Bedding

Still working on Toxic Nation's Ways to Detoxify #1 Clean Your Indoor Air Quality, I've been in the process of purchasing new bedding for Jesse. This is a particularly expensive venture, since organic cotton doesn't come cheap. But it's definitely worth it, when you (and particularly your children!) spend such a significant potion of your lives in bed.

I was lucky enough to pounce on a 20% off sale and free shipping offer from Land's End. I bought two sets of 250 thread count organic cotton sheets for Jesse's bed. I was able to get them for about $40 US (plus duty charges) each. Definitely better than the $100+ that I was looking at spending elsewhere.

I also just purchased a old (circa 1990) wool blanket issued by the US army. I got it on eBay for about $40 US (shipping included). I'm going to wash it thoroughly, felt it, and lanolinize it, and use it as a waterproof (or water resistent?) mattress protector for Jesse's bed.

 
If you don't want to go through the trouble yourself, and you have the cash, you can purchase a ready-made wool waterproof mattress protector. This one from Rawganique.com looks awesome!

I still have to get:

-a high thread count zippered mattress cover (to contain the off-gassing from Jesse's non-organic, and likely flame-retardant mattress, which we can't afford to replace at the moment)

-a natural/organic pillow

-an organic cotton blanket

I'm going to get the mattress cover and pillow from Janice's. It's the only place I've been able to find a totally organic cotton pillow. Most "organic cotton" pillows are just an organic cotton cover over polyester fill. I also checked into wool filled pillows, but I couldn't find one with an organic cotton cover. (Frustrating!) I'll probably end up going with Land's End for the blanket. And I think I'm going to end up making a denim quilt for Jesse's bed to go over it. That can wait though. The kiddo hates being covered when he's sleeping anyways.

If you would like to forgo the mattress cover and shell out for an organic mattress, go ahead and fill yer boots! There are lots of options out there, actually. You can purchase mattresses made from cotton, latex, wool, or a number of other natural materials. Google "natural mattresses" and you'll come up with a bunch of options.

Another option you can avail of to avoid flame retardants is to order a mattress without them. You may need a letter or prescription from your doctor, though. But that shouldn't be difficult to get. And if, like for us, a new mattress isn't really an option, you can wrap your mattress in an untreated 100% cotton cloth barrier sheet with a thread count of 250 or more. It must completely cover the mattress though, top and bottom. Like this one (from Janice's):

And now, speaking of bed....zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

The Disappearing Male

A while back I watched a CBC documentary called The Disappearing Male. It really scared the crap out of me, as it should anyone watching it. If anyone doubts the harm that can be caused by plastics and the chemicals in them, you need to see this.

Does your house smell "clean"?

Mine does. But it doesn't smell like bleach or Mr. Clean. I no longer use toxic household cleaners. And for good reason. Household cleaners are known to contain benzene, toluene, ethylebenzene, xylene, methanol, bleach (sodium hypochlorite),  fragrances, formaldehyde, naphthalene, and phosphoric acid. These chemicals are associated with a variety of health concerns, including cancer, hormone disruption, and immune and organ damage. Some are also suspected neurological toxins. And they're so very unnecessary! 


So here's to #9 on the list of the Top Ten Ways to Detoxify: No Need for Toxic Cleaning Products. 


While I had already long since stopped cleaning with toxic cleaning products, I still hadn't gotten rid of them all. So last week, I decided it was time. I rounded them all up and bagged them to be removed from the house. Here's the proof:

 

Amazing, huh?

So, what can you use instead of Mr. Clean, Vim, Javex, and Pledge? There are now several companies who make non-toxic, environmentally friendly cleaners. I'm partial to Method cleaners, myself.  And many people make their own cleaners with items found in their kitchen, like vinegar, baking soda, vegetable oil, and lemon juice. The Toxic Nation Guide to Spring Cleaning lists recipes for a number of household cleaners including all-purpose cleaner, floor cleaner, carpet cleaner, furniture polish, and window and glass cleaner, and tub and tile cleaner, to name a few. Have a look! 

Thank Heavens for VISA!

Paderno is having an awesome sale right now! So I decided that I might as well go ahead and replace some of the nasty plastic in our kitchen. Meet our new cooking utensils (on sale for $39.99):

 

And our new mixing bowls (on sale for $29.99):

I can hardly wait til it gets here! I want to get rid of the plastic NOW! I only wish that I had more cash to burn. There's so much more I would have liked to get. But I must be patient. I can't make this all happen overnight.

It's a start

This challenge I've given myself to make our home a healthy home is going to be a costly (though entirely worthwhile) venture. It's going to take a fair chunk of change, and therefore a fair chunk of time, to complete. But you have to start somewhere, right? And where better to start than the kitchen, where you store and prepare the food that you put in your body. So, here's our new cookware.

 

It's a Kitchen Aid cook ware set made of stainless steel with a copper base. It is NOT non-stick, and therefore, will not off-gas! (And in case you're wondering, I got it for for 65% off the $500 price tag at Canadian Tire.) I'm a bit sad that I have to get rid of the Kitchen Aid set my parents gave me less than a year ago. But it was a non-stick set, and after emailing Kitchen Aid about safety and getting no response from them, I decided to play it safe. This helps me to partially accomplish both #1 (Clean Your Indoor Air Quality) and #7 (Say NO to Non-Stick and Stain Repellents) on the list of the Top Ten Ways to Detoxify.

Now I have to find all new cooking utensils to replace the plastic/nylon ones I have! Should I go with stainless steel or wood?

Off-gassing

I'm still working on Toxic Nation's 10 Ways to Detoxify - #1 Cleaning Your Indoor Air Quality. Tonight I bagged up all of the toxic cleaning supplies and hubby is going to remove them from the house in the morning. We'll store them in the shed behind our home until we can bring them to the Household Hazardous Waste Depot.

In the meantime, I need to address an issue that contributes greatly to indoor air quality - off-gassing. Off-gassing is the evaporation of volatile chemicals from non-metal objects. Why is this bad? Well, because many of these chemicals are incredibly toxic, and can lead to health issues such as liver and kidney damage, nervous system depression and disorders, among other things. Some are also known mutagens and can cause reproductive and developmental issues and can harm a developing fetus.

So what household items contribute to off-gassing? Things like: paints, stains, varnishes, carpet, insulation, flooring, kitchen cabinets and countertops, plywood, particleboard, and paint strippers. Another source of off-gassing in almost any household is vinyl (and fabric water-resistant) shower curtains. In fact, in June 2008, The Center for Health, Environment and Justice released a document called Volatile Vinyl: The New Shower Curtain's Chemical Smell. It describes the testing of PVC shower curtains bought at 5 major North American retailers and makes recommendations for consumers, retailers and policymakers. It's a very interesting read. Other household items, including mattresses, pillows, bedding, towels, and even clothing contribute to off-gassing. If items are chemically treated to make them flame retardant or stain-resistant they're going to off-gas. If items have a chemical smell when you purchase them, they're going to off-gas.

So, what can you do? Personally, I think it's unlikely you'll ever be able to avoid all off-gassing. However, you can greatly reduce exposure by doing the following:

-Avoid carpets, curtains, and upholstery and furniture that contain or are treated with stain repellents and brominated flame retardants (instead use organic or natural fiber carpets, curtains, upholstery and furniture or at least opt for untreated alternatives)

-Avoid vinyl floors (instead use wooden, ceramic, marble, cork or bamboo flooring)

-Avoid non-stick/teflon cookware (instead use cast iron or stainless steel cookware)

-Avoid sheets that are wrinkle-resistant or made with pesticide-treated cotton (instead use sheets that are 100% cotton, hemp, linen or wool, and preferably organic and unbleached)

-avoid mattresses with brominated flame retardants, plastic, or foam (instead use mattresses with cotton stuffing or cotton padding around the foam core. You can order a mattress without flame retardants with a letter or prescription from your doctor. If a new mattress is not an option, wrap your mattress in an untreated 100% cotton cloth barrier sheet with a thread count of 250 or more.)

-Avoid clothing with stain repellents, wrinkle-resistant treatments, brominated flame retardants, pesticide-treated cotton, or plastic labels. (Instead use organic, unbleached clothing made of cotton, hemp, linen or wool. Also ensure all clothing is washed prior to wearing.)

-Avoid vinyl shower curtains, and fabric shower curtains with a water-repellant coating. (Instead use organic cotton or hemp shower curtains.)

-Avoid off-gassing children's products such as PVC-containing toys or soothers. (instead use non-flexible plastic, wooden, or organic, untreated cotton toys)

-Avoid children's clothing with plastic labels or chemical treatments. (Instead use organic, untreated cotton or hemp clothing.)

-Avoid wood with a toxic finish, particleboard, fibreboard, and plywood. (Instead use solid wood with a non-toxic finish, metal, or used furniture manufactured after 1960.)

-Avoid computers and other electronics with brominated flame retardants. (Instead use electronics from companies that have eliminated PBDEs from their products, such as Apple, Dell, Fujitsu Siemens, HP, Hitachi, IBM, Intel, Panasonic, Motorola, NEC, Philips, Sony and Toshiba.)

-Avoid products with toxic chemicals and high-level VOCs. (Instead use products that are water-based, plant-oil based, and those that have low-level VOCs.)


These, and other suggestions are can be found in the Toxic Nation's Make Your Home a Healthy Home Challenge. Of course, I'd be nuts to think that everyone could make all these changes at once. I know I can't. Non-toxic alternatives (like hemp and organic cotton) aren't always cheap! But you've got to start somewhere, right? So that's what I'm doing. I'm going to start, and not stop til I have cleared out all the sources of off-gassing that I can reasonably remove from our home. In the coming days, I'll list sources of alternatives, particularly where I find my non-off-gassing alternatives.

Toxic Nation

So a dear, dear friend of mine led me to this website called Toxic Nation which has a list of the Top 10 Ways to Detoxify. Since I'm a bit of a head case right now, and not overly educated on this stuff, it's a great place for me to start. So there they are:

The Top 10 Ways to Detoxify

1. Clean Your Indoor Air Quality
   
2. Eat Organic
3. Choose Personal Care Products Carefully
   
4. Avoid Plastics with Bisphenol A
5. Choose Chemical-free Lawn Care
6. Get Green School Supplies
7. Say NO to Non-stick and Stain Repellents
8. Get Rid of the DEET Insect Repellent
9. No Need for Toxic Cleaning Products
   
10. Avoid Toxic Flame Retardants (PBDEs)

Bear with me, since I'm likely going to be jumping around a bit. Many of these ways to detoxify are related to each other. Also, some are easier to accomplish (in regard to both time and money), so they're easy to accomplish while working on the more difficult ones. Since now is as good a time as any, I'm going to start with number one.

1. Clean your indoor air quality

According to Toxic Nation, the potential for harm comes from pollutants like volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and mould that lead to poor air quality. The solution involves things such as not smoking inside, controlling the humidity in your home, allowing ventilation, dusting and vacuuming regularly, not storing paints, solvents, or varnishes in the home, and keeping fuel-burning appliances maintained.

Hmm....this task appears a little more daunting than I thought. Breaking it down should make it a bit easier to digest though. Environment Canada has a great little online guide to combating Indoor Air Pollution that really spells things out for you. Here are the things they list that you and I can do at home:


1) Do not smoke inside the home.

So this one's pretty obvious and not really an issue for us in our own home. We are an absolutely smoke free home. If any visitors wish to smoke, they have to go outside, no matter what the weather. A little more difficult of an issue is going to other people's homes where people DO smoke inside the house. This is the case with my in-laws. While I will never argue against someone having the right to smoke in their own home, I have, and will continue to assert my right to not subject my child to that. So Steve has talked to his parents and they have agreed to smoke outside for the few hours we visit every few weeks. Is it optimal? No. Obviously not. But I do think it's a decent compromise.

2) Ensure a sufficient air exchange rate (this will help to control humidity and to evacuate some of the gaseous chemicals, as there will always be a certain amount of chemicals emitted in indoor air).

We do have a working air exchanger that helps to control the humidity and redistribute the moisture in the air. This past summer, though, it wasn't enough, so we did have to invest in a dehumidifier for the downstairs area. It felt and even started to smell damp. It wasn't nice. And given that the majority of the basement is carpeted, making it even more susceptible to the growth of mould, it was a good call. In the long run, I'd like to rip out the carpet and install a more environmentally and health friendly alternative.

3) Avoid excessive humidity (not more than 50% RH (relative humidity) in Summer and 30% in Winter)

I think this is very related to #2. I didn't realize til now though that there's an actual tool you can buy to tell you what the RH is in your home. It's called a hygrometer. The Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation has a great fact sheet on measuring the humidity in your home. (I guess I'll be adding a hygrometer to my things-to-get list.)

4) Repair and diligently dry out any water damage from leaks, infiltration, or flood and clean any mould.

OK, so this is one we have to get on top of. I KNOW we have at least a small amount of mould in our master bathroom shower. It's in desperate need of being re-caulked. So I'm going to put that on my to-do list for this weekend. I'm just dreading stripping away the old caulk (sorry, can't help but giggle) and finding a bigger problem. Though I guess it's best we find out now, right? Other than that, we're pretty mould-free around here.
 
5) Have any combustion device (furnace, water heater, gas stove, fireplace) inspected by a specialist at least once a year, and properly maintained. 

Oh dear. I guess this is something we'll have to do. I'll put it on my to-do list to call our home inspector and see how much he'd charge to come out and take a look...or at least refer us to someone who could. The good news is that it's only been a little over 2 years since this house (water heater included) was inspected. We don't have any of the other devices, since we have electric heat (no furnace! right?) and we don't have a gas stove or fire place. I'll get our air exchanger inspected as well, while I'm at it!

6) Use any chemical (varnish, paint, cleaning product) according to the manufacturer's instructions, e.g., most of them should be used only in well-ventilated areas.

I'm definitely kicking myself in the ass for using harsh chemical cleaners. If you need to wear a mask while using them, that can't be good. So instead of using them "according to instructions" I'm just going to ditch them altogether. No more bleach or sprays that make you feel like you can't breathe. I'm going to pack up all the caustic chemicals and send them to work with Steve (so that he can properly dispose of them). I'll stick with my Method cleaners and I'm going to learn how to use water, vinegar, and baking soda to keep our home clean. If it's safe to eat, it's gotta be safe to clean with.

As for varnish and paint, we haven't had to worry about that. We've been too busy (lazy?) to do any home improvements since we moved in 2 years ago. We are planning on doing a fair bit of painting this spring/summer though. I'm definitely going to go with low-VOC paints and make sure the doors and windows are open. (Guess I need to add "find low-VOC paints" to my to-do list.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So I'm thinking I'm going to need more than a day to tackle each of the 10 Ways to Detoxify. Cleaning your indoor air quality is no easy task! And we've barely scratched the surface, I think. There is a lot more I need to find out more about, including formaldehyde and other specific pollutants. But it's getting late so I think I'll save that for another day.

A new chapter, a new challenge

February 2010 has marked a new chapter in our lives. On February 1st, our son Jesse was diagnosed with Pervasive Developmental Disorder - Not Otherwise Specified. But this blog isn't going to be about that....it's going to be about our endeavors as a family to make our home (and hopefully our world) a safer, healthier place for our child. While we're unsure as to how much of Jesse's PDD is caused by environmental factors, we figure it certainly won't hurt, and could possibly help, to try to make our home and lives less toxic.

I don't think I'll be starting tonight, however. It's been a rough day....