December 31st, 2008 cate
From inhabitots:
“Why should you take the time to make homemade cleaners? Well, first of all, plenty of studies show that toxic, conventional cleaning supplies are bad for your health, your child’s health, and the planet’s health. See the following posts for more information…
* Expectant mamas should limit use of toxic household cleaning products
* Poisons Under Your Sink: Hidden Dangers of Cleaning Products
* How many cleaning supplies are under your sink that your child could safely drink?
* The Dangers of Home Cleaning Supplies
The above health issues are reason enough to make green cleaners, but just in case you need more reasons: homemade cleaners smell better, work just as well, cut down on packaging, and save you money. Lastly, this is a very simple green step you can take at home, yet the rewards are huge – cleaner indoor air quality and a healthy, happy family.
WHAT SUPPLIES YOU’LL NEED:
You need very few supplies to make homemade cleaning products. Most of the items you’ll need, you likely have around the house already…
1. A few plain old spray bottles. You can…” continue reading
Posted in articles, babies, creativity, eco living, general, health, kids, news, online self help, popular, recommendations and favorites, safe products, you should know | 1 Comment »
December 30th, 2008 cate
From beyondhealth.com:
“More than 90% of homes in the US have a microwave oven. Builders routinely install these ovens in new homes and hardly a restaurant is without one. They are fast, convenient, economical, and ideally suited to the fast pace of modern lifestyles. There is only one problem with microwave ovens—they are extremely hazardous to your health. It is hard to conceive of any reasonable person who would eat microwaved foods if they understood the hazards. Obviously, very few people truly comprehend these hazards. And no one is rushing to educate them! Let’s have a look at some of the problems with this technology:
Microwaves, very short waves of electromagnetic energy, are just part of Mother Nature’s energy spectrum. This spectrum includes visible, infrared, and ultraviolet light along with radio waves, x-rays, and so forth. Microwaves are generated by the sun along with visible light and the other invisible parts of the spectrum. However, there is a big difference between what the sun generates and what is generated in a microwave oven. This difference is the result of the alternating current used to generate the oven microwaves.
Here is how microwaves cook food: All electromagnetic waves change from positive to negative with each cycle of the wave. Alternating current simply makes these cycles happen faster. Water molecules have a positive and a negative end. Because of this, when exposed to microwave energy, which is changing from positive to negative, the water molecules rotate. This is similar to making a pin rotate on a surface by using a magnet. Microwaves, generated by the alternating current in an oven, cause the water molecules in the food to rotate billions of times per second. This results in an enormous amount of friction among these molecules, thus causing the food to get hot.
It has been generally assumed that microwaved foods are safe to eat. In fact, the only concern of our regulators has been about the leakage of microwaves from the oven. Surprisingly, regulators have never questioned whether the microwaved foods themselves are safe.
In 1991, an early clue that microwaved food is not safe came to public attention in the form of a …” continue reading
Posted in articles, body, dangerous / warnings, diet, eco living, general, health, news, online self help, you should know | 1 Comment »
December 18th, 2008 cate
From the nyt:
“Fruits, vegetables and animals can be 100 percent organic. What about people?
In a fascinating experiment — on himself — Dr. Alan Greene, a pediatrician and author in Danville, Calif., decided to find out. For the last three years, Dr. Greene has eaten nothing but organic foods, whether he’s cooking at home, dining out or snacking on the road.
He chose three years as a goal because that was the amount of time it took to have a breeding animal certified organic by the Department of Agriculture. While food growers comply with organic regulations every day, Dr. Greene wondered whether a person could meet the same standards.
It hasn’t been easy.
“This isn’t a way of eating I could recommend to anybody else because it’s so far off the beaten food grid,” said Dr. Greene, 49, the founder of a popular Web site about children’s health, drgreene.com. “It was much more challenging than I thought it would be, and I thought it would be tough. There were definitely days where there was nothing I could find that was organic.”
Other writers have ventured off the traditional food grid, notably Barbara Kingsolver in “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle” and Michael Pollan in “The Omnivore’s Dilemma.” But what makes Dr. Greene’s experiment remarkable is the length of time he devoted to it, and his effort to incorporate organic eating into the routines of everyday living. His findings offer new insight into the challenges facing the organic food industry and those of us who want to patronize it.
Organic farmers don’t use conventional methods to fertilize the soil, control weeds and pests, or prevent disease in livestock.
Organic methods often lead to higher costs, and consumers can pay twice as much for organic foods as for conventional products. Last week, the financial advice Web site SmartMoney.com reported that to feed eight people an organic meal of traditional Thanksgiving foods, a shopper would pay $295.36 — a premium of $126.35, or 75 percent, over a nonorganic holiday spread.
To cut back on the cost of an organic diet, Dr. Greene said he had to cut back on meat. “Whenever you go up the food chain, the costs pile up,” he said. “If you don’t eat meat at every meal, if meat becomes more of a side dish than a centerpiece, you can fill the plate with healthy organic food for about the same price.”
Questions remain about whether organic foods are really better for you. The data are mixed. This fall, researchers from the University of Copenhagen reported on a two-year experiment in which they grew carrots, kale, peas, potatoes and apples using both organic and conventional growing methods. The researchers found that the growing methods made no difference in the nutrients in the crops or the levels of nutrients retained by rats that ate them, according to the study, published in The Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture.
But other research suggests that organic foods do contain more of certain nutrients — almost twice as many, in the case of organic tomatoes studied for a 2007 report in The Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.
Dr. Greene said he was inspired to go all-organic after talking to a dairy farmer who noted that livestock got sick less after a switch to organic practices. He wondered if becoming 100 percent organic might improve his own health.
Three years later, he says he has more energy and wakes up earlier. As a pediatrician regularly exposed to sick children, he was accustomed to several illnesses a year. Now, he says, he is rarely ill. His urine is a brighter yellow, a sign that he is ingesting more vitamins and nutrients.
At home, he said, the organic routine was relatively easy. Organic food is widely available, not just at stores like Whole Foods but at traditional supermarkets. He also shopped at farmer’s markets and joined a local community-supported agriculture group, or C.S.A. Because he bought less meat, the costs tended to balance out. And his family (two of his four children still live at home) largely went along with the experiment.
On the road, though, life was more challenging. In corporate cafeterias and convenience stores, he looked for stickers that began with the number 9 to signify organic; stickers on conventionally grown produce begin with 4.
When dining out, he called ahead; high-end restaurants were willing to accommodate his all-organic request. He also found a few lines of organic backpacking food that he could carry with him.
Dr. Greene reached the three-year milestone in October, but his diet is still organic. He hasn’t decided whether to keep going full tilt or to ease up in the interest of cost and convenience. In his latest book, “Raising Baby Green: The Earth-Friendly Guide to Pregnancy, Childbirth and Baby Care” (Jossey-Bass), he advocates a “strategic” approach, urging parents to insist on organic versions of a few main foods, like milk, potatoes, apples and baby food.
The biggest surprise of the whole experience, he says, was that many people still don’t know what “organic” means.
“It’s surprising to me how few people know that organic means without pesticides, antibiotics or hormones,” he said. “In stores or restaurants around the country, I would ask, ‘Do you have anything organic?’ Half the time they would say, ‘Do you mean vegetarian?’ ”” [source]
Posted in articles, body, coaching, diet, eco living, general, health, healthy recipes, online self help, organic, real food, recommendations and favorites, self improvement, setting goals, success stories, you should know | No Comments »
December 17th, 2008 cate
Who says you have have to wait until Spring to start your garden? Not me. Invest in this awesome greenhouse and you will be able to grow veggies and fruit during the colder months.
Extend the growing season! A heavy gauge extruded aluminum construction means optimal durability. Includes shelving from the left and right as you walk in, there’s plenty of room for vertical gardening, which means more floor space for larger plants. Vents on the sides and roof keep air flowing for optimal vegetable, flower, or herb yields throughout this spacious 8 by 12-foot vegetable paradise. Patented, push-and-click connectors offer super easy assembly in 2 to 4 hours, so you’ll be setup by lunch and potting plants under the greenhouse’s 7-foot-6-inch glass roof that afternoon. Double barn style doors ensure easy access for hauling plants in and out via wheelbarrow if necessary. The hinged doors require only a Philips head screwdriver and pliers for assembly Walls constructed with 4 mm twin polycarbonate panels ensure optimal durability. A powder-coated frame stands up to decades of rain, sun, and snow. Grow your own vegetables and plants 1 auto roof vent opener. The greenhouse requires no base or foundation for quick and easy setup on any level surface. The unit is covered by a manufacturer lifetime warranty on frame and a 12-year on warranty on the polycarbonate walls and roof. Find out more below.
Backyard Hobby Greenhouse, Green, 8 By 12 Feet
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November 24th, 2008 cate
This playful, user-friendly guide to macrobiotics has become a well-loved classic (over 180,000 copies sold). A favorite repeat seller in natural food stores and alternative health care clinics, it has been used a textbook for college classes in Holistic Health, and as a handbook for nutritional counselors training at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition in New York City.
Much more than recipes, The Self-Healing Cookbook gives fresh, heartwarming support to anyone aiming to prevent or recover from diet-related moods and health symptoms. A starter shopping list, food-mood charts, self-healer’s workbook, and healing foods glossary are included. Along with a wealth of wisdom on how to eat locally, think globally, cook with the seasons, lose weight naturally and nourish growing kids.
Word-of-mouth has carried this book to Great Britain, Canada, Singapore, Israel, and Australia. Over 21,000 copies have sold in the Japanese edition. In April, 2002, it will be published in Brazil, in a Portuguese edition. We’d love to hear from international readers where else it has found a home in your kitchens.
Get it now: The Self-Healing Cookbook: Whole Foods To Balance Body, Mind and Moods
Posted in body, books, depression, diet, eco living, garden, general, healing, health, healthy recipes, herbal medicine, inspiration, kids, lifestyle, medication / prescription drugs, online self help, organic, parenting, popular, real food, recommendations and favorites, safe products, self improvement, setting goals, success stories, you should know | No Comments »