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Teachers make the grade on St. Valentine's Day February 14 isn't just a day for lovers. According to a spokesman from Hallmark Cards, teachers receive the most' Valentine's Day cards. Mothers and wives follow in popularity. Bunny Sicard of Hallmark Cards reports that Valentine's Day is the second largest card sending occasion in Canada, be- ing topped only by Christmas. Children and adults in their 20s and 30s are the biggest pur- chasers of Valentine's Day cards, with 65 per cent of the re- cipients being relatives. When it comes to greeting a loved one on Feb. 14, cards top the list of items exchanged. Gifts, candy, roses and phone calls follow as substitutes, Ms Sicard reports. This year Hallmark alone of- fers 1043 different valentine de- signs. Card prices range from $.76 to $6.60, with the average cost being $1.85. Historians aren't sure who 3% Jalentine was, Ms. Sicard said. At least three of history's eight St. Valentines had feasts on Feb. 14. And one of those three was beheadedon Feb. 14, which is also the pagan holiday of the goddess of love. The Environment by Michelle Bull One area where advertisers have most of us really convinc- ed that we must wage constant war against Household Germs is the bathroom. We know there will be 'Dire Consequences" if we don't use at least half a dozen different cleaners, many of them highly toxic to us and the environment. Well, the truth is that we are more likely to face dire conse- quences if we do use them! Whatever we put down our drains is going to go into our sewage treatment plants, which are not sophisticated enough to remove most chemicals, and from there they will go into our lakes and rivers, and once they have killed enough plant and animal life there, they will seep into our groundwater and poison our drinking water. In the bathroom and everywhere else we should try to keep our cleaning supplies as simple and non-toxic as possible. Start with safe, environmen- tally friendly cleaners and if they really won't do the job, you may have to try something else. If you do have to use something more toxic, use as little as possible and be careful to follow all safety precautions. Usually you won't need to. What advertisers try to make us forget is that our modern plumbing does nine tenths of the bathroom cleaning job for us. And three or four simple products will do the rest; white vinegar, baking soda, borax, and water, of course. White vinegar, mixed half and half with water is a good all- purpose cleaner and a mild antiseptic. It is also the very best thing for cleaning glass (when I worked in a jewellry store we used this because it leaves no film). Baking soda is the best scouring powder I've ever used. I use a nylon scrubber to apply it. It is also safe for all surfaces and it doesn't bother your hands. Borax is the king pin of bathroom cleaners because it is a hospital tested disinfectant (mix % cup with 4 cups of hot water). I sprinkle some in the toilet, spread it around with the brush, let it sit a while, and then scrub with the brush and flush. It must be rinsed off when you're finished, like most cleaning products. Try to avoid using spray air freshners in your bathroom or elsewhere. They usually chemically dull your sense of smell and also try to mask the smell with perfume. To get rid of a bad smell, find our what's causing it and get rid of it or clean it, and the smell will go away. Some of the harshest and most dangerous chemicals used in the household are drain openers. The irony is that they don't work as well as an ordinary, cheap plunger. If the plunger doesn't work, try a mechanical snake (available in hardware stores). On NO account should you follow the directions on the bottle and pour half a bottle down each drain every week to keep drains clear! Think of all those caustic toxic chemicals! To keep drains clear, throw down some salt and a kettle of boiling water - and don't put things down the drains that ought to go into the garbage. Moving on to the kitchen, one of the main cleaning jobs is washing dishes. Back in the 1970's, when the fuss was being made about phosphates, the government set a limit of 5 percent phosphates in laundry detergent. Somehow dish soap was left out and many dish soaps and dishwasher detergents contain as much as 30 percent phosphates. Even the best standard brands contain 18 or 19 percent. The trick is to find dish soaps that do not contain phosphates. For hand washing, the only one I know of that is available right now in Port Perry (at the Valu Mart) is Ecover. It is phosphate free, all natural and biodegradeable. It also does a good job, smells nice, and is easy on the hands. What more could you want? I have not yet found a phosphate free automatic dishwasher detergent that does a passable job with Port Perry water, in- cluding all the recipes for homemade ones. If you know of one, please let me know. At the moment we are alternating between a low phosphate brand (Electrasol or Calgonite are much lower than the others) and President's Choice Green brand mixed with a lot of borax. This halves the phosphates, and, as I've said before, every little bit counts. The other thing to remember if you do use an automatic dishwasher is to conserve energy as much as possible. Don't put pots and pans in. They won't get clean anyway if they're really dirty, and if they aren't, they're easy enough to hand wash. Either way they take up a lot of space. Wait till the dishwasher is full before running it and use your Econo cycle, or open the door when it's finished rinsing. The drying cycle uses about 40 percent of the energy and they dry faster if you just open the door. Next week we'll look at the rest of the kitchen and miscellaneous cleaning chores. According to legend, St. Val- entine was imprisoned and cured his jailer's daughter of blindness. One version has him fallingin love with the daughter and sending her a letter signed, "From your Valentine." The link between Valentine and people in love seems to have evolved over time, Ms. Sicard said. "It possibly stems from the Norman word galantin mean- ing alover of women." In the Middle Ages, there was a common belief that birds mat- ed on Feb. 14, which led to the idea that people did too. That belief was popular into the be- ginning of this century. The most likely scenerio, Ms. Sicard said, was that Valen- tine's Day traces its customs to the ancient Roman Feast, Lu- percalia, which was celebrated in February in honor of the pas- toral god Lupercus. At the festi- val young men and women were matched by drawing names from an urn. The first known Valentine's Day card was sent in 1415 by Charles, Duke of Orleans, to his wife in France while he was a prisoner in the Tower of Lon- don. Commercial Valentine's Day cards first appeared on the mar- Rep, around 1800, Ms. Sicard said. : | he aad. 4a Sab dea adh Lh - WT Yr _ WTO Jw PORT PERRY STAR -- Tuesday, February 13, 1990 -- 25 Complete Hi Tech ° FIREPLACES Call: OVER RIDGE RENOVATOR Reach Industrial Park, Unit 4, Reg. Rd. 8 985-0715 OPEN Wednesday to Saturday 10 to 6; CLOSED Monday & Tuesday MARGARET SCOTT Certified General Accountant Over 16 Years Experierice Bookkeeping Small Businesses T'4 Preparation Personal and Corporate Income Tax 085-3508 FRALICK'S BEACH R.R. 3, PORT PERRY DO YOU NEED ASSISTANCE? We can help you with: * Light Housekeeping * Shopping * Meal Preparation * Laundry * Personal Care * Care of Your Feet (Nails, Corns, Calluses) "SERVING DURHAM REGION SINCE 1982" VALMED HEALTH SERVICES INC. (416) 433-1494 24 HR. NURSING and HOMEMAKING SERVICES * FOOTCARE * VISITING NURSES You can help build the future through non-profit housing The Government of Canada, through Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, and the Province of Ontario, through the Ministry of Housing, are making funding available to non-profit and co-operative organizations, churches, service clubs and other community groups interested in sponsoring affordable housing. For more information, your community groups should con- tact the nearest regional office of the Ministry of Housing listed below: The deadline for applications is April 30,1990. Help build for the future. Get involved in non-profit housing today. Non-profit housing--everyone benefits. 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