Drinking Water Safe?

I recently met a women who told me that her family only drinks bottle water because it was safer than town or local water. The scary facts is that most bottle water is no more than tap water packaged into a fancy bottle. A few year ago the EPA ran some popular spring water through some testing and they found bacterial contaimination, industrial solvents along with arsenic. Another scary truth is that the FDA exempts regulating bottle water that is packaged and sold within the same state. This means that your town water is more closely regulated than the fancy bottle water you are purchasing. Not only is the water not great for you but think about all those plastic bottles entering our landfills. This is so much unnessasary waste we are creating that can simple be eliminated very easily.

First if you have a well, Congrats! Go get your well water tested if will cost around $20. If your water is good you will end up saving big by being able to use your own water. If you are not so lucky I would suggest purchasing a water filter unit such as Best Water. Once you have a healthy source of water go to the store a purchase a metal water bottle to hold you water. The problem with traditonal plastic bottles is once they go over about 72 degrees the plastic begins leching chemicals into the water. I get mine from Sigg they are nice water bottles and I even get ones for the kids too. Now since the Green trend you can even find these at all kinds of stores such as Wegmans, Target, Whole Foods...ect.

Cheers to Healthier Water!

10 Ways to a Greener Home

So, what can you do to make your environment greener and remove the toxins from your home and from your body? Here is Sloan’s Ten Simple Steps for a Greener and Healthier Home:

1. Start by replacing a bunch of your cleaners (your general spray cleaner, glass cleaner, counter-top cleaner, floor and bathroom cleaners) with a natural, nontoxic all-purpose cleaner. You will only need one product to do that. Really!
Shaklee’s Basic-H2 will accomplish this step: http://www.shaklee.net/edge/shopNowProd/00015

If this is your first time using Basic-H2, we recommend getting the 3-pack of Get Clean spray bottles. Each spray bottle is attractively labeled and has instructions for different mixtures for All Purpose Cleaning, Glass Cleaning and Degreasing: http://www.shaklee.net/edgeshopNowProd/50443

2. Replace your laundry detergent with a natural nontoxic one so the clothes you wear and the sheets you sleep on have no fumes for you to breathe. Shaklee’s Fresh Laundry Concentrate in powder or liquid form does the job even better then store bought brands. HE compatible and fragrance-free options available. Go to: http://www.shaklee.net/edge/shopNowProd/GetCleanLaundry

3. Go to your bathroom and read the shampoo, makeup and moisturizer labels. Ask yourself, “Do I really need scent in these products?” Take stock of all of your other products and try to replace one a week with a safer, greener choice.

For Shaklee’s Natural Personal Care Products go to:
http://www.shaklee.net/edge/shopNowProd/DailyCare
For Shaklee’s Natural Beauty Products go to:
http://www.shaklee.net/edge/shopNowProd/Beauty
For Shaklee’s ProSante Hair Care Products go to:

http://www.shaklee.net/edge/shopNowProd/HairCare

4. Use BPA-free plastic baby bottles and fill them with breast milk or organic formula. Choose powdered formula over canned formula to avoid BPA leaching from the can lining. For more information on BPA-free bottles go to:

http://babyproducts.about.com/od/feedingdrinks/tp/BPA_free_baby_bottles.htm

5. Pay attention (without freaking out) to the toys you buy for your kids. Avoid lead paint and soft plastics that contain phthalates. Also a good germ cleaner for toys is Shaklee's Germ Off Fragrance-Free Disinfecting Wipes. They clean and disinfect odor-causing bacteria without alcohol or bleach. Order online at: http://www.shaklee.net/members/shopNowProd/00322

6. Shop the perimeter of the grocery store and avoid processed foods. Even better, choose organic and locally grown meats, dairy, fruits and vegetables. Find locally grown produce, farmer’s markets, family farms and other sources of sustainably grown food anywhere in the country at: http://www.localharvest.org/

7. Try to get the plastic containers out of your kitchen and replace them with glass containers. For more on the benefits of glass containers go to: http://www.greendaily.com/2008/09/18/glass-vs-plastic/

8. Make a vow to stop buying bottled water—NOW. Instead, buy a water filter pitcher and keep two in your fridge at all times. Shaklee’s BestWater Pitcher or MTS 2000 Water Filter (both rated #2 by Consumer Reports) provide clean fresh and easily accessible water that saves you big money over bottled water. http://www.shaklee.net/edge/shopNowProd/WaterTreatment

9. For cleaner and healthier air, open your windows once a day when the outside temperature is comfortable. Also check out the AirSource 3000 Air Purifier that dramatically reduces all three of the major forms of indoor air pollution, including particles such as pollen, pet dander, dust and cigarette smoke; microbes such as mold and bacteria; gases and odors. It purifies the air up to 3000 sq. ft. making it ideal for most homes. For more information go to:

http://www.shaklee.net/edge/shopNowProd/55102

10. When buying new stuff for your home, focus on green products, especially mattresses and carpets.
For green carpeting check out: http://www.thegreenguide.com/doc/96/letters
For green bedding check out: http://www.thegreenguide.com/doc/107/bedding

Steps taken from:
Green Goes with Everything and the Ten Simple Steps for a Greener and Healthier Home!
Sloan Barnett, is a green consumer advocate and regular contributor to NBC’s "Today Show". Sloan has written a thoroughly researched, highly readable book about getting the chemicals and toxins not just out of our homes and out of our environment, but out of our bodies as well!


You can order Sloan’s new book Green Goes with Everything: Simple Steps to a Healthier Life and a Cleaner Planet at Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble or where other bestselling books are sold.

Febreeze is back...well sort of.

Like most busy moms sometimes I throw laundry in the washer and dryer and forget about it for a few days and then need to rewash or somehow get the wrinkles out. Well the other day I left a load in the dryer and forgot to take them out. In a mad rush to get the girls to school and me to work I remembered my work clothes were balled up in the dryer where they have been sitting for 2 days. Well needless to say they were a really wrinkled and didn't have that just cleaned smell. The smell was more like a smell that says, I am a busy mom with two kids and I can't find my head let alone remember to take clothes out of the dryer. I started to panic, I have to get to work and these are the only clothes to wear, plus I have a meeting with my Director today. So in a pinch I grabbed 1/4oz of the Shaklee Fabric Softener and mixed it with 16 oz of water. I then sprayed my clothes till they were damp and through them in the dryer for 5 mins. When I took them out not only were the wrinkles gone but I now smell like success.

I was so pleased of my new found mixture I ended up spraying the entire house with it because it smelled so clean. It is amazing what a little safe, clean fragrance can do for your attitude. The rest of the morning seemed to go by with easy.