I recently moved into a new house and was greeted by a mess of an oven – caked on grease everywhere! Not one into using anything with chemicals to clean, especially with my three little precious ones around, I needed an alternative. The easiest thing to do would have been to press the self-clean button,…
Garden Hoses – A Potential Health Risk
Every summer, we use the garden hoses to fill up the water tables and kiddie pools, turn on the toy sprinkler and let the kids have some water fun out in the backyard, while my husband and I tend to our organic garden. What we didn’t know, until recently, was that we were exposing both…
Misconceptions About Common 'Natural' Treatments
This post is about dispelling some common beliefs about everyday ‘treatments’ that people believe to be effective and/or safe, specifically focusing on Vaseline, Vicks VapoRub, and the use of cranberry juice to treat urinary tract infections. Vaseline – During the drying conditions of winter, beware of VASELINE. Vaseline (the trademark name for Petroleum Jelly) is…
Going to 'Extreme'
It’s not often, but sometimes I get flack – whether it be in the form of a roll of the eyes, a look, a sneer, a backhanded comment or an outright, why bother, everyone else is doing it and they are okay. Sometimes someone will go so far as to sneak my children something when…
Protecting Children from the Chemicals Found in Car Seats
I wrote about this issue some time ago when HealthyStuff.org came out with their 2011 list of car seat ratings based on the amount of dangerous chemicals that they contain – Link here Car Seat Dangers. Much of these chemicals, though not all, are used as flame retardants. As discussed by Ivy Sager-Rosenthal, campaign director…
The Nose Knows to Avoid Artificial Air Fresheners
Think Twice Before Using Artificially Scented Candles and Air Fresheners Somewhere along the way, as humans learned to make their way on this earth, they (we) became more and more conscious of the smells coming from our bodies and our immediate environment and decided that it was best if some of these scents were masked….
Cheap Jewelry (both child and adult) Poses Serious Health Risks
(Check to See if Yours Made the List!) Your jewelry very well could make you sick, if it is of the cheaper variety often found at stores like Kohl’s, H&M, Claire’s and Target. This is nothing new, as past studies have shown that a significant amount of this jewelry contains cadmium, which is toxic if a…
Parents Buy Car Seats to Keep Their Children Safe, Yet Oftentimes Danger is Still There!
Well, here I am writing about car seats again! If you remember, I first discussed the topic back in October when I originally saw HealthyStuff.org’s car seat safety rankings, which is based on the presence of hazardous flame retardants and chemical additives. Since then, I have accessed the list for my own purposes as I…
Creative Creations Using Safe and Eco Friendly Paints!
Unfortunately, like so many other things that we come into contact with daily, children’s craft supplies, like paints, often contain toxic chemicals including PVC. That’s why I decided to find an eco friendly paint that is safe for my children to work with. It wasn’t too hard to find since my mother had already done…
If Formaldehyde is used on Dead Bodies, Why is it in My Baby Products?
A friend of mine from college is currently studying to be a funeral director. When she saw my website, she got in touch with me about something she had recently learned in school: “I was just reading something about Quaternium-15, which is a type of ammonium salt that is used in cosmetic products as a…