Yep, April 22^nd is the day!  Sadly we have only been celebrating “Earth Day” for  40 years, because it was 40 years ago that we discovered we could be destroying this place we call “home”.

So what do you get a Planet who has EVERYTHING?   ( or at least used to have everything)?

If “Mother Earth” is like the rest of  US, she wouldn’t be interested in “stuff” but certainly would love thoughtful , kind, and generous ACTIONS, sort of like a coupon book of services. Here are some suggestions:

·         Be fussy about recycling!  Go that extra mile and ask yourself  “ Could this be recycled?

·         Don’t throw your trash out the car window for the rest of us to look at, & someone else to pick up.  “This is a self -cleaning EARTH, Clean it  your-self”

·         Plan your trips .  Figure out the route that will save the most mileage and perhaps prevent you from going out another day.

·         Make your own Household cleaners using sustainable ingredients.  ( I use products that have saved me lots of money each year, and work far better than the chemical cleaners or the baking soda, vinegar alternatives) 15% Discount to all if you contact me in the month of April.

·         Put your own drinking  water in stainless containers to drink as you are out and about.   It will save you money and there will be that many less plastic bottles in the land fills

·         Bring your lunch in re-useable containers.  Why throw away all that trash every day?

·         Use fabric Napkins at the table (use a special fold or a napkin holder to identify the user for several usages)

·         Use Microfiber cloths instead of paper towels for cleaning.

·         Make sure when you are washing clothes that you have gathered a full load.

·         Monitor the length of your showers.  There is NOT an endless supply of clean water, as a matter of fact the water that comes through your faucets have been used by 25+ other people.

·         Most of all, “worship the ground we walk on”.  This place we call home is just “borrowed “ from future generations to come.  What kind of a world do you want your great grand children to in? Air respirators and full body protection suits?

 What we do today will leave a direct impact on what we will do tomorrow.  Be Part of the Solution, NOT part of the Pollution.

Submitted by:

Deb Villarese

www.bellawelllifestyles.com     email: deb@bellawelllifestyles.com    630-420-2119

Did you know that the energy the sun produces is constantly being recycled?   The sun’s energy can neither be created or destroyed, but only changed!  The sun’s energy helps thing to grow , then die, then decompose, then become something new again. 

This same process is how we get oil and gas and coal. They all started as tiny organisms hundreds of millions of years ago.  They died, decomposed, were compressed by the pressure of the earth and then changed into petroleum.  Coal was once green plants and the same processed occurred.  In each case they became carbon atoms which we now know as fossil fuels.  This process is occurring today as well, but  remember, it took millions of years to create oil.  The first well was drilled only a century and a half ago and we are already running out.

Here is what I am trying to convey.  Fossil-based energy isn’t just what you use when you fill up your gas tank or flip your switch.  It refrigerated your food, and then cooked it.  It fed the growing corn that fed the steer that became the steak on your plat e.  It fueled the salad in your bowl which depending on the season may have been flown from another continent altogether.  It’s in your clothes, and your furniture,   It’s in your hair and on your face.  It’s in the materials from which your home was built.  Fossil fuel energy is everywhere.

Each and every one of us is connected to the grid, and I don’t mean the electrical grid, I mean the energy grid. The living things grid.  The sun grid.   The point I am making is that the source is “non-renewable”

Energy from sustainable biological systems is renewable.  ( Solar is renewable energy)

June 26, Naperville will be the “finish line” Host  for America’s Solar Challenge.  University Students from all over the country create solar powered vehicles in a race through America, and finish at Naperville North High School.  Put this important date on your calendar.  It will be an event focused on efficient, sustainable choices.

Until next time, Don’t be part of the Pollution, try being part of the Solution

Submitted by

Deb Villarese

Connect to my blog by going to my website:   www.bellawelllifestyles.com  

The “easy way” to kill bugs and weeds has been underway since  the early part of the last century.  After WWII petroleum chemical companies realized that a lot of chemicals developed for the war could be used to kill insects and weeds.  That was good for agriculture because the U.S. was moving away from small family farms into “big business” farms.  Thus, expensive labor could be replaced with cheap chemicals.

DDT, one of the pesticides in the Chlorinated hydrocarbon family was banned in 1973, but more than 3 decades later is still being found in humans.  Chemicals in the organophosphates category have  been found to cause nervous system disruption.  Lead, Arsenic, Mercury, & Copper have been used as pesticides for more than a century, and we all know that each are dangerous to human health.

So what is the big deal you say?  The federal government sets limits on the amount of any of the chemicals that can be in the food we eat.  They claim they are safe, yet here is the problem.  Lots of the fruits and veggies on the grocer’s shelves can exceed these levels because there is no system for checking.  Plus the food we get comes from global sources, and let’s just say that some places don’t have the rigorous regulations.  AND, have you noticed the amount of people with Celiac disease, food allergies, and digestive disorders? 

A lot of these chemicals can cause damage to the nervous system, disrupt your hormones, and according to a report by the Nat’l Research Council, 30 percent of commonly used insecticides, 60 percent of herbicides, and 90 percent of fungicides can potentially cause cancer.  It’s unethical to test humans, so we rely on the poor farm workers who have been regularly exposed to these chemicals regularly.

As spring approaches, and you sign those contracts with the lawn companies, think about what you are throwing on the lawn where your children might be playing, and consider a more natural product.

One that takes to heart the impact their product makes on the Planet, the Rivers, Streams and Ponds, in their community as well as the lawn where your children romp and play.  We use Natural Lawn of America.  Email me to know more:   deb@eco-logicalnews.com   

Eco  Logically Yours

Deb Villarese

www.bellawelllifestyles.com

• Visit your local library. Take the kids on a Saturday, have them pick out 2 of their favorite books, and return them next week! It’s free and it’s green.

• Carpool! If your drive to work is 25 miles each way and at least half is stop-and-go traffic, you’ll save

almost 10 percent of your monthly carbon emissions by carpooling. Not to mention the gas dollars you’ll

save.

• Bulk shopping is good for the environment because it reduces packaging and waste plus it means less

trips to the market and less gas used so you save money.

CONSERVE ENERGY

• Run your dishwasher. It can actually help the environment while saving you time and preserving your manicure, and be sure all the germs are washed away. Many studies show that dishwashers actually use less water than dishes by hand and you can save a ton of water, energy and money by only running the dishwasher when it’s full—especially if it’s Energy Star-approved.

• Throw in a concentrated, phosphate-free detergent such as Automatic Dish Wash Concentrate that is so powerful a pre-rinse isn’t required, and you earn extra eco-warrior points!

• Use Rechargeable Batteries. Investing in rechargeable batteries can save you some money over time.  In general, the less you rely on single-use, disposable items, the less money you’ll burn through.

• Check Out the New CFLs. CFL bulbs use 80% less energy than standard incandescent light bulbs, and last up six to 10 times longer. You might not be aware of the newest designs from cutting-edge

manufacturers, including a new range of pleasant color temperatures, dimmable CFLs, bug lights, 3-way

models, candelabra and flicker tip styles and more.

• Turn Off Your Computer - Save energy, wear on your hardware and an average of $90 each year on

electricity costs by shutting down your computer at night. The Department of Energy recommends shutting off your monitor if you aren’t going to use it for more than 20 minutes, and the whole system if you’re not going to use it for more than two hours. 

·         Un plug your phone/iPod chargers when they aren’t charging phones, they uses Phantom energy

·         Check into Green$witch, (one switch that shuts all that controls unnecessary lights left on from one switch.  Learn more at:  www.greenswitchgroup.com   

RECYCLE & REUSE

• Rather than going through rolls of paper towels, cut up old t-shirts and towels for cleaning rags. If DIY isn’t your cup of tea, try  Microfiber Cleaning and Window Cloths. They are ridiculously absorbent and can be washed and reused hundreds of times.

• Ditch bottled water! The cost adds up and the bottles pile up in landfills to pollute our planet. Save big

bucks and keep waste out of the landfills by switching to filtered water.

The BestWater® PerfectPitcher® is NSF-certified and serves up delicious, clean water that can be poured into a glass to be enjoyed at home, or a portable, reusable water bottle if you’re on the go.

Come join me, and be part of the Solution, NOT part of the Pollution

Deb Villarese

www.bellawelllifestyles.com   

What if you could make greener choices without sacrificing convenience and budget?  More importantly, what if those choices made a positive impact on your family’s health?  There is just a natural momentum that comes with doing the right thing for yourself and your family and your planet.  You buy one non-toxic cleaning product, you start using one baby bottle made for materials that are safe for your infant, and the next thing you know, you’re recycling and riding a bike to work and using organic bamboo towels.  I think helping the environment is a lot like working out.  It’s sort of like putting on work- out clothes (a step to be proud of in itself) and then stepping out and “starting”

The Plain Truth is this:

·         The pollution inside out homes is worse than outside and we spend nearly 90 % of our time indoors.

·          We as a nation need to rethink what our idea of clean is; in other words, our “idea” of clean could actually be hurting us.

·         The health of “your” family and “our” planet are connected.  If each of us started with our own home we could make an impact on the planet.

·         Knowledge is power.   Not knowing is one thing, Knowing and continuing to use or do the things we know is harmful is another.

It is just the simple act of cleaning the kitchen sink that can become the large act of changing the world.

It just takes the first step to make the difference.

What are a few of the adjustments YOU or your FAMILY can make in this New Year?  Cleaning supplies, cosmetics, deodorants and other personal care products, dry-cleaned clothes, laundry, plastic food containers, paints , varnishes, home and garden supplies. Many of these contain VOC’s (Volatile Organic Chemicals) which escape into the environment, the home and ultimately, into YOU.  

An accumulative ACT of ONE can and will make a huge”WORLD” of difference.

Are you part of the solution? Or part of the Pollution

Submitted by Deb Villarese, Lifestyle expert and coach.

www.eco-logicalnews.com       www.bellawelllifestyles.com  

 Recently, I was made aware that there are some pediatricians, allergists, and general physicians who are finding it necessary to put signs in their office which read as follows:

ATTENTION: “please refrain from using fragrances, FABRIC SOFTENERS, or smoking before coming to our office, we are finding that chemically sensitive individuals are having difficulty breathing in such an ENVIRONMENT” 

 Let’s just focus on Fabric softeners for the time being as they are certainly the most used and according to the Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health  and perhaps the most offensive.  Here is what is in everyday fabric softeners:  toluene, trimehtylbenzene, styrene ( which are neurotoxins  - that means toxic to the brain)) as well as phenols and xylene.  Still sound soothing? Still wondering why so many more Americans are developing diseases which we think are out of “no where”…  ie:no family history

If you use conventional fabric softeners in your wash, this alphabet soup of toxicity is all over your body.  There is a party going on in your pants, and your shirt, and your nightgown, and your baby’s pajamas.

Here is a quick list of other chemicals found in fabric softeners: a-terpineol ( irritates muccous membranes and causes central nervous system damage) benzyl acetate(eye and respiratory irritant);benzyl alcohol ( can cause headache, nausea, dizziness, drowsiness, respiratory irritation, and a drop in blood pressure): camphor ( is on the EPA’s hazardous waste list; ethyl acetate ( eye and lung irritant and a narcotic); limonene ( irritant, sensitizer); linalool ( central nervous system effects); and pentane ( eye and skin irritant and may cause headache, vomiting, dizziness, or loss of consciousness)1

There is another problem with Fabric Softeners.  They are designed to stay in the fabrics… Which means that they are being released into the air you  ( and your child/children) breathe and onto your skin as you wear your own clothes.  The liquid softeners toxicity is one part of the problem, the dryer sheets have their own set  of issues.  They are made from synthetic fabric and/or polyurethane foam, which means they’re biodegradable, so they fill up land fills and they contain the same harmful  ingredients that the liquid softeners contain.  These pollutants are yet one more reason why our indoor environment is far worse than the outdoor air.

You can add ¼ c baking soda to the wash cycle  or ¼ cup of vinegar will soften clothes as well. Dry synthetic and natural fiber clothes separately or go to my eco-logicalnews.com and click on the link to learn what I use

1Allergy and Environmental Health Assoc. ( Canada).  “Health Risks of Fabric Softeners”  aeha.ca/help-with.htm.

1.       People believe that Clean has a smell and they think that bleach or pine  “smell” makes it clean

2.       The people who work there are exposed to toxic chemicals on a regular basis

3.       When they happen to get the window cleaner with ammonia out to clean the windows, they have just created one of the most toxic brews.  The combination of these two chemicals release a chlorine gas and a close cousin to the stuff they used as Chemical Warfare in WWI

4.       And then we innocently walk in with our chemical sensitive child, or as an asthma sufferer ourselves and it sets off all sort of brain and/or lung malfunctions.

Even the label of all the leading brands state:  DANGER; Corrosive.  May cause severe irritation or damage to eyes and skin…..  Avoid breathing vapors and use only in a well ventilated area. 

There are lots of hard decisions to make when you consider potential safety of common household products.  I made a conscious decision NOT to use bleach in my home.  There are many safe, effective alternatives.   I landed on a book called Green Goes With Everything   By Sloan Barnett, an environmental investigative reporter for the San Francisco Bay area.  She refers to a product comparison study done by Sterling Laboratories.

The problem I always had was that those “natural” cleaners  is that they just don’t seem to work as well as those chemicals we’ve grown to depend on.  Pages 73-78 in her 3 week in a row best seller, shows  a 3^rd party comparison and the results are impressive.  You don’t have to compromise effectiveness for safety anymore.    Then if you are interested in getting some, go to my web site under web-links ,  and click on Green cleaners.  Or you may contact me directly for a few samples. deb@eco-logicalnews.com

P.S . They were Oprah’s favorite Green Cleaners  and on her Favorites Show in Dec 2007.

Can KIDS make a difference?

Conserving, Renewing, Protecting, Re-using isn’t about your next door neighbor, and for that matter it isn’t just for Mom &  Dad.   It is a family mindset that will save you money, create a family project and at the same time help the environment.  It starts with our kids and if they develop the good habits now, the habits will stay with them for their lifetime.  This planet is on loan to us from our future generations.

What are some EVERYDAY, SIMPLE things kids can do to make this earth a better place ?

Here are some ideas to start:

• Turning off lights, when you  leave the room
• Un –plug adapters that power our MP3, Cell phones and the like. 
• Don’t throw batteries in the trash,( they go to the hazardous waste facility).
• Take a shorter shower, or don’t fill the tub up quite so high. 
• The water doesn’t need to run while brushing your teeth,
• Avoid drinking water from plastic water bottles, each one adds to the land fills.
• Donated old athletic shoes.  (Well used ones  could end up being a play-yard in the future)
• Don’t stand in front of the “frig” with the door open, deciding what you want to eat.

Now it’s your turn Kids!  Send me other ideas that kids can do to Re-use, Re-cycle and Conserve Energy

And I will give gift cards to the top 3 entries.  A panel from www.partnersforcleanchoice.org   will be the judges and you can send those ideas to:  deb@eco-logicalnews.com     Winner’s names  will be features in the October issue of Stillwater Sound.

ALSO:

Mark your calendar  for: Oct 10, 2009  Naper  Settlement from  10-4

Bring your parents to an Environmental Fair, helping families make

Clean Choices in the cars they drive, and the products they use.

Your Choice Does Makes a difference …. Make a Clean Choice.

(Our Cool Ride Clean Choiceevent will be held at Naper Settlement. For more information on the event, go to www.partnersforcleanchoice.org)

Green Cleaners are assumed not to work as well as the most popular, advertised chemical counter-parts.  For some odd reason, people think that if they have a complicated chemical name, it must be good.  However, think about this, if these  hard to read cleaners came with warnings, then  How safe are they?  If the product is safe for you to use, then it  won’t harm the environment.  Plus the products that were 3rd party tested were proven to no only work better, but the cost effectiveness is almost unbelievable.  What if I told you a one pint concentrate of cleaner makes bottles of a window cleaner.  Think of the land-fills saved, prescious fuel saved to transport all over the nation, and most of all think of the lungs saved. This is what I use.   Under Web-links on the left side of this blog, click on “Organic, Safe cleaners” and you will be directed to the products I have found to #1 be the most safe, #2, most effective, #3 cost savings.

 Sterling labs proved through  a 3rd party study that organic out performs other products and that organic out performs toxic cleaners and sometimes dramatically out performs them as well,     (who would have thought.)  Better living through chemistry has been the American cleaning mantra for 50+yrs.

 Conventional laundry products have many of the same chemical cleaners as houshold cleaners: they carry the same kinds of dangers like phenols & bleach to name a few.  These products cause long term environmental problems and eventually affect our rivers and streams yet they also enter our bodies in a similar way with contact, using your skin.  Not to mention the fumes and fragrances which over time have overloaded  our sensories that you just don’t smell ANYTHING anymore. 

Those smells that are artificial are not good for us.  Clean has no smell not lemon, not pine fresh, not forest breeze.  Most of the chemicals used to create these smells we have grown to love are considered “neuro-toxins:  Yes they effect the brain and nervous system,

Think about this, You use the towels and wear the underwear that has been washed in ;  a -terpineol, which  irritates mucus membraines and damages the central nervous system, and  Benzyl acetate  which effects the eyes and the respiratory system.

Fabric softener irritates the eyes and respiratory system.  The petroleum based stuff stays in the fabric and can cause irritated mucus membranes and damages  the central nervouse system.  Not to mention the toxic chemicals rubbing on your skin.  So you use dryer sheets you say! Except they are filling up land fills and their smell is also very offensive to some.  I like to refer to the fabric softener on the market as the alphabet soup of toxins all over our body.  The point of fabric softener is that it stays in the fabric, that is what the manufacture works to achieve,  thus the fumes are being released into the air, especially when the person wearing the shirt perspires.  ( in some cases causing people around them to experience tightness in their lungs)

A 3rd Part study found Shaklee dryer sheets to be the best.  The sheets are fragrance free, biodegradable and  they use vegetable derived softening agents, not synthetic petroleum chemicals.  But my biggest point in this whole essay is that I find I don’t need to use softeners.  My laudry soap washes out completely, so my  clothes  are never stiff  ( it’s the fillers in the standard washing powders and liquids that make us think we need softeners) because there are no fillers to hide out inside the fibers causing stiffness, and there are no fillers, I have no static and more importantly  because there are no fillers my clothes don’t wear out.

Don’t be fooled by fragrances.  If you notice your family has more than their fair share of respiratory illnesses,  or skin irritations, re evaluate what cleaners you are using.  Come check out the ones I use and have used for over 30 years.  I promise they won’t disappoint you.  I stake my name on that and they come with a 100% money back guarantee.  Look under my weblinks and click on “organic,safe cleaners”.