Chaya Kurtz
Chaya is the former editor of Networx.com. Her work has also been published in the Sourcebooks anthology Jewish Daughter Diaries and on a bevy of websites. Chaya's goal is to help people to make greener, more efficient home & garden choices. She is based in NYC and enjoys urban gardening, DIY home design and healthy cooking.
Passionate about recycling and helping people go green, Chaya has written countless articles on Networx.com about simple tips and tricks for recycling things we would normally toss in the trash without a thought. She also gives valuable advice for cleaning your home without using harmful chemicals.
In her article “Eight Ways to Reuse and Upcycle Milk Jugs” (https://www.networx.com/article/reuse-and-upcycle-milk-jugs) she gives many ideas about alternative uses for milk jugs, such making colorful lanterns, creating a slow-drip irrigation system for your plants for while you’re away from your home, and even making jewelry boxes and halloween decorations! She also provides equally creative ideas for ways to recycle plastic bread tags in her article, “Six Clever Re-Uses for Plastic Bread Tags” (https://www.networx.com/article/clever-re-uses-for-plastic-bread-tags). She suggests reusing bread tags for labeling cords, scraping hard-to-reach cracks (like the corners of a baking pan), labeling plants, marking the end of a tape roll, and using it as a makeshift guitar pick.
Chaya details several non-toxic cleaning solutions in her article “Bathroom Cleaning Ideas Without Air Contaminants” (https://www.networx.com/article/bathroom-cleaning-ideas-without-air-cont). In her article, she explains that you can restore your toilet to it’s pure, unscented glory simply by pouring one cup of vinegar into the toilet bowl, squirting castile soap under the rim, followed by scrubbing and flushing the toilet. Similarly, she writes that tubs can also be cleaned with vinegar and baking soda. She also reveals in this article that a mirror can be cleaned just using water and a black and white newspaper, of all things.
Check out more of her articles below for more green tips for your home!
Posted by Chaya Kurtz
| Dec 12, 2012
As a home improvement editor, I witness the amazing panoply of DIY crafts and decor that come to the surface of the blog-o-sphere this time of year. Ornaments made from old car parts?...
Posted by Chaya Kurtz
| Dec 10, 2012
According to University of University of Minnesota economist Joel Waldfogel, Americans spend about $65 billion a year on Christmastime gifts. Add to that the increased cost of wintertime...
Posted by Chaya Kurtz
| Dec 05, 2012
First, I’d like to say a few words about DIY snow globes. Did you know the original snow globes were DIY snow globes? The L.A. Times published a fascinating article about the...
Posted by Chaya Kurtz
| Dec 04, 2012
Spotted on Homes of the Rich, the $18.5 million Starwood Estate in Aspen, Colorado is quite a specimen, and if you happen to have $18.5 million in the bank, why not consider it? The...
Posted by Chaya Kurtz
| Dec 04, 2012
The holiday season tends to shift one little part of the house into focus that fades into the background the rest of the year: the mantel. As a home improvement website editor, I’ve...
Posted by Chaya Kurtz
| Dec 03, 2012
Poinsettias are a well-loved variety of houseplant. Their gracious but bold red and green leaves flourish in foil-covered pots in places public and private, augmenting the holiday spirit....
Posted by Chaya Kurtz
| Nov 29, 2012
If you’re lucky, you could receive a Christmas cactus as a gift this holiday season. This common house plant blooms during the Christmas season, but its long green arms are attractive...
Posted by Chaya Kurtz
| Nov 28, 2012
Does it bother you that when you Google "perfect kitchen for entertaining," the first few pages of search results yield what is known as "aspirational" articles? Most of us don't have...
Posted by Chaya Kurtz
| Nov 27, 2012
2012 is drawing to a close, and it's time to look toward 2013. Although I am not psychic by any means, I do have a pretty good eye for industry trends. I think that these 5 new(ish)...
Posted by Chaya Kurtz
| Nov 26, 2012
Sparkly pine cones are such a thing now. You can glitter your face. You can glitter your eyeliner. You can wear glittery gold lame dresses and gem sweaters. You can deck your house...