Category Archives: Green Safety

Oil Spills and Oil Dependence

As you no doubt know, unless you have been living under a rock for the past several months, an oil rig called the Deepwater Horizon exploded in the Gulf of Mexico on April 20. The explosion destroyed the rig, causing oil to spill from the wellhead into the Gulf. At this point oil has been spilling out for more than 2 months, defying all efforts at containment. The current plan is to drill two relief wells and then permanently close the existing well. The relief wells are expected to be completed in August.

Meanwhile, the largest offshore oil spill in US history continues.

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Giveaway: EcoSMART Plant & Garden Value Bundle

In the spirit of yesterday’s topic, A Fall Garden for All, today we’re partnering with EcoSMART to help one lucky reader win a Plant & Garden Value Bundle containing; Weed and Grass Killer, Garden Fungicide, Garden Insect Killer and Insect Repellent — all made with EcoSMART’s child, pet and environmentally friendly formula.

From their website:

Since EcoSMART’s proprietary botanical oil blends attack attributes that are specific only to pests, they have no effect on people, pets or the environment. The primary active ingredients in EcoSMART products are approved as Direct Food Additives or classified as GRAS (Generally Recognized As Safe) by the U.S.

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Green Pest Control: Reality or Myth?

As much as I love summer, it definitely has its drawbacks, mostly in the form of humidity, weeds, and mosquitoes.

There’s nothing I can do about the humidity, but I’d really really like to get rid of the other two. With a dog running around, I’m even more reluctant to turn to chemicals than I was before, but I’ve got to do something.

I’m always on the lookout for green pest control tips that work, but so far, I’ve come up a bit short. So I thought I’d turn to the 5m4gg readers, and see what you have tried and tested.

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Indoor Air Quality

Every day we are faced with many types of pollutants. It can come from buses, autos, smoking, factories, detergents, pesticides and more.

Although it seems as though the safest place to be at times is your home, you may not be entirely right. Many indoor pollutants can trigger a LOT of different health issues. Asthma, allergies and carbon monoxide are just a few of the issues your home many have.

Luckily there are a few things you can do to make sure the IAQ (indoor air quality) in your house is up to par.

In the Bedroom:

  • Washing bed linens in warm water weekly and keeping a low humidity (30-50%) will keep dust mite levels low
  • Dust mites also hide out in other places so wash stuffed toys, dust often, and vacuum regularly

In the Bathroom:

  • Mold is the allergen here and can easily be remidied by proper ventilation.

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Green Birth

As a birth and postpartum doula, and a natural parenting company owner who is expecting a baby in the next few weeks, I can’t help but write a post that mentions the “greenness” of homebirth.

I think that most of the time we focus on a lot of the other possible advantages to homebirth (such as lack of unnecessary interventions, comfortable atmosphere for the mother, and even affordability), but rarely mention how having a birth at home can also be a green choice for your family. So, I thought I would put together a few little green things to consider (which obviously should not be your soul reasons for choosing a homebirth, but they can’t hurt either):

Less waste!

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Protect Your Skin the Green Way

Much to my surprise, last week when I took my son to the park for a play-date I got a sunburn! I couldn’t believe that we are already in that season when I need to be thinking about protecting my skin from the sun. So, I thought that this week would be a good time to explore that topic a little further.

Many of us know that we need to be conscious of the kinds of products we are putting on our skin, but we don’t always know why or what to look for.

Well, let me help you get on the right track with your sunscreen!

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Clean Green: Seventh Generation Giveaway

Now that Earth Day and the spring season have officially arrived, many Americans are in their eco-conscious cleaning modes, and while spring cleaning is necessary if not a little exciting (downsizing! de-cluttering! finding everything you once thought was lost forever!), the very products used to clean and protect your living space from germs could be harmful to both your family and the environment.

According to the American Association of Poison Control Centers, more than 50% of human poison exposure victims are children younger than six-years-old, and with sixty-three hazardous chemical products in the average American household-according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission-it’s no wonder so many kids are coming into contact with harmful chemicals on a daily basis at home.

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Cloth for Mama-Are You Crazy?

Yes, you heard me, in addition to the last few weeks talking about using cloth for your kiddos, now I want to talk about cloth for you!

Alright, before you freak out and think, “Now this woman has totally lost it!” Hear me out!

Shouldn’t the same reasons we use for cloth diapering our little ones (reducing trash, avoiding toxins, saving money, pure comfort) be the reasons we consider using cloth for ourselves during that certain time of month?

Once again, I understand the aversion and used to have the same one! I used to think, “Wow, that is just way overboard and definitely only for hard-core hippie women.” Then I had my son and ended up using disposable pads for eight straight weeks after his birth.

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Dry Your Clothes Green

After a reading a few comments on my post called Saving Green by Going Green, I thought that the topic of clothes drying could use a little more attention. So, this week I am going to focus in on a few different issues about living green and drying our clothes that I believe everyone can benefit from.

First of all, it was brought to my attention that the dryer balls I referred to in my original post were, indeed, made of PVC, which is obviously not a green material. With that said, I was assured by distributors of these balls that they are made with safe practices, but let’s face it, any way we can avoid PVC (especially heating it) is probably a good idea.

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Good Safe Fun!

These days it is hard to know which toys are truly safe for our children to be playing with. Between phthalates, BPA, lead, and every other nasty chemical out there, it can leave you feeling like you don’t want to give your child anything more than a wooden spoon to enjoy!

Well, rest easy- there are lots of wonderful toys available out there that you never have to second guess, and a few you can create yourself with very minimal effort. Here are some ideas:

-Encourage imaginative play! That wooden spoon just may not be such a bad idea! See how many brilliant things that spoon can become in the hands of your little one.

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