go natural baby

Healthy Child Healthy World: 5 Easy Steps to a Healthier House

I love Healthy Child Healthy World's website and work. They are a non-profit dedicated to educating the public about toxins that  are in our children's environment. They have a wonderful interactive website that I highly recommend checking out. 

Healthy Child Healthy World has  5 easy steps to a healthier environment for you and your family. Here is the quick summary of 5 things you can do to improve the health of your home:

1. Use safe non-toxic pest control
2. Use Non-toxic cleaning and personal products
3. Clean up your indoor air
4. Eat more organic food
5. Know what plastics are safe to use

What I like about the 5 easy steps is that each step is clearly and simply defined, they offer what to do, a safety checklist, safe solutions, more information, and research studies to back up each easy step

To get started reading about the five easy step from Healthy Child Healthy World

Clearly, there are many steps that can be taken, these are just five. Go get started!

Blessings,
Justyn
Go Natural Baby offers certified organic cotton children's wear

BPA in Plastic Water Bottles by Debra Lynn Dadd

 

               

Go Natural Baby is Big "Fan" of Debra Lynn Dadd. She has shared her wisdom and knowledge with countless people around the globe. Her website is wonderful (full of great information) and her books are all worth purchasing. We thank her for this article on plastic water bottles. It is a great follow-up to our Plastic Wasteland article. Toxic Plastic Water Bottles                 by Debra Lynn Dadd          I recently received a question from one of my readers about the safety of drinking water from clear plastic water bottles. These bottles, made from Lexan polycarbonate resin (a plastic polymer), are widely used for single-serving sales to one-gallon of water in stores and home-delivery bottles. These bottles appear to be safe because they do not impart any taste or odor to the water. Lexan polycarbonate is also used to make compact discs and DVDs, bulletproof windows, mobile phones, and computers. The water delivery company sent my reader a notice saying that their Lexan polycarbonate bottles are perfectly safe to use. They suggested their customers visit a website that was designed to portray this plastic in a positive light. But, actually, a toxic chemical is lurking in these bottles that does end up in the water you drink. Lexan used to be used to make baby bottles, but these are no longer sold. Hmmmmm...   Stay Away From BPA In 1998, Dr. Patricia Hunt of Case Western University in Ohio discovered that one of the components of Lexan polycarbonate resin--bisphenol-A (BPA)--can leach into water from water bottles. BPA is a potent hormone disruptor. It can impair the reproductive organs and have adverse effects on breast tissue and prostate development. Who do we believe? The water delivery company or Dr. Hunt? I'm inclined to go with Dr. Hunt. I went to a website maintained by the authors of Our Stolen Future: How We Are Threatening Our Fertility, Intelligence and Survival, who are continuously searching the scientific literature for information on endochrine disruptors. The Our Stolen Future page on bisphenol-a (http://www.ourstolenfuture.org/NewScience/oncompounds/bisphenola/bpauses.htm#recentimportant) gives a whole page of links to scientific studies that show that BPA damages the endocrine system in a variety of ways. BPA can leach from water bottles when exposured to heat and cleaning agents, but detectable levels of BPA can also leach into water from bottles just sitting at room temperature, according to a 2003 study conducted by the University of Missouri published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.   Better Safe Than Sorry Is there is a level of BPA that may be acceptable? To answer that question we have to ask: acceptable to who? A healthy male? A woman? A child? The elderly? And how would you know how much leaching has occurred in the water? It could easily vary from day to day depending on how long the water had been in the bottle, whether or not the sun was shining on the bottle in the delivery truck, and a variety of other factors. I'm concerned enough about the possible danger of BPA that I am no longer purchasing bottled water in plastic bottles. Health concerns aside, plastic is also not good for the environment. Americans use about 10 million tons of plastic every year, but recycle only about two percent of it. A plastic milk jug takes about one million years to biodegrade. And, getting back to health concerns, the manufacture of plastics produces toxic wastes that return to us indirectly through polluted air, water, and soil. But we also have to use common sense and choose the greatest benefit at any given time. If your choice was to drink spring water in the polycarbonate bottle or drink tap water or drink no water at all on a hot summer day, I would say drink the purer spring water in the polycarbonate bottle. Once in a while, a single exposure will not do much harm. But you don't want to be using water contained in a Lexan polycarbonate resin bottle as your everyday source of water supply, or drink from these bottles all day long, every day. There are other options.   Better Options My best recommendation is to get a good water filter that is right for your water and filter your water at home. That way there is no questionable leaching at all. Even though this may be expensive, it is one of the best investments you can make in your health and will save thousands of dollars in medical expenses in the long run. For those of you who carry or purchase water in the small, single-serving polycarbonate bottles, you can purchase plastic-free refillable bottles in various sizes to suit your needs. They are lightweight and much more attractive than the disposable plastic bottles. It's a good idea, particularly in the summertime, to carry clean water with you, as your body needs water throughout the day for good health. The Mayo Clinic suggests you divide your weight in half and drink that many ounces of water every day. So if you weigh 128 pounds, that would be 64 ounces or 8 8-ounce glasses of water per day. It's better to carry your own clean water in a safe container than drink tap water or water in a plastic bottle. Hailed as "The Queen of Green" by the New York Times, Debra Lynn Dadd has been a leading consumer advocate for products and lifestyle choices that are better for health and the environment since 1982. Visit her website to learn more about her new book Home Safe Home, to sign up for her free email newsletters, and to browse 100s of links to 1000s of nontoxic, natural and earthwise products. http://www.dld123.com      Copyright ©2005 Debra Lynn Dadd - all rights reserved. Go Natural Baby designs and manufacture organic cotton children's clothes using low impact dyes and fair trade practices.

 

Debra Lynn Dadd- How Toxic is your Home?

Debra Lynn Dadd is known as the Queen of Green and she has not only written wonderful books, but has a great website. You can find links below to her book and site. I hope you enjoy. Blessings, Justyn  Organic Baby and Children's Clothes                   

                                                  How Toxic Is Your Home?

 

              by Debra Lynn Dadd         

We like to think of our homes as being a safe place to be--a refuge from a dangerous world. Yet some of the exposures that you have day-to-day that are most hazardous to your health and the health of your family happen right at home.

The good news is that for every toxic product you'll find in your home, there is a safer alternative. You just need to know where to look for those toxic exposures and what safe solutions are available.

Here are ten common toxic exposures most Americans have in their homes, and some simple, inexpensive things everyone can do to reduce household toxics.

1. Save yourself from exposure to toxic ammonia by washing your windows with vinegar and water. Ammonia can cause irritation of the eyes and respiratory tract, and burn your skin. Instead, mix distilled white or apple cider vinegar half-and-half with water in a spray bottle. Squirt on windows and wipe with recycled newspapers for a streak-free super shine.

2. Free yourself from toxic formaldehyde exposure by sleeping on untreated cotton sheets. Formaldehyde exposure can cause insomnia�yes, insomnia�and respiratory problems, among other symptoms. Bypass formaldehyde-coated polyester/cotton sheets and no-iron cotton sheets and choose cozy cotton flannel sheets or untreated cotton percale sheets, both available at major department stores and online.

3. Put up a detector to protect your family from carbon monoxide exposure. Carbon monoxide starves the body and brain of oxygen and can be fatal. First symptoms include sleepiness, headache, dizziness, flushed skin, and disorientation. All homes with gas appliances or heaters should install carbon monoxide detectors, available in most hardware and home improvement stores or on-line.

4. Replace toxic mothballs with sweet sachets. Mothballs are made from 100 percent paradichlorobenzene, a volatile toxic chemical that can cause headaches and severe irritation to nose, throat and lungs. Over time it can cause liver and kidney damage. Because the balls look like candy, they are a very attractive poison to children. Protect your woolens from moths by making sachets from dried lavender, equal parts dried rosemary and mint, or whole peppercorns. Cedar products are also effective moth repellants.

5. Use soap-based cleaning products instead of poisonous detergent. While detergents seem safe, they are a petrochemical-based product that is responsible for more household poisonings than any other substance. Soap, on the other hand, is made from natural oils and minerals and has been safely used for centuries. Natural and organic soap-based products can be found in natural food stores and online.

6. Refill your own non-plastic water bottle instead of using toxic plastic water bottles. While it's good for your health to carry your own water and drink it throughout the day, if it's in a clear polycarbonate plastic bottle, it is leaching a toxic substance into your water--even if the bottle is sitting on table at room temperature. Bisphenol-A. BPA is a potent hormone disruptor that can impair the reproductive organs and have adverse effects on breast tissue and prostate development. Drink from a glass bottle or carry an aluminum or steel bottle, available online.

7. Avoid toxic pesticides by making dinner using fresh, organically-grown produce. Most food sold in supermarkets are sprayed heavily with pesticides, many of which cause cancer. Find out where to buy pesticide-free organically grown food in your community, go there and purchase what looks good and is in season. One taste and you�ll go back for more. A great variety of organically-grown food can also be ordered on-line.

8. Wash away petrochemical perfumes and take a botanical bath. Many commercial bath products contain detergents and artificial fragrances that can be irritating to sensitive areas. You can have a luxurious relaxing bath by adding natural substances to warm bathwater, such as fragrant dried or fresh herbs (try lavender, rosemary, or peppermint), a quart of buttermilk, or 1 cup Epsom salts. For bubbles, use a natural or organic soap, available in natural food stores and online.

9. Get some color in your life without toxic solvents by choosing colorful water-based pens and markers. Check through your pens and markers and throw away any with "permanent" ink. They contain very toxic volatile solvents such as toluene and xylene. Every office discount warehouse and art supply store I have been to carries water-based pens and markers in every size and color.

10. Clear the air with a couple of houseplants. In addition to being beautiful to look at, houseplants also freshen the air by absorbing the carbon dioxide we exhale and releasing the oxygen that is vital for us to breathe. Some plants, such as the popular spider plant, also remove some air pollutants.

To learn more about toxic products hidden in your home and safer alternatives, buy and read Home Safe Home: Creating a Healthy Home Environment by Reducing Exposure to Toxic Household Products (http://www.dld123.com/homesafehome.html). To find nontoxic products online, visit Debra's List at http://www.debraslist.com.

Hailed as "The Queen of Green" by the New York Times, Debra Lynn Dadd has been a leading consumer advocate for products and lifestyle choices that are better for health and the environment since 1982. Visit her website to learn more about her new book Home Safe Home, to sign up for her free email newsletters, and to browse 100s of links to 1000s of nontoxic, natural and earthwise products. http://www.dld123.com 

 

 Copyright ©2005 Debra Lynn Dadd - all rights reserved.