I had a happy surprise in my mailbox this week. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sent me an engraved plaque (made from certified sustainably-harvested wood) as a new member of their Green Power Leadership Club. This club honors Green Power Partners that have made an exemplary green power purchase that significantly exceeds minimum Green Power Partnership purchase requirements. I qualified because of my purchase of solar power renewable energy certificates for 100% of my home and office energy use. Also, in celebration of their 120th anniversary, Bon Ami posted a very attractive new website last week, featuring articles written by me. Many years ago, Bon Ami was very instrumental in launching my career. If you'd like to read that story, it's at My Search For A Nontoxic Cleaner And My Introduction To Bon Ami. Debra :-)
HEALTH, HOME & HABITAT #36 ~ 24 January 2006
* AT HOME WITH DEBRA: How I Control Dust in My Home Health, Home & Habitat Back Issues
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AT HOME WITH DEBRA: How I Control Dust in My Home This is Part Two of my report on my Bau-Biologie Home Inspection. First, I tell you some things I learned about the health effects of dust that I didn't know before, including how dust can carry toxic chemicals (even if you don't have sources of toxic chemicals in your home). Then how to control a lot of dust for less than $10 a month, and how I chose my new vacuum cleaner (it was expensive, but worth every penny!). Both my husband and I have noticed a significant reduction in dust and are breathing easier. Read How I Control Dust in My Home...
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NEW MAGAZINE: Ecological Home Ideas A great new green building magazine just launched this month that is much needed. It's basically the practical "nuts and bolts" of green building for homeowners. Ecological Home Ideas "tells the who, what, how, where and why of green and sustainable home building and remodeling. In easy-to-read language, it tells about materials, techniques, innovative ideas, and gives solutions to problems unique to green homes, including financing, insurance, permitting, cost, and more. The premier issue contains pictorials of green building projects from single homes to subdivisions, and from the most affordable to fancy. Articles on materials include a review of alternatives to plywood and insulation made from recycled blue jeans. They've already asked me to write three articles for upcoming issues and I'm sure there will be more. Subscribe to Ecological Home Ideas...
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MONEY-SAVING TIPS One way to save money is to gain more skills for things you can do yourself instead of paying someone else. Often you can get a better product as well as save money. One of those skills is haircutting. It takes less time to cut a child or a man's hair than it does driving to and from the barber. And if you are at all concerned about exposures to toxic beauty products at the hairdresser, getting a friend or family member to learn the skill to cut hair allows you to have a haircut in the comfort of your own home. I learned how to cut hair from a great book called Scissors and Comb: A Cut-By-Cut Guide for Home Haircutters. You can learn this skill, too. Haircuts for men cost $10-20, my haircut costs $40...let's say an average of $10 per month is $120 savings a year, multiplied by the number of family members...well, this can add up. Another thing you can easily do yourself is make your own salad dressing. At $3 a bottle, it gets expensive. I always make my own. That way I can choose my own organic ingredients, and I know it has no preservatives, soy, sugar, MSG, or other additives that may be in ingredients but not listed on the label. Here are the instructions for my California Gourmet Salad Dressing...
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DEBRA'S LIST: New website links
Here are just a few of the links I added to Debra's List in the last two weeks. Sustainable Group carries some nifty recycled paper binders that allow you to remove and replace the covers, "recycling" the reusable metal rings. Touch Wood Rings custom crafts beautiful rings out of wood for weddings, engagements, and other special occasions. A unique gift for your Valentine... LessEMF.com carries all kinds of things to help you reduce exposure to electromagnetic fields at home. Enertia Building Systems sells kits for solid wood homes, with a unique construction method that heats and cools the home based on the same principles with which nature controls the temperature of the Earth. Coolfuel Roadtrip is a television show that chronicles a trek across America in vehicles running on twelve different alternative fuels. My husband loves this show, and we watch every episode to see what innovative fuel they will use next. Really inspiring!
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SWEET SAVVY: Fruit compote and tangerine ice
I'm on a little kick of adding fruit-based desserts to the Sweet Savvy natural sweetener recipe database these days.
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Q & A: Saunas Thanks for all your excellent work. I have a couple of questions about saunas. First, other than relaxation felt while actually in the sauna, what are the health benefits (and how often and for how long does one need to be in a sauna in order to sustain such benefits)? Second, how concerned should one be about EMF radiation (etc.) from the sauna's electric heater? Thanks very much for your advice on these matters.
D.C.
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Q & A: Low-EMF Hair Dryers I was looking for a hairdryer with low EMF and found one on the internet which I ordered. I think it may have been just a regular hairdryer that they covered with metal and their logo. It was through a company called Angellite. Have you heard of them? Do you know of any reputable companies that make low EMF hairdryers? Many thanks,
B. A.
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Q & A: High Cocoa Dark Chocolates I'm wondering if you could recommend a dark chocolate bar (plain) that is at least 74% cocoa. I don't know how to "read" the labels to tell. For instance this Hershey's Dark Chocolate I have here Ingredients: Sugar, chocolate, cocoa butter etc. I would think cocoa would be at the top of the list?
C. W.
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If you have a question of general interest, I am happy to answer free it in this newsletter and post it on my website for others to benefit from. If you have a question you would like to submit, please send me an email to debra@dld123.com with your question. It may take two to four weeks or longer for your question to appear in the newsletter. Usually I send an immediate quick answer to email questions, but then give a more detailed answer in the newsletter. All of the questions and answers, including those in the current issue, can be accessed through the Q&A index page at http://dld123.com/q&a/index.php. I also am available to answer your questions immediately and personally with a paid telephone consultation.
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The new, revised, edition of
Home Safe Home
is now available
in bookstores nationwide.
Home Safe Home tells what toxic chemicals are generally found in specific household products of all types, and safe solutions you can buy or make at home. It's different from other books on toxic chemicals because the focus really is what you can do to protect yourself and your family and create a healthy home. I bring over twenty years of research and personal real-life experience to this book. * 10 Simple, Inexpensive Things You Can Do To Reduce Household Toxics * How Toxic is Your Home? Quiz (excerpt from the book)
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Debra's List
~
100s of links
to 1000s of nontoxic, natural & earthwise
products
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email:
debra@dld123.com
web:
http://dld123.com
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