Cleaning is one of those micro-level things that seems small — something that goes in the “I’m just one person; what difference could it possibly make?” category — but can really add up over time and with widespread green best practices. How much does it add up to? Here are some numbers to help give the topic context.

17,000 — the number of petrochemicals (that’s petroleum-derived chemicals; almost always toxic to ingest) available for home use

30% — the amount of the above that have been properly tested for exposure to human health and the environment.

63 — the number of synthetic chemicals found in the average American home, which translates to…

10 gallons — on average, of harmful chemicals that are in the average home, right now.

275 — the number of active ingredients in antimicrobials that the EPA classifies as pesticides because they are designed to kill microbes.

5 billion — the number of pounds of chemicals that the institutional cleaning industry uses each year.

23 gallons — the average volume of chemicals that a janitor uses each year.

25 percent — of the amount above, the percentage of which are hazardous.

So, it’s not just about taking it easy on the planet. Sure, petrochemical-free cleaners don’t use petroleum products, but green cleaners are also so much more healthy for you, your family and your home.

We’ve been spending most of this week chatting about fuel, and biofuels have been hogging the spotlight. That’s okay; they’re a viable way to power our cars and other forms of transportation in a greener, more renewable way than petroleum products, and they’re available today. Biofuels have even gotten big enough to pick up some valuable celebrity endorsements; these are a great way to market the new fuel to a new crowd, since some people just won’t listen to TreeHugger, no matter how easy, fun or hip we make going green seem.

Some pretty big-name musicians have hopped aboard the biofuel bandwagon as well; they’ve discovered that it’s a great way to green their tours (by using it to fuel their buses) and walk the green walk. While some celebrity endorsements can feel disingenuous, forced or self-righteous, we’ve been impressed by the commitment of these folks, who don’t just endorse the idea, but use it themselves. Check out a quick list of some of the celebs who are touting petroleum alternatives and helping bring the idea further into the mainstream.

[*] Daryl Hannah [www.treehugger.com] drives a 1983 El Camino powered by biodiesel, and has even been known to lick the gas cap! Even so, she remains a passionate, educated activist for the fuel.
[*] Willie Nelson [www.treehugger.com] is such a big fan of biodiesel that he launched his very own brand of the stuff. He’s proud to support domestic farmers and a healthier environment with “BioWillie”, now available in seven states and adding locations every month.
[*] What’s better than Daryl Hannah or Willie Nelson? How about Daryl Hannah and Willie Nelson together [www.treehugger.com], as they were at the 2006 National Biodiesel Conference.
[*] Celeb chef Michael Chiarello [www.treehugger.com] is working on converting his Napa Valley farm to 100% biodiesel.
[*] Woody Harrelson [www.treehugger.com] went on The Late Show with David Letterman and chatted about his addiction to the petroleum alternative.
[*] Mandy Moore [www.treehugger.com] has also hopped aboard the bandwagon, going so far as to convert her ride to run on straight veggie oil.
[*] Musicians have taken the biofuel message on the road, including Pearl Jam [www.treehugger.com], who have been active in the green realm for a long time, including a switch to biodiesel on tour.
[*] British rockers Gomez [www.treehugger.com] partnered up with Clif Bar’s GreenNotes program to fuel their latest tour with biodiesel, among other green good deeds.
[*] Jack Johnson [www.treehugger.com] was one of the first musicians that we found to be boosting biodiesel by burning it on tour.
[*] Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young [www.treehugger.com] acked up 220,000 miles last year on tour; powering them all with biodiesel made them 78% cleaner than before, along with signing up to be carbon neutral in 2006.
[*]MTV2’s $2 Bill Tour, featuring 30 Seconds to Mars [www.treehugger.com], wasn’t left out of the biofuel fun: the 27-city tour was fueled by biodiesel as well.
[*] When not driving around in his Prius, Steven Page and the rest of the Barenaked Ladies [www.treehugger.com] will be using biodiesel on tour, along with other carbon-cutting strategies.

Now that biofuels have gone prime time on The GREEN, we’ll look for more celebs to discover that switching to oil alternatives is not only the right thing to do, but it really works well, too.

With the arrival of spring comes the increased opportunity for many of us to feast on food grown locally; for TreeHuggers, that’s generally within 150 miles or so. When it comes to being an environmentally-aware person and good TreeHugger, eating local is near the top of the list; we mentioned it on this blog before [www.sundancechannel.com], but it bears repeating. Ingredients for the average American meal typically travel between 1,500 and 2,500 miles from farm to plate; this average meal uses up to 17 times more petroleum products, including an equivalent amount of carbon dioxide emissions, than an entirely local meal… yikes.

So, eating local not only cuts back on shipping and emissions, but it tastes better, too: because it doesn’t have far to travel, fresh produce can be allowed to fully ripen and picked at the peak of freshness, taking hours instead of days to get from where it was grown to where you can buy or eat it. Eating local also supports local farming, which is almost always small, family farming rather than large, autonomous factory farming. Family farming tends to be more sustainable, too, because the family farmers can’t afford to rape and pillage the earth to plant more crops this season; they need the soil to produce for them for the foreseeable future, so they tend to hold back on pesticides, petroleum-based fertilizers and other substances that you don’t want to eat.

Not convinced? TreeHugger has devoted a lot time and effort promoting local food; here are a selected few stories and posts that you can read for more information on why eating local is good, and how to eat local, starting today:

[*] To clarify the benefits of eating local, we teamed up with EarthTalk to answer the question: Why eat local? [www.treehugger.com]
[*] Further, here are 10 reasons to eat local [www.treehugger.com], including a link to a printable PDF, so you can pass along the good word.
[*] Hey, even Time Magazine [www.treehugger.com] has caught on, helping the idea transition into the mainstream.
[*] Local Harvest [www.treehugger.com] is a great resource to find local farms, community-supported agriculture co-ops and other local food resources near you, and it’s growing all the time.
[*] If you’re serious about digging in to local food, check out the Eat Local Challenge [www.treehugger.com], where you eat only local food for a month or more.
[*] If a month is too much, Bon Appetit Management Company hosts the Eat Local Challenge [www.treehugger.com] at over 400 restaurants across the US, who serve a lunch that brings small farmers, professional chefs and local eaters together to enjoy the fruits of a local foodshed and the unique challenges of sourcing sea salt in the Midwest and corn syrup on the coasts.
[*] So, what’s it like to eat only local food? We tracked a couple on the 100 Mile Diet [www.treehugger.com] (here’s part two [www.treehugger.com]) who learned the benefits, pitfalls and challenges of the local diet.
[*] It’s generally a lot easier to eat local in the late spring and summer months, when local farmers are growing and harvests are plentiful, but we can eat local all year round [www.treehugger.com].
[*] Eating local means different foods for different climates and parts of the world; here are menus for four cities in Canada [www.treehugger.com] that use only food that comes from within 100 miles, proving you can eat entire meals (for weeks at a time) using local food, if you’re willing to try something new and be creative.

So, as you can see, there are myriad benefits and resources for eating local food, and it’s one of the easiest and most effective actions we as consumers can take to reduce our dependence on oil and other petroleum products and shrink our individual footprints so there’s a little more of everything for everyone else.