Growing trends in healthy house construction

Paula Baker-LaPorte at Healthy House Institute writes about Building Biology and the Healthy House.

“Building related illness, 20th (21st) century disease, multiple chemical sensitivities, sick building syndrome, environmental illness: these terms are recent additions to our vocabulary,” she writes. “Until about 25 years ago, indoor air pollution was a very limited phenomenon.”

But, she says, three basic things have changed in the evolution of building technology resulting in the current widespread concern about the environmental quality inside our homes: the very fabric of our homes, products that have a negative and costly impact on our health, and performance demands on our buildings such as dealing with trapped moisture from sealed bathrooms.

In response to these problems, she sees two different models emerging for a healthy home. One– the most common– is to seal the home very tightly on the inside, so nothing toxic from the building materials can leak into the living space. (This is akin to what people with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity try to achieve with foil barriers.) And the other, more in line with what chemically sensitive people would like to see, is to build with nontoxic materials in the first place.

But the natural building materials solution is difficult to implement, most notably because of current building codes backed by corporate interests. Still, Baker-LaPorte sees building trends moving in the right direction.

…building systems that use natural materials as their base, once the norm for us and still the norm for the majority of humankind, are viewed with great suspicion and skepticism in the current mainstream building culture. If one chooses to build with natural materials one quickly learns that natural building systems have become the orphans of the modern building industry. Whereas huge corporate resources back industrialized building products, funding for code required testing of natural non-proprietary materials has, to date, been a grass roots pass-the-hat affair. Even though people have surrounded themselves with natural permeable materials throughout human history, and even though enduring models of these buildings are found throughout the world, mainstream building practices and codes are dominated by manufactured building commodities that are laboratory tested, standardized, stamped, packaged and shipped. When one applies for a building permit for a home to be made with natural building materials, the applicant may be rejected, or if permitted, the building may bear a dubious “experimental” status.

The natural building movement championed by the theories of Building Biology and a small but growing sector of environmentally concerned builders, designers and homeowners is however gaining momentum. And I believe there is a synthesis at hand between the two seemingly opposite approaches to healthy building. A natural home equipped with all the amenities of modern life faces many of the same indoor environmental qualities as does a sealed construction, and ventilation systems are becoming more common in natural buildings. On the other hand manufactured, code pre-approved permeable wall systems such as aerated autoclaved concrete are being introduced in to the mainstream market place. Straw bale construction has now been tested and codified in many locations. More and more construction products now advertise being “environmentally friendly” and “non-toxic”. Green building rating systems that reward healthier building practices are springing up all over the country. Regardless of the starting point we are moving towards healthier homes that are freer of toxic chemicals, more energy efficient and kinder on the environment.

Link to full article

Photo of straw bale house in Taos by mari-posa. The straw bales are covered over by adobe, and it’s solar powered, with a cistern to recycle rainwater.

Beautiful rainstorm washes away firecracker smoke

I made this video in my backyard at about 5:00 p.m. today when the rain returned and washed away all the toxic firecracker smoke. This is the time of day when I put the chickens to bed, feed the fish, and close everything up in the back for the night.

After I came in the house, this rain turned into a huge, thunderous storm with blinding lightening and earth shaking thunder. I felt thrilled and in awe of the power of nature to cleanse and recharge the earth. I take it as a good and auspicious omen at the start of 2009.

Happy New Year!

And the rain came down!

We are having a huge rainstorm today! It’s been about 62 degrees all day and we’ve had at least 10 inches of rain in less than 24 hours. Tonight we have thunder and lightening with a flash flood advisory. It’s been very dry for months and months so we almost forgot that we live in a rainforest! It feels like such a blessing.

The rain washed the air and made it so fresh and clean! I walked around outside with an umbrella several times today just to breathe in the beautiful air. Above is a photo out the back door of the downpour against the avocado tree.

Here I am all comfy cozy in the house today with the first fire of the season. Before you start wondering about how I can be around a fire with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity: I close up all the windows on that side of the house and vent the windows on the far side, burn only natural wood (kiawe, a type of dense mesquite we harvested on the island of Molokai), and fully open the stove vent when I put in a new log so that all the smoke gets sucked up the chimney and doesn’t escape into the room. I brought the wood burning stove in from the mainland (Lopi), it’s one of the most fuel efficient on the market, and generates a lot of heat with very little fuel. It dries out the house beautifully and keeps the mold away. If I ever had to, I could cook on it. It’s also makes things very cozy on a wet, chilly day like today!

How to make nontoxic household cleansers, laundry products

Bumble Beans has a really cute post on “Making Your Own Household Cleaners.”

It really is easy to do. Trust me. You only use a few of the same ingredients. Most if which is VINEGAR. Cheap. easy, and if you don’t like that smell, add some essential oils…)

Its always been a pet peeve of mine that “convenience” products are such a rip off, And bad for you. Once you have the basic products listed below you can make everything you need to clean your house.

BASIC INGREDIENTS FOR NON-TOXIC CLEANER RECIPES

Five basic ingredients serve as the building blocks for many safe home cleaning needs:

• Baking Soda - Cleans and deodorizes. Softens water to increase sudsing and cleaning power of soap. Good scouring powder.

• Borax - Cleans and deodorizes. Excellent disinfectant. Softens water. Available in laundry section of grocery store.

• Soap - Biodegrades safely and completely and is non-toxic. Available in grocery stores and health food stores. Sold as liquid, flakes, powder or in bars. Bars can be grated to dissolve more easily in hot water. Insist on soap without synthetic scents, colors or other additives.

• Washing Soda - Cuts grease and removes stains. Disinfects. Softens water. Available in laundry section of grocery store or in pure form from chemical supply houses as “sodium carbonate.”

• White Vinegar or Lemon Juice - Cuts grease and freshens.

There are links to a bunch of recipes and formulas for all kinds of uses. I thought I knew about all the best nontoxic concoctions, but I learned about two new things in the post (new to me anyway!). One is Wool Felted Laundry Balls, and the other is a Laundry Soap Recipe.

I know some peeps with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity won’t be able to use these products, but I might give the laundry soap recipe a try because I think I can find substitutes that will work for me (I can use Bronner’s soap for instance).

Does anyone know about Washing Soda? Is that safe for us?

Photo from goodmama

Morning sun on the entrance pond

The entrance pond was so beautiful this morning that I snapped a photo to share with you. The comets are getting so big!

Winter Solstice, a time to celebrate the Light

Today is Winter Solstice, the first day of winter, and following the longest night of the year, the time to celebrate coming back into the Light.

We like to do a garden project on Winter Solstice, and this year we are building a new veggie garden! We have to fence it in so the chickens don’t make trouble, and this time around we are going to make raised beds to weather any flooding.

So, we started with the fence posts around the perimeter, and Friday we got some eucalyptus planks for the beds (a gift from a friend!). We worked until dark to make the first borders as you can see from the last photo.

Today we’ll level and set the borders, and if we have time, put up the fence. Then we’ll fill up the beds with media from the mulch pile, and start building up the soil inside the beds so they are ready for spring planting.

Come spring we should be harvesting a lot more of our own food!

Be well, dear flock, star warm and safe wherever you are on this Winter Solstice. xoxo

Natural pest control: Boric acid

This is what happens when you live a nontoxic life: You get ants in the honey jar. Poor things, what a way to go, drowning in a vat of honey.

Listen, I love insects, but I really do not want ants and cockroaches in my kitchen. Since I do not want any toxic chemicals in my house either, the way I control ants and cockroaches is with boric acid. Boric acid is considered safe to use as a household insecticide and I’ve never experienced Multiple Chemical Sensitivity symptoms being around it. That said, I’m careful with it and don’t let it get on my skin.

I make a mixture of equal parts boric acid and powdered sugar, mix it up and put in in yogurt container tops, and then place them under the sink and in the back of cabinets. If I have a particular invasion of ants, which can happen in times of very wet or very dry weather, I put the mixture directly in the ant trail.

The little buggers gobble it up and take it back to the nest, and in a matter of a couple days, the whole colony is destroyed. An initial application will last a year or two. Then when I see them return (as in my honey jar), I make up a new boric acid and powdered sugar mixture and refill the receptacles.

By the way, the trick to success is the powdered sugar. It works much better than granulated. And the mixture also gets rid of cockroaches, but doesn’t harm our precious geckos at all.

What do you guys use to control bugs in your homes?

Cob: Homes as living sculptures

Beautiful nontoxic homes made out of clay, sand and straw, called cob.

What is cob? Cob is a building material composed of clay, sand, and straw. This humble formula often prompts jokes about mud huts or spurs snap judgments that cob structures will dissolve in the first rainstorm. Such understandable misconceptions, however, are immediately put to rest the first time one gets a look at a sophisticated cob work of art that one can sculpt with one’s own hands, live in, and leave to one’s great great grandchildren. Cob is very durable and requires little upkeep. As Daniel Chiras puts it, “It won’t burn, bugs won’t eat it, and it’s dirt cheap.” Additionally, it’s non-toxic, creates no waste, and requires minimal tools to construct. Thousands of cob houses have weathered rainy England for hundreds of years, and a recent renaissance of cob building centered in Oregon has joyfully explored the modern artistic and architectural possibilities of the material.

Link to video

Link to more about cob projects

This cob house is like a dream

Sixth grader proposes Earth-friendly homes

“Eco-friendly homes are designed for creating a healthy indoor air environment and adequate ventilation in a natural way.”

Take a look at this letter to the editor in The Greenwich Time (Connecticut), written by a sixth grader. If these are the thoughts of sixth graders these days, there’s great hope for a brighter, less toxic future. Imagine what will happen if this young scholar decides to be an engineer or architect or community organizer, or maybe even a lawmaker. To understand, as this bright student does, that the building of eco-friendly, nontoxic homes strengthens communities and the economy is the type of progressive thinking that will get us out of this toxic mess, the mess that impacts those of us with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity so seriously.

Green Homes are Good for our Community

To the editor:

As a sixth-grader at Eastern Middle School, I am concerned about the energy being carelessly wasted and the growing pollution around the town. To improve this, I support the modus operandi of “green building” and modifying homes to be more Earth friendly.

Increasing green homes will have remarkably positive effects.

The town’s picturesque parks and landscapes are extremely valuable. The streets are lined with scenic houses and even some historical sites. If we don’t put a stop to the constant release of fumes and greenhouse gases, the exquisite reputation of this community may collapse dramatically. Installing more energy-efficient and solar-powered homes will secure a prosperous and efficient status. Also, green homes are becoming quite luxurious, and such additions would be a notable avowal for Greenwich.

Standard houses have negative effects on the environment. Air pollution, water pollution, indoor pollution and stormwater runoff are all harmful to the Earth. Eco-friendly homes are designed for creating a healthy indoor air environment and adequate ventilation in a natural way, and use heavy insulation to reduce rising energy usage within the house.

These houses have very efficient appliances and construction. For instance, there are triple-pane windows, low-energy lighting, ground-source heat pumps, solar panels and de-chlorinating shower filters. These elements together guarantee a healthy lifestyle for the average Greenwich household.

An ecological house would be well adapted to the community and very beneficial to the economy. Those houses specialize in carefully making the best of all resources and avoiding waste. By switching to this type of houses, you’re helping all parts of the world.

I’ve lived in Greenwich long enough to appreciate its outstanding reputation. I am certain that expanding the quantity of energy-efficient homes would be extremely advantageous to the economy, households and the dazzling image of Greenwich.

Eco-friendly homes are the way of a cleaner, greener future. So I urge the people of this town to use green building technology when building or renovating their homes.

Thank you for reading my letter.

Gianna DeMasi

Greenwich

Link

Photo of a LEED house by Sarah Leeab

FYI: LEED for Homes is a rating system that promotes the design and construction of high-performance green homes. A green home uses less energy, water and natural resources; creates less waste; and is healthier and more comfortable for the occupants. Benefits of a LEED home include lower energy and water bills; reduced greenhouse gas emissions; and less exposure to mold, mildew and other indoor toxins. The net cost of owning a LEED home is comparable to that of owning a conventional home.

The save the planet song

This song is so beautiful. And I love the images in the vid. The lyrics ask, “What better ways can we come up with?” The first image he gives us as “a better way” is an awesome chicken coop! It looks like half of the structure is for the chickens and the other half for growing food. It’s really a wonderful montage of images. And the video was made by the musician himself, Douglas Stambler. His YouTube channel is here.

Download this song at:
http://www.tradebit.com/visit.php/436…

Drawings from: www.solviva.com
Domes from: www.monolithic.com

Link

Warning: Avoid ozone generating air machines

While manufacturers of ozone-generating machines will tell you that the ozone is harmless and will clean the air you breathe (example of the spin here), the fact is that ozone generating machines are not only ineffective at cleaning the air, but they can be extremely harmful to your health. From the EPA website:

Manufacturers and vendors of ozone devices often use misleading terms to describe ozone. Terms such as ‘energized oxygen’ or ‘pure air’ suggest that ozone is a healthy kind of oxygen. Ozone is a toxic gas with vastly different chemical and toxicological properties from oxygen. Several federal agencies have established health standards or recommendations to limit human exposure to ozone.

Further, I can’t tell you how many stories I’ve heard about exposure to ozone from these types of machines triggering full blown Multiple Chemical Sensitivity in unsuspecting consumers. We’ve discussed ozone machines previously on The Canary Report when one of our flock was exposed in her home.

Please note that while ozone machine manufacturers will tell you that the “unused ozone always reverts back to oxygen in about an hour,” the EPA, using “sound science, only peer reviewed, scientifically supported findings and conclusions,” says, “Some of the potential by-products produced by ozone’s reactions with other chemicals are themselves very reactive and capable of producing irritating and corrosive by-products (Weschler and Shields, 1996, 1997a, 1997b).” So in reality, ozone in the home creates chemical reactions with other chemicals already in the home, and no one has ever studied the impact of that lingering toxic brew.

Here’s the astonishing thing about the regulation of these machines: The EPA has a whole page on their website dedicated to informing the public about the dangers of ozone generators that are sold as air cleaners, and yet the government still allows these machines to be manufactured, sold and used inside homes. I can’t for the life of me understand what’s going on with this. These dangerous machines should be pulled off the market NOW.

Environment News Service reports today:

The California Air Resources Board has issued a consumer alert, advising holiday shoppers not to purchase air purifiers or air cleaning devices that intentionally generate ozone.Some devices that are advertised as “air purifiers,” air cleaners, or ozone generators purposely emit large amounts of ozone, the main component of smog.

“Not only are such ozone generators ineffective at cleaning indoor air, but breathing ozone poses serious health risks,” warns the Air Resources Board, recommending that these ozone generators not be used.

“Consumers should take care when considering purchase of an air cleaning device,” said ARB Chairman Mary Nichols, “Beware of misleading advertisements offering air purifiers that are simply indoor smog-making machines.”

Consumers may unknowingly purchase these “ozone generators” from advertisers touting the so-called benefits of “activated oxygen” that can make the air inside your home “as fresh as the outdoors after a thunderstorm,” the board said, quoting the ads.

In fact, the board says, “Ozone generators are capable of emitting enough ozone indoors to far exceed outdoor health standards and can intentionally create the equivalent of a Stage 1 smog alert inside your home.”

These devices pump a well-known air pollutant into people’s homes putting everyone at risk, especially the most vulnerable - the young, elderly and infirm.

The devices can produce levels of ozone that can worsen asthma, cause serious lung inflammation, decrease lung function, and lead to hospitalization for respiratory conditions, emergency room visits for asthma, and increased school absences.

Link to more of the story at Environment News Service

Photo by M. Stephens

Nontoxic pest control for pets

GreenPaws.org, a project of the Natural Resources Defense Council, has tons of info about nontoxic ways to treat your pets for pests.

From GreenPaws.org:

Link to vid

GreenPaws.org

Green Paws Pocket Guide to safer flea and tick treatments

Natural Resources Defense Council’s report about Poisons on Pets

Chemical dangers under the sink

Here’s an excellent video, about the dangers of toxic chemicals in the home, made by artist and architectural designer Ken Shuey.

The Surprising News About Everyday Household Cleaning Products

WHY YOU MUST SWITCH TO GREEN NOW!

• CNN reports that every 7 minutes a child is taken to an emergency room for poisoning.
• Swallowing Cascade burns out the esophagus
• Women who stay at home all day have a 54% higher rate of cancer than women who work outside their homes

I’m angry!  We used to trust these companies and they are POISONING OUR CHILDREN!

My name is Ken Shuey, I’m an artist and architectural designer. I’ve been involved in the movement toward a green home environment both indoors and outdoors for over 30 years.

Link

Volcano Garden Arts

Volcano Garden Arts, photos and vid by moi, Susie.

On Sunday, I went south to Volcano Village for the annual art tour held on the weekend after Thanksgiving. Volcano is a beautiful little village, close to the active volcano, that over the years has grown into an incredible artist community. The annual art tour is set up so you can walk or drive to several homes in succession and view the artwork, visit with the artists, and purchase things if you like.

The weather was perfect, but the vog (volcanic emissions) was very bad, so my husband and I did a combination of walking and driving so I could catch by breath. It wasn’t the best environment for a person with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, but I was willing to risk not feeling well because we have so much fun visiting people’s homes, enjoying the art and looking at the beautiful gardens.

Our favorite stop each year is at artist Ira Ono’s place, Volcano Garden Arts, where he has a large gallery filled with not only his fabulous creations but also many other local artists’ work. Ira (at left) is the most gracious host you could imagine, and it’s been fun watching him grow his business and his gardens over the years. He has a brand new art studio, a cafe, living quarters and B & B, and our favorite part: a beautiful garden filled with eclectic art of Asian to whimsy. Everywhere you look, there is something fun and beautiful to see.

I took almost 100 photos and made this video to share Volcano Art Gardens with you. The mask on the tree trunk at 1:33 is Ira’s work.

Thanks, Leslie, for inspiring me to make videos like this!

Link

The beauty of backyard chickens

I’m a big proponent of backyard chickens. I have four hens, who wandered into my garden and heart a couple of years ago. I had absolutely no idea how to care for them, so we learned together. I learned just about everything from books, mostly Chickens in your Backyard: A Beginners Guide by Rick and Gail Luttmann.

Chickens (hens are what you want, no noisy roosters!) are fairly easy to keep: the trick is to give them a secure run with a good strong fence, a safe coop that locks up at night, and to keep it all clean and dry. (That’s my alpha hen Lucy at left. She’s sweet but very greedy!) Although it’s extremely difficult to raise them totally organically (the commercial food is not organic, and they need that for full nutrition), they give you eggs that are far superior to anything you can buy in the store.

Plus, the hens are extremely sociable, charming creatures and a delight to have around. I let mine lose in the yard every day at 4:00 p.m. until dark so they can gobble up bugs and greens to their heart’s content– they love that! I call them my ornamental chickens because they look so pretty out there in the garden.

There are many urban and even some rural communities that are restricted by law from having backyard chickens, but there also is a growing movement in many areas to get the laws changed! The above video is a humorous account of a community in Colorado that hopes to get the laws changed so peeps can have hens in their backyards. It’s a really cute portrayal of the pros, and points out the flaws of the “cons.”

I think it’s important for those of us with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity to take control of our food sources as much as possible. Even if you can’t have backyard chickens, you may be able to find eggs at your local farmer’s market from peeps who have their own flock. Commercial chickens are treated quite cruelly, so this is another reason not to buy commercial eggs. Even those labeled as “free range” are not running around in pastures.

And even if you can’t eat eggs, hens are still wonderful pets. And you could give away your eggs, or even sell them at local farmer’s markets yourself if you felt that industrious!

HELP! How can I get ozone out of my house?

I received an emergency question in my email this morning from one of our flock. Who can help?

Does anyone know how to get ozone (from sanitizing/ionizing) out of your house?  Will opening the windows do it permanently? (it didn’t yesterday)  Is there a charcoal treatment?  If so…what form does that come in?  Anything else you can think of?  ..I’m horribly ill.

Hoping to get responses quickly - I’m not tolerating the house, just got back yesterday, working at finding way to stay….  The new furnace filter (the big hope solution) creates ozone as well, but not to the degree that we created in sanitizing it from the furnace installer.  Tell me anything you know, even if what you tell me is bad (ie: someone got ozone in their home and couldn’t remove it).  I just need to know how hard to keep trying tolerating this.

Thank you my excellent friends…thank you.
C

A glimpse of my secret garden

The outside world is filled with toxic chemicals that are dangerous to me, but I have created my own private, safe universe in my garden. Come take a look at a few of my favorite things: Lucy, the alpha hen; limes; a mynah at the bird bath; Lydia and her daughter Jolie; an Indonesian ginger flower; Jolie looking for treats; and a water lily with comets. Ahhhhhhh. Where is your safe place?

Putting the hens to bed

My first YouTube video! LOL.

This is my evening routine of putting the hens to bed after they’ve had their afternoon foraging in the garden and their dinner of corn and milo. On this evening, meet the Ever Regal Lydia, the Alpha Hen Lucy (already on the roost), the Dear Sweet Katie and the Always Fashionably Late Jolie. Jolie is always the last and she often waits so long that it’s too dark for her to see well enough to fly up to the top roost. So she often gets a little nudge.

At the risk of sounding like a Crazy Lady, I really love my hens. They are my garden buddies and I love them dearly. There’s nothing more relaxing than watching them perambulate around in the garden, scratching for bugs or sunbathing. When we do yard work, they are always close by, gobbling up all the stray bugs or worms we dig up.

The girls are currently on vacay for the winter, not giving us any eggs, but for most of the year they give us the most delicious eggs you can imagine, and at four a day, every day, we have plenty to give away.

Link

Thanks to my good friend Dan for helping me upload the vid!

A good HEPA air filter is a bare essential

I replaced the charcoal wrap in the bedroom air filter the other day and I’m not going to tell you how long it’s been since I replaced it (pic below of the dirty filter, ugh). I don’t think I’ll go that long between changes again! The charcoal wrap is supposed to be replaced at least every three months and the High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) unit every three years.

This is a very basic HEPA air filter that helps control particulate matter, i.e. dust, which works very well for me because I have trouble if there is too much dust in the air. The main HEPA filter is at the center of the unit, and then the charcoal wrap goes around the HEPA unit (see pics below).

I run it about a half hour a day, and I also run it while changing the sheets and when vacuuming the house. I don’t close up the windows while I run it and it still cleans the air very well. I love the air after running the filter!

I don’t have any problems with VOCs in the house, so I don’t need a VOC air filter. If you are trying to figure out what type of air filter to use, you need to evaluate what type of contaminants you need to filter out (biological? chemical?). At the very least, you should be using a HEPA filter, and that goes for your vacuum, too because there can be a lot of contaminants in dust. Be sure that you are buying a true HEPA filter and not a “HEPA-type” filter, which does not do as good a job. A good HEPA filter is not cheap, but the results will amaze you.

I don’t have any product brand recommendations but would love to hear from those of you who do because I’d like to buy a unit for my livingroom.

White House food garden petition

Join in on this great campaign to petition President-Elect Obama to turn the White House lawn into an organic fruit and veggie garden. Go sign the petition!

We, the undersigned, are petitioning President-elect Obama to plant a large organic food garden or Victory Garden on the White House lawn with part of produce going to the White House kitchen and the rest to local food pantries. The White House is “America’s House” and should set a healthy example. President-elect Obama would not be breaking with tradition, but returning to it (the White House has had fruit and vegetable gardens before) and showing how we can meet global challenges such as food security, climate change, and energy independence.

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