Greening Your Home, Frugally

Many people associate going green with expensive purchases scattered throughout their living space, but living a greener lifestyle is more often about what you don’t buy and don’t have in your home.

A quick, and frugal way to improve the health of your home is to remove the toxic items. You may be thinking, “Who lives with toxic items? What, do people have piles of radioactive waste in their living rooms? If so, I’m a better housekeeper than I thought!” With toys and books currently littering way too many surfaces in our home, I’m clearly not qualified to judge anyone’s housekeeping abilities, but I can tell you the odds are high that items you have in your home today are toxic. Read more

Twelve Products You May Want to Avoid

Many people have seen the “Dirty Dozen” food listing created by the Environmental Working Group. (If not, you can see the full list and print a handy wallet-sized guide at http://www.foodnews.org/walletguide.php.) I just came across a similar listing for the “Dirty Dozen Consumer Products” published by the Cancer Prevention Coalition so wanted to share it as a follow-on to both the Book Review for “Clean House, Clean Planet” and What Does ‘Body Burden’ Mean and How Does this Affect My Family?

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What Does ‘Body Burden’ Mean and How Does this Affect My Family?

When I first heard the term ‘body burden,’ I thought it had more to do with remaining baby weight than anything else. (It’s still alright to call it baby weight when the babies are no longer babies, right?) Body burden actually refers to the accumulation of toxic chemicals in one’s body. You read that correctly – toxic chemicals are building up in your body and, even more frightening, in the body of your child. Read more