Chemical free products and the world we live in.

With the ongoing talk about chemical laden products ruining our health and damaging the environment i wanted to see how man people on this site use chemical free products? Do you use them solely because they do not damage the environment? Or because of health concerns? I have specifically started using and looking into these issue in regards to detergents and home cleaners and what's really in them. As i have never given much thought into the environmental debate. So i ask do you feel you are making a difference? Do you feel the extra cost and hassle of locating these products is worth it? I sometimes feel undecided one due to the hassle of locating these thing whether online or instore but sometimes when claims about certain ingredients are not backed up with solid proof.

I want to hear what you guys think.

Before my post disappears i still want to get people's thoughts on this issue. Do people actually do there part and implement these type of products into your household or simply dismiss the whole notion of chemical laden products harming us.

I am trying to use safe products, as much as possible.
But, I think that living a chemical free life is a luxury. The whole standard of living is based on a lie - we are living unhealthy lives.

It is a long story, and a very political one. The whole consumerism is a way of enslaving people.

One should try to use products that are completely free of dihydrogen monoxide. Way too much of it in our foods and household products.

And try to use products that were developed and manufactured using the principles of organic chemistry.

Its good to see that people are using safe products.For those of you in the states do you find these products widely distributed or are they harder to locate?

I'm in the US and I make my own cleaning products. Granted, they don't work as quickly as the commercial and chemical laden stuff, but they do work if you use a little elbow grease.

In addition to being better for the environment, they're better for my family and my home never has that horrible chemical smell. And the best thing is that the kids can help clean and I'm not worried about what's soaking into their skin or what they are breathing.

It's a little more work, but less $$ overall, and better all around for everyone.

Could you give some examples?

Everything is made of chemicals. A simple baking soda solution can replace deodorants. I've been wondering about toothpaste.

Bleach is nasty stuff. What can replace it?

Oh come on now laundry detergants and dishwashing stuff cant be bad for your health unless you ingest it. How does the chemicals we wash our clothes in hurt us? I do not understand. I guess I can see how if you do not rinse your dishes properly the dish detergant could eventually affect your health. But laundry stuff?

Originally posted by DYepes
Oh come on now laundry detergants and dishwashing stuff cant be bad for your health unless you ingest it. How does the chemicals we wash our clothes in hurt us? I do not understand. I guess I can see how if you do not rinse your dishes properly the dish detergant could eventually affect your health. But laundry stuff?

Skin is considered the largest organ of the human body - and it absorbs all kinds of residues. Most of these chemicals do not break down in the body, but accumulate in cells and tissues.

BTW - Most household products are inhaled, not ingested.

Coincidentally, lung and skin cancer rates have risen dramatically and alarmingly over the past few decades, right along with the use of synthetic chemicals.

But no, you say, lung cancer is caused by smoking and skin cancer results from too much sun exposure without chemical protection - and both are a matter of personal responsibility.

Yeah right, I say.

Here is a very basic primer - a must read:

Toxicant-Induced Loss of Tolerance – An Emerging Theory of Disease?
or www.herc.org...


Enjoy.


.

Ok well I have had my ignorance denied. But how in the hell am I supposed to find chemically safe, or organic detergant, or whatever? I have never seen any of that stuff at Wal-Mart, Publix, SweetBay (formerly kash n karry), or any other grocer/retailers. I could probably get some of it in to Wal-Mart if I knew what I was looking for. I know some buyers that work at the Home office, and coupled with the right marketing (I am a small time consultant on the side) I am sure I could at the very least get it in at my own distict.

So, any ideas? What is available, who are the companies? an international retailer could make a mom/pop manufacturer into a rich conglomerate overnight.

I am extremely careful about what I take in.. Mainly because of my acute response to sugar substitutes. Every time I ingest a product with an artificial sweetener, even splenda, I get a massive migraine and am pretty much out for the rest of the day.

I also had a quest to find ANY commercial toothpaste that did not have sodium saccharine in it. I ended up using Tom's of Maine most commonly because it seems pretty available. But it explained the "dull" feeling I got even when I didn't swallow any of the toothpaste. Also have nixed deodorant that contains aluminum.

I buy organic milk from the store as there is a really nice local supplier that has it in GLASS jugs and it only cost a little more then the hormone treated stuff.

Here's the biggest issues I have with chemicals replacing more common but costlier ingredients in food:

Sugar substitutes have long been proven to be iffy for health at best, numerous studies that link it directly to cancer in laboratory animals, nutra-sweet failed the FDA's approval a number of times before being accepted after a large donation was made from backers of nutra-sweet and such.

We are one of the few countries that distribute food made this way en' masse. And we sit around and wonder why Americans are fat and the obesity rate is out of control. I think we SHOULD be looking at what we eat, and not just throwing more chemicals and science at this.

We really have no clue what the long term effects of most of this is as it's really only been widely used in food products in the last 20 or so years. I don't want to be part of the generation that suffers learning this fact the hard way.

Okay, that was a little disjointed, but I think I got my points across and also answered the thread question.

Originally posted by soficrow

Originally posted by DYepes
Oh come on now laundry detergants and dishwashing stuff cant be bad for your health unless you ingest it. How does the chemicals we wash our clothes in hurt us? I do not understand. I guess I can see how if you do not rinse your dishes properly the dish detergant could eventually affect your health. But laundry stuff?

Skin is considered the largest organ of the human body - and it absorbs all kinds of residues. Most of these chemicals do not break down in the body, but accumulate in cells and tissues.

BTW - Most household products are inhaled, not ingested.

Coincidentally, lung and skin cancer rates have risen dramatically and alarmingly over the past few decades, right along with the use of synthetic chemicals.

But no, you say, lung cancer is caused by smoking and skin cancer results from too much sun exposure without chemical protection - and both are a matter of personal responsibility.

Yeah right, I say.

Here is a very basic primer - a must read:

Toxicant-Induced Loss of Tolerance – An Emerging Theory of Disease?
or www.herc.org...


Enjoy.

Thanks for adding those links.Hope they help those who may not be aware of these issues.


[edit on 3-1-2007 by tarzan]

[edit on 3-1-2007 by tarzan]

Originally posted by DYepes
Ok well I have had my ignorance denied. But how in the hell am I supposed to find chemically safe, or organic detergant, or whatever? I have never seen any of that stuff at Wal-Mart, Publix, SweetBay (formerly kash n karry), or any other grocer/retailers. I could probably get some of it in to Wal-Mart if I knew what I was looking for. I know some buyers that work at the Home office, and coupled with the right marketing (I am a small time consultant on the side) I am sure I could at the very least get it in at my own distict.

So, any ideas? What is available, who are the companies? an international retailer could make a mom/pop manufacturer into a rich conglomerate overnight.

You may want to look at seventh generation

www.seventhgeneration.com...

Originally posted by dave_54
One should try to use products that are completely free of dihydrogen monoxide. Way too much of it in our foods and household products.

And try to use products that were developed and manufactured using the principles of organic chemistry.

Dave, I don't know if anyone else got the joke, but I had a good laugh!
Thanks

Someone asked for some examples. I won't take credit for them, I bought a bunch of books on healthy cleaning, so that's where they come from.

For deodorant: I buy something called Crystal Stick at the store, basically it's a big salt stick but works better than anything I've ever used.

For cleaning the house: baking soda mixed with orange peel and orange essential oil for cleaning the bathroom - the orange peel is great for scrubbing; baking soda mixed with cinnamon and patcholi essential oil used as a carpet deodorizer and general cleaner; for cleaning soap scum from the tub, I sprinkle baking soda on the bottom, then spritz it with white vinegar...it bubbles up and takes away the soap scum with some scrubbing. Also I spray a mixture of white vinegar and tea tree oil on the shower curtain to inhibit mildew.

I read that murphy's oil soap is a somewhat safe cleaner, so I use that for washing floors, either that, or no soap and use my steamer.

I have a ton of plants around my house that are good for cleaning the air.

For toothpaste: I mix baking soda and water with a drop of food extract...anything will do - peppermint, almond, strawberry, anything that we happen to have around.

Yes, we use a LOT of baking soda in our house!

For laundry - I haven't found a "safe" detergent so use as little as I can get away with. But instead of a dryer sheet, I dampen a washcloth, put a drop of essential oil on it (anything is fine) and use that...the clothes are a little staticky, but smell good :-)

Originally posted by darkbluesky

Originally posted by dave_54
One should try to use products that are completely free of dihydrogen monoxide. Way too much of it in our foods and household products.

And try to use products that were developed and manufactured using the principles of organic chemistry.

Dave, I don't know if anyone else got the joke, but I had a good laugh!
Thanks

I got it. I was going to make a sensationalist post stating that 30% of people are allergic.

Anonposter,

This is all good stuff. Just be sure to stay away from Sodium Hydrogen Carbonate (NaHCO3)

Happy Cleaning!

Thanks tarzan, I am researching the company, and will be contacting peopel within my company to see how we can get this product on Wal-Mart shelves. Any others out there?

Also, I am not very informed or educated on the effects of these chemicals certain users are stating to "stay away from". Could you guys please cite a source or something that goes along with it explaining the bad effects it has on health and/or environment? I think it could help educate alot of people like me when we just glancing through and do not know what your talking about. It also brings the thread to a higher standard, or something.

Like I did not even know diapers and panty liners and stuff was bleached with chlorine. Now I will be driving to a sotre by my house whihc I found on the website tarzan posted, so I can purchase this stuff for my child (the wipes and diapers that is).

Originally posted by DYepes

Also, I am not very informed or educated on the effects of these chemicals certain users are stating to "stay away from". Could you guys please cite a source or something that goes along with it explaining the bad effects it has on health and/or environment? I think it could help educate alot of people like me when we just glancing through and do not know what your talking about.

DY - the boyz are joking.

Dihydrogen monoxide is H2O - water.

Sodium Hydrogen Carbonate (NaHCO3) is bocarbonate of soda - baking soda.



...My daughter gave me a printout from her science teacher last year, saying I really needed to know about this chemical that was contaminating the entire world - it was dihydrogen monoxide. The printout listed all the places of contamination - streams, rivers, lakes, oceans, etc.

...I read the printout, and laughed. I thought it was a joke. She was all hurt, so I told her dihydrogen monoxide was water. Next day at school, she spilled the beans and totally ruined the class her teacher had planned. ...And her teacher foolishly concluded first that my daughter, then that I am a brilliant scientist.

Not.

Originally posted by DYepes
Thanks tarzan, I am researching the company, and will be contacting peopel within my company to see how we can get this product on Wal-Mart shelves. Any others out there?

Also, I am not very informed or educated on the effects of these chemicals certain users are stating to "stay away from". Could you guys please cite a source or something that goes along with it explaining the bad effects it has on health and/or environment? I think it could help educate alot of people like me when we just glancing through and do not know what your talking about. It also brings the thread to a higher standard, or something.

Like I did not even know diapers and panty liners and stuff was bleached with chlorine. Now I will be driving to a sotre by my house whihc I found on the website tarzan posted, so I can purchase this stuff for my child (the wipes and diapers that is).

You may also look into

ecover www.ecover.com...

and ecostore www.ecostore.co.nz
However i am not sure if they are available in the states.

Also ecostore quotes a book by ecologist Sandra Steingraber in which she explores the relationship between chemicals and health problems.

Here is the author's site www.steingraber.com...

also here is a small lis of books and authors whose work turned up online.

Having Faith by Sandra Steingraber
Silent Spring by Rachel Carson
Hormonal Chaos: The Scientific and Social Origins of the Environmental Endocrine Hypothesis by Sheldon Krimsky
Earth Odyssey: Around the World in Search of Our Environmental Future by Mark Hertsgaard
Our Stolen Future: How We Are Threatening Our Fertility, Intelligence and Survival-- A Scienti by Theo Colborn


Organic Housekeeping

In Which the Non-Toxic Avenger Shows You How to Improve Your Health and That of Your Family, While You Save Time, Money, and, Perhaps, Your Sanity

By Ellen Sandbeck