Awesome article on household dangers.. Nice that things are finally coming to light a little about how harmful so many things are to us. Maybe all the non-believers from before will finally start to realize the dangers that are being posed to us and our children and find alternative solutions.

10 Everyday Dangerous Things in Your Home

by Cristen Conger

Conger, Cristen.  “10 Everyday Dangerous Things in Your Home.”  10 June 2008.  HowStuffWorks.com. <http://home.howstuffworks.com/dangerous-home-products.htm>  25 July 2008.

Inside this Article

1. Introduction to 10 Everyday Dangerous Things in Your Home
2. Household Item 10: Mothballs
3. Household Item 9: Pesticides

1. Household Item 8: Pressed Wood Products
2. Household Item 7: Carpet
3. Household Item 6: Laser Printers
4. See more »
   1. Household Item 5: Lead Paint
   2. Household Item 4: Air Fresheners and Cleaning Solutions
   3. Household Item 3: Baby Bottles
   4. Household Item 2: Flame Retardants
   5. Household Item 1: Cosmetics
   6. Lots More Information
   7. See all General Household Safety Tips articles

Either by accident or faulty manufacturing, household consumer products injure an estimated 33.1 million people in the United States every year [source: Consumer Product Safety Commission]. These incidents rack up an astonishing $800 billion in related expenses from death, injury or property damages [source: Consumer Product Safety Commission]. The Consumer Product Safety Commission that regulates and recalls products on the market emphasizes potential dangers to children in particular for hurting themselves with toys, furniture or other common items in the home. Read the rest of this entry »

Join the forum discussion on this post - (1) Posts

Another interesting but seemingly good information that I received via e-mail. Makes great since…

Subject: EARTHQUAKE INFORMATION ….
>
> My name is Doug Copp. I am the Rescue Chief and
> Disaster Manager of the American Rescue Team
> International (ARTI), the world’s most experienced
> rescue team. The information in this article will save
> lives in an earthquake. Read the rest of this entry »

Join the forum discussion on this post - (1) Posts

The ‘green’ way to dump electronic junk

Mon Apr 21, 2008 11:38 AM EDT

going-green, targetblank, recycling, technology, business, puckett, phones, recyclers, epa

msnbc.com — Jennifer Alsever, MSNBC

David Best, president of Prism Software, unloads a truck full of old computer equipment Thursday Nov. 15, 2007 during an e-cycling event near the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minn. Thousands of people lined up for blocks with carloads and truckloads of old consumer appliances needing to be recycled. The event sponsored by the Mall of America and the Materials Processing Corporation (MPC) will run through Saturday and is designed to help Minnesotans clean house and protect the environment against hazardous waste such as old monitors and televisions. “This saves us a ton of money,” exclaims Best, who owns the small software company which normally has to pay for electronics recycling. (AP Photo/Dawn Villella)

Erik Hodne’s Denver basement contains two computers, two printers, a stereo receiver, two VCRs, six cell phones, three cordless phones and two Palm Pilots.

Hodne is not a collector, and the machines carry no sentimental value. But like most Americans, Erik can’t figure out what to do with his old tech trash. The 36-year-old surgical tools salesman considered selling some of the items, but he hasn’t had time to figure out how much they’re worth or how to erase the machines of any personal information.

“I feel guilty throwing them in the trash,” said Hodne. “I have got this big 36-inch TV. It’s huge. What am I going to do with this thing? Chances are it will go the basement until one day I can figure out what to do with all this stuff.”

Millions of Americans are equally perplexed when it comes to disposing of old technology. Between 1980 and 2005, 180 million electronic products accumulated in storage, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. And in 2005, Americans tossed an estimated 1.5 million tons of computers, TVs, scanners, printers, faxing machines and cell phones into the trash.

The piles of e-waste will undoubtedly grow in coming months, as the switch to digital television looms. Starting in February 2009, broadcasters will no longer use analog signals, which means an analog TV that works fine today will be rendered useless without a digital converter box or a subscription to cable or satellite service.

The government has issued discount coupons for people to buy digital converter boxes from electronic retailers, and set up a Web site to answer questions about the digital TV switch, recycling and buying energy-efficient TVs.

So what do you do with your unwanted technology?

Avoid throwing old gadgets in the trash, because their inner workings can contain toxic materials including lead, beryllium, cadmium and flame retardants. If crushed or burned these materials can seep into the environment and harm human health. Many states prohibit dumping electronic equipment in the trash, although the EPA maintains that most U.S. landfills include proper liners and groundwater testing to prevent leaching.

The EPA has created a Web site to help you determine whether you should recycle or donate your e-waste. You can also find links and resources for recycling, donating or reselling your equipment at eBay’s Rethink Program. The eBay site also offers tools to erase data on computers and cell phone.

Reselling
If you’re considering reselling your equipment, you can go to Rethink to get started or research prices on eBay or on classified ad sites like craigslist. For $75 and up, you can look up market prices for digital cameras, car stereos, computers and televisions at Orion Blue Book.

CellForCash.com will buy certain models of cell phones, refurbish them and resell them as warrantee phones, pre-paid phones or emergency 911 phones provided to the elderly and victims of domestic abuse. If your phone isn’t one the business will buy, you can get a free shipping label, put your phone in box and mail it to CellForCash.com for recycling. Greenphone.com cuts checks and offers you points good toward gift certificates at retailers such as CircuitCity.com and Starbucks.

Donating
You can donate your technology to a number of organizations, including the National Cristina Foundation. You can go to its website, enter information about your old computer, laptop, fax machines, PDAs, digital cameras and other peripherals, and Cristina Foundation will search its database and connect you with local nonprofits and schools that need machines. Last year, the organization found homes for 50,000 pieces of old equipment. Through eBay Giving Works, you can sell an item on eBay and donate part or all of the final sale price to the nonprofit of your choice.

Before you sell or donate your equipment, you should clear the devices of any personal information. You can find tools online for erasing your cell phone or PDA’s memory and to clear your computer hard drive. A number of companies offer software to wipe computer memory, including Blannco Data Cleaner, , WipeDrive and  CyberCide Data Destruction. People can find more on wiping their hard drive on the EPA’s website.

Recycling
Recycling can save energy and valuable resources, including the mining of precious metals and the manufacturing new plastics. Yet most people do not know where to take their equipment. There are more options than you might realize.

You can go to the EPA site for a list of manufacturers and technology companies that offer recycling and links to their programs.

Waste Management, the $13 billion garbage collection company, is planning to expand aggressively into recycling electronics. The company joined Sony last year to open 75 recycling drop-off sites, and the two companies ultimately plan to open 1,000 locations within 20 miles of 95 percent of the population.

“We see it as a huge opportunity in the next three to five years and beyond,” said Waste Management’s Richard Abramowitz. The drop-off centers will recycle Sony products at no cost to consumers. The sites will charge $5 to $50, depending on the market area and size of the equipment, to recycle other brands. To find the nearest drop-off center, you can call 877-439-2795.

Staples recycles laptops, printers, monitors, computers and fax machines at its 1,400 stores for $10 each. The retailer also accepts peripherals like computer mice, keyboards, cell phones, PDAs and rechargeable batteries for free.

Dell Inc. also offers free recycling of Dell branded products with no purchase required and will recycle other branded products with the purchase of a new Dell computer. You can check out their options at Dell’s recycling Web site.

You can drop off your old cell phones off at AT&T stores and cell phones, rechargeable batteries and ink cartridges at Best Buy stores. Motorola’s recycling program lets you print prepaid shipping labels online and send in any brand cell phone to be recycled. Participating K-12 schools can earn money for each phone returned. The Collective Good will also collect and recycle your old cell phone.

Choose carefully
Be cautious when choosing a recycler, because many recyclers ship high-tech trash to Third-World countries to take advantage of lax regulations, according to the Basel Action Network, an environmental nonprofit organization. Best Buy, Motorola, Dell, Staples, Sony and Waste Management say equipment collected does not get shipped overseas.

Jim Puckett, director of the Basel Action Network, said many U.S. recyclers make money by collecting recycling fees and then selling the waste to brokers who ship it overseas. In China, Puckett and investigators watched workers paid $1 a day pull apart equipment by hand or hammer. They burned wires or cooked circuit boards to pull off resellable chips, then dipped  those chips in acid and poured the leftover residues straight into the rivers, says Puckett.

Such methods expose workers to contaminants such as lead and cadmium, a known carcinogen. Recyclers also ship computers to Africa, where local entrepreneurs pay for second-hand machines. The vast majority of computers shipped cannot be recycled, repaired or sold and are dumped and burned, harming the environment and human health. When the plastics are burned it creates even more toxic substances such as dioxins and cancer-causing hydrocarbons, said Puckett.

“It’s a lot easier to shunt it off to Third-World countries,” Puckett said. “You really have to watch out when there is a free take-back event. Most are funneling everything offshore.”

The Basel Action Network provides a list of recyclers that have promised not to dump material overseas. These recyclers have agreed to let the group monitor their recycling practices and vendors.

Join the forum discussion on this post - (1) Posts

Homemade Cleaning Products are not only a fraction of the cost but much healthier for you, your children, pets and the environment. Mix 1 cup vinegar, 32 oz water and 20-30 drops of essential oil in a spray bottle for an all purpose cleaners you can use nearly everywhere. Kills bacteria and viruses.

Avoid snails in the garden by crushing up your eggshells after your breakfast and sprinkling them around your plants.

Keep the squirrels and cats out of the garden by sprinkling cayenne pepper around your plants.

Get rid of fruit fly’s - place a small glass filled halfway with apple cider, 2 drops of dishwashing liquid mixed well on your counter. The flies will be drawn to it instead.

Keep your dryer running by NOT using dryer sheets. It causes a film over your lint filter that you can’t see but if you put water on your filter you can see that it won’t go through. This can cause your dryer to go out and a house fire. If you have been using dryer sheets, scrub your filter well with hot water, soap and an old tooth brush. A safety pen placed inside the him of your clothes will usually get rid of static cling.

Get rid of ants by putting small piles of cornmeal were you see them. They eat it and take it home but can not digest it. It takes a week or so but works and won’t hurt your kids and pets.

Cut down on garden bugs and aphids by spraying your plants with a solution of vinegar and water, 1 cup vinegar to a gallon of water. Vinegar is a natural pesticide so you can get rid of many critters by using a solution mixed with water, for peskier pest use a stronger solution.

Avoid or weaken colds and viruses by drinking thyme tea. Mix about a teaspoon of thyme powder to 16oz cup of hot water sweetened with honey, if you prefer, and drink at least 3 times a day until you feel better or the people around you are no longer ill. Thyme is a natural anti-viral spice and helps to kill the virus without any side effects to you. I put thyme in my soups and recipes all winter and make sure my daughter gets a fair amount of it, it works great with kids also.

Weed killer - Straight vinegar poured or sprayed directly on weeds should kill them. If you pour or spray it in the cracks of your driveway or similar areas prior to weeds coming up it should prevent them from doing so.

Get rid of lime build up by socking a towel in vinegar and placing on op of the area that has the lime. Leave the towel set for a few hours and the lime should wash right off. This also works for corroded screws, fixtures and knobs. If possible you can soak the item directly in a bowl of vinegar.

Bleach alternative - A great bleach alternative is Borax powder. You can find this in nearly any stores in the cleaning products isle near the bottom. Borax can be used on whites and colors and helps get your wash cleaner without the chemicals, I find it to work great for us.

Spot remover - One of my favorite spot removers is a baking soda and the ‘all purpose cleaner’ from the above recipe. Sprinkle baking soda on the spot and then spray with the ‘all purpose cleaner’ from the above recipe. Let it sit for a few minutes to a few hours depending on the toughness of the stain. Wipe clean with a damp towel. I’ve found this to work on carpet, clothes, even dry cleaning.

Join the forum discussion on this post - (1) Posts

Preservative list/info

Nothing in here can hurt you because it’s really all about food and what chemicals and preservatives to avoid and some about vitamins.

Many western medicines doctors know very little about vitamins and preservatives, so if you are going to ask one don’t expect to get this response unless they have taken the initiative to do some research on the subject. Last I checked, in the US, the doctors curriculum does not involve nutrition and /or preservative education in order to get their license so don’t assume they know a lot on the matter.

This is really just a detailed list on all my finding researching each preservative. I have read several document/studies on each one, most of which you can find online or in books. The conclusions I listed didn’t come from any one source but several sources all having the same information.

I’ve tried to make the list as simple as possible by category.

Supplements

First you should be on a good multi-vitamin/mineral supplement, I prefer these ones. New Chapter is a good supplement maker, their stuff is 100% Organic from the start and all the way through the making process. Also Rainbow light has a good system and a good prenatal, this one was actually recommended to me by my OB who is very into healthy whole food alternatives to drugs and preservatives. The multi that the DR. usually prescribes is usually very basic and is not whole food; meaning that it doesn’t have herbs, minerals, antioxidants or phytonutrients in it, and it may contain hydrogenated oil in it as a preservative, which is bad.

Multi

Whole food

Women, men

Vitamin Shoppe brand made by New Chapter Organics

Vitamin Shoppe

Vitaminshoppe.com

Multi

Women, men, prenatal

Rainbow Light

Henry’s, Vit. Shoppe

Foods to eat:

You should get as much variety as you can in veggies, fruits and grains and as little meat as possible. Here are some things to make sure you get.. And some things to watch out for in packaged foods.

Food

Why

Tips and Preservatives to watch for

Red meat, lean

Zinc, iron

Sodium nitrate, hydrogenated oil

Fish

Zinc, fatty acids

Sodium nitrate, hydrogenated oil

Poultry

B vitamins

Sodium nitrate, hydrogenated oil

Nuts & seeds

Vitamin e, fatty acids

Raw is best

Watch for Hydrogenated oil, sugar, salt

Soy or flaxseed meal

Isoflavones that increase good estrogen and lower bad estrogen

Flaxseeds need to be ground to be helpful, I like flaxseed meal. Fiber and sugar on label should be close to the same number.

Fruit

Vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients, folic acid

Fresh is best or unconcentrated

Juices and/or Flash pasturized

Veggies

Vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients

Fresh is best, then frozen, then unsalted canned

Should list item and water/oil and nothing else

For salt

Vitamins, minerals

If you need salt on something use sea salt, it has vitamins, minerals in it that your body needs and is much better for you.

Sun

Vitamin D is best this way

Don’t burn!

Oils/Butter

Fatty acids

Use real butter or oils. Most oils oar fine in moderation. I use a variety of oils to balance the fatty acids. Make sure that they are pure and not hydrogenated

Foods that are BAD:

Food

What form of

Why it’s bad for you or baby

Alcohol

Especially more than 2 servings of any a day.

Birth defects miscarriages

Caffeine

In the form of ‘made’ drinks, soda, energy drinks, ext. A little tea and coffee is ok.

Moderate to high doses can cause development problems

Soft cheese

(Pregnancy)

Brie, feta, blue, queso

Bacteria can cause birth defects and miscarriage

Juice, milk

(Pregnancy)

Unpasterized only

Bacteria can cause birth defects and miscarriage

Eggs

(Pregnancy)

Raw, mouse, ceaser salad dressing, tiramisu, cookie dough

Bacteria can cause birth defects and miscarriage

Fish

(Pregnancy)

Shellfish, sushi, shark, tuna, tilefish, swordfish, king mackerel

Heavy metals, bacteria can cause birth defects and miscarriage

Meats, pate’

(Pregnancy)

Meat spreads, all pate’s

Bacteria can cause birth defects and miscarriage

Processed meats

Hot dogs, lunch meats, all pre marinated ready to eat meats

Bacteria can cause birth defects and miscarriage, sodium nitrates

Frozen and cold foods/drinks

All-room temperature and warm or a little hot are all better. Green tea is a good temperature regulator (cool or hot)

Very hard on the female reproductive system.. You should stay warm all the time, not to hot or cold.

Preservatives to avoid:

Type

Why

What it could be in

Hydrogenated oil

Kills free radicals on contact that help protect from cancers and rebuild the body. Increases bad cholesterol decrease good cholesterol.

Most candies or anything ready to eat from package and prepared packaged meats, margarine and some butters, breads.. a lot of stuff

Partially hydrogenated oil

Kills free radicals on contact that help protect from cancers and rebuild the body. Increases bad cholesterol decrease good cholesterol.

Most candies or anything ready to eat from package and prepared packaged meats, margarine and some butters, breads a bunch of stuff

Food colorings and flavorings

Particularly the lake colors have aluminum carcinogens, bad on body

Anything with an unnatural color.

Phenolalanine

Extremely bad carcinogen linked to brain tumors and cancer, they are trying to get it banned in US.

Most gum, diet drinks, candies.

Sodium nitrate

Bad for cholesterol and cancer

Processed meats.

Aspartame

Bad carcinogen, brain tumors and cancer, again they are trying to get it banned in US

All sugar free and diet anything.

Acesulfamame-k

Bad carcinogen has been linked to brain tumors and cancer

Many diet things, gums, drinks, candies

Sucralose

Carcinogen

Many diet things, gums, drinks, candies, sugar free stuff

All the studies show that these are very bad things. For pregnancy, they are still very unsure how these things affects a fetus and in what way. They are very bad for a person in general and reek havoc for disease and bad health. I steer clear of most of this anyway but am especially careful while pregnant. There has been a very high rate of birth defects, abnormalities, disease and miscarriages in that last few decades and that is when most of these things came to be in our food. Most of this stuff was not that prevalent in the food when we were little.

Other Stuff to avoid:

Teeth whiteners

All of them that are not 100% natural

Cancer

Unnatural cosmetics, body products, self-tanners.

Here’s a site where you can get great all natural cosmetics and stuff. They sell samples that will last for a few months at least, you can get a whole set of face makeup in samples for less than $10. Allnaturalcosmetics.com

Linked to breast cancer. Can cause birth defects and miscarriages

Over the counter drugs

(Pregnancy)

All- even aspirin

Can cause birth defects and miscarriages

Other drugs

Also DES or Diethylstilbestrol used to prevent miscarriages

Reproductive abnormalities, cancer in daughters and their daughters

Acne medication

Cancer

Can cause birth defects and miscarriages

Litter boxes

(Pregnancy)

Bacteria can cause birth defects and miscarriages

Hair dyes

Linked to breast cancer, can cause birth defects

High impact exercise

(Pregnancy)

Can cause miscarriages

Cleaners/chemicals

Cancer, can cause birth defects and miscarriages

Bug spray

Cancer, can cause birth defects and miscarriages

Hot tubs, electric blankets, very hot baths

(Pregnancy)

Can cause miscarriages

Join the forum discussion on this post - (1) Posts