No, this isn't some rehab tale. Anyone who's met me knows I'm too square for anything of the sort. Like I've been saying, I've found my interests in learning about our food have been a sort of springboard into learning more about the way we live and how that affects the environment. Diving into the deep end, so to speak.
One thing I'm learning is just how much the companies that bring us all the products we just must have are polluting the earth. The BP oil spill disaster aside, it seems like every day there's a story in the news about a company paying fines of some sort or lobbying against regulation. And speaking of regulation, it's appalling how little regulation there is and how the EPA and other agencies really have no ability to stop many dangerous practices. I fear what we're doing to the world we're passing onto our children.
This especially hit home for me this week when I was doing some genealogy research. It turns out that much of my mother's side of the family worked for DuPont, the chemical corporation. Same for my paternal grandfather. They worked in various positions in the mills from the early 1900s to the late 1980s. DuPont is one of the big bad polluters I was speaking about above: it has been named in numerous lawsuits about pollution over the years. Searching for "dupont pollution" on Google brings back 865,000 results. Now, none of my family were in the R&D area and I certainly can't fault them for taking what at the time were very good jobs, but I have to admit it rankles a bit. Here I am trying to create a cleaner world for myself and my family, and my family history is intertwined with one of the worst polluters! Not that we knew then what we know now, but...
One concrete step I can take is to try to eliminate the use of unsafe chemicals in our home. I found this list today on the Rodale site that's a good starting place. I need to take a look at our antibacterial products first and then move on to the cleaners. The hard thing is that there's no way Jeremy would ever let me get rid of them, but I can certainly have alternatives in place when those run out. Does anyone have any favorite, good-for-the-Earth commercial cleaners or homemade recipes they love?
I'm also still thinking about alternatives to products that contain BPA, especially given this story about the prevalence of BPA in canned foods. Eden foods has cans that don't use BPA. I'd like to find them in stores so I don't have to order online. Another job for this summer!
On a non-chemical note, I have been a paragon of eating this week. Part of my success has been due to the cold turkey approach I've taken to sugar. I've realized that sugar is my gateway drug: once I have a little sugar, I'm likely to binge on other things. Another reason for my success is having a whole boxload of fresh veggies that need to be used immediately or they'll go bad! Funny how motivating that is. Finally, I'm motivated by the fact that I've been working with a trainer starting this week. I don't want my eating to undo that hard work. And, boy, has it been hard work. I thought I was in good shape, but apparently not so much!
i have an awesome homemade spray recipe and ridiculously effective, CHEAP and green laundry soap. as in about $3 a batch, which lasts about 6 months in a standard machine and over a year in an HE. i'll drag them up and email them to you.
ReplyDeleteFor dishwasher detergent, we use one cup of borax to one cup of baking soda, then use two tablespoons. You can put vinegar in the rinse part where jet dry would go. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. My dishes are cleany and sparkly, with no residue.
ReplyDeleteFor laundry soap, I use a food processor to grate an ivory bar, then add open cup of washing soda (Arm and Hammer makes this and it is NOT baking soda), and half a cup of borax. I triple the recipe and keep it in a large container. Two table spoons per large load, one per small. Put in water before adding clothes. It doesn't appear to dissolve in the water, but I've been using this for a month and my clothes are nice and clean, and again, no residue or little bits of soap. Apparently, the US carries Fels-Naptha bars which are recommended over Ivory, but we don't have them. At least, not where I've been.
Windows, I use microfibre cloths, toilets, I use borax. Disinfecting, I use vinegar.
I still use VIM for my bathtub, though. It's my one bad cleaner. It works so well.
Oh, I forgot to add. When I make the laundry stuff, I pulse it in batches (the soap with the powders) in the food processor to make it fine. Otherwise, you get clumps of soap.
ReplyDeleteJanaya, I would love that!
ReplyDeleteLisa, thanks for the recipes! I'll have to try them out soon. I'll have to check out where they carry the Fels-Naptha bars. I've never seen them, but I haven't been looking, either.
Thanks so much, ladies!