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Step-by-Step
Emails for
Non-Toxic Lifestyle

Protect your health and that of your family! These checklists, shopping lists, quizzes, recipes and more will lead you down the path of all natural, organic living.

Make Your Home Energy Efficient

Emailed 70+ page report includes info on insulation, air sealing, ventilation systems, and much more!

"If Antifreeze Is Bad for Our Pets, Why Are We Giving It To Our Kids?"

Use All Natural Bath and Beauty Products

In July 2007 I came across the pamphlet shown in this picture. Since my daughter was 3 years old at the time, the picture and text got my attention (to say the least). The pamphlet went on to describe how almost all our bath and beauty products contain:

1.  DEA (Diethanolamine)

2.  Propylene Glycol

3.  Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS) or
     Sodium Laureth Sulfate (SLES)

It explained why these chemicals are dangerous to us and our kids. Propylene glycol and ethylene glycol are the main ingredients in anti-freeze. However, propylene glycol is considered safe by the FDA (like that means anything) and is used in everything from coffee to shampoo, facial tissues, and baby wipes. The pamphlet also pointed out how our toothpastes contain warning labels on them because they contain dangerous chemicals as well (go check your tubes!).

Being the research-junkie that I am, I found out that the pamphlet over-exaggerated the dangers of propylene glycol and SLS, but that these chemicals are indeed in just about every product our bathrooms. In addition, most consumer advocacy-oriented Websites suggest that these chemicals be avoided...not because they cause cancer, but because of other adverse side-effects.

Good to Know: See what the Environmental Working Group (EWG) has to say about propylene glycol and sodium laureth sulfate. Also check out Myths on Cosmetics Safety.

Want to know what one of the worse ingredients is? (And it is in almost EVERYTHING in your bathroom.) FRAGRANCE! Why? Manufacturers often use phthalates, such as dibutyl phthalate and diethyl phthalate, in fragrances and they don't have to identify that on the label.

Tip: See EWG's video explaining the hazards of Fragrance in your products.

During this research I came across the Environmental Working Group's Website: www.cosmeticdatabase.com. This is an awesome resource for all of us! On this Website you can obtain factual, non-hyped information about ingredients and beauty products. You can look up an ingredient to find out what it is and how hazardous it is on a scale from 1 to 10. You can also look up specific products (such as Crest Toothpaste or Johnson & Johnson's Baby Lotion). Or, you can get a list of all shampoos in the database and have them listed according to how hazardous they are).

Tip: This is a great way to find non-hazardous products. Just search for hairspray and then sort the list from low to high hazard. Then print out the low hazard items and go shopping.

I started checking out the products in my bathrooms and was appalled with their hazardous ratings. The Carmex I used on my lips every morning and night was rating a 7! My Dove antiperspirant was a 6, my Crest toothpaste was a 6 (although the chemical sodium fluoride it contains is rated an 8!). Even my Aveeno lotion was an 8! Just about everything I used has a moderate to high hazardous rating, due to the chemicals they contained.

And the "scary" thing is that NO ONE REALLY KNOWS how hazardous these ingredients are because they are not tested for safety by the FDA or anyone else. EWG's Website will show you how large the "data gap" is on these ingredients.

The current EPA regulations require testing on one chemical at a time on an adult-sized person. But we and our tiny children are exposed to hundreds of chemicals SIMULTANEOUSLY each and every day. And no testing is done on how the chemicals react when combined into a single product. So no one knows what the byproduct is when you mix SLS and propylene glycol and everything else together.

When I sat down and really thought about all these facts, here's the conclusion I came to. Our toothpaste may contain an "acceptable" level of chemicals in it...IF that was the only exposure we have to those chemicals. But if our water, toothpaste, soap, shampoo, conditioner, hair spray, make-up, perfume, toilet paper, tissues, body lotion, sunscreen, lip stick, nail polish, coffee, water, sweetener, fruit, cereal, milk, soda, meats, dairy products, vegetables, bread, dish soap, plastic food containers, plastic cups, ceramic dishes, air freshener, furniture, cabinets, carpet, linens, mattresses, laundry soap, fabric softeners...EVERYTHING has just an "acceptable" level of chemicals in each of them, then COMBINED our family's are exposed to an UNACCEPTABLE amount of chemicals each and every day!

So you know what I did? I threw out two LARGE garbage bags of products and started over with only all natural stuff. Yes, I know that sounds crazy, but I just want to minimize all the chemicals that my daughter grows up with. It may be too late for me...but it is NOT too late for my child. And it's not too late for your children either.

Here's the caveat: NOT ALL PRODUCTS LABELED "NATURAL" OR "ORGANIC" ARE SAFE. AND JUST BECAUSE YOUR HEALTH FOOD STORE OR WHOLE FOODS SUPER MARKET CARRIES A PRODUCT, DOES NOT MEAN IT IS SAFE. You have to read the labels! Many "all natural" products contain the same hazardous chemicals as regular products because there is NO REGULATION on what "natural" or "organic" means.

You know what else I did? I threw out all my highly hazardous household cleaners. At the time, I was getting sick once a quarter with an upper respiratory infection that would, sometimes, leave me without a voice. Based on my research I started putting it together...I got sick about three days after I did a major scrub down with Tilex in my bathroom. Even though I made sure the bathroom was well-ventilated during the scrub-down, I always got sick about three days later. Of course, I never realized this until I started really thinking about my family's chemical exposures. It has been a year, and I haven't used Tilex since. AND I haven't had an upper-respiratory infection since either!

We also moved to a new house that August. So we installed a whole-house water filter on our new home. Now our water is virtually chlorine free, and guess what? I used to get really dry skin and have to put on a lot of lotion to treat the tiny, red dry skin bumps that would appear on my skin. Since we installed the water filter, I haven't had one dry skin bump appear! And I use much less lotion now than I did before.

Some people say that concerns over the chemicals in our antiperspirants, shampoos, soaps, lotions, and so on are just domestic myths. That makes me laugh! At one time a round earth was considered a myth as well.

Read: This scathing report on what a poor job the American Cancer Society has done in preventing cancer.

All I can say is from PERSONAL EXPERIENCE, I have been healthier and my skin has never looked better since I started using all natural products. Even my husband, the ultimate cynic, has become a believer. When he travels and uses the hotel shampoos and cleaners, he develops psoriasis on his face. When he's home using natural products, he does not. (So now he travels with his all natural stuff!)

Wouldn't you rather be safe than sorry? Aren't your kids worth the effort to clear out as many chemicals as you can from their environment? My answer is YES...I hope yours is too! BUY ALL-NATURAL, FRAGRANCE-FREE PRODUCTS! (Not "unscented.")

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More Interesting Stuff

• Healthy Home Tips for Parents
• EWG's Top Tips for Safer Products
• CHEC's Ingredients to Avoid
• Growing Up Toxic (2004)
• Cancer: It's a Growth Industry (2003)
• The Need to Eliminate Toxic Chemicals From Baby Products (2005)
• Persistent Toxic Chemicals in the U.S. Food Supply (2000)

These are my favorites.
 

Helpful Articles & Links

All About Eco Friendly Homes

Energy-Efficiency Home and Vehicle Tax Credits

What is an Energy Star Qualified Home?

What is an Indoor Air Package?

How to Make Your Home More Energy Efficient

Certified Energy Raters in Our Area

Fort Bend Recycling Center

Green Sugar Land Builders

Energy Efficient Mortgage Home Owner Guide

Financing an Energy Efficient Home

Remodeling with Sustainable Green Design

Where to Shop for Green Products

Improve Your Family's Health with:

• Natural Pest Control

• Effective Sun Protection

• Natural Bath and Beauty

• Purified Water

• Cleaner Air

• Organic Foods

• Natural Cleaners

• Safer Cookware

• Non-Toxic Bedding

• Green Home Products