Is Perfume Toxic To You?

With continued research, scientists are continuing to correlate many common allergies, allergies to mold, migraine headaches, and breathing disorders to the "everyday" products used in our homes and offices.

From the perfumes we wear, to the construction materials in our furniture, we are exposed daily to small amounts of chemicals, which can ultimately be toxic for our bodies. Many cleaning products are widely known to contain ingredients that are associated with contributing factors of some forms of cancer to symptoms of allergies.

My favorite non toxic cleaner is Shaklee's, Basic H2. It's an organic, natural cleaning surfactant, that comes in a concentrated form. One 16-ounce bottle, can make over 200 bottles of all-purpose spray cleaner. The dilution levels of Basic H2, vary for the level of cleaning.

Two drops of Basic H2 in 16-ounces of water, will make over 5,000 bottles of window and glass cleaner. One & one-half teaspoons makes a degreaser cleaner, that easily tackled the grease film build-up, on the top of my kitchen cupboards.

Most of us can't remove ourselves from all the toxic chemicals that we are exposed to on a daily basis. One person that was forced to find a way to do this though, is Kathy Hemenway of Snowflake, Arizona. From childhood, she was sensitive to exposures of perfume, fabrics, cleaning products, etc. As she grew into adulthood, it only got worse.

Some of the modifications that Kathy Hemenway made to her home and environment, were pretty drastic. But, she educated herself and made the necessary changes to secure a better quality of life for herself.

Education is the key and that's one of the primary reasons for my blog. By sharing this information, I endeavour to bring environmental and health options to my readers.

I hope you'll take the time to read the L.A. Times article about Kathy Hemenway's search for a Non Toxic Home and also the useful link entitled Beware These Household Chemicals.

Also, for more safe cleaning options that are Safe for You, Your Home, and Your Planet™, please check out the Safe, Powerful, Green & Smart cleaning products offered by Shaklee.

Planting Trees - Building A Future

In my short journey of learning how to take better care of the environment, I learned of Nobel Peace Prize recipient, Dr Wangari Maathai. She had a vision to change the lives for Kenyans, and thus was born, "The Greenbelt Movement".

Planting trees for fuel, shade, and food is not something that anyone would imagine as the first step toward winning the Nobel Peace Prize. Yet with that simple act Wangari Maathai, a woman born in rural Kenya, started down the path that reclaimed her country’s land from 100 years of deforestation, provided new sources of food and income to rural communities, gave previously impoverished and powerless women a vital political role in their country, and ultimately helped to bring down Kenya's twenty-four-year dictatorship.

Shaklee Corporation has been a huge proponent of Dr Maathai. So in 2006, was birthed one of Shaklee's many environmental causes, "A Million Trees - A Million Dreams". Three years later, on Earth Day this year, she along with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger helped plant the one millionth tree at Shaklee's headquarters in Pleasanton, California.

I am so looking forward to seeing the documentary, Taking Root; The Vision of Wangari Maathai. She is more than inspirational !

Food,Inc., The Movie

Did you know that the average food product travels about 1,500 miles to get to your grocery store? And that transporting food accounts for 30,800 tons of greenhouse gas emissions every year?

The movie, Food, Inc., was released last month, but it hasn't come to my area yet :-( But, in looking over the website and checking out it's resources, I am very anxious to see it and learn more about our food supply and the food industry.

In Food, Inc., filmmaker Robert Kenner lifts the veil on our nation's food industry, exposing the highly mechanized underbelly that has been hidden from the American consumer with the consent of our government's regulatory agencies, USDA and FDA. Our nation's food supply is now controlled by a handful of corporations that often put profit ahead of consumer health, the livelihood of the American farmer, the safety of workers and our own environment. We have bigger-breasted chickens, the perfect pork chop, herbicide-resistant soybean seeds, even tomatoes that won't go bad, but we also have new strains of E. coli—the harmful bacteria that causes illness for an estimated 73,000 Americans annually. We are riddled with widespread obesity, particularly among children, and an epidemic level of diabetes among adults.

Be sure and watch the trailer for the movie, but please don't stop there. There's numerous recommendations on the website about getting involved in making positive changes with our food sources.

2009 Idaho Green Expo Is This Weekend

Well, it's finally here! The 2009 Idaho Green Expo is being held July 18th & 19th at the Boise Centre On The Grove, in Boise, Idaho. Admission is free and the resources are almost ENDLESS !

Besides numerous Green Exhibitors this year, The Expo will be presenting "Sustainable U". This will be a self-guided exploration of what a green home, garden and office actually look like. By walking through these exhibits, you can see for yourself how you can make small, and sometimes, not so small changes that will usually lead to saving energy, saving money, improving your health and are also good for the environment.

Then, there's a quality line-up of Speakers at the Idaho Green Expo. Mayor David Bieter of Boise will be in great company with a panel of Idaho Mayors. Also, Scott Schliebe, will speak on the fate of the polar bear. Jim Evanoff, "Yellowstone's" Green Ranger is scheduled to speak along with several other great speakers and topics.

Another first for the Idaho Green Expo is the Eco Brew Festival on Saturday & Sunday. Local and sustainable beer, wine, food and music will be available. Check out the 2009 Idaho Green Expo website for times and all vendor information. Location is "On The Grove", of course!

I'll be one of over 140 Exhibitors at the 2009 Idaho Green Expo and will be set up in Booth #85. Please stop by and visit, when you're there.

This venue is more than exceptional. Please don't miss it. The folks at GreenWorks Idaho do a stellar job in bringing Idaho a prestigious array of green and sustainable resources and information.

Cleaning With A Toxic Brew - Forget About The Monsters Under Your Bed !

The "monsters" are right there on the grocery store shelves just waiting to "clean up" your home, school or office!!

That's right, sitting there all prim and proper, polished and priced; are a plethora of cleaning products, (aka Monsters), ready to come into your personal spaces and gobble up all those terrible germs and gunk! But, in the process of "cleaning up" your spaces, they may also be leaving behind a toxic brew.

These toxins may be absorbed by inhalation, ingestion, or contact. Some of the ingredients have been found to be associated factors of one or many health conditions. Asthma, Chronic Fatigue, Reactive Airway Dysfunction, Skin Allergies and more, may be affected or enhanced by the toxic brew of products that you're "cleaning" with.

You have options. Natural and non-toxic products are available and can be just as effective as the Name Brand products. Many of these products are concentrated and not any more costly than the Name Brand products. There are also recipes available to make up your own homemade solutions.

To find out more about the toxic brew lurking under your sink, check out a short Toxic Brew video at http://www.4greenplanetsolutions.com/ . At that site, you can also order a free, Home Cleaners Toxin Checklist, to check out the contents of some commonly used Brand Name products.

Remove the "Monsters" and replace them with products that are safe for you, your home and the planet.

My Step #3 To Combat Climate Change

I’m in the process of sharing my personal journey to reduce my personal carbon footprint, on the planet. I was initially inspired by reading the World Environment Day website and their Twelve Steps To Unite To Combat Climate Change.

In June, I addressed Step Number One; which was Commitment , and also, Set Number Two; which was Assess Where You Stand.* Now, it's time to move onto Step Number 3. This is "where the rubber meets the road", as they say.

Step Number Three is: Decide And Plan Where You Want To Go

During my assessment* in Step #2, I completed a survey on the website, One Million Acts of Green. In this process, I selected areas called “Acts of Green” that I already have done, and then Pledged to make changes in numerous other Acts. I have a lot of areas that are in the “Pledged” category still, and this is the resource that I can use to work on Step #3; Deciding and planning where I want to go.

Therefore, I will be using my uncompleted Acts of Green (or Pledges), to calculate how I am progressing on my carbon footprint reduction. I plan on referring back to my Pledges at least once a week, and using it as a reminder of things to work on and a place to update my accomplishments.

I’m will be sharing my accomplishments and hurdles, (hopefully there are very few of those), with everyone via this blog. Please feel free to share with the other readers and myself, what areas are more difficult for you to conquer. Maybe together, we can help each other accomplish our common goal in reducing our greenhouse emissions, fighting global warming and just plain being good stewards.

Can't Thank Them Enough !

Freedom Isn't Free

4th of july 2009 My Hero Military Tribute from porsches4ed on Vimeo.