Archive for October, 2007

October 29, 2007 | Food & drink, Health

Lindsey over at Finding Contentment in the Suburbs has a great post up about food spending. The issue is, eating healthy, locally-grown, pesticide-free foods is really expensive! And grocery prices are inching up nationally, making the price gap between cheap, preservative-laden foods and healthy, fresh foods even more ridiculous.

There’s an obesity crisis in this country that stems from lots of factors - including a sedentary lifestyle, hours spent in front of the screen (whether it be TV, computer, IPOD, or Playstation, Wii, etc.), larger portion sizes, increased levels of things like HFCS (high fructose corn syrup) in foods, and the general fact that you can buy potato chips for half the price of fresh fruit.

A family of four can eat affordably on Hamburger Helper, Pasta Roni, and Kraft Mac N Cheese, but their nutritional quality will be next to nill and their midsection is likely to be on the increase. Unfortunately, part of the solution is to spend more time in the kitchen - cooking from scratch, and spend more money on groceries - the fresher the better. But those are two luxuries that not everyone can afford.

Unfortunately I don’t know a better solution. I’m hoping for a bread machine for Christmas. The way we go through bread - 3-4 loaves a week at $2.49 a loaf (when on sale), we should be able to save around $300 a year buy just purchasing the raw ingredients and making it myself. But again, not everyone has the time available to bake their own bread. Or grow their own vegetable garden. Or, frankly, cook meals from scratch (add to that: that the kids will eat).

Anyhow, I encourage you to read Lindsey’s post.  Brainstorm with her (and with me too). What can be done to solve the food crisis?

October 26, 2007 | Lifestyle

I’ve been checking some of the other ‘green’ blogs out there, and while I love a lot of the ideas and products I’m finding, I was a bit flabbergasted by one.

“Don’t hand out candy for Halloween. Instead, make your own little baggies of organic veggies!”

Sorry folks, but in my part of town, that would probably get my house TP’d. And I’d rather treat the neighbors to fun size Snickers than be the reason for 24 bonus size rolls of wasted toilet paper, and the carbon emissions wasted in their production. Call me old fashioned, but on Halloween I’ll be handing out lollipops, candy corn, and some sort of mini-me candy bar. Sure, there’s high fructose corn syrup. And probably some non-fairly traded peanuts, and some worker-exploited cocoa. But somewhere in there, the nostalgia of it all gets to me, and for one night a year, high fructose corn syrup doesn’t bother me so much. But that’s just me.

October 23, 2007 | Health, Lifestyle, News

And this is precisely why we went all-natural. Some tests revealed remarkably high levels of PBDEs (flame retardants) and phthalates (plasticizers - softening agents to make plastic pliable) in a couple children tested with a ‘body burden’ test. It tests the level of industrial chemicals that have permeated the human body.

Tests like those have been done on adults for years, but this is the first report on a body burden test done on children. And the results are frightening. The children’s results were up to seven times the amount of chemicals found in their parents’ bodies.  It makes sense - children breathe more air, drink more water, eat more food than adults do. Their little bodies process it faster.

With rising rates of childhood cancers, asthma, birth defects, and developmental disorders, and no clear reason why,  test results like these are worrisome. PBDEs and phthalates have been linked to neurological and reproductive defects, obesity, and early puberty in lab animals. We’re not entirely clear on what they do to humans. You can read the full article here.

To protect your kids from phthalates, pay close attention to the type of plastics in use in your home.  The PBDEs are a little tougher. They use them all over the place - in fabrics, upholstery, computers and TVs, and all sorts of plastics. You can learn more about them here, but unfortunately they don’t have any clues about how to stay away from them.

October 22, 2007 | Reviews, Broom Hugged, Cleaning products

The great people over at Barefoot Home Essentials sent us an introduction set of products to try out. Try we did, and love we do. They have all-natural all-purpose cleaner, glass cleaner, disinfecting spray, and room freshener. How do we love thee? Let me count the ways…

The all-purpose cleaner has something we’ve never found in any other cleaner: cinnamon! The scent is amazing. It makes me want to clean more. And more. And more. Somebody stop me. It really is an all-purpose go-to cleaner. I’ve used it to remove scuffs from my tile, dried on food from the wood table (thanks to toddler food-painting), washable crayon off the wall, and clean the toilets and countertops too. The one thing it couldn’t handle was the soap scum on the shower door, but I wouldn’t typically use an all-purpose for that anyway (vinegar and salt work best on soap scum).

The glass cleaner makes my mirrors shine, streak-free, and smells lovely. I’ve also used it as an all-purpose in a pinch, and it does a great job on the counters and stainless sink.

But let me tell you, the disinfectant spray makes my dreams come true, especially this time of year. My family has been passing some awful germs around, including bronchitis and pneumonia. The disinfectant spray is gentle enough to use on the toys in the playroom, and helps me rid our home of germy-germs. I spray it on the light switches, door knobs, playroom, kids’ rooms, faucets - and no wiping necessary. I love this stuff.

And the lavender room spray is just what I need before guests arrive. Yes, I just wrote a post against perfumes for your home, but this is different. This is lavender. It eases headaches and stress. It disinfects. It stimulates your immune system. It relaxes. It’s all-natural. It’s heaven in a bottle.

Do you know what I like best about this company? Barefoot Home Essentials is family-run. And their priorities and values are much the same as mine. They promote health. They build their business around their family, not vice versa. They believe in safe, all-natural products that are family friendly. They stand behind their product.

So. Do not pass go. Do not collect $200. Go straight to Barefoot Home Essentials and get yourself some of this stuff! You will not be disappointed. I promise.

And, the folks over there are just so wonderful. They’re offering - to Broom Huggers readers alone - buy 3 get 1 free! Just mention Broom Huggers sent you. You can’t beat that! Go ahead, buy yourself a full set. Your home deserves it. And international readers? They ship international too! Of course you’ll have to pay a wee extra for the all the extra miles it’s going to travel, but when you’re buying 3 and getting 1 free, it’s so worth it. Do you realize that’s 25% off? Wow, people!

October 20, 2007 | Floors, Cleaning tips

Every now and then someone balks at what we recommend for cleaning hardwoods - that is, damp mopping with diluted vinegar or lemon juice and maybe an essential oil if you choose. Some people would say that any amount of moisture is bad for your wood. So here’s the scoop.

DAMP MOPPING

Some professionals recommend that you damp mop your hardwood floor and others cringe at the suggestion. Just remember, if your floor’s finish is in good shape and mopping is done correctly, the water won’t penetrate even the oil and wax finishes. You’re cleaning the finish, not the wood, so don’t use water if the finish is in poor shape.

Damp Mopping is the fastest and best way to deep-clean solid hardwood floors. Depending on how much use your floor gets, you may have to mop it as often as once a week. Use a neutral pH wood cleaner and water, or manufacturer- recommended products. Wet the mop and wring so it’s about half-dry. Wet the floor with the mop. Dip the mop into clean water, wring it as dry as you can and mop over the floor again.

Heavy-Duty Mopping

If floors are property sealed, the little extra water and cleaner required will not injure your hardwood floor, but use common sense. Vinegar — often prescribed to clean hardwood floors — does nothing for removing grease.

October 18, 2007 | Cleaning products, Lifestyle

Before going all-natural in my own home, I was a connoisseur of scented cleaning products. I had all sorts of products that I used (especially before guests came) and I’d take pride in the ‘clean smell’ my house had when they arrived. I didn’t realize then that the smell I was so proud of was created by a concoction of chemicals made to trick the senses.

A lot of people falsely equate chemically-created lemon or pine scents with clean. I don’t know if it’s the idea that a specific smell gives the illusion of clean, or if we’ve really deceived ourselves to believe that the true test of clean is not being dirt-free, but having a nice smell to distract us. Sometimes it seems like we’re putting on aftershave without actually shaving off the stubble. You get the nice fresh scent, but it doesn’t cover up the 5:00 shadow.

The thing is, household cleaners serve a purpose - to make homes healthy and clean. Your house doesn’t need perfume, and clean isn’t equivalent to pine or lemon (especially when artificially lab created). Believe it or not, our clients really like the fact that when they come home after we’ve cleaned, there’s no smell that knocks them over as they walk through the door. Perfume is for you, not your home. And if you desire something to enhance the ’sensory experience’ at home, boil some cloves, bake an apple, get an oil infuser - there are plenty of ways to do it without spreading all those chemicals around your family and pets.

October 17, 2007 | Food & drink, Organics

Strawberries are going onto my list of things to buy organic. The EPA just approved a new pesticide for use on strawberries to replace Methyl bromide, which has been banned by international treaties for ozone depletion. the new pesticide, methyl iodide is also a highly toxic fumigant, a neurotoxin, carcinogen, and has been linked to miscarriages in animals. They say it’s more dangerous to be near fields treated with the chemical than to eat the food produced there - apparently it leaves little to no residue. I’ll still be buying organic though.

The four-year review of the pesticide, coined by the EPA as ‘one of the most thorough’ analyses of a pesticide, was conducted by none other than the Tokyo based company that manufactures it. Furthermore, the company’s former CEO is now the administrator in the northwest region of the EPA.

Anyone else smell a rat? Oh, wait, no. That’s what pesticides are for.

For more information, check out the story here.

October 15, 2007 | asthma, Health, Cleaning products, News

A new study links household spray cleaners - especially glass cleaners, furniture polish, and air fresheners - to up to 1 in 7 cases of adult asthma cases. They found that using such sprays, even just once a week, increased incidents by 30 to 50 percent.

Cleaning sprays and air fresheners contain chemicals such as ammonia, chlorine-releasing agents and sodium hydroxide. Researchers suggested that the chemicals being released into the air in spray form significantly increased their exposure to people.

We here at Broom Huggers know that, and it’s why we use exclusively natural products. Chemical free translates to asthma free.  There are lots of natural products at your supermarket - try Method, Seventh Generation, Ecover, or plain old vinegar and water.

October 13, 2007 | Health, News

But apparently, it’s true. I’ve heard about lipstick being made from animal fat of diseased animals, and that’s enough to turn my stomach (which is why I try to stick to plant-based lipsticks like Aveda, Cargo, etc.). But lead?

Ladies, we may not like to think about it, but we ingest lipstick. As the day wears on, the lipstick is gradually pulled into your mouth, and where do you think it goes from there?

A consumer rights groups tested lipsticks and found that over half have measurable amounts of lead. Brands like Cover Girl, L’Oreal, and Christian Dior were the worst offenders. You can read the whole story here, it’s pretty shocking.

In addition to the learning disabilities, language and behavioral problems from lead exposure, it’s also been linked to infertility and miscarriages.

October 10, 2007 | Bleach alternatives, Cleaning tips

When I look at the keyword searches that brought people here, I’m always a little surprised at what I find. One of the more frequent search phrases is “toilet encrusted” with, well, you can use your imagination on that one. Let me just set the record straight. If your toilet is encrusted, you might want to try cleaning it a little more often. Just a thought.

I get lots of people looking for information on bleach, and using it for different purposes. So here’s a run-down of some frequently asked questions.

• Using bleach to clean lettuce (or potatoes, carrots, apples, any fruit or vegetable)
  • Please don’t. You will ingest bleach residue. How much you ingest depends on how well you rinse, what type of water you have, what type of bleach you use, etc. Ingesting bleach is never good. For anyone. If you’re looking for a way to wash your fruits and veggies, get a veggie sponge from your local kitchen gadget store and use vinegar when you scrub. It’ll kill the germs and dissolve the dirt.
• Bleach to remove warts
  • Again, please don’t. Bleach can cause 3rd degree skin burns. And those leave nasty scars. There are better ways to get rid of warts. Ask your pharmacist. Or your doctor. Or check out these posts.
• Bleach to disinfect body
  • I don’t know if this refers to internal or external disinfecting. But either way, please don’t. For your own health and safety. Again, there are better ways to cleanse your body - inside and out. I recommend you look into it. Bleach is a very harsh chemical, and not meant for use on the skin, or internally ingested / absorbed / smoked. I don’t know what else you can do with it, but my preference is to leave it on the shelf at the grocery store.