Green Options » natural home products

Can’t Afford a Natural Mattress? Buy a Natural Mattress Topper Instead

Julie Finn — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 17:12:58 +0000

There is no way on god’s green earth that our family can afford an organic mattress. Just…no way.

Conventional mattresses, though? Yikes! Mother Jones writes about the petrochemicals, formaldehyde, and flame retardants that conventional mattresses are chock-full of. And you don’t have to only be interested in living a chemical-free life to be freaked out–you know how new conventional mattresses smell funky? Off-gassing–if you smell it, you’re breathing it in.

Again, yikes.

The mattress that our girls sleep on is much too old to off-gass, but, although it’s still in pretty good condition, it’s certainly exceeded its reported mattress lifespan, and thus now we get to worry about gradual deterioration releasing even more chemicals into our daughters’ lungs and open pores while they sleep for ten hours at a time.

Carcinogen Found Present in Seventh Generation, Method, Avalon and Whole Foods Products

Alex Smith — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 22:15:03 +0000

Some days I fall victim to the green noise syndrome; I’m so overloaded by the green options all around me I don’t know where to go. Bath and cleaning products are one place I always thought I had it right. If I buy the organic, I’m good to go. Or am I?

I just learned last week that in March, Seventh Generation, Method, and other companies that produced green cleaning products were under scrutiny by the Organic Consumers Association. When testing around a hundred “cosmetic, personal care and household cleaning formulas, [the Association] found that nearly 50% of them contained detectable levels of 1,4-dioxane, which is known to cause cancer in lab animals.” Method, Planet Ultra and Seventh Generation’s “natural” dish cleaning products were among those products that tested positive. All manufacturer’s who tested for 1,4 were asked to remove their “organic” and “natural” labels or they’d face a lawsuit. Just when I thought I was cleaning consciously, I have to go through another round of making change in my lifestyle.

Daily Tip: Protect Your Floors Naturally with Carnauba Wax

Jennifer Lance — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 13:49:53 +0000

Recently, I visited a local store called Solutions looking for an easy floor wax to revitalize my maple floors. I had done a little research online, and every product I read about required long periods of no traffic after application and buffing. I remembered my parents old buffing machine, and laughed at the prospect of buying yet another cleaning appliance. The owner of Solutions suggested Protex brand Premium Self-Polishing Wax made from 100% carnauba wax.

Carnauba wax comes from a Coperinica Cerifera palm tree, known as the "Tree of Life," of northeastern Brazil. It grows in moist regions, such as riverbanks, and reaches 25-50 feet. The fan-shaped leaves of the palm exudes the wax to protect the plant from dehydration. Palm leaves are cut from mature trees, sun dried, and then mechanically thrashed to extract the wax. Each tree produces about one kilo of powdered wax per yearly cutting. Workers carefully remove only 20 leaves per tree yearly to ensure the plant is not endangered. Carnauba wax is used in cosmetics, food, automobile wax, dental floss, surfboard wax, etc. If you have ever eaten candy corn, you have eaten carnauba wax. Apply this product to your floors, and you could literally eat off of them.

Protex brand Premium Self-Polishing Wax can be used on all floor surfaces, such as hardwood, cork, linoleum, asphalt, cement, terrazzo, etc. After mopping my old maple floors, I lightly applied the carnauba wax to the dry floors with a mop. After 30 minutes, the floor was safe for traffic and looked beautiful. Water droplets beaded nicely on the surface, and the floor had a beautiful shine. I am so pleased to discover this natural home product.

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