gut flora needed for food digestion. It’s also less expensive than most prescriptions and has no known side effects.

For upper respiratory infections, Great Earth Vitamins in Meadowmont Village offers two non-traditional formulas to fight allergies and sinus infections: NSP Select Pollen Season Formula, which contains Aller-7, and NSP Select Upper Respiratory Protector Formula. Quite a few Great Earth Vitamin customers swear by homeopathic remedies. Owner Gene Wolf says he used to think they were “hooey,” but he now has developed a more open-minded view of non-traditional medicine.

Stay tuned for more green ambition, fresh from the New Resident Solutions’ member businesses. Click here to check out the latest entry of New Resident Solutions’ Community Connections Blog.