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Health For Life Catalog

Posted in Uncategorized | August 27th, 2011

health for life catalog
Environmentally friendly vs. Non-enviornmentally friendly prducts?

For my health class we have to make a catalog consisting of 10 “green” products you would use in your everyday life. Along with that, we have to have the alternative to it that’s not environmentally friendly. Any ideas i could use? much thanks =]

Here are a few items I use in my everyday life and their alternatives

I use olive oil soap, instead of a conventional soap which is non biodegradable, contains phosphates and synthetic fragrances which can be a neurotoxin or immunotoxin, contains SLS which is derived from palm oil and is responsible for depletion of the rain forest, and artificial colors which can be toxic to a variety of organs.

I use vinegar and water with a little liquid castile soap instead of 409 or other conventional cleaner which contains chemicals like Dimethybenzyl Ammonium Chloride and Propoxypropanol which have no established safe level of exposure. The manufacturer says you should use safety glasses and gloves in a well ventilated area when using the product, and you should immediately wash your skin if it comes into contact and not wear clothes that have been contaminated with the product

I use an all natural deodorant instead of conventional antiperspirant who’s active ingredient is aluminum chlororohydrate, which has been linked to reproductive and other organ toxicity, many also contain butane (lighter fluid) and fragrances which I mentioned before.

I use farm fresh produce instead of packaged produce which is often picked before it is ripe, gassed to turn it the correct color, or it may have been washed in bleach and put into a plastic bag with other gases to keep the color correct, or possibly waxed to keep it looking fresh.

I eat local organic grass fed or free range meats instead of factory farmed meats which are pumped full or hormones, steroids and antibiotics to get them to market weight in minimal time, force fed an unnatural diet and housed so close together they are unable to move or get out of their own waste. The rates of salmonella and ecoli are astronomical in this type of environment.

I use recycled content paper products for everything from toilet paper, to copy paper. You can’t tell the difference on most products but unless we increase the demand for recycled content we will continue to fill the landfills with valuable resources.

I use a stainless steel water bottle instead of water bottled in plastic, less than 20% of the water bottles are recycled. Companies that bottle water are often in legal battles because they are depleting a communities water supply or ruining an ecosystem to make profits on a very energy intensive, unnecessary item.

I buy organic cotton or bamboo items, instead of conventional cotton which is the most pesticide intensive crop grown around the world. It takes about 1/3# of pesticides to grow enough cotton to make a single t-shirt. All those chemicals are absorbed into the soil or run off into the water shed and eventually find it’s way into the water and food supplies of the surrounding community.

I use reusable shopping bags instead of plastic bags which are a petroleum product, so they are toxic to produce and their design encourages them to become litter, millions of them fly away and land in our water ways and various natural environments where animals become fatally entangled or mistake them for food and die from ingesting them.

Dana, I may not have a degree, but it doesn’t take a chemist to see that the rate of cancers, immune disease, organ failure, reproductive disorders, asthma and a variety of other diseases are on the rise. I do read and although the studies aren’t conclusive, there are links to a variety of the chemicals we use to various disease. I don’t need 100% proof to decide to avoid suspected toxins. There have been many products that were suspected to be harmful for decades before enough evidence was found to pull them off the market. If I can avoid synthetic fragrances and other chemicals with little effort and without creating an unhealthy environment then I will.