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leffiune march 7 1990 p9 household environmentalism dubbed a success this week i committed the ulti- mate sacrifice for this column i cleaned my house this was housecleaning with a noble experimental purpose how ever for i was testing our some alternative environmentally benign solutions as suggested by green peace and the household haz ardous waste wheel supplied by durham region anyway apart from confusing the heck outof my husband who awoke from an afterdinner snooze and thought he had changed addresses so dazzled was he by the gleaming surfaces i would have to say the experiment was a success i would now like to share some of these discoveries and recipes as well as the reasons why it is impor tant to seek out alternatives take floor and furniture as exam ples they contain a combination of diethylene glycol petroleum distil lates and nitrobenzene these are highly flammable and toxic materials the alternative polish is one part lemon juice with two parts olive or vegetable oil shake and pour directly on the surface you wish tog clean or onto the cloth it does take more than one swipe to achieve a nice gloss but it isnt hard work at all this is a wonder ful polish which makes you wonder how we came to be so dependent upon manufactured products in the eye on environment mvmmzmm shelley galloway firstplace other extremely toxic compounds often found in the home are drain cleaners they contain sodium or potassi um hydroxide sodium hypochlo rite hydrochloric acid and petroleum distillates you may recall from high school chemistry that a fundamental rule was never to add a strong acid to a strong base for the rapid reaction cain cause an explosion this is exactly howa drain clean er works the crystals you carefully spoon into your drain contain both acidic and basic material so when you add water the rapid reaction between acids and bases causes all the bub bling and smoke its very toxic and very dangerous around children the alternative by contrast is childs play all you need is a plunger some boiling water a quarter cup of- bak ing soda and two ounces of white vinegar an appreciative audience is optional first try and loosen the clog with boiling water then place the baking soda as far down into thedrain as you can add the vinegar and as the bub bling occurs use the plunger to encourage the reaction to work fur ther down the drain more boiling water and plunging will help move the baking soda along and clear the last of the clog away a really clogged drain may need more than one application i now secretly look forward to clogged drains because they are so mucfrfuh a good preventative strategy for keeping your drains free is to never pour fat or grease down them and always use the drain sieve there are several recipes for alternative allpurpose cleaning one suggests using a halfcup of borax in four litres of hot water another suggests using a quarter cup of ammonia and a quarter cup of vinegar and one tablespoon of baking soda in four litres of hot water still another lists a quarter cup of biodegradable soap and a quarter cup of vinegar in the four litres of hot water i favor the last of these for it is ballin briefin balanced budget comes as welcome relief for petersons government bill ballinger durhamyork mpp the ontario government which had projected a budget deficit of 577 million this fiscal year has eliminated its deficit entirely and will enter fiscal year 199091 with a balanced budget ontario trea surer robert nixon announced at queens park recently he told a news conference that it was the first time in 20 years that ontario had produced a balanced budget the treasurer who will present his next budget this spring said the government had faceda deficit of 26 billion when it was elected in 1985 and began its pay as you go policy of fiscal management provincial revenues will be 952 million higher than anticipated he said with 370 million of this total already having been reported in january in the third quarter ontario finances night of railroad nostalgia planned at for march 29 local residents are invited to a night of railroading nostalgia and speculation of the future at an event organized by the york- durham heritage railway associa tion the event called stouffville and the railway the past the present and the future will include guest speakers charles cooper author of narrow gauge for us larry mur- phy of the victoria county her itage railway association and der- mont gilderdale of the york- durham association it takes place thursday march 29 at 7 pm in the latcham gallery and stouffville library more than 90 per cent of the total increase relates to unantici pated ontario personal income tax revenues since our election in september 1987 the government has put firm funding into priority areas such as health care education environ ment transportation and social programs and now the opportuni ty has arisen for us to close our books for this fiscal year with no deficit and a moderate surplus in pursuing its social programs along side its deficit reduction pol icy the government has also had to grapple with three cutbacks in federal support for postsecondary education and health care through the established programs financ- ing arrangement in recent years cuts in federal transfershave been one of the major reasons ontario has had to raise additional tax revenues in recent years mr nixon said from a 197980 high of 52 per cent federal support for ontarios health care and postsecondary education has slipped to 38 per cent these cuts have cost ontario 12 billion in this fiscal year alone and will account for a fur ther 16 billion in lost revenue in 199091 tax increases are never popular but they have allowed us to pay the bills at the same time we have been able to bolster the programs our citizens need as examples since 198485 government support for health care expenditures has increased by 56 billion or 67 per cent more than 30000 affordable housing units are being provided through the homes now program a 2 billion transportation capital pro gram was introduced and expen ditures for the ministry of com munity and social services have bee upped by 95 per cent in fact 33 cent out of every rev enue dollar in ontario goes toward health care by contrast the federal govern ment spends 35 cents of every dol lar it collects just to pay for the cost of the federal deficit i was in attendance at opening ceremonies of the provincial school curling championships which had eight schools from our riding participating with york regional board of education chairman harry bowes who threw the first rock income tax returns 4166401769 6401778 george w brodie certified general accountant 157 main st w stouffville 0nt effective and the vinegar leaves a pleasant and fresh scent incidental ly vinegar in hot water also makes an effective window cleaner ammonia although is biodegrad able is a toxic compound and needs special care in handling it is also not readily available some hardware stores carry it and worst of all it stinks baking soda is a little gem of a cleaning aid ive discovered for those who have hard water which can be a problem for laun dry one half cup of baking soda in the wash will help less laundry soap do the job white vinegar or borax will also help a paste made of baking soda and water makes a great scrubbing agent for counters and sinks in kitchens and bathrooms baking soda sprinkled on rugs left for one hour and then vacu umed will help to remove odors for tougher rug cleaning mix two parts commeal with one part borax sprinkle liberally and leave for an hour before vacuuming there you have it in a nutshell stock up on baking soda white vinegar and borax and not only will all your cleaning needs be met but youll save money too now thats environmentalism i can really get excited about wheres herb hoover teller xbrtoge em ate an invitation to let us help you select that special gift it can be gemstones gold silver or crystal from our 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