Archive for November, 2008
You’ve probably even heard Grandma talk of mustard poultices. Well, the old folks are right because since ancient times, mustard & mustard baths have been natural healing remedies. A mustard bath is an excellent way to detoxify your body.
Mustard seeds and their medicinal use have been around since Biblical times. In Ayurvedic medicine, mustard baths and mustard rubs have been traditionally used for detoxification and purification. In many parts of the world mustard is well-known for its therapeutic value when used as a mustard pack, a mustard plaster or a mustard bath.
Mustard detox baths help to increase circulation, oxygenation and aids tremendously in eliminating toxins. The outward application contributes to general well being by activating the largest organ of elimination in the body, the skin. Sweating helps move out toxins and acid waste (oxidized cells) stored in tissues throughout the body. The increase in circulation helps to release stagnant waste from the tissues so that it can be eliminated through other organs of elimination as well as the skin.
You can ward off disease by adhering to a regular detox bath routine. Especially during the winter months when we’re trapped inside, with co-workers, classmates and family all snarfling and snuffling, coughing and wheezing - taking a detox bath with mustard really helps!
A good soak in a hot tub, followed by application of mustard rub, then getting bundled up and sweating out the toxins will give germs a run for their money during the cold and flu season!
Landscape irrigation nationwide totals about 7 billion gallons a day, and accounts for one-third of all residential water use.
Saving water is crucial to the environment. The planet is at a point where humans can no longer afford to waste water, or any other resources.
Experts estimate that more than 50% of all commercial and residential water goes to waste due to evaporation, wind, improper irrigation system design or over watering.
Homeowners should monitor their outdoor water usage and make some changes to save water. A rain barrel is a great way to cut down on the amount of water your household uses. It saves electricity because there is no pump to run; it works on gravity. You aren’t using water from the municipal water supply, or, if you’re in the country, your well.
There are many different systems available, depending on your local area rainfall, or how you’d like to use your rain barrel. You can use it to create an underground watering system for your garden. Soaker hoses used in the garden save water, and your rain barrel can be attached to one. You can also use your rain barrel to water plants on your porch, deck or to hose off a sidewalk or patio. This helps save water, too!
Environmentally speaking, Americans waste water - billions of gallons a year. The average family of 4 uses about 400 gallons a day; 70% of it being used inside the home.
Consider the following statistics on how much water is used by an American family:
Toilets: 27% Shower: 17% Faucets: 16% Washing Machine: 22% Leaks: 14% Other: 5%
27 percent of all household water is used in the bathroom. Installing a new toilet or a composting toilet can save a dramatic amount of water in one year. A leaky toilet can waste over 200 gallons every day.
Bathroom faucets run at about 2 gallons of water a minute. Shutting off the faucet while brushing your teeth saves about 200 gallons per month.
Not rinsing dishes before loading into a dishwashe saves over 10 gallons per load.
Washing machines can use up to 54 gallons of water per load, but recent energy efficient models use about 27 gallons.
Garbage disposals waste electricity and water. A typical disposal uses between 4 and 8 gallons of water a minute. Consider this the next time you go to use yours. A garden composter is the way to go and will provide you with free, nutrient rich soil for your garden and get rid of your food scraps at the same time.
You won’t be wasting water or electricity with a composting toilet or a composter.
Fair trade has been getting a lot of attention these days. This is good news for developing nations as more and more people are promoting and consuming their products. Fair trade is basically a market-based movement that promotes the products made by marginalized workers of developing countries. It is a way of supporting and aiding these countries to be more self-sufficient.
Some products that have been marketed are coffee, sugar, tea, and honey. There are also handicraft products that promote a country’s culture as well such as a Fair Trade quilt, bags, and decor. Through fair trade, the marginalized sectors of the society are empowered. Fair trade also helps alleviate the plights of the poor and decreases the rate of unemployment.
Most ailments of today can be caused and aggravated by stress. Cancer has been linked to stress. That is why in today’s fast-paced life, it is important for us to spend time de-stressing. De-stressing need not be expensive. If going to a spa regularly is too heavy on your pocket, why not try to de-stress at home? Here are some suggestions:
1. Spend a quiet moment preferably before bedtime to meditate. Turn off the television, don’t answer the phone, and put your mobile phone or pager on silent mode.
2. Take a warm bath. Fill your tub with water and sprinkle in natural bath salts. The bath salts will help your muscles relax.
3. Light some candles or burn some essential oils. Aromatherapy is known to release tension and bring beneficial effects to the body.
4. Get a massage. Have a loved one knead the stress away or, better yet, call a massage therapist who can do home visits.
Two terms which are often confused are “Fair Trade” and “Free Trade” but they mean different things. One term - fair trade - respects the dignity of the human element, encourages stronger communities, provides a living wage and promotes a healthier planet. The other word, free trade, promotes greed, human rights abuses and environmental degradation.
FREE TRADE favors big business over workers and/or small farmers who cannot compete with the subsidized agriculture of countries like the United States. NAFTA and the newer CAFTA (Central American Free Trade Agreement) devastate small farmers who cannot compete with the cheap, surplus dumped into their countries.
In the FREE market the focus is on the bottom line. Businesses like Wal-Mart and others search for products from countries with the cheapest labor, making for the highest profits. Workers in these countries endure sweatshop conditions and low wages. They often lose their jobs when a company relocates to save even more money to be the lowest bidder to the ‘big guys.’
The free market has devastating effects on the environment. Free trade agreements do not require member countries to adhere to international environmental standards. Member countries can also compete for investment. Big corporations looking to broaden their bottom line often go to countries which have dangerous, lax or non-existant environmental standards. This means they can conduct their manufacturing facilities in most cases, without much (or any) restrictions. This encourages large corporations looking for the cheapest and easiest place to do business, regardless of the environmental impact. after all, it’s not their backyard that needs cleaning up!
In contrast, FAIR TRADE ensures that fair trade producers can earn enough to care for their families and community. A ‘floor’ is set to provide fair trade participants with a living wage in the local context with financial stability against global market fluctuations.
Fair trade works to educate its providers about sustainability and ensure that the fair trade local co-ops adhere to international environmental standards. This helps their local community be environmentally responsible and protects the health and well being of the community -and- the planet.
Which one do you choose?
Improve your skin’s health and keep wrinkles at bay with these simple strategies:
Exfoliate is the key to renewing your skin. Dead cells dull your skin’s appearance. Using an exfoliating natural scrub or en exfoliating soap helps maintain a clear, smooth, even-toned complexion. It also helps your body detox itself more quickly and efficiently.
If you’ve got oily skin try a exfoliating soap or aromatic bath salt containing tea tree or lavender. You can easily make your own salt scrub using quality, 100% organic (never synthetic) oils and Himalayan salt.
Another important step is to moisturize. Daily moisturizing not only keeps skin soft and supple, but it enhances the barrier function to help ward off toxins. It also improves the skin’s ability to retain moisture. Look for products containing botanicals, such as the Benedetta Rosemary & Geranium Massage-In Cleanser, which exfoliates and moisturizes in one step.
Finally, drinking plenty of water helps cleanse your skin and your entire body. Why not make a start today to glow on the inside and the outside, too!
Do you go to your local garden center and
BUY DIRT?
Why?
You can make your own compost very easily and save yourself a lot of money & won’t have to lug heavy bags by using a composter.
You have all the makings for good compost right there at home. Use grass from mowing your lawn, leaves from the fall, (which are even better if you’ve mulched them) branches and twigs cut from trees & shrubs. Add vegetable trimmings, egg shells, coffee grounds, tea bags and peels from the kitchen. Don’t forget those refrigerator experiments with the hair on them! The only exceptions that don’t go in are meat (including bones) and any dairy products. Everything else makes great compost! All you need to do is put it in a composter and the rest is done for you.
The breakdown of these materials turns into ‘brown gold’: light, fluffy and nutritious compost. Good nutrition is vital for your garden. It helps plants ward off pests and disease without using dangerous toxic chemicals and pesticides. Another benefit is you are getting FREE DIRT!
Sun-Mar has been making composters for about 30 years. They’ve used the proven technology from their best-selling composting toilets; a rotating drum. This ensures a good mixture and quick decomposition of organic materials.
Instead of using your garbage disposal, which wastes water and electricity, a composter is an earth-friendly, pest-free alternative. Outdoor rascals like dogs, cats, racoons, possums and skunks can’t get into the sealed drum.
Compost is easy to make. You’re half way there every time you make a meal. Why not start today?
What IS ENVIRONMENT?
Webster’s dictionary defines it as: “to surround, to encircle, to envelop, to encompass, external conditions which determine modifications in the development of organic life.”
I like the last one. When you think of it, what we all do, in one way or another “determines modifications in the development of organic life.” For much of the world, the environment beyond our noses has been given little thought. Not only the current chic usage of the word environment, meaning world or ecosystem health of the planet, but environment as in living conditions and lifestyles of millions on the planet. Environment as in human rights of; environment as in how one relates to the world in general.
How do you treat your environment? How do you treat, deal with, relate to the other beings on this planet, whether they be animal, plant or human? Where is your regard for their well-being is and what steps do you take to contribute to it?
Recently I started a web site. The original idea was to have environmentally responsible items. Now I find it has morphed into something else - to encourage and promote fair trade and human rights.
I have long been a champion of justice. Born in the middle of the sign of Libra, with many aspects IN Libra, justice, fairness and peace all relate to my core.
When faced with getting products to sell on the site, I could have taken the easy way out and used drop shippers who import from Asia. I scanned the offerings for weeks, never satisfied that any of them could provide me with organic, eco-friendly items. I became so frustrated and at times, tried to convince myself to break down and sell that crap. I couldn’t.
Why? Because I was raised to have respect for the Earth and, it seems for my entire life, I have loved the trees, the animals, the beauty and wonder of this world. I have lived with environmental mindfulness, far more than most people I know, far more than most Americans, too.
I could not bring myself to be a purveyor of what I call garbage; useless crap that the world already has too much of. Cheap knock-offs, or even the real things: i-Pods, sports team jackets, the latest phone or computer products, disposable this, wastefully packaged that, personal care products with no ‘natural’ IN the ‘natural’ they promise.
Stuff which is produced in sweatshops overseas for a pittance and where workers are mistreated, paid $1 a day, exposed to harmful, toxic, inhumane conditions and no thought to their welfare is given. It is slavery! Workers exploited all so that the United States can have cheap prices at their local Wal-Mart store. Americans want cheap, cheap, CHEAP. Who cares about quality when you can throw it away and get another one? Planned obsolescence has done much to fill up the landfills in the last 50 years, hasn’t it…. and we’ve all played right into it, haven’t we?
So my quest continued for organic, fair trade, sustainable and responsible environmental products.
I have been very lucky to find wonderful vendors for the site: A wonderful man named Syed, who offers completely natural henna products in a range of colors, to another man named Barry who has patented rain barrels, because he truly is concerned about our planet.
Then there’s the local artist, Adelbert, who, despite his battle with Parkinson’s disease, works in wood taken
from ’standing dead’ only, makes beautiful heartfelt items.
Cecilia, who lived in Botswana for many years, is a member of the Fair Trade Federation. Her daughter, Macallan designed a “Get Involved” t-shirt which from which proceeds go for AIDS orphans in Africa. 
These are truly inspiring and special people and I am so honored to be working with them.
Another aspect of the site is that it must give back and be useful to the world. By providing not only fair trade items, but also giving a portion of the profits to environmental, humanitarian and health organizations, it will enable me to give back to the people of the Earth. In this way I feel that I am contributing to the environment of the Earth instead of just taking away.
We live in a world of toxins, which didn’t exist 50 or 100 years ago. Since the advent of plastics, that “miracle substance”, we can find few things that aren’t either entirely composed of them or partially so. Consequently, because of things like plastics, pollution, food additives, pesticides, synthetic ingredients in furnishings, personal care items, and cleaning products, we need to help our bodies get rid of toxins. This is where a good detox bath comes in.
Since ancient times, one of the most effective detox regimens has been the bath. Soaking in hot mineral springs or a bath containing aromatic bath salts, oils and herbs, was a favorite past time of the Romans, Chinese and other civilizations. Aromatic bath salts serve a two-fold purpose: their scent calms and relaxes the body and the salts, be it Dead Sea salts, Himalayan salts, Epsom salts or other natural bath salts, act as a detoxifying agent. This helps the body rid itself of toxins, stave off illness and muscle strain and fatigue. If you remove dead skin with an exfoliating natural scrub, the results are even better.
Most people don’t realize that when you take a hot detox bath, you can even either prevent or lessen the effects of an oncoming illness. A hot detox bath does the same thing as a fever does: kills germs inside the body by raising the overall temperature. That’s what a fever is for! It is the body’s defense system against illness.
One of my favorite combinations is mixing Epsom salts with bath salts. Epsom salts are wonderful! We think of them only when we’ve sprained or strained something. They have two other great benefits: they will help you sleep after their detoxing properties in your bath, and they are a natural skin softener.
So, the next time you get that scratchy feeling in your throat, or have been around too many people who’re sick - and don’t want to come down with something, get in a hot tub for an hour or two with some bath salts. Your body will probably thank you!