What Goes Around Comes Back Around

Facts

• Water treatment plants are not designed to remove every chemical that we pour down the drain or flush down the toilet

• High Miscarriage rates are reported in women who drink tap water with elevated levels of chlorine
• Studies reveal Lower Sperm Counts in rural areas where exposure to farming chemicals through tap water is more likely

Most tap water is contaminated with Sodium Fluoride, Chlorine, a variety of pharmaceuticals, i.e., antidepressants, antibiotics; invest in a pitcher, faucet or water home filtration system to improve the quality of drinking water.

Water Filters recommended by EWG:  http://www.ewg.org/report/ewgs-water-filter-buying-guide

photo source: flickr.com

Happy Flip Flop Feet!

If you were lucky enough to venture to warmer climates for the Easter break, I bet you're having trouble tucking your flip flops away and returning to regular shoes.

To keep up all the good that the sun, sand and salt water did for your feet while you were on vacation, here's an amazing, easy treatment to keep your feet happy, especially for the official, upcoming flip flop season: summer.
HOW TO:
In a glass bowl or jar, blend 1 cup of any of the salts or sugars (see below) with 1/2 cup of a carrier oil of your choice.

Add 5 drops of essential oil and mix well.

Massage well on bottoms of feet, ankles and toes (avoid direct eye contact).

Rinse feet well with warm water and dry.
SALTS & SUGARS

• Sea Salts
• Mineral Salts
• Epsom Salts
• Raw Sugar (fair trade preferred)
• White Sugar (I hope you're slowly phasing this out of your pantry :)

CARRIER OILS

• Grapeseed oil
• Jojoba
• Olive oil
• Sweet Almond oil

ESSENTIAL OILS

• Balsam Fir
• Cypress
• Frankincense
• Ginger
• Lavender
• Marjoram
• Lemongrass
• Peppermint
• Rosemary
• Spearmint
• Tea Tree (Melaleuca alternifolia)

Essential oils can be ordered through my website at www.youngliving.org/amy.

This could be a great year-end gift for your child's favorite teacher! Also, what a great treat this would be for a friend or family member whose feet have been neglected.

Enjoy!

Kick the Comet

The ingredients in popular scouring agents are known to cause:

• Cancer
• Allergies
• Lymphoma
• Lung tumors
• Skin irritations
• Lung carcinoma
• Malignant tumors
• Respiratory Distress
• Perforation of the nasal septum

Scouring sinks, tubs and showers doesn't have to be a health hazard.  Kick the Comet - create your own all-natural scouring agent.

What You'll Need

• 1, 12-oz glass mason or ball jar
• baking soda (alum-free preferred)
• Essential Oils.  I personally like to use Lemon, Orange, Grapefruit, Tangerine, Spearmint, Peppermint or Pine.

Fill the glass jar with baking soda, then add 20 Total drops of your favorite essential oil.  

Make an extra one for a friend.

Shake well before using.  Label the glass jar.  Safe for use to clean sinks, countertops, showers, tubs, toilets.

Click HERE to see how Comet rates with the Environmental Working Group.

Click HERE to see how AJAX rates with the Environmental Working Group.

Click HERE to learn more about Ajax.

All My Bags are Packed...

Packing bags for a trip is stressful enough and then to decide what you can put in that tiny ziploc baggie is another trick. With each trip I take, I do get smarter about how much I pack, and what I bring on board with me.

Here are some things that I really appreciate when I'm away from home so I always make sure they're always in that ziploc baggie or carry-on when I travel.

A few bags of herbal tea: simply ask the flight attendant for a cup of hot water.
Thieves Hard Lozenges: these are really amazing at relieving a sore throat and calming a cough. They also offer natural protection from airport cooties and help reduce sinus congestion.

Thieves Spray: This is such a convenient travel necessity - just spritz on hands or in the air to help kill virus. Because it contains Lemon essential oil, it boosts the immune system, too!

Peppermint essential oil: inhale Peppermint and experience relief from sinus pressure and head congestion. It also helps to calm upset belly or nausea associated with travel.
Lavender essential oil: as a nervous system sedative, it is great at calming, facilitating sleep and relaxing muscles. Massage 1 drop on the back of the neck and inhale a few times before settling in.
Healthy Travel Snacks (all preferably Organic)

• Almonds
• Apple
• Banana
• Cashews
• Celery or carrots
• Dark chocolate covered almonds or ginger
• Figs
• Walnuts
• Whole grain bread or crackers with hummus or Almond Butter

I also pack an eye mask (this does wonders for tuning things out and getting some true sleep), a fleece blanket, which can be used as a pillow and relaxing music (Deva Premal, David Darling, Enya, Riley Lee).

I would love to hear what essential oils and healthy snacks you pack when you travel. Email me at organicaj@yahoo.com

Click HERE if you would like to order any of the products mentioned above.

Goodbye Glade, Febreze and Yankee

If you're ready to say good-bye to synthetic, unhealthy air fresheners, plug ins, reed diffusers, candles and hello to all-natural deodorizers that work, here's one simple way with pure, plant extracts, i.e., Essential Oils.

How to create an Essential Oil Room Spray
In a 1-ounce glass spray bottle, fill with water, leaving a bit of room at the top for Essential Oils.

For every one ounce of water, add 5 total drops of your favorite Essential Oil. Some of my favorite Essential Oils for natural room sprays are:

• Christmas Spirit (essential oil blend from Young Living)
• Believe (essential oil blend from Young Living)
• Lemon and Peppermint (blended together)

What are yours?
Blending Guidelines
2 ounces of water: add 10 Total drops of Essential Oils
3 ounces of water: add 15 Total drops of Essential Oils
4 ounces of water: add 20 Total drops of Essential Oils
Did You Know
When using truly pure Essential Oils in your room sprays, not only are you clearing odors naturally but improving air quality, inhibiting pathogens and boosting mood!
Fun
Add a label, giving your Essential Oil Room Spray a name and add a pretty ribbon!
Safety & Storage
Before using these natural room sprays, be sure to shake well, avoiding direct eye contact. Keep out of reach of children and pets and store in cool, dark place.

Resources

• Essential Oils are available at: https://www.youngliving.org/amy

• Glass Spray bottles are available at: http://www.sks-bottle.com/GlassBottles/GlassBottles1.html

Clean, Bright, White and Sick?

Has your nose ever felt violated when you walk down the laundry detergent aisle of your local grocery store? Mine has.

It's truly disturbing how overloaded your nose becomes by all of those synthetic chemicals and fragrances.

But then there's all those pretty packages and catchy phrases. Have you ever looked beyond these enticing labels to read the ingredients?

If you have, you'll notice that they're not listed. That's because the EPA does not require manufacturers of household chemicals to do so.

You can find most ingredients on an MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet).

Tide is one laundry product that was in our home when I was growing up and after reading its MSDS, I'm glad it's not in my home now.

Tide contains 4 chemicals (that are listed on the MSDS):

1. Ethanol/SD Alcohol 40
2. Monoethanolamine (MEA)
3. Sodium borate decahydrate (borax)
4. Sodium hydroxide

Monoethanolamine (MEA) is considered a possible Carcinogen. Source: Cosmetics Database.

Sodium hydroxide is linked to Depression, Increased Blood Pressure, Allergies, Asthma, Liver Damage and Chronic Hepatitis. Source: Household Products Database.

The above-mentioned chemicals are similar in most commercial laundry products. These chemicals are not completely rinsed off clothes and linens in the washing machine; they are absorbed by our skin and inhaled.

These chemicals end up in our waterways creating hormone imbalance and other serious health concerns in aquatic life. They end up in our tap water supply and create hormone imbalance and make us sick.

Instead of products like Tide, All and Cheer, I use the following safer, natural products and ingredients for clean, bright and white laundry.

• Thieves Household Cleaner, which contains essential oils of Cinnamon, Clove, Eucalyptus radiata, Rosemary and Lemon: removes stains, cleans and deodorizes laundry

• Arm & Hammer washing soda:  great at removing stains and odors, as well as natural replacement for commercial scouring agents

• White Vinegar: antibacterial, clears odors and softens laundry

• Castile Soap:  cleans & freshens, breaks down soap scum

• Baking Soda: eliminates odors, cleans and softens laundry

• Hydrogen Peroxide: removes stains

• Purification essential oil blend: great at eliminating any foul odors like cat/dog urine, smoke and sweat

For more natural cleaning tips, schedule a Home Green Home with Organica Jane!

I have discovered many benefits to using safer, more natural products to do laundry.

• Clothes get clean without those nasty perfumy chemically smells

• Fish in my local stream are smiling

• Everyone loves the way my clothes smell

• I no longer suffer from chronic sinus infections

• I save a lot of money, e.g., Borax is 71 cents per pound; Tide is 1.50 per pound

Please Beware: words like "Free and Clear" do not mean free and clear of anything. Most of these products contain similar disturbing chemicals, including fragrances and perfumes.

Dear Colgate Palmolive Company

Dear Colgate-Palmolive Company:

Please tell me why you have chosen these ingredients for your toothpaste? Toothpaste, a product placed in the mouth of children and adults, absorbed by the mucous membranes in the buccal cavity of the mouth and then absorbed into the bloodstream.

This is a product families are using every day, twice a day! Another personal care product to think about with all of the health concerns we have. I wouldn't support a company that incorporates these synthetic, unnatural chemicals and ingredients.

The documented health impacts of these ingredients is upsetting and using them in a toothpaste... for healthy teeth and gums makes no sense!

Ingredients found in Colgate Total Toothpaste Gel:

• Sodium Fluoride: http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/ingredient/706065/SODIUM_FLUORIDE/
• Triclosan: http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/ingredient/706623/TRICLOSAN/
• Water
• Hydrated Silica: http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/ingredient/719552/HYDRATED_SILICA/
• Glycerin
• Sorbitol
• PVM/MA Copolymer
• Sodium Lauryl Sulfate: http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/ingredient/706089/SODIUM_LAURETH_SULFATE/
• Cellulose Gum
• Flavor
• Sodium Hydroxide
• Propylene Glycol: http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/ingredient/705315/PROPYLENE_GLYCOL/
• Carrageenan (Red Seaweed)
• Sodium Saccharin: http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/ingredient/706177/SODIUM_SACCHARIN/
• Mica
• Titanium Dioxide: http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/ingredient/706561/TITANIUM_DIOXIDE/
• FD&C Blue 1: http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/ingredient/702408/FD%26C_BLUE_1/

Personally, I floss and use Thieves Dentarome Ultra toothpaste, an all-natural toothpaste containing essential oils. And weekly, I do a brushing with sea salt and baking soda. My dental hygienist has commented for years on the health of my teeth and gums.

PS) Any of the Thieves toothpastes may be applied topically to help ease symptoms of poison ivy or a very small dab on a pimple (avoid direct eye contact).

https://www.youngliving.org/amy