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Tue Mar 4 16:45:48 EST 2008
to
time, the news media reports on a new office building where some
employees are
mysteriously ill. These people are healthy when they're away from
work, but as
soon
as they get back on the job, they experience a variety of symptoms.
Well, guess
what? Houses can be sick too. We all have different levels of
tolerance. In a
sick
office building, the air might only be bad enough to affect 10% of the
workers.
Similarly, houses usually aren't so bad that everyone gets seriously
ill. In
fact,
in a typical sick house, there's usually only one person affected.
It's common
for
other family members, who feel OK, to label the sick person a
hypochondriac.
One
of the illnesses that's increasingly being recognized is a condition
called
Multiple
Chemical Sensitivity (MCS). People with MCS are much more sensitive
than the
rest of
the population to common indoor air pollutants. Like all illnesses,
there are
degrees of MCS. Some reports have estimated that it affects up to 15%
of the
population. We learned about MCS the hard way a few years after we
bought out
first
house. That house wasn't much to look at--it was a dilapidated old
farm house
that
was built in the 1850s. Between 1976 and 1982, we completely rebuilt
much of the
inside and outside ourselves--while we were living in it. We were
proud of the
end
result and where honored with a preservation award from the county
historical
society. But the exposure to all the new construction materials
literally
destroyed
Lynn's health. It took us another couple of years to learn that many
common
building
products can make you sick. Frankly, we were shocked. We used the same
plywood,
cabinets, paints, and carpeting that anyone can buy at lumber yards
and
building-supply centers--and they almost destroyed Lynn. At first we
couldn't
figure out why she has so many different and unrelated symptoms. She
couldn't
sleep,
she had joint and muscle pain, couldn't digest food, couldn't think
straight,
had
inflamed sinuses, her hair and nails became brittle, she had
difficulty
breathing,
the odor of printing ink and new clothing bothered her. Then we heard
about MCS,
and
realized that our award-winning house had made her sick. We found out
that many
doctors have never heard of MCS, and that some simply don't believe
it's a valid
medical condition. On the other hand, hundreds of doctors specialize
in treating
MCS, and they see thousands of patients every day. For a referral,
contact the
American Academy of Environmental Medicine[...] Since learning about
MCS, and
how
bad the air is in most houses, we've devoted out lives to spreading
the word
about
why houses make people sick and, more importantly, how to create
healthy houses.
We've found that, even though many everyday materials are unhealthy,
there are
hundreds of other products that are inert. This book discusses those
healthy
alternatives and includes addresses for some that you may have
difficulty
finding
locally. Many of our answers include numbers in parentheses that refer
to other
questions and answers containing additional relevant information.
We've found
that
every question has two answers, a short one a long one. For example,
it's
possible
to answer a particular question with either a single sentence, or an
entire
book.
What follows are relatively short answers, but they're certainly not
incomplete.
By
following the advice given in these pages, you can definitely improve
the
healthfulness of your house and your family--often considerably.
Even if
you're
after more in-depth information, this is an excellent book to start
with,
because it
will give you an overall background in all aspects of healthy housing.
John and
Lynn
Marie Bower, The Healthy House Institute
***************************************************
Clean and Green : The Complete Guide to Non-Toxic and Environmentally
Safe
Housekeeping
by Annie Berthold-Bond, Annie Berhold Bond Our Price: $8.95
Availability:
Usually
ships within 24 hours. Paperback Updated edition (October 1994)
Ceres Pr;
ISBN:
1886101019 ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.35 x 8.20 x 5.25 Reviews The
publisher,
David Goldbeck dgoldbeck at aol.com , January 5, 1999 This is a very
valuable book.
This book changed my life in a small but significant way. I am now
free of
expensive, polluting ugly-scented cleaning supplies. (Formulas
actually cover
wood
finishes, car cleaning, spot removal, etc. - just about anything you
need in
this
category of products.) Annie's recipes are simple, easy to follow and
generally
employ common ingredients. I simply reuse empty spray and other
bottles for the
formulas. (One tip is to put the recipe right on the bottle covered
with tape -
for
ease of refill. If success is any sign of the value of a book - the
nearly
100,000
people who bought this book have proved its value!
Customer Comments : A reader from Michigan , October 19, 1998 Very
thorough.
Annie
Berthold-Bond's recommendations for cleaning recipes are compact,
exact, and
varied.
Recipes are included for nearly every cleaning situation encountered
in
households
today. The book may seem short and lacking the discussion typical of
many "stay
green" books. Don't let this fool you. When you just want to choose a
good
cleaning
recipe (they're conveniently ordered by type of cleaning situation)
using
ingredients you probably already have in your home, then this book is
the one to
choose.
***************************************************
The Green Kitchen Handbook : Practical Advice, References, and Sources
for
Transforming the Center of Your Home into a Healthy, Livable Place
by Annie Berthold-Bond, Mother, Others for a Livable Planet, me
Streep, Meryl
Streep
List Price: $15.00 Our Price: $12.00 You Save: $3.00 (20%)
Availability:
Usually
ships within 24 hours. Paperback - 304 pages (March 1997)
HarperCollins
(paper);
ISBN: 0060951869 ; Dimensions (in inches): 1.28 x 5.01 x 8.65
Reviews From Booklist , March 15, 1997 Berthold-Bond's practical
guide answers
dozens of questions environmentally conscientious and curious cooks
have
wondered
about for years, such as the geographic origin of common healthful
foods, their
processing or production, and what makes them healthful or not. High
points are
the
detailed discussion of oils and their uses, fatty acid profiles, and
smoke
points;
the microbiology and biochemistry of food preservation in lay
language, along
with
step-by-step procedures for freezing, drying, canning, and preparing a
root
cellar;
a survey of organic agriculture and its standards; and suggestions on
how to
reduce
food packaging and its attendant toxins and nonbiodegradable waste.
The last
section
covers nonfood issues, including household hazardous waste,
alternative and safe
cleaning supplies and pest control, water purity and conservation,
energy-saving
appliances, and equipment choices. Well formatted for easy reference,
this
handbook
offers numerous charts of equivalencies, substitutions, and cooking
times and
concludes with a resource list and an index. Penny Spokes Copyright
1997,
American
Library Association. All rights reserved
Synopsis A comprehensive, sensible guide to maintaining the health of
the
kitchen
offers a wide range of economical and environmentally sound
alternatives for the
home, with helpful advice on additives, organic foods, kitchen
appliances,
canning,
and more. 40,000 first printing. $30,000 ad/promo. Synopsis
Featuring
everything
from lessons on reading labels on packaged foods to buying organic,
from canning
and
community gardening to creating a root cellar, this unique handbook
offers
suggestions for economical and environmentally conscious alternatives
which make
keeping a green kitchen a viable, practical option. Maintaining an
ecologically
sound kitchen makes cooking and eating more enjoyable and contributes
to the
well-being of the environment and your health and family. The Green
Kitchen
Handbook
offers a wealth of practical advice, references, and sources for
turning your
kitchen into a healthful, livable space. It contains simple tips for
immediate
use:
how to buy organic foods as inexpensively and conveniently as
supermarket foods,
how
to clean and control pests with nontoxic materials, what to look for
on food
labels,
and how to reduce packaging. It also offers advice for more ambitious
solutions,
including information on canning, creating a root cellar, foraging,
and joining
community environmental projects. In addition, there are valuable
insights on
how to
buy seasonal, fresh, local foods; how to avoid processed foods and
refined
sugars;
how to recognize the hidden costs in commercial packaging; the best
way to
prepare
and store foods; and how to embrace the "new green diet" without
wasting time
and
money.
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