Tag Archives: Nontoxic
Xtrema cooking
Posted on Jan 20, 2010 by Susie Collins in Blog, Food, Products, Susie Collins
Founder of Xtrema cookware says it’s made of nontoxic material that can be left on the heat indefinitely and not emit toxic fumes even if boiled bone dry.
This Xtrema cookware looks interesting, coated in a nontoxic ceramic glaze that will not emit toxic fumes even if cooked bone dry on high heat. The high heat safety factor is in comparison to Teflon, which studies show emits dangerous toxic fumes when overheated. Xtrema also claims their nylon lids and utensils are nontoxic.
Feature: High temperature, ultra-durable non- scratch finish, inside and out.
Benefit: Xtrema products feature a revolutionary and technologically advanced ceramic non-scratch ceramic glaze on the inside and outside of every vessel. This ceramic-glaze consists of 100% natural ceramic materials and is completely environmentally safe. The glaze will never emit gaseous or toxic odors (at any temperature), it will not be damaged by the use of metal cooking utensils, and will never peel or flake off into the food. The ceramic glaze on the outside of the cookware also provides faster clean-up and helps keep Xtrema cookware looking brand new, year after year.
The flash graphic on the header on their website is a little scary: thick black smoke curling and swirling. But they say their product is as nontoxic as they come.
The founder of Xtrema is Rich Bergstrom, a former Corning representative. I love my Corning baking dish–I’ve had it for 30 years–and I often recommend Corning to canaries asking about cookware. Bergstrom has something interesting to say about Corning:
Corning Ware manufacturing facility in Martinsburg, WV was closed and dismantled in 2002. Corning Ware is still being marketed today by World Kitchen but the product is now being made of stoneware and not the patented pyro-ceram material that made Corning Ware so recognizable.
Hmmm. Not sure I can recommend that product anymore, at least not until I am convinced the new material is as superior and nontoxic as the old Corning. Is anyone using Corning purchased after 2002?
Has anyone tried Xtrema? It’s not cheap. This darling tea set is $129 and their most basic skillet about $100. But I think it’s going on my wish list. Right after the new HEPA air filter and organic cotton futon for the bedroom.
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Linda Sepp launches a blog about her urgent housing needs
Posted on Jan 17, 2010 by Susie Collins in Blog, Linda Sepp, MCS, Susie Collins
The main purpose of Linda’s blog is to send out a clarion call for help in securing safe water, clothing and place to live. Are you able to help?
Canary Report contributor Linda Sepp launched her own blog today! I am doing the admin on the site but the writing is all Linda’s.
As many of you know, Linda suffers severe Multiple Chemical Sensitivity and is housebound. She faces eviction on April 4. She’s using the blog to explain her urgent housing needs in the hopes of finding people who can help her in securing safe water, clothing and place to live. Other than a limited amount of support given by Canada’s social services, Linda’s basically been abandoned by her country’s safety net, even though Multiple Chemical Sensitivities and Environmental Sensitivities are fully recognized by the Canadian Human Rights Commission.
The urgency of Linda’s situation cannot be over emphasized given the looming eviction. Please visit her blog, read through the posts and pages, and if you are able to help her in any way, please do so! I’m especially interested in finding people in Toronto who can help Linda with everything from daily chores like shopping and shoveling snow, to the larger challenges such as installing a water filter and finding her a safe home.
Linda’s challenges are great but I’m convinced there are people out there who can help her. We just need to find them and enlist their help. Please do all you can to brainstorm about this, or more importantly, implement action!
From Linda’s “About” page:
I am disabled and housebound from severe Multiple Chemical Sensitivities / Environmental Sensitivities (MCS/ES) and chemically induced Fibromyalgia (FM) as well as some ElectroHyperSensitivity (EHS). My symptoms and abilities are directly, and often severely impacted by exposure to petro-chemicals, moulds, wireless technologies and high electrical fields, yet most resolve when I am able to avoid exposures. There may be some residual and permanent brain damage, but we won’t know until I have safe housing and the therapeutic supports required to repair and heal the damage.
My critical and urgent needs list includes: 1) a whole house water filtration system and installation, 2) a washing machine, 3) clothing, 4) a housing search and preparation, and 5) an advocate to help me navigate the processes to secure it all. Are you able to help me in any way?
Bloggers, please add Linda’s blog to your blogroll and share her story with your readers. Please do all you can to find people who can help her secure safe water, clothing and a place to live. You can also donate funds by check or PayPal, or purchase some needed clothing for Linda.
Together, we can make this happen!
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Bronner’s soaps and fair trade
Posted on Nov 15, 2009 by Susie Collins in Blog, Home & Garden, Media/Videos, Susie Collins
A video about Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps, fair trade, and organic olive oil from the Holy Land.
I was fascinated with this video about the olive oil used in Dr. Bronner’s magic soaps. I use Bronner’s USDA Certified Organic liquid soaps head to toe, usually the lavender. Dr. Bronner soaps are not safe for everyone who has Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, so always proceed with caution when trying a new product. I have heard some complaints about cross contamination with mint in the non-mint soaps, and I occasionally detect mint in the lavender liquid soap (I do not like mint in soap!). But many peeps with MCS use Bronner’s for bathing and housecleaning with great success, so if you are looking for safe soap you might like to give it a try. I like the liquid because it rinses better than the bar soaps, and I can use it for a household cleanser.
My favorite all-round nontoxic cleaning solution is:
2 gallons hot water
1/4 cup borax
1/4 cup vinegar
A squirt of Bronner’s liquid lavender soap
I use it for everything: counter tops, floors, tub, toilet, walls, garbage pails, kitty litter pan, porch floor, mudroom, muddy shoes, everything. It rinses off very easily. You’ll be amazed at what that solution can clean!
Link to Bronner’s website.
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Fake Plastic Fish sings the praises of baking soda
Posted on Nov 05, 2009 by Susie Collins in Blog, Home & Garden, Susie Collins
Beth Terry at the blog Fake Plastic Fish shares myriad uses for baking soda, including personal hygiene, cleaning, deodorizing and baking.
Environmentalist Beth Terry (left) at Fake Plastic Fish reports about the many uses of baking soda. She put out a call on Facebook and Twitter for “unusual uses for baking soda,” and I chimed in with a couple of ideas. She was kind enough to give The Canary Report two shout outs in the post, adding my input about the use of baking soda for bathing for people who are chemically sensitive. It’s always a pleasure to see Multiple Chemical Sensitivity talked about from a supportive and inclusive perspective.
Face and Body Cleanser: Susie Collins of The Canary Report, a blog about Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, told me that many people who can’t tolerate soap wash instead with baking soda, mixing it in a 50%/50% ratio with water. She also let me know that people with MCS often have difficulty finding pure baking soda that hasn’t been cross contaminated by products with strong scents. Since baking soda absorbs odors, it could potentially pick up the odor of anything it was shipped or stored near.
I did clarify in the comments that it’s really the problem of toxic chemicals in modern scent that sometimes cross contaminate baking soda in storage facilities and transit, not odors per se.
Beth’s post includes myriad uses for baking soda, including personal hygiene, cleaning, deodorizing and baking. She buys it in bulk at her health food store (see photo). We all know baking soda is an MCSers best friend!
Hats off to Beth for all her hard work in environmental protection, esp in the area of plastics, she’s a true environmental warrior. She’s just launched a discussion board on her blog, so I hope you’ll drop in to visit Fake Plastic Fish to learn about ways you can cut down on your use of plastic.
You can also find Beth’s post at Blogher: Save Money & the Planet With Baking Soda: How Many Uses Can You Think Of?
Thanks, Beth!
Photo used with permission.
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The Million Baby Crawl
Posted on Oct 19, 2009 by Susie Collins in Blog, Home & Garden, Media/Videos, Susie Collins
Seventh Generation and several co-sponsors launch a brilliant ad campaign for reform of U.S. toxic chemical policy.
Babies are getting on soapboxes to demand toxic chemical policy reform from Congress, and to rally support for The Million Baby Crawl.
Click to learn more about the Million Baby Crawl.
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How to green your campus
Posted on Oct 14, 2009 by Susie Collins in Blog, Media/Videos, Susie Collins
Share with your favorite student!
And how about encouraging them to add organic cleaning and fragrance-free policies to their campus’s green initiatives?
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Michael Walkup’s farm grows
Posted on Oct 12, 2009 by Susie Collins in Blog, Home & Garden, Michael Walkup, Susie Collins
Canary Report contributor Michael Walkup, who advises us on Multiple Chemical Sensitivity disability claims, is featured in local press about his family farm.
Northwest Herald reports on Canary Report contributor Michael Walkup, attorney-at-law, who runs Heritage Farm and Gardens. Michael took his family’s land in Illinois and turned it into a small organic farm. In addition to supplying local restaurants, he also serves about 50 subscribers to his Consumer Supported Agriculture program, where his customers pay upfront to receive a box of fresh, organic produce that ripened that week.
CRYSTAL LAKE – A veritable cornucopia of McHenry County’s bounty is picked up each week in boxes at Michael Walkup’s small Crystal Lake farm on the street that bears his family’s name.
His family goes back six generations on the land, so the tomatoes are not the only heirloom that he has on his farm across from Veterans Acres Park.
For the past five years, Walkup has been feeding a small, but steadily growing, population in McHenry County – locavores, people who buy and consume produce that is grown locally. [...]
Walkup said his customers did it to know where their food comes from.
“You go to the store and you don’t know what the food has been treated with,” said Walkup, an attorney who works with people who have chemical sensitivities and who got turned onto organic farming after developing a chemical sensitivity himself.
Link to Michael’s columns on MCS and disability claims here.
Michael is an experienced disability attorney with more than 25 years experience in the disability law field. In 2001, he became disabled due to Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS), Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) and Fibromyalgia Syndrome (FMS). He now provides a service to advise clients with potential disability claims who have MCS, CFS and/or FMS. As these programs and law are usually federal, he is able to practice in all 50 states and, therefore, represent clients regardless of location.
Michael is a long time Sustaining Member of the National Organization for Social Security Claimants’ Representatives, the only national body for disability representatives. He is also certified as a Federal Trial Lawyer and is admitted to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veteran’s Claims.
Michael would welcome the opportunity to possibly help with disability claims. For more information, visit his website MCS Legal Help at walkuplaw.com. Contact info: email MJWalkup@Amertech.net or call 866-880-4878.
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Editor’s note: This post was revised on 10/13, correcting the term Consumer Supported Agriculture, which I had mistakenly written as Community Supported Agriculture.
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The pampered canary
Posted on Sep 03, 2009 by Susie Collins in Blog, Kimberly Shaw, Personal Care
“There’s no better way to energize your body, mind, and spirit than by taking care of yourself.” ~Stephanie Tourles
Post by Kimberly Shaw.
One of the ways I take care of myself is to make time to pamper myself with my own homemade organic personal care products. When I make something myself, I know exactly what goes into it and can use ingredients that work for me.
The recipes below include a basic unscented version and also variations with organic essential oils. If you have very severe Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, are currently in a “universal reacting” stage and/or are recovering from a recent exposure, I’d strongly suggest NOT trying the essential oil variations. Even natural and organic scents can and often will trigger reactions. Some with MCS can tolerate organic essential oils in moderation and even find they have aromatherapy benefits. For many years, I could only use unscented products. After much recovery and studying aromatherapy, I find that some essential oils in moderation work well for me.
If you have extremely sensitive reactive skin, keep things very simple. When my MCS was really severe I cleaned my face with just organic jojoba oil.
Feel free to omit any ingredients you are sensitive to or substitute for another ingredient. You are welcome to email me, if you need help tailoring a recipe to work for you.
Due to the nature of these ingredients, products should be used within six months. Before trying something new on your face or large parts of your body, you might want to do a small skin test on the inside of your arm. As with any skin care products, discontinue use if any skin reaction or rash appears.
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Relaxing Bath Salts
- ¼ to ½ cup Epsom salt
- ¼ to ½ cup Dead Sea Salt or any type of sea salt
- ¼ to ½ teaspoon organic jojoba oil
For a regular size bath, use ¼ measurements, for a larger bath use ½ measurements. Add salts and oils to running bath water. Soak and relax for at least 20 minutes.
Variations:
Add several drops of an organic essential oil such as lavender or vanilla.
Add some green tea (or your favorite herbal tea) to the bath. I tend to use about 6-8 tea bags or about 6 teaspoons loose tea in a cheesecloth bag or stainless steel tea infuser.
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Body Scrub
- 2 cups organic sugar or sea salt
- ¾ to 1-cup organic oil (jojoba, olive, grapeseed, sunflower, and/or other organic oil of your choice)
Variations:
10-30 drops organic essential oils, if desired. Tangerine or grapefruit work well.
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If you can use essential oils, here is one of my favorite recipes:
Kimberly’s Mojito Sugar Scrub
- 2 cups organic sugar
- ¾ cups grapeseed oil (I use it because it is naturally green in color)
- 20 drops organic lime essential oil
- 10 drops organic spearmint essential oil
(When I make it for gifts for friends and relatives, I add a dash of rum.)
Mix well and store in a glass container. Use in the bath or shower. Be careful may make surfaces slippery. Do not use on face or sensitive areas.
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Face and Body Wash
- 8 oz. organic unscented castile soap
- 8 oz. distilled water
- 1 tsp organic jojoba oil
Variation:
- 8 oz. organic unscented castile soap
- 4 oz. organic hydrosol* (I often use calendula hydrosol)
- 4 oz. distilled water
- 1 tsp organic jojoba oil
- (10-20 drops organic essential oils, if desired)
*I find since most hydrosols contain less than 5% essential oil they are mild and subtle and some with MCS can tolerate them.
I put this recipe in glass pump dispenser bottles and use as a basic liquid hand and body soap for the whole family.
If you have really dry skin, add extra jojoba oil to the mixture.
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Organic Eye Butter
- 3 Tablespoons organic shea butter
- 2 Tablespoons organic avocado oil
- 2 Tablespoons organic coconut oil
- ¼ teaspoon organic rosehip oil
- ¼ teaspoon organic calendula oil
- 2 drops organic carrot seed oil (optional)
Gently melt shea butter in a double boiler. Add all oils and blend well. Store in glass container. If storing in warmer environment, keep in refrigerator. Use within three months.
Apply a small amount around eye to help hydrate and soften wrinkles. It also works great on lips!
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There are many places to get organic ingredients, one of my favorite places is Mountain Rose Herbs.
In the coming months, I’ll be sharing more organic body care recipes!
Enjoy!
Come visit me at Serendipity.
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Genetically modified, conventionally grown or organic?
Posted on Jul 26, 2009 by Susie Collins in Blog, Food, Home & Garden, Kimberly Shaw
For those with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, it is very important to avoid GM produce.
Post by Kimberly Shaw.
About 70% of grocery store foods now contain genetically modified ingredients. For those with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, it is very important to avoid GM produce. If your body does not recognize a food it will treat it as a foreign agent. This often results in allergic or other adverse reactions.
Sometimes it is hard to tell how an item is grown.
For produce or animal products, just check the PLU code on the package or sticker:
* Has a four-digit number – “Conventionally Grown”
* Has a five-digit number beginning with 9 – “Organically Grown”
* Has a five-digit number beginning with 8 – “Genetically Modified” (GM)
Avoid processed drinks and foods. Most of them contain GM ingredients, unless they are organic.
Avoid farm-raised fish and conventionally raised meat and chicken.
For more information:
What are the dangers of genetically modified foods, and what are GMOs, anyway?
Photo by Susie Collins
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Ask Umbra on Green Cleaning
Posted on Jul 23, 2009 by Susie Collins in Blog, Home & Garden, Media/Videos
Green up your act!
Going green doesnt mean giving up on being clean. Grist advice mistress Umbra Fisk offers up alternatives to chemical-laden cleaning products.
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DIY: Skip the chemicals, get a buzz
Posted on Jul 22, 2009 by Susie Collins in Blog, Home & Garden, Susie Collins
What’s the buzz?
I can’t go to the salon to get my hair cut anymore because of the chemicals, so I cut my own hair with electric clippers. Here’s my latest buzz cut!
I love my gray! I’ve earned every strand.
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The challenge of finding a nontoxic recreational vehicle
Posted on Jul 19, 2009 by Susie Collins in Blog, Keith Carlson, MCS
Multiple Chemical Sensitivity: An Inconvenient Reality
Post by Keith Carlson
As my wife and I shop for a recreational vehicle in which to spend the next year or two as we live, work and play, our Multiple Chemical Sensitivity has become even more of an inconvenient reality.
We all know that new car smell, and many people equate that smell with freshness and newness. We also know the particular smell of a new shower curtain which is now widely understood to be the off-gassing of pthalates and other very unhealthy chemicals. These are modern realities, and they’re making us sick.
Recreational vehicles (RVs) are manufactured just like homes and cars—they are filled with particle board, formaldehyde-based materials and nasty chemical-laden furnishings that off-gas for years. In our meanderings, we have entered several newish RVs and the chemical aura has hit us both like a brick wall, driving us out the door in seconds. One wonders about all of the retirees out there who buy brand new RVs and then hit the road. Do they develop cancers, memory loss or early-onset dementia more quickly than others? After all, they are living in a small area which is often sealed tight—a literal chemical soup.
Many people with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity end up homeless because they can’t find safe housing. Small homespun businesses (like Taylor Designs) have indeed sprung up in an effort to fill a niche, creating “safe rooms,” MCS trailers, and other spaces designed to make living and sleeping healthy for those with environmental illnesses. Publications like “Our Toxic Times” and “The Canary Report” offer resources, advertisements and classifieds for those seeking safety and healthy alternatives, and many do-it-yourselfers take a shot at retrofitting trailers, homes and other structures to suit their needs.
For us, our only alternative may be a refurbished Airstream trailer, gutted and professionally retrofitted by Taylor Designs several years ago and now available through a private seller. However, what we really want is an all-in-one RV in which we can live, work, sleep, eat and drive, but every vehicle we look at or consider has been treated with, or is constructed with, materials that can put our health at risk.
Yesterday, after combing through Craig’s List, Mary found an RV that sounded great, and she called the owner. After a long and detailed discussion during which she patiently explained our MCS, the owner finally acknowledged that he has put Bounce dryer sheets in all of the storage compartments of the rig in order to ward off mice and “freshen” the air. That potential sale is going nowhere, of course.
So, we continue in our search, narrowing it down, looking under every rock, and may end up spending more than we care to on the retrofitted Airstream and a diesel pickup truck with which to tow it. This is another consequence of MCS—we can often end up spending more to get what we need because so much of the world is stacked against us. It’s a chemical soup out there, and we simply want to remove ourselves from the broth.
This post was originally published at Digital Doorway, my blog on creative expression, nursing adventures, reflections on healthcare, thoughtful reverie, thoughtless repose, and other flotsam and jetsam.
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How to make laundry soap
Posted on Jul 06, 2009 by Susie Collins in Blog, Home & Garden, Media/Videos, Products
Note to people with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity: Be sure to use bar soap, washing soda and borax brands you can tolerate. You may need to experiment at first to see what works best for you.
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Summer Solstice report on the new veggie garden
Posted on Jun 27, 2009 by Susie Collins in Blog, Home & Garden, Susie Collins, Susie's Secret Garden
This week, the week of the Summer Solstice, I wanted to show you our progress on the vegetable garden.
As you may recall, we started building this garden last year on Winter Solstice, constructing the raised beds and filling with compost. Then we built the fence while the compost broke down and turned into fabulous medium for the vegetables. So here’s where we are this week!
All four beds are filled with layers of compost, soil, leaves and other organic matter, and then topped with a layer of straw to keep down the weeds and keep the soil moist in the hot sun. The straw all sprouted wheat for a couple of weeks, that was a HUGE LOL. The straw is supposed to keep the weeds down, but it started growing it’s own crop! Now we give batches of the straw to the chickens in their run and let them eat all the seeds before spreading on the beds.
I really love the fence because it keeps the chickens out. Later, we are going to cover the whole enclosure with avian netting to keep the wild birds out so we can grow sunflowers. The netting will also keep out the fluttery moths that lay their eggs on the leafy greens.
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Choosing better body care products
Posted on Jun 26, 2009 by Susie Collins in Blog, Home & Garden, Personal Care, Products
Under-regulated chemicals are causing concerns for human health and the environment, whether they seep through your skin or wash down your drain.
The Environmental Working Group continues its Healthy Home Tip series with “Choosing Better Body Care Products”:
Dear Supporter,
Most people use around 10 personal care products every day with an average of 126 unique ingredients. We’d like to believe that the government is policing the safety of all of these mixtures we’re putting on our bodies, but they’re not. Instead, these under-regulated chemicals are causing concerns for human health and the environment – whether they seep through your skin or wash down your drain.
We think you deserve better than that. So we’re sending you our Healthy Home Tip Series to make it easier to safeguard your family’s health. This month’s tip is: Choose better body care products.
What makes a body care product “better”?
Better products meet their claims and are free of ingredients that could harm our health or the environment. Labels might claim that a product is “gentle” or “natural,” but with no required safety testing, companies that make personal care products can use almost any chemical they want, regardless of risks. So, always read product labels – especially the ingredient list – before you buy.
Learn how to choose better body care productsWe make these choices as simple as possible on our Healthy Home Tips page, where you’ll learn:
- How to read a label
- How to shop for the grown-ups in the house
- How to find the safest body care products for your kids
Tell your friends about our Healthy Home Tips
We know you’re not the only one who wants to choose better body care products. Tell your friends about our Healthy Home Tip Series so they, too, can be informed when faced with rows of under-regulated products at the store.
Talk to you in a month when we discuss our next Healthy Home Tip: going organic and eating fresh foods.
Thanks for reading,
Lisa Frack
EWG Online OrganizerPS: Last month we introduced this Healthy Home Tips Series. Click here to read about it.
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Welcome to The Canary Report!
The Canary Report is a blog and social network about Multiple Chemical Sensitivity.
We compassionately bring you unfiltered and uncensored news and information you can trust directly from the source: people who have MCS. Dedicated to sharing, supporting, and inspiring with the Aloha Spirit, The Canary Report gives all canaries a voice. Come join us!
Aloha,
Susie Collins
Founder and Contributing Editor
Hilo, Hawaii
Let’s Connect on the Social Web
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A statement from Lourdes Salvador about recent ad hominem attacks on Facebook
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DIY: Skip the chemicals, get a buzz
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The naked truth about Multiple Chemical Sensitivity
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Perfume blogger dismisses concerns from a member of our community
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International Multiple Chemical Sensitivity awareness project is launched
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