Master Made Feed of Grapevine

Old town Grapevine, Texas, is a fun place to browse.  The stores are eclectic and are mixed in with good restaurants and wine bars.

Master Made Feed of Grapevine

Today, as I drove down Main Street, I noticed chicken coops sitting in front of a store named Master Made Feed.  The store doesn't look like much from the outside but I've been pondering having a few hens for organic eggs, so I ducked in.

chicken coops

Every time I forget that we essentially live in the countryside I should just take a little trip to this store.

I was given a warm greeting by a nice young man (I'm betraying my age here by saying that) who explained that they'll have chicks in February or March.  I asked if many people around here have chickens and he replied that they sold more chickens last year than in the prior five years combined.  People around here love having their own hens for fresh eggs.  I asked if the heat was bearable for them and he replied that it is, provided they have some shelter (a coop).

Here are a few of the other interesting things I saw there:

big stacks of salt licks

dried cow and pig parts

pig snouts, $1.09

Pig snouts.  Well, at least they're not going to waste.  Ranks up there with dried pig ears.

saddles

gnarly animal traps

baby quail, $2 each

Homemade Mascara

I've tried my hand at making a number of cosmetics (see my "Homemade Beauty" link, above) but I'd never tried making mascara.  It seemed daunting given how visibly wrong things can go if you don't get it right, but I gave it a try.  The results were fairly good after some trial and error with proportion of ingredients, but no where near as long-lasting or reliable as commercial formulations.

Here's how the adventure unfolded:

I poked around quite a bit online to find a recipe that is simple, safe for my eyes and wouldn't make me look like a raccoon within a matter of hours (or minutes!).

You already know my philosophy about my makeup: if I can't eat it, it has no business sitting on my face all day.  Not that I've made a habit of wearing food on my face.  Well, not as an adult, anyway.  My point is simply that if it's safe to eat, it's probably safe for your face.

That said, you wouldn't stick a banana in your eye.  Well, maybe YOU would, but I wouldn't.  So when it comes to eye makeup, I take into account the especially delicate nature of the eye.  Whatever goes into my eye shadow, mascara, concealer or eye liner must be safe for my eyes, just in case it ends up in one.

Ancient Egyptians wore kohl liner around their eyes (sometimes made with lead sulfide).  Around 1890, burnt match sticks were used to darken eyelashes.  In 1915, T.L. Williams came up with a way for his sister, Maybel, to darken her lashes, and the company Maybelline was born.  That formula was a combination of coal dust and petroleum jelly.   Until the 1950s, mascara was sold in cake form and had evolved into a combination of wax and colorant.  Helena Rubenstein created the wand and tube delivery method in the late 1950s.

Since then, mascara has become much more complicated in order to have certain helpful attributes (waterproof, smudge-proof, lengthening, curling, different colors, and so on) and the list of ingredients is now typically tongue twisting.

We need to get back to basics, but without the match sticks, coal dust and petroleum products.
Mascara is traditionally black or dark brown.  This brought to mind activated charcoal.  It's certainly dark enough, and it's been used through the ages as an antidote for poisoning because it's highly absorbent.  It pulls the toxins from the body as it passes straight through.  So, it's safe for ingestion. But can it be used around your eyes?  Actually, yes!  Prepared properly in a moist poultice or strained into eye drops, it's used to treat eye ailments. That said, as with anything, you don't want to put it directly into your eye.

So we've got our colorant: activated charcoal.  Now for the grease.


What natural oils are safe to use around your eyes?  Almond oil has been used as a treatment for under-eye circles.  Vitamin E oil has been used to reduce wrinkles around eyes.  Some claim that castor oil can help you grow more luxurious eyebrows and eyelashes.  Still others use grapeseed oil and olive oil as eye makeup removers.  So you have a few to choose from.  In this example, I used castor oil.

I decided to include water in my recipe because water ends up drying on the lashes, leading to less smudging.


Directions

1. Empty a capsule of activated charcoal into a small nalgene container, then add two drops of water and a drop of oil, blending well with a cotton swab.  
2. Continue to add water and oil in the aforementioned proportions until it reaches the consistency of store bought mascara.
3. Apply to lashes with a clean mascara wand (I reused the wand from my store bought tube after thoroughly washing it in warm soapy water).  
4. When done, wash the wand well in warm soapy water and screw the top tightly on the jar.  If your mascara dries out a bit, add a bit of water and blend with a cotton swab.

You may need to experiment with the amount of water versus oil to minimize smudging, depending on what oil you're using.  To begin, you might err on the side of more water than oil.

In future, I'll also experiment with adding a bit of wax, as this should further lessen smudging (I'll keep you posted here on that). Or, I'll just save myself the grief and go back to buying an all natural brand, such as Physicians Formula Organic Mascara.

The Thing About TOP CHEF That Drives Me Nuts, Not That I'll Stop Watching

I admit it.  I love TOP CHEF.  I love to cook and I love a good competition, so it's a nice combination for me.

Those who watch it know that Glad is a longtime sponsor of the show.  The contestants always pack up their ingredients in glad containers when they hit the road, and use Glad wrap, storage bags, trash bags.

The good news is that Glad states the following on its website:

"Glad food containers, wraps, and storage bags and other food contact products are not made of Polycarbonate nor is Bisphenol A (BPA) used as a raw material in their production."

The bad news is that on practically every episode, I see the chefs placing boiling or piping-hot soups, etc, into the containers for transport.

Even Glad's answers to its FAQ will suggest this is ill-advised. 

Is it okay to wash GladWare® Containers in the dishwasher?

GladWare® Containers are top-rack dishwasher safe.

Is it safe to place a GladWare® Container in boiling water?

No. We do not recommend using GladWare® Containers in this manner.

Look, if it's not safe to put them in the bottom of the dishwasher and it's not safe to place them in boiling water, why would anyone think it's safe to put boiling things into them, much less food items that will then go into someone's body?

Drives me nuts.

nuts

Folks, pay attention: plastics leach chemicals into food and beverages.  Don't watch TOP CHEF and think that putting boiling hot food into plastic containers is okay.

Ok, lecture over.

Homemade Blush

I ran out of my last container of store-bought blush today.  Since I already wear homemade lip gloss and facial powder, I figured I'd go ahead and try my hand at homemade blush.

It could not have been any easier.

I put some of my beet root powder in a cute little BPA-free Nalgene container from Container Store, so it's handy in my makeup bag.  Whenever I need blush, I just take a squirt of my facial moisturizer in the palm of my hand, shake some beet root powder into it, mix it really thoroughly with one finger until it's no longer grainy, then smooth it on my cheek bones.  I can make it as light or dark as I like.  Or, I can mix a bit in the palm of my hand with corn starch (my preferred facial powder) and apply it with a regular blush brush.

Looks great and costs pennies.

Why Go PVC-Free And How To Do It

It's back-to-school time and I'm shopping for a backpack from my kindergartener.  Though he is dying to have a Ben 10 backpack, I've ruled it out because of the PVC.

PVC, or polyvinyl chloride, first gained popularity as a building material - in its hard form it is a cheaper alternative to wood, concrete and clay.  About 50% of the PVC produced in the world is used in construction.

But it can be made quite flexible with the addition of plasticizers, the most widely used being phthalates. In this form, it is used in clothing and upholstery.  Ever smelled that new shower curtain smell?  Smell that same smell on your child's Spider Man backpack, lunch bag or shiny rain coat? Ever seen bottles with #3 printed inside the recycling symbol? PVC.

What is so bad about PVC?  It's toxic.  Pollution created by its production is spread into the air, land and water.   The additives mixed with PVC resins (such as the aforementioned phthalates, as well as stabilizers) can leach out of a PVC product during its useful life posing health hazards, including the development of reproductive problems in children. At the end of PVC's useful life, it then leaches toxins into landfills.   So, it's a problem from the moment it's created until, well, no one knows.

You don't want it on your child's backpack, food or drink, shower curtain, t-shirt (you know those big iron-on pictures?), rain coat, lunch bag or teething ring.

Below are a few guidelines for healthier choices. You can visit my store for more ideas.

Backpacks: choose hemp, organic cotton, or recycled materials
Lunch bags: choose BPA-free and PVC-free
Lunch containers, cups, bottles and reusable utensils: choose stainless steel, bamboo utensils, stainless steel straws, cotton napkins, BPA-free and PVC-free
Shower/Bath: choose cotton shower curtains and eco-friendly non-slip bath mats
Rainwear: go PVC-free

Other tips to reduce or eliminate toxins in the kitchen:

• Boot plastic and Teflon from your kitchen - use Pyrex or stainless steel for storage, glass pitchers for juice, stainless steel cooking utensils and cast iron cookware.  
• Don't use plastic in the microwave - ever.
• Don't put hot things in your plastic food mill or blender.

For more on eliminating toxins, visit my left sidebar.

10 Ways to Reuse and Reduce

The Three R's: REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE

I've written many times before about recycling (you can see my many posts here), but I think not enough attention is paid to the topics of reduce and reuse.  So expect more posts from me on these two topics.

To kick things off, let me give you some ideas on ways you can reuse and reduce:

REUSE

1. If you've got things you don't need or want, you can pass them along to other people who might be able to use them instead.  Do not underestimate others' abilities to reuse things you think are worthless.  You can sell things through eBay, craigslist or yard sales (see my tutorial on yard sales here).  Or you can give them away through Freecycle, Goodwill or any number of other local programs.  Subscribing to your local freecycle email list can also be a great source of entertainment.  It's pretty funny to see what some people list.  For example, one request was recently posted to my local group for a male peacock to join a female peacock someone had living wild in their backyard.
2. Source or buy items used via the vehicles I mentioned above, or via pawn shops, antique shops, second hand stores or flea markets (what an awful name for something so fun).    For instance, my husband mentioned to me the other day that he saw a whole lot of great garden tools at a second hand store near us.  Why buy brand new tools when you can buy gently used ones cheaper?  They're going to get dirty and dinged up by you anyway!

REDUCE

1. Use cloth instead of paper towels.  In my house, we use cheap bar towels I picked up in bulk at Costco.  I have one bunch of them dedicated to cleaning my house.  I have another bunch dedicated to my kitchen.  I also cut up old bath towels and use them for cleaning.
2. Choose cast iron.  Did your Teflon pans get scratched and you need to buy new ones?  Cast iron cookware is healthier, cheaper and far more durable, and it's easier to care for than you imagine.
3. Make your own household cleaners.  The end product is cheaper and reduces the world's production of plastic in the process.  See my recipes and tips here.
4. Cook.  This seems like a simple idea but it's one people forget about.  If you enjoy store bought hummus, lemonade, muffins, pizza, ice cream, steak marinade, you can make your own, often healthier, versions, and save the world some plastic, paper or glass.  You can save time by preparing more than you need and freezing some for another day.  See my recipes here.
5. Make your own makeup and reuse those old containers.  It's really not hard. As an added benefit, you know exactly what you're putting on your skin.  See my recipes here.  Check back, as I plan to write about a few more very soon.
6. Save water in your garden. You can reduce the amount of water you need to effectively hydrate your lawn and flower beds by a) watering at night and b) scheduling your sprinkler heads to run through several five-minute cycles instead of just one long one (helps the water sink in better so you have less running down the street).
7. Compost.  This qualifies as both Reuse and Reduce.  Reuse kitchen and garden scraps and reduce the amount of fertilizer you need to buy for your garden.  See my postings on composting here.
8. Use your freezer and learn how to properly store things in it to save leftovers and reduce spoilage - it also enables you to take advantage of good prices on your favorite organic foods.  See my tutorial here.

Non-Toxic Deodorants - Do They Work?

Yes, but not for long.  Most don't reduce perspiration and don't kill the bacteria that is the main reason we wear deodorant or antiperspirant, so they are a short-term solution.

I'm not going to go into the many reasons why some people fear using aluminum-based antiperspirants.  You can read more about those concerns here and elsewhere.  Let's just assume that if you're reading this blog, you're inclined to believe that the all natural route is the best route.  So, you bathe daily and clean your clothing after every use - but what do you do if you really don't want to wear that industrial-strength deodorant or antiperspirant?  What are some effective and natural solutions?

Some people swear by a dusting of baking soda or cornstarch to handle perspiration.  Others like a particular brand of all natural deodorant to handle minor odor.  But the key to really managing odor is to kill the bacteria on a regular basis.  A quick swab of rubbing alcohol, witch hazel or white vinegar under each arm morning (after showering and before deodorant) and night will do the trick.  (You can also use white vinegar in your laundry to eliminate body odor from clothing.)

Note: one reader strongly recommended this brand:

Homemade All Natural Beeswax Lip Balm

My 5 year old's classmates are crazy about Chapstick.  They think it's cool to bring it to school and keep it in their pockets, sometimes letting each other try the many unique flavors they find (I can't type this without shuddering).  So he naturally requested his own.

After extracting a promise (several times) that he would not share it and would not try anyone else's, I relented and bought a tube.  Then I noticed this...

"Lift for Drug Facts"

Curious about that, I lifted the label.  The adhesive ripped a layer of the label off and I wasn't able to read it.   So, I just cut to the chase and visited one of my favorite websites, Environmental Working Group's Skin Deep, a cosmetic safety database.  According to their evaluation of this product,  it ranks 8 out of 10 on the scale of concerns (10 is highest concern).  The high score is driven by its fragrance and an ingredient called methylparaben.  Parabens are endocrine disruptors and methylparaben, in particular, has been linked to breast cancer.  The Chapstick also contains artificial colors and saccharin. 

Right, so he's not getting any Chapstick.  Burt's Bees Beeswax Lip Balm scored quite well but he didn't like the peppermint taste, so I decided to make my own.  Here's how I did it.

Beeswax Lip Balm

Clean out a Burt's Bees Lip Balm tube, wash it thoroughly and set it out to air dry.  Grate 2 teaspoons of all natural pure beeswax (it typically comes in bar form, or as "pearls").  Melt it in a small Pyrex dish in the microwave.  Do this in 30 second increments and take it out as soon as it is melted - you don't want it to burn.  To the melted beeswax, add 1 teaspoon of honey and 1 teaspoon of castor oil.  Mix thoroughly, allow to cool for a minute, then pour into the dry lip balm tube.  Place the tube in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.  (Note: you could easily add an all natural flavor extract (vanilla, lemon, etc) to create a unique taste.)

He loved the taste and texture, and I love the fact that it's really and truly safe for him.

I later decorated the tube with his name in script.  He loved that, too!

How to Make All Natural Lip Gloss

A few weeks ago, I wrote about running out of facial powder and substituting organic corn starch - with great success.  I'm comfortable now that I'll never go back to buying commercial facial powder.  Inspired by this success, I decided to try my hand at creating other beauty products.  My criteria: they must be all natural, easy and quick to make, smell great, feel soothing, and be edible.  Yes, edible - that's my measure of safety, particularly for lip gloss.

Over the next few weeks, I will experiment with making a few different items, and I'll share my recipes here with you.  I hope you enjoy the health, savings, beauty and fragrance of these as much as I do!  Also note: they make great little gifts for the holidays!

Pink Lip Gloss

Ingredients:
2 teaspoons grated pure beeswax
8 teaspoons castor oil
4 drops vanilla extract
1 teaspoon honey
1/2 teaspoon organic beet juice powder (be careful where you put this - it is a strong dye)
 -- you will also need a container to put it in - I bought a small Nalgene jar  (they are BPA free) at The Container Store for $0.99.

Directions:
1. Melt the beeswax and castor oil together in a small Pyrex dish in the microwave.  45 seconds ought to do it.  Mix well.  Add the vanilla, honey and beet juice powder.  Add more beet juice powder if the shade is not as dark a as you'd like.  Let it sit in the Pyrex dish until it cools enough so it won't melt your Nalgene jar.  Don't wait until it's fully set up to move it to the jar.
2. Pour it into your jar.  Let it sit 20 minutes before covering it.

BPA Is in "BPA-Free" Cans, Too.

Today, a friend forwarded to me an article titled "Concern Over Canned Foods."  The article details findings from Consumer Reports' latest test for BPA in canned foods.   BPA is a known endocrine disruptor.  It mimics your own hormones and has been connected to obesity, breast and prostate cancer, negative effects on fetal and infant brain development, and other terrible stuff.

The article states a few interesting things:

1.  Federal guidelines, based on experiments done in the 1980s, put the daily upper limit of safe exposure at 50 micrograms of BPA per kilogram of body weight.   However, several animal studies show adverse effects, such as abnormal reproductive development, at exposures of 2.4 micrograms of BPA per kilogram of body weight per day.  Clearly, the federal guidelines need dramatic revision.

2. "The canned organic foods we tested did not always have lower BPA levels than nonorganic brands of similar foods analyzed. We even found the chemical in some products in cans that were labeled "BPA-free.""  The implications are obvious - if you think you're making a safe choice by going organic, you are not necessarily doing so.

3. "In Japan, most major manufacturers voluntarily changed their can linings in 1997 to cut or eliminate the use of BPA because of concerns about health effects. A 2003 Japanese study found that the levels of the chemical in subjects' urine dropped by 50 percent after the change in cans was made."  This means it's not too late to get your body back on track.

The main conclusion: dump the canned food.

So far, I've restricted my family's exposure to canned goods to one single brand, Eden Organic, because of its "BPA-free" can, but even this brand was mentioned in the study as containing trace amounts of BPA.  For at least a year, we've been enjoying the canned navy beans with some frequency and occasionally use the canned pizza sauce, too. 

I am both idealist and realist.  I aspire to keep my kids' bodies as healthy as possible while still under my watch, and I think I do a pretty good job of it most of the time.  With this new knowledge, I will learn to make my own pizza sauce and freeze it, or I'll buy a version in a glass jar.  I will also start soaking and cooking my own beans.  But I know that my kids will end up eating some Halloween candy that has artificial colors and flavors, attend birthday parties where unnaturally-red fruit punch is served, and have an occasional slice of pizza that's made of non-organic ingredients.  I also know that there will be nights when canned Eden Organic beans will be part of the meal.   Because 1 ppb of BPA might be preferable to me blowing a gasket.

The Many Uses for Corn Starch

I ran out of facial powder this morning.  I've used Prescriptives for years as it's one of the only ones that doesn't irritate my skin.  But there is just no way I am going to drive 30 minutes and navigate mall parking with a cranky toddler to buy some anytime soon, I'm not going to pay for shipping and I've wanted to try something more natural anyway.

So I grabbed the box of corn starch from my toddler's room (when he was a baby, I used to apply it to the deep chubby creases around his neck and under his arms to reduce irritation).  A little dab here and there and the shine was gone, which is really the only reason I use facial powder.

As I researched whether or not to do this, I came across Hodgson Mill's website.  It has a page chock full of tips on other uses for corn starch (recipes, too!), including, among many others:

• as an underarm deodorant - just wipe your underarm first with rubbing alcohol to kill bacteria, then apply corn starch
• to patch plaster walls
• to shine your car
• to clean your silver
• to make powdered sugar
• to make finger paint or "play clay"
  
• to remove grease stains
• as a facial cleanser
• to thicken gravy
• to make homemade baking powder
  
• to soothe sunburn
  

I'll still use foundation and under-eye concealer for dressy occasions (ok, well the concealer is mandatory until my toddler starts consistently sleeping through the night!), but I'll ditch the department store powder and head to the grocery store instead.

Bonus: a box of corn starch costs about a buck, which is a savings of about $30 versus what I used to pay - maybe more since the box is so big.

Score!

All Natural Solution to Hard Water Spots

I use white vinegar as a cleaning agent for just about everything in my house.  I've written about if a few times - you can read more here on how I use it.

This evening, I saw the "add rinse agent" indicator lit up on my dishwasher, which reminded me of yet another way to eliminate chemicals from your life and save a few dollars in the process.

Once you've finished off the last of your store-bought dishwasher rinse agent, just fill that rinse agent well with white vinegar.

Problem cleanly solved.  Oh, and your dishwasher will smell better, too.

A Great Article on Fake Plastic Fish about Baking Soda

Beth Terry of Fake Plastic Fish wrote a great article today about the many uses for baking soda.  I've written a few times about it (for example, here) and use baking soda every day.  But in Beth's article, she highlighted a few interesting and surprising uses for it - things I'd never considered before - particularly pertaining to personal care.  It's worth a read!

25 Great Green Ideas

There are so many great things I'd love to do to make my home greener.  For a variety of reasons, I haven't done them all yet, but they remain on my list and I hope to get to them eventually.

Here are 25 Green Ideas you might also consider:

1. Composting - this is the next thing I'll do.  A composter tumbler is a must for easy composting.
   
2. Tubular skylights - I can think of at least 5 places I'd put one of these in my home.  Seriously awesome idea.
3. See if radiant barrier foil makes sense - we installed this in the Summer of 2008 and our house was noticeably more comfortable this past summer.  We also get an annual tax credit for the enhancement.
4. Solar landscape lighting - I bought a bunch of solar lights this past Spring for our front yard.  While they are not as powerful as corded lights, they enhance the evening appearance of our home and provide critical path lighting.
   
5. Explore solar roof panels.
6. Consider a wind turbine - we live in a very windy part of the country.  Right now, our city doesn't allow them, but I can hope!
7. Install a programmable thermostat - we've got one and it's really useful  Along those same lines, try to tolerate warmer in-home temps in the summer and colder temps in the winter.  This saves energy and might even be better for our health.
8. Collect rainwater from our roof in rain barrels and use it to water our lawn later.  This might be our second project, after the composter.
   
9. Bathe the kids together to save hot water.  I've got two small boys so it works for now. 
10. When doing dishes, scrape pans and scrub dishes with the water faucet turned off, rather than letting it run.
11. Grow organic fruits and vegetables in the backyard.  It saves money, provides fresher produce, and reduces environmental impact.
12. Install energy-efficient motion-sensor floodlights above your garage and in your backyard.  They use less power (you don't leave them on for any longer than you need them) and they might scare off intruders.
13. Use homemade non-toxic household cleaners.  I've been doing this for a while and love it.
14. As old light bulbs burn out, replace them with more energy efficient ones.
15. Get rid of plastic food storage containers in the kitchen.  Plastic leaches toxins into food.  Replace plastic with stainless steel or Pyrex.
16. Cook with cast iron, not non-stick pots and pans. 
    
17. Get rid of plastic in kids' meals.  Use stainless steel whenever possible.  Need ideas? Click here and here.
18. Maintain the lawn and garden organically to keep kids, pets, wildlife and beneficial insects safe.
    
19. Have a bug problem?  Deal with it organically.  Don't want to make your own solutions?  Here's an online guide to organic products you can buy.
    
20. Recycle when you can.  
21. Sell or give away things you don't want - post them on freecycle.org or craigslist, or give them to Goodwill.
22. Avoid some of those dry cleaning chemicals by learning how to wash dry-clean-only clothes.  Better yet, vow to buy fewer dry-clean-only clothes.
23. Drink tap water rather than bottled water, but make sure your tap water is healthy.  If it is not what you would like it to be or you worry about it, consider installing water filtration.
    
24. Use less paper.  Remove yourself from mailing lists - click here to do that.
25. Don't just clean the home - keep it tidy and organized.  This facilitates figuring out what can be discarded (see #21) and using possessions more efficiently (thereby avoiding unnecessary purchases).  Green living and good organization go hand-in-hand.

Is Water Fluoridation Necessary, Or Even Good for Us?

Our family is very careful about what we put in our bodies.  We eat a largely organic diet and minimize our exposure to toxins. 

• I make my own all natural cleaning supplies.   
• We bathe our kids with all natural, organic shampoos and use only the safest sunscreen.  
• Our fruits and vegetables are mainly organic.  Our dairy is always organic.  Our meat and poultry is organic, or at the very least, vegetarian-fed and free of antibiotics and growth hormones.  Our organic diet allows us to avoid artificial colors and flavors, as well as high fructose corn syrup.
  
• We have all but eliminated plastic from our kitchen, cook with cast iron and store our food in Pyrex or stainless steel containers.  
• We don't drink bottled water because of chemicals that may leach out of the plastic bottles (and most of it is tap water anyway) and use stainless steel bottles when we're out and about.
  

But I'm becoming increasingly concerned that all of this effort is being offset by chemicals that may be lurking in our drinking water.  I've written about this before.  I thought I'd resolved my concerns and settled on drinking our tap water.  But I've been thinking more about the studies that point to the presence of sex hormones, mood stabilizers, anticonvulsants and antibiotics in municipal drinking water.  See this article, or this one or this one.  Is this why children are going through puberty earlier, has it contributed to health problems, is this one reason autism is on the rise?  Maybe what I'm doing now to protect my family isn't enough.  I haven't found any home kits that test for the presence of pharmaceuticals and my city doesn't test for them, so I have to go on faith that our tap water won't harm my family over time.  Hmm. Not feeling the faith.

Just about the only element of municipal drinking water that has kept us from installing a reverse-osmosis filter is fluoride.  But I wonder: is water fluoridation really necessary, or even good for us?  My kids get fluoride treatments from their dentist twice a year and I brush their teeth twice a day with fluoride toothpaste.  Do they really need it in their drinking water, too?

So I took the opportunity to ask the dentist today at my kids' semi-annual cleaning/checkup whether fluoridated water is necessary.  She said that having systemic fluoride (i.e., from drinking water) is important for developing teeth more than for the teeth that have already broken through (since these can be cleaned with fluoride toothpaste and given fluoride treatments).  So I asked her if she thought it would be okay if I started using reverse osmosis for our drinking water once the kids' adult teeth started coming in, and she said yes.

I'm still wondering about it, though.  How much damage might these chemicals do to my family in the three years until my younger child starts losing baby teeth? 

What would you do?

No More Toxic Cleaners

(originally published 6/29/09, updated 9/25/09)

I finally did it. I rid my home of toxic cleaners. I wish I'd done it a lot sooner.

I was worried about using harsh household cleaners around my small children. I also felt like the products were overkill. The fumes were ridiculous and if I didn't wear gloves, my hands were practically raw afterward!

When I was a child, we used products like Comet, Spic and Span and Joy. Not as harsh as some of today's products, but still not quite green. So I stepped back and looked one generation further. Folks used to clean their homes with much simpler ingredients: baking soda, white vinegar, essential oils. So I decided to use these to make my own household cleaners.

The old fashioned ingredients work well (even in my oven!), leave my house and car clean and fresh, aren't toxic, are easy to make and cost next to nothing.

I bought a bunch of empty spray bottles at Lowes, 3 huge "bulk" jugs of white vinegar, a few "bulk" bottles of hydrogen peroxide and a "bulk" bag of baking soda at Costco, and a small bottle of tea tree oil and a bottle of all-natural liquid dish soap and some lemon essential oil at my grocery store.

Here's what I use now...

1. Glass/window cleaner: 20 oz water, 8 oz white vinegar, 20 drops lemon oil. I have found that newspaper cleans glass really well - better than paper towels or cloth.

2. All-purpose cleaner (not for marble, but I use it on granite, my wood kitchen table and my stainless steel appliances with equally good results): 10 oz water, 10 oz white vinegar, 7 drops tea tree oil, 4 drops lemon oil. Shake it, spray it on, then wipe it off.

3. Tile floor cleaner: half warm water, half white vinegar. I clean with the 50/50 mixture, then wipe with plain warm water.

4. Hard wood floor cleaner: a bucket of warm water with three drops of lemon oil and three drops of uncomplicated liquid dish soap. I clean with the mixture, then wipe with plain warm water.

5. Marble cleaner - most folks recommend only wiping with water, but I like to clean things. So I fill a spray bottle with warm water and add a few drops of uncomplicated liquid dish soap. Shake, then spray it on. Marble stains easily so I work quickly, rinse the solution off with a very wet cloth and towel dry to avoid hard water marks.

6. When I need more muscle, I have a spray bottle filled simply with white vinegar. I spray it on and let it sit for a few minutes, then wipe. It will clean the inside of the microwave, oven and refrigerator without a ton of scrubbing. In the shower or commode, I spray vinegar or hydrogen peroxide, then apply baking soda if I need to scrub. Let it sit a few minutes, then rub a bit and rinse with water.

7. Hydrogen peroxide is also good when you need deeper cleaning in the kitchen or bathroom - I keep this in a handy spray bottle, too. To properly disinfect, you need to let it sit for a few minutes while it fizzes, then wipe it off.

8. Wood polish: 1 cup of olive oil plus 1/2 cup of lemon juice - I make it fresh each time -rub it in with one cloth, then buff it off with a fresh one.

As a result of this, I no longer use a ton of disposable disinfectant wipes and disposable floor wipes, so I went to Costco and spent a few bucks on a dozen white bar towels, picked up a mop with machine-washable terry cloth covers at my grocery store, and a two-compartment rolling mop bucket at Lowes. Now I not only save money on my cleaning supplies and feel better about the chemical situation in my home, but I also no longer generate as much waste because it is all machine washable.

Win win win!

Time will tell how well these mixtures work for me, but so far so good. I’ll keep you posted.

Update 9/25/09:
Tired of lugging around buckets of clean and vinegar water, I bought a Shark Steam Pocket Mop.  It cleans and kills germs using only hot steam.  I sweep or vacuum first to remove debris, then use the steam mop to remove stuck-on dirt and spots and disinfect.  I bought a few extra pockets and just toss them in the washing machine when I'm done.  I use it on my tile and hardwood floors.  LOVE it.

Fighting My Child's Eczema

From the day my first child was born we have battled his eczema. It's not severe but it is persistent. I can't say I was surprised since I've got a number of family members with allergies, asthma and eczema. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

He was sensitive to dairy as a tiny baby but outgrew it by the time he celebrated his first birthday.

That's when we discovered the massive egg allergy. It was not respiratory in nature but the first time I gave him scrambled eggs after he turned one was quite scary (his whole body turned red and his face and ears swelled -- see photo at left). I became very skilled at baking without eggs. By the time he was two and a half he had outgrown that sensitivity. Whew!

All along the way, I've been trying to untangle the mystery of the occasional tiny patches of eczema that crop up on his arms, lower back and lower legs.

At various times I've kept a log of his diet, done some elimination diet testing, carefully reviewed what environmental allergens he's encountered. I know that some of it is hereditary, some of it is seasonal (it gets worse in the winter when the air is dry) and some of it is food-related (he doesn't handle artificial colors well).

His eczema isn't bad enough for me to put him through exhaustive (and painful) tests right now. He can decide about that for himself when he is older. For now, I just find that keeping on top of it is vitally important - dry patches that are left unaddressed quickly worsen.

I think some of my preventive measures have helped. In the winter, we use a humidifier in his bedroom. All year round, we try to eat as organically as possible. I also take precautions to keep contact allergens to a minimum:

• changing our sheets and air filters frequently and vacuuming all of our carpets weekly to reduce dust mites
• not wearing shoes inside the house so we don't track in pollen and dirt
• not having pets
• using biodegradable, unscented, dye-free laundry detergent
• using organic shampoo (Jason Natural Kids Shampoo or California Baby Shampoo) and Aquaphor Healing Ointment (especially after bath!) rather than complicated skin lotions
• using non-toxic household cleaners
• using good sunscreen (click here for a website that rates the safety and efficacy of sunscreens and other personal products)
  
• using hydrocortisone cream (1%) sparingly
• rinsing off chlorine right after swimming

Please leave a comment to share what methods you use to battle eczema!

Worries About Unregulated Contaminants in Tap Water

My brother forwarded to me today a Chicago Tribune article about Chicago water. It mentioned that traces of pharmaceuticals and other unregulated substances were found in treated Lake Michigan water in the last year. It's worth a read, especially because Chicago is probably not the only city with this problem - concerns about other cities' drinking water have also been written about by other publications.

This Spring, I read the report my city posted for 2008 and saw that it was testing for some unregulated contaminants. It said, "the purpose of unregulated contaminant monitoring is to assist EPA in determining the occurrence of unregulated contaminants in drinking water and whether future regulation is warranted." None of the eight items my city tested reported at the high end of the "Range of Detects".

For more information on ground water and drinking water, visit the EPA's website.

If you have seen your city water's test results, had your own tap water tested (none of the kits I've seen mention testing for pharmaceuticals, but I have seen pesticides listed) and remain uncomfortable about its quality, you still have other options aside from buying bottled water.

The most popular choices appear to be:

• Reverse Osmosis - draws water through a very fine membrane. Very thorough but expensive relative to other options. Removes fluoride, too, so take this into account if you have kids.
• Activated Carbon - removes impurities as water passes through the filter. Inexpensive, lots of kinds available, easty to install, slow, not as thorough as RO.
• Distillation - water is purified through evaporation and condensation. Effectively removes many contaminants from water but it does not filter out contaminants that boil at a lower temperature than water (and, hence, go up in the vapor along with the water).
  
• Ultraviolet Light - living organisms in the water are killed by ultraviolet light. It does not filter out other contaminants.

10 Ways We've Gone Green This Year

This has been a year of change for us and we've really just begun. I've got a lot of other projects under way to make our lives greener and more efficient, and I'll blog about those as we tackle them.

Here are ten ways we've become more environmentally conscious so far:

1. As our light bulbs burn out, we've started replacing them with more energy efficient ones. They last longer and use less energy.

2. I now clean our home with homemade cleaning supplies and machine-washable cloth towels, not paper towels.

3. I buy green versions of the household products that I don't make myself (such as garbage bags, bathroom tissue, facial tissues, paper napkins, paper towels, laundry detergent, dish soap, dishwasher detergent). The labels don't just feature nebulous words such as "green", "non-toxic", or "environmentally-friendly". Rather, the words I look for are "recycled" (at least 30%), organic, biodegradable, or sustainable.

4. I give things away rather than throwing them away. I could go on and on about this. We all sometimes itch to push the ejector button on certain things in our homes - maybe old plastic tubs, clothes, shoes, that old wagon-wheel table, or old baby toys. Before you haul it out to the curb, ask around to see if someone wants it, post it on freecycle.org or craigslist, give it to Goodwill. Your castoffs could be treasures for someone else! Seriously. You will be surprised.

5. No more bottled water. As I previously blogged, we had our tap water tested, confirmed it's safe to drink (as best as we can) and stopped buying bottled water.

6. I am more careful about planning our meals and food purchases to minimize tossing out spoiled food.

7. I use reusable shopping bags whenever I remember to bring them. When I don't bring them, I opt for plastic bags and use them to dispose of dirty diapers later.

8. My older child is now old enough to understand conservation, so I've started reinforcing this with the kids. We turn off lights when we leave a room, don't run the tap while we're busy brushing our teeth, eat what is on our plates. This last point is an important one. I've started explaining about those in the world who often go to bed with empty stomachs. It is disrespectful to these people to waste the food we are so fortunate to have.

9. We are more careful about recycling - particularly our curbside recycling, which represents the majority of our recycling opportunity. But we are also now more careful about finding ways to recycle items that should not or cannot be picked up curbside.

10. We've lined our attic with radiant barrier foil to save on our electric bill. I will write more about this later. I'll just say that we did it last summer and are now reaping the benefits.

Must go now. The older child has just convinced the toddler that he is missing a toe. I hear some shrieking.

One of My Favorite Kitchen Items: Cast Iron Cookware

First of all: why cast iron? Simple. It’s healthier than non-stick coated pans, incredibly sturdy and can be heated safely above 400F without unhealthy metals leaching into food.

It took me a while to come around to the idea of cast iron cookware, despite the health benefits. I imagined that everything would stick to it and that cleaning it would be impossible. But my brother told me how much he likes the old cast iron pan he bought at a yard sale, so I took the plunge.

The first cast iron piece I bought was a Lodge griddle. One side is smooth, perfect for pancakes, bacon, grilled cheese sandwiches, burgers and eggs. The other side is ridged, perfect for steaks and grilled vegetables. It was pre-seasoned (i.e., oiled) so I just needed to rinse it with hot water and dry it thoroughly before using it.

The first day, I cooked breakfast and lunch on it without any problem. If you are careful with the temperature and use a bit of olive or canola oil (or butter), you won’t have any meaningful sticking. Cleaning it is easy – I just use hot water and a strong scrub brush to remove the food, then wipe it dry with a paper towel and rub in a bit of olive oil to keep it seasoned. On my brother’s recommendation, I store my cast iron in my oven when not in use.

I love it so much that I also bought a Lodge skillet, which I now use almost every day. The neat thing about this pan is the way I can sear beef to seal in the juices, then put the whole thing in the oven to finish cooking.

Oh, and did I mention that beyond the health benefits and sturdiness of cast iron, these items are far cheaper than much of the other cookware out there?

Win, win, win!