Outside my window, where I write, there is a whole bank of azaleas of different shades of pink. They are mature plants, so the flowers are at eye level when I am sitting down. Today they are all in bloom! A lovely site... In this issue I have the second of my two part series on removing mold from my house. Today, you'll see what was done to safely remove mold from my house. SInce mold spores can lie dormant until they are disturbed, and then completely contaminate a house if they are not properly removed, this is something best left to professionals. If you have carpets, you'll want to read about the nontoxic carpet cleaner I found--this service uses only carbonated water in a special process. Debra :-)
HEALTH, HOME & HABITAT #39 ~ 7 March 2006
* AT HOME WITH DEBRA: Mold Inspection and Remediation Health, Home & Habitat Back Issues
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AT HOME WITH DEBRA: Mold Inspection and Remediation After my Bau-Biologie Home Inspection revealed an unexpected mold problem in my home, I had a professional mold remediator come remove the mold from my house. This article describes the whole process of a professional mold remediation. It's not something you want to do yourself. Read about my Mold Inspection and Remediation...
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MONEY-SAVING TIPS Many years ago, a second cousin of mine, who is now quite elderly, used to hold seminars for women to teach them money management, and she also wrote a book. I recall reading her recommendation that readers save little things like stray paper clips, the rubber bands around the newspapers, the straight pins you pull out of new shirts. Because if you save all these little things when they cross your path, you donÍt have to spend money on them later. She said, ñWould you rather spend your money on paper clips or a trip to Europe?î Or in our case, "Would you rather spend your money on paper clips or a comfy natural bed?" Indeed, she has a point. Many of the actions we can take to help the ecology of our planet also help us economically too...
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DEBRA'S LIST: New website links
This week I added almost two dozen new links to Debra's List. Here are just a few... Harmony Art creates organic cotton fabrics with designs inspired by nature. Organic Cotton Plus sell a variety of organic cotton fabrics plus organic cotton balls, cosmetic rounds, swabs, tampons, menstrual pads, and nursing pads. BioBased Insulation is a spray-in home insulation made from renewable soybeans. Bedrock Industries Starts with 100% recycled glass and creates it into all kinds of decorative and useful household items, including tile. Urban Hardwoods makes "enduring furniture that honors the natural beauty of the wood" from reclaimed urban trees collected from tree services and utility companies.
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SWEET SAVVY: Lace Cookies and Nut Butter Confections Here are the new recipes I added to my Sweet Savvy natural sweetener recipe database. Lace Cookies taste like toffee, but are so light and thin that they melt in your mouth. Then I started experimenting with making confections based on nut butters. If you like peanut butter cups, you'll love these Peanut Butter Balls and Larry's Almond Bonbons. See the basic recipe for Nut Butter Confections if you want to take a try at creating your own recipes.
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Q & A: Touching Up No-VOC Paints We are ready to paint a new house. I prefer using low- to no-VOC paint. Our painter is suggesting regular paint (Sherwin-Williams "Builders Solution") because we are using some deeper colors and will need to tint...which would bring the low to no VOC paint up to VOC levels of the regular paint. Is this so? I keep seeing the SafeCoat paint brand as I do some research. Have you ever used it? Can it be touched-up without noticing? Cleanable? I'm being told low to no VOC paint cannot be touched up easily and you have to end up re-doing the entire wall. What has been your experience?? Also, I keep getting told the VOC's in regular paint are gone after the paint is dry...that the out-gassing just stops at that point. I cannot seem to find any information or research showing otherwise. Do you know of any?
Thanks so much,
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Q & A: Nontoxic Carpet Cleaner Due to a lack of time and energy, I'd like to hire someone to clean our carpets for us; however, I have serious concerns about the toxicity of the products used. Do you have any suggestions? Do you know anything about ChemDry? Their website says they use "hot water extraction with the power of carbonation." Do you know what this means? Any help you can provide would be greatly appreciated.
P. A.
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Q & A: Nontoxic Soundproofing I am looking for a way to add sound proofing in my house. I do not want to take out walls nor do I want to add polyurethane or other toxic sound proofing. Do you have any suggestions of nontoxic materials that I could hang behind fabric or some other way to maximize the privacy between rooms in a healthy way?
Thank you,
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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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