Broody Chick Sniffs and Snuffles
This is a first look review at Broody Chick Sniffs and Snuffles, a great natural congestion relief aid. As featured on yoyomama! Read more…
Posted by bbb-admin Date: Friday, November 6, 2009
Categories: natural healthcare products
Tags: broody chick, congestion relief, natural decongestant, sniffs and snuffles
Oeko-Tex Standard 100- safe fabrics
While I was shopping at Jysk today for Duvet Covers for my girls, a label I hadn’t seen b
efore caught my eye. It said, “Confidence in Textiles- Tested for harmful substances”. On a whim, and skeptical as always, I bought 2 duvets for my girls that sported this label. When I got home, I googled the label and up popped this website http://www.oeko-tex.com/OekoTex100_PUBLIC/index.asp?cls=02
Since 1992 this association has been existence, testing for harmful substances according to their standard, which is that the textile must not pose no risk whatsoever to health.
The criteria of the association provides uniform, scientifically founded evaluation standard for the human ecological safety of textiles. I found this to be particularly comforting given the issues surrounding the safety of products manufactured overseas.
The site lists all of the chemcials it tests for and the standards for different products. It also has a searchable database where you can look up sources of supply for textiles with this label. You can search for particular stores, items (baby wear, bedding etc), and brand names. I had some success with the database, however it wasn’t functioning quite right for me. I sent them an email about it.
Kudos to Jysk for carrying products with this label. It is always nice to have a store look out for your family’s best interest.
What is in laundry stain removers?
In light of us now carrying a new natural, biodegradable laundry stain remover, I thought I should let you know why we searched high and low for this alternative.
Many conventional laundry stain removers contain benzene, toluene and xylene, all of which are neurotoxins. In addition to these, one can also find formaldehyde, which is a carcinogen and chlorine, a sensitizer. Given that stain removers are an important part of the “laundry arsenal” no parent should be without one. The question is which one.
The trouble with laundry stain removers and detergents is that they are not required by law to list the ingredients on the packaging. This is because detergent companies have the right to protect their “secret formulation”. I usually follow the rule, if they don’t list the ingredients, I don’t buy it.
I the protection of these “formulations” puzzling since the government goes out of its way to protect us when it comes to food products (ingredients must be listed). Wouldn’t constant exposure to toxic chemicals on our clothes be equally concerning?
I found a great site put out by the Environmental Health Association of Nova Scotia, A Guide to Less Toxic Products. In addition to listing the concerning toxins found in various household products, they also have recipes for home made products that can do the job just as well, and as I’ve found in some cases, even better. Check it out here.
If you don’t have time to make it yourself, then be sure to give our new natural and biodegradable laundry stain remover, Bunch Farmers All Natural Stain Remover. For $3.99 it is a great deal and so far it has worked well on blueberry, grass, horse manure (don’t ask), marker, and paint (also don’t ask) stains. My kids are busy, what can I say?!
Remember, just because they sell it and it works, doesn’t mean it’s good for you!
Go Graywater
I have recently started making another step to making our household more environmentally savvy, using graywater. What is graywater? Graywater is the wastewater that comes from our baths, showers, dishwashing and laundering. It turns out that all the water we are sending down the drain, is actually quite useful.
If you are using natural, biodegradable soaps for washing, you can use what would ordinarily be wastewater, for watering your garden. It turns out that most natural soaps actually contain minerals that are beneficial to plants such as phosphorous, potassium and nitrogen. It is important to note that certain plants can be very sensitive to soaps but most are ok. In fact, these soaps can help to keep plant-damaging insects at bay such as aphids.
I have known about graywater for a long time. I just never integrated its use into our household. I owe it all to my dear friend Lisa who took my baby’s bathtub out to our yard and watered my newly planted cherry tree with the finished bathwater. Strangely, it makes me feel good to take the little bathtub out to my garden and water from it. A small step to lessening our footprint on the Earth, but a step nonetheless.
All of this got me thinking about other ways to easily use graywater in our home. There are a couple of great summer ideas that even your kids can get involved in and learn a little about graywater themselves.
1) Don’t dump out the kiddie pool. Instead of just dumping the water out of the pool at the end of the day to be refilled the next day, get your watering can and fill it from the pool to water your garden. My twins love helping with this as they have their own mini watering cans.
2)Don’t dump the infant tub down the drain. As I mentioned above, use this water for your garden or a tree.
3) Have a bath outside. My girls love having a bath outside in the summer. Use a kiddie pool, or even a large rubbermaid container and then water with the leftovers.
Share your graywater ideas with us. Post your ideas and you will be entered to win our favourite natural bathtime must haves, DermaMed Bubble Bath and a DermaMed Shampoo. You have until July 15th to post your ideas. Please give us your email address so we can contact you if you win, or check back on this entry on the 16th to see if you are the winner and contact us.
Earth’s Best Diapers
In the fall we discovered Earth’s Best Diapers at the Baby Purity Conference in Vancouver. I later blogged about the diapers and was unimpressed at the time. This was due to a lack of knowledge on the part of the rep who told us that the diapers were gel free. We cut open the diaper and found gel. We since had contact with another rep who gave us all of the manufacturing information on the diapers and this rep’s product knowledge was much better. After receiving this information, we fully endorse and love the product! We are happy that we are able to carry this fabulous brand of diapers now that we know that they are a wonderful natural alternative. In fact, they are the new favourite in our homes thanks to their superior fit.
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