Support local business this holiday season!

At Clean Bees we know that you have a choice when it comes to your cleaning company... and we are deeply grateful for all of our customers. We are incredibly proud to offer eco-friendly services, fair wages to our employees, utilize green business practices whenever possible, and be a part of this wonderful community of locally owned and operated businesses. We are dedicated to positive change--and continue to expand our practices and approach to facilitate new and better ways of doing things in a conscious way.

This holiday season we at Clean Bees encourage you to support our wonderful Fort Collins community by shopping at local businesses whenever possible. Did you know...For every $100 spent in an independent business, $73 stays in the community, compared to only $43 for a national chain? For instance, The Downtown Business Association offers an all inclusive Gift Card that is redeemable at over 125 businesses in Downtown Fort Collins!

We hope that you have a wonderful holiday season filled with joy and laughter and love.

-Katie, Erin, and the Bees

7 ways to Green Your Thanksgiving

While it may not be the first color we associate with fall, why NOT add some green to your Thanksgiving? From the turkey on your table (or to-furkey, as the case may be) to locally grown mashed potatoes and homemade natural centerpieces, your holiday table can easily be one the earth will thank you for. You can also curb your carbon footprint with greener travel plans and kick off the holiday shopping season in eco-style by turning Black Friday green.

1. Serve local and organic food for Thanksgiving dinner

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   Local and organic foods reduce pollution and global warming emissions, protect small farms, and keep chemicals out of the environment. Now that's something to be thankful for.

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2. Cook a vegetarian Thanksgiving meal

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   Stop talking turkey and instead opt for a meatless Thanksgiving. With so many vegetarian recipe options from which to choose, you won’t even miss the big bird.

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3. Decorate an eco-friendly Thanksgiving dinner table

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   Find or create your own eco-friendly decorations to adorn your Thanksgiving dinner table this year to avoid buying new products for just a weekend's use.

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4. Choose eco-friendly dinnerware over paper plates and plastic cups

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   If you're hosting Thanksgiving dinner this year, plan to use reusable dinnerware and cups, as well as cloth napkins, to reduce the waste your meal creates. Or, opt for recycled content and biodegradable disposable options.

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5. Compost your kitchen scraps

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   A big Thanksgiving dinner means lots of left over food. If you can't convince family members to take extras home in reusable containers, compost them! This keeps those food scraps out of the landfill and converts them into rich, organic fertilizer right in your kitchen or backyard.

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6. Reduce your Thanksgiving travel carbon footprint

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   More than 65 million Americans hit the road or the skies to be home for Thanksgiving dinner in 2005—creating a lot of greenhouse gases and air pollution in just one long weekend. Thankfully, we've got a few simple tips to help reduce the impact of your holiday travel.

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7. Go green on Black Friday

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   It may be one of the busiest shopping days of the year, but this year it could be your greenest shopping spree yet. From buying recycled to bringing your own shopping bag, to cutting down on driving (and all those parking hassles!), GY shows you how to give this unique part of the Thanksgiving tradition some new color.

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   from: http://www.greenyour.com/lifestyle/events/thanksgiving/tips?category=9480

Mark Your Calendars Now

Featured Event

Sustainable Living Fair

Where: Rocky Mountain Raptor Center Property, Fort Collins

Starts: Sat, September 19, 2009 10:00 AM

The 10th annual Sustainable Living Fair offers a weekend of solution-based, interactive, family oriented events designed to educate people of all ages and backgrounds about: renewable energy, green building, natural health, social responsibility, and local economies. www.SustainableLivingFair.org

Fourth Festivities...and post holiday clean up

Hopefully everyone had a wonderful weekend, and that you were all able to enjoy some good food, good company, and the sparkling night sky. Now that the weekend has come and gone, just like you, we at Clean Bees are trying to get back on top of our cleaning and organizing. Here are a few helpful tips:

• Pack all of your 4th of July specific goodies into a clearly labeled bin. Taking the time to do this now will save you time and money next year.
• Help clean up around your neighborhood, especially all those leftover fireworks. A little help goes a long way. If you have black residue from setting off fireworks on your sidewalk, try a mixture of lemon juice and salt and spray those stains away.
  
• Recycle, recycle, recycle! Most families tend to use paper plates and plastic cups and flatware...recycling all of these little things matters. Even better, run a load of plastic cups and silverware through the dishwasher and pack them into your bin for next year.

Clean Bees Online

We couldn't be happier than to introduce our new website, cleanbeeshousekeeping.com! Please go take a look and tell us what you think.