Category: Green Your Home

Baby step your way to a cleaner, toxin-free home!

GREEN your Laundry, BABY! GREEN It for me, REAL GOOD

When I am coaching people through greening their homes, we usually start with the Laundry room. Why? Because its the easiest place to start. And because these products can be the worst offenders for indoor pollution.  And because we wear out clothes all day and night, and if they have toxins on them, they can be the cause of many of our physical issues.

Your skin and respiratory system can absorb the chemical residue leftover from conventional detergents. Not to mention, fabric softeners leave a waxy (flammable!) buildup on your clothing that you breathe in and wear all day long. YUCK!!!yuck.png

Some of the nasty nasty junk in our laundry rooms;

  1. 1-4 dioxane- NOT REQUIRED to be listed in the ingredient lists, but it is a carcinogen.
  2. NPE- nonylphenol ethoxylate- can cause hormone and reproductive problems more info
  3. Phosphates- causes environmental problems, such as cell overgrowth.
  4. Sodium Hypochlorite (BLEACH)- highly poisonous toxin, damages body tissues info here
  5. Phenols- easily absorbed by the skin and is toxic to fetuses and embryos
  6. SLS- Sodium Lauryl/Laureth Sulfate- very irritating to skin and respiratory system ECO Toxic, Use is suggested at 1% or less in products, and many have 10-30%!!! You will also see this in shampoo, lotion, makeup… They are finding it in brains, lungs, heart, and livers and it creates hormone imbalance. ( Are we starting to see why so many people have hormonal issues now?)
  7. Phthalates, fragrance/perfume, food coloring, etc. – These things all are carcinogenic and can cause reproductive problems, lower testosterone, ugh, so many things.

These toxins also enter our water systems and are causing environmental disruption. They can kill off the good plants and eco-systems and allow things like algae to take hold and kill off rivers and ponds, frogs, fish, insects… They are also causing reproductive issues in our non-mammal friends, too. YIKES!!!

So the choice is yours, do you want to clean up your laundry?

GOOD! I KNEW YOU WOULD!!!

How to start?

Find eco friendly detergents;

Molly’s suds, biokleen, Honest company, Common Good, Ecos, Laundress, soap nuts… Or make your own! Baking soda, castille soap, Epsom salts, washing soda… all these things can be used to wash clothing.

Find ways to soften without using those toxic softeners, such as dryer balls, or a damp rag with vinegar and essential oils on it. Find dryer scent here dryer oil scent   I have found that since i stopped using softener, I haven’t needed it! My clothes are soft and i honestly don’t have very much static cling. My washer and dryer also don’t need to be “cleaned” anymore either, after doing away with all the additives from the softeners.

For bleach, there is always Molly’s Suds Oxygen Whitener, hydrogen peroxide, baking soda, or Oxy Clean or other bleach alternatives that use oxygen instead.

Remember that you are doing yourself and your family a great favor by using these natural products! They may not work the same as what you are used to! BUT you will get used to them and begin to love them, just give them a chance! It is worth it for the health of you and your family, your pets, and the environment!

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SUper SUper SUUUUUper

Ok so here’s what happened yesterday after I posted on fb. (What I posted was actually one post- but you know how fb only lets you put so much in each comment, so it ended up being 2 posts.) So it was about the chemicals in pesticides and what they do- they cause cancer to kids. I had never actually gotten to say that to my neighbor, so now everyone knew.) Well,  first one of my ‘friends’ posted on there about how pesticides/herbicides are bad for dogs as well, and that he would never spray, and couldn’t understand how anyone could. So then my neighbor’s bf gets on there and FREAKS THE F*#K OUT. First she said that it was everyone’s choice and everything causes cancer and we should live in a bubble if we were so worried about stuff that wasn’t a big deal and people should basically mind their own business. So then my ‘friend’ writes back and says that in that mentality, you should just hand your kids a cig and be done. He then went on to say that some things are worse than others and you should try to control what you can, especially the big stuff, and especially if you have kids. So then the bf REALLY freaks and says yeah, but that people are being HARASSED over this and she couldn’t understand, especially as the people being HARASSED are such SPECTACULAR parents!!!    I was like… huh? Harassed? REally? Now i wanted to write back so badly, but I didn’t. What i did do was try to contact my neighbor. I texted her straight up and said “Am I harassing you?”  Of course, no reply. I tried to think about what I had said… I had only nicely asked if there was any way to talk her out of spraying, and that I had lots of research on what it does to kids. She hadn’t said no. In fact, she asked me whether the stuff you can buy at the store is better or worse than buying from a company. I said its the same. Then i sent her two, TWO, texts that said i understood that its hard to accept when companies tell you its safe and its not and you start to believe that nothing actually is, and that can be really hard. That’s it. Now i thought this woman was my friend, sorta. So then I went and tried to talk to her. She didn’t answer her door. I went down the block looking for her but they all said she was home. So I texted again and finally she answered me and said that her friend was just expressing her opinion, just as mine was. And that they had our backs. I said i barely knew the guy. She said Oh, well he had kindof offended her. I said well he actually wasn’t speaking to YOU (specifically) but she said he was because she sprays her lawn.  So she was obviously offended by that guy and felt like I had told everybody about this tiny little incident… whatever. So i apologized. profusely. She said that the company she was using had a ‘just fertilizer’ treatment and she was going to think about it and work it out and did i want to have a look at the website?  I told her that it was very nice that she was offering to let me have a look and everything but ultimately it was her choice and she should do what she wants. Which is what I felt from the beginning, and why I had asked if there was any way I could talk her out of it, instead of just telling her what I thought straight out.

But the problem comes in because of my glorious overthinking mind.   Why did I feel like I needed to apologize? I hate that! Obviously none of these people have even turned the product around to look at the warnings on the back or asked what was in the “WARNING: POISON” truck when it pulled up to their house. They just accepted that something that would kill weeds in their yard and left a sign that says “don’t walk on the grass” would be perfectly acceptable to let their kids and animals play in without another thought.  RRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!

And now I can’t post anything on fb in case they think it is about them, even though I have been posting all year about spraying on lawns, taking out the tires on the chemlawn trucks, and chemicals and how bad they are.

I’m soooo tired of being the bad guy. To be honest, I really was trying to help. I thought if I could just share my research with my neighbor/friend, I know she would want to know. I know I read more than most people, and i do way too much thinking and research. I thought she would appreciate the knowledge. If i were doing something to hurt my child I would hope that I would either read about it or someone would tell me. But she just took it like I was attacking her, like she had cooked up those delicious pesticides on the stove and I told her I wouldn’t eat that junk. Whatever.

I sincerely hope we can all learn how bad this stuff is for you. Thankfully, there is actually a product that can get rid of the pesticides in our bodies and repair some of the damage. But is that enough?

over and out-prem

Mother F*#@*er Puddin’ Pie, Kick the Boys N Make them Cry

This is me swearing right now.

I begged my neighbor not to spray. I told her I would lovingly come and pluck out any weeds she might get. She said she was going to talk to her husband. That means they are spraying. She said “sorry we are upsetting you.” Yeah, UNDERSTATEMENT. You are poisoning your children, my child, the water, my dog, my boyfriend, and me, but that’s what it means to you- you’re ‘UPSETTING’ me.  So I just posted a few more things on fb about pesticides, but i’m sure that her and her crew are sitting over there laughing at me. Cuz, you know, i’m just a ‘crazy vegetarian hippy’ and i’m just making these things up about how bad spraying your lawn is.

This is from ehow;

“Some of the most common chemicals found in TruGreen ChemLawn products include prodiamine (found in Barricade herbicides), imidacloprid (Merit) and carbaryl (Sevin), though there are many others
Some chemicals, such as prodiamine, have relatively mild toxicity, but they have been known to cause cancer and disrupt endocrine, reproductive and/or neurological functioning in cases of long-term exposure. Others can cause severe poisoning”
Even the EPA has a dangers sheet for pesticides and herbicides. It seems completely obvious to me.
Here’s the thing, though; living in the suburbs of the suburbs, I have to get used to the fact that most of these people don’t worry about chemicals. I live every day trying to keep my mouth shut while I see people giving their kids soda, chicken nuggets, wiping them down with wet wipes, watching them buy styrofoam plates and toss them away, etc. I open my windows to get fresh air and all i can smell is my neighbors’ laundry softener.  Chemicals are everywhere, and it is actually hard to find any stores out here that even sell natural or organic products, much less find people who actually care enough to buy them. So this fact of life for me is to just shut up and do the best I can for MY family. My neighbors actually one day asked me if i used vinegar to clean my house and I said yes, and they then proceeded to tell me about how they use this one cleanser and they know it is horrible for them, but they just love the SMELL, and they then continued to laugh and giggle about that. And I stood there not knowing what the f*#k to say. I could have come up with about 10 different responses at that point, but none of them would have allowed any kind of continued polite relationship between us afterwards. I mean, am I supposed to think it is funny that they choose the smell of a certain product over their own and their families’ health?  WOW that is HILARIOUS!!! But I kept my mouth clamped shut and nodded and laughed a little for their benefit (Heh heh, boy that is funny) and mostly cuz I could picture my boyfriend’s face when I told him that I told the neighbors that they were shitty mothers and shouldn’t be allowed to have kids if they weren’t going to protect them…
BUT OH YEAH my point…
Mostly I keep my mouth shut. [And in an aside, so you know my history, I have been studying chemicals and researching them pretty much daily for over 7 years now, and I really want to be a naturopath. I’ll give my complete history of this in another blog] But in this instance, where this chemical is being directly poured onto the grass and is going to end up in my yard and is so blatantly bad for everyone and everything involved, i felt that I really really had to speak up. My conscience demanded it. Because not only am I going to absolutely see the effects of what these people do immediately in dead bugs and maybe even a dead rabbit or two, my dog is going to be quickly sickened by this application, and I am in a quandry of what to do about this. She is a little runty bulldog, and barely juts out of the grass. I feel obligated to her to try to protect her, but HOW?!? If I could i’d take her somewhere else to go potty. i could bathe her after she comes in, but then she is already exposed and i’d also be bathing her 3-5 times a day, which would be bad for her, too.
These people are KILLING ME. I’ve been stressed about one thing or another that they do since the day we moved in. It has been almost a year now.
My challenge; finding a way to keep my mouth shut when she either texts me and says “Sorry, but we’re going to spray”, or just sprays and doesn’t say anything, or I see her and she tells me offhandedly, “Oh, btw…”
Do you ever have retaliation fantasies? Cuz I totally do. Let’s end with that, shall we???
What would be equal to them poisoning us??? Hmmmm…
Well, taking them to court would be funny. But too long term.
Oh so sorry i just buried a leaking nuclear waste barrel in your backyard? Does that upset you???   Too messy.
Oh did you not want me to dump arsenic on your yard? I use it to kill straying children.   Too much?
(I’m finding this difficult as obviously they don’t consider much to be off- putting; if they were vegetarians I could easily think of things to squeam them out)
Oh I’m sorry, did you not want your children smoking weed? You think it’s bad for kids? Where’s that evidence? I don’t believe it!      Stupid idea-
UGH I GIVE UP. Any ideas out there?
 
PREM exhausted and disgusted and hating entire human race (except you of course)

Poison Poison All Around

So my neighbors are all spraying their grass this week. I want to vomit. I want to stage a sit in. I want to go over there with all of my research and show them how horrible it is for them, their kids, plants, birds, bunnies, squirrels, our water supply… Ugh. Doesn’t it seem obvious to you? The packaging on those poisons says “Warning; poisonous; do not ingest.” It says it is “harmful or deadly to animals and wildlife.” The EPA’s website actually says “Pesticides cause cancer in children” in bold print. Right out in the open. This is the EPA admitting that. And yet people continue to choose the way their lawn looks over the health of themselves, and their children. And, because we are right next door, they are choosing to poison MY CHILD and MY DOG, and MY VEGETABLE GARDEN, and MY BOYFRIEND. And ME DAMMIT!!! Is that fair? I was wondering if I could take them to court for spraying my lawn with their over-spray. I bet I could at the very least make a huge stink and alert more people to the dangers of pesticides and herbicides. I’m making a last bid to beg my neighbor (who is actually a nice person) to not spray hers. I might just make her hate me. I tend to do that quite easily. I’m sure my boyfriend will be super-pissed to find out that I would even attempt to talk them out of it. I’m being nice. 😉

Could someone please explain it to me? I guess they think it’s like a small price to pay for a beautiful lawn. Your lawn defines you, don’t you know. It actually says something about your manhood. Same with your car.

BAH!!!!

Punkrockearthmother fostering a maddening bubble of rage within.