Scent-Free Dryer Sheets

I don’t use dryer sheets. I’m really not bothered by static cling, but for those of you who are and do not want to use toxic fragranced dryer sheets, here are some suggestions.

Several companies make fragrance-free dryer sheets. Seventh Generation is one of them.

Photo by Seventh Generation

Purecosheet is a non-disposable option. It is a reusable cloth dryer sheet that contains no chemicals. It is good for more than 500 loads.

Photo by Reuseit.com

Another option is to use a damp cloth in your dryer cycle. Also, a ¼ cup of white vinegar in the washer is known to reduce static. I use vinegar to freshen my laundry so I am also getting the anti-static benefits as well.

Chlorine Free Bleach

Don’t use chlorine bleach.  It’s toxic.

I’ve used Seventh Generation’s Free and Clear chlorine free bleach.  It is a non-toxic oxygen bleach, meaning it uses hydrogen peroxide.  There are no harmful fumes and won’t discolor clothing.

Seeing as this is a hydrogen based bleach, you can also hydrogen peroxide.  Vinegar and citrus acids, like lemon juice, are also effective alternatives.

I Can Breathe Mask

Image from National Allergy

This is the mask I own and carry with me wherever I go. I ordered it from National Allergy and it has helped me in many a perfumed circumstance. Most of the time I use it when I’m in a public restroom that has air “fresheners.”

The mask comes with an activated charcoal filter that is secured inside the mask with Velcro. The filters are replaceable and it is time for me to order a new filter because I’ve noticed that my mask has been less effect lately.

I Can Breathe Mask

Toxin Free Tampons

Conventional tampons contain pesticide-laden cotton, a very dangerous toxic chemical named dioxin that is result of chlorine bleaching and rayon, a fiber made from wood pulp that requires hundreds of chemicals to convert it from wood to rayon.

I recently made the switch to organic cotton tampons because I am always interested in reducing the amount of toxins I can avoid.  I purchased these boxes of Natracare Organic Cotton Tampons from Vitacost.  Both boxes contain 16 tampons with card applicator and each cost $4.87.  They are 100% organic cotton, perfume free, biodegradable and totally free of chlorine.  Seventh Generation also makes a line of organic tampons.

I found a very informative article online by Meghan Telpner.  Her site is MeghanTelpner.com and she writes about healthy nutrition.  Click here to read her research paper “Tampax Tampons: Toxic Death Sticks.”  Meghan also discusses several alternatives to conventional toxic tampons, one of them being the menstrual cup.  A menstrual cup is a small silicone cup that is inserted to collect fluid.  They are reusable and do not carry the risk of Toxic Shock Syndrome like tampons do.  I’ve been intrigued by this option for some time and I think I will be giving it a try some day.  But in the meantime I’ll stick with my organic cotton tampons.

Green Renovating Part Two – Healthier Insulation

The next green step my fiancé and I needed to think about was what type of insulation to use. The home we’re renovating had no insulation in the walls and regular fiberglass insulation in the ceiling. My fiancé removed all of the existing fiberglass insulation and found someone to come and take it off our hands.

During my online research I first came across eco-friendly insulation from recycled scraps of denim. I contacted a local showroom that carried this insulation called Ultratouch Denim Insulation, by Bonded Logic. I was able to get a sample and immediately knew this was not going to work for me. The insulation is easy to handle and does not itch like fiberglass insulation. According to their website Ultratouch contains no chemical irritants and requires no carcinogenic warning labels compared to other traditional insulation products. (It also) contains no harmful airborne particulates eliminating health concerns regarding particulates in the surrounding environment.”

This is great that there’s another option besides traditional formaldehyde laden insulation, but as soon as I put that sample of Ultratouch to my nose, I knew I was having a reaction. Each individual fiber is treated with a boron-based fire retardant. I can’t say for sure if that was the offending agent, but I started to sneeze immediately. Quickly my sinuses became irritated.

After a quick trip to Lowes, I came across Safetouch, by Dow Chemical. This is a polyester based insulation that is NOT treated with chemicals, is not fiberglass and is safe to touch and handle and breathe. I slept with a sample by my bedside and felt confident I had found my insulation.

Fortunately for us, we bought every batt they had in stock because about a week later we found out that Dow discontinued the product. I was so disappointed. I spoke with a customer service rep at Dow who said it just wasn’t cost effective enough to keep manufacturing. That is such a shame.

Here is the back kitchen wall insulated with Safetouch.

Now left with having to find insulation for the ceiling (Safetouch did not come in R-30), my fiancé and I choose GreenFiber. GreenFiber is made of non-toxic cellulose insulation, 85% of which comes from recycled paper fiber. GreenFiber is also treated with boric acid. “The boric acid flame retardant used in GreenFiber Insulation is infused in the natural fibers of the cellulose. During a fire, the retardant melts and holds the heat until the cellulose fibers char. The cellulose then becomes a layer of carbon protection, because the charred fibers won’t burn. The density of GreenFiber Insulation prevents the passage of flames and hot gasses, so fire does not spread as readily into GreenFiber -installed walls or ceilings, and GreenFiber Insulation restricts the amount of oxygen available to support combustion.”

I grabbed a small sample and did not react, so we bought enough to finish insulating the ceilings.

A couple of other eco-friendly insulation options are EnGuard GlassFree Polyester Insulation and Ecobatt by Knauf Insulation. Like SafeTouch, EnGuard is a 100% polyester batt insulation that does not contain any glass fiber, formaldehyde, VOCs or other harmful additives. Unlike SafeTouch, EnGuard contains 50% recycled content from PET plastic beverage bottles.

Ecobatt is primarily made from sand. According to their website, “ECOSE Technology works by converting natural organic materials into an inert polymer through a proprietary process to create an exceptionally strong binder that bonds glass wool insulation fibers together. ECOSE Technology delivers superior environmental sustainability, reduces embodied energy, and contains no phenol, formaldehyde, acrylics or artificial colors.” The binder they use is made using rapidly renewable organic materials, instead of the conventional non-renewable petroleum-based chemicals used in traditional binders.” Since the process is “proprietary” I could not find any more information on the composition of the binder used in this process.

Costco is selling Ecoblanket by Knauf Insulation. Here’s a picture I snapped a few weeks ago.

The only personal experience I have is with SafeTouch and GreenFiber. For more information on Ultratouch, EnGuard and Ecobatt please visit their websites linked here.

UPDATE:  EnGuard Insulation

I was fortunate to have purchased all of the SafeTouch Insulation Lowes had in stock when it was time to insulate my home with a non-toxic option.  SafeTouch is no longer available and had purchased the remaining stock.  I spoke with Dow Chemical, the company that manufactured SafeTouch and they said the reason it was discontinued was simply because it was not profitable enough.  That is a real shame since it is such an amazing insulation.  It is mid-January and I only need one space heater to keep my little home comfortable.

In the future though, if I do need another insulation option, I will be going with EnGuard Insulation.  As I stated above, like SafeTouch, EnGuard is a 100% polyester batt insulation that does not contain any glass fiber, formaldehyde, VOCs or other harmful additives. Unlike SafeTouch, EnGuard contains 50% recycled content from PET plastic beverage bottles.

I contacted the company and they sent me a free test sample.  Unlike the denim insulation, EnGuard had NO smell whatsoever.  I slept with the sample next to my bed on my nightstand for several weeks and had no adverse reactions of any kind.  I would feel completely confident recommending this insulation.

Visit http://enguardinsulation.com/ for more information.

Non-Toxic Cookware

When I ditched my Teflon pans several years ago, I went without non-stick cookware for a long time. I tried stainless steel but I hated all the soaking and scrubbing. I came across GreenPan over a year ago and these are the pans I use for the majority of my cooking.

Traditional non-stick cookware surfaces are coated with synthetic polymers called polytetrafluoroetheylene (PTFE) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA). When heated to high temperatures these chemical coatings release harmful fumes that are known to cause flu-like symptoms in people and even kill small birds.

Stainless steel and cast iron are two non-toxic options but I just prefer non-stick. I was so happy to find GreenPan when I did.

GreenPan uses Thermolon, a non-stick coating made of minerals, not plastic. When these pans are heated to high temperatures, no toxic fumes are released into the air. Thermolon is free of both PTFE and PFOA. I bought my pans at Target, but recently discovered Costco is now carrying a boxed set (pictured below) for $130.00.

For more information go to GreenPan.

Green Renovating Part 1

I wrote in an earlier post that my fiancé and I were renovating a property we just purchased this year. Because of my chemical sensitivities, my fiancé has had to use as many non-toxic building materials as we can find.

When we first bought the home it was in bad shape. It was an older home (pre-1972) so we were fortunate to do not have to deal with more toxic materials like OSB. Because the previous tenants didn’t know how to properly vent the wood-burning stove to the outside, the entire interior of the house was saturated with smoke.

Here are the steps he’s done so far in order to transform our home into a more eco-friendly safe haven:

The first step was stripping the house down to the frame. My fiancé had to gut the entire interior of the house in order to get rid of the smoke damage, which was everywhere.

Here’s a picture of one corner of the gutted house. You can see that the frame is made of solid boards and 2 x 4’s. No OSB (oriented strand board).

The next step was to replace the damaged sub floor with untreated pine boards. Because of soft spots in the areas that did not need to be replaced, my fiancé installed PureBond formaldehyde free ¼” plywood on top of the pine boards to give the sub floor more strength and stability while he worked in the house. PureBond uses a formaldehyde free, soy-based adhesive in their hardwood plywood. We bought ours from Home Depot. This is the plywood we’re going to get when my fiancé starts building the kitchen cabinets. That’s right, my man’s gonna build me my kitchen cabinets.

Stay tuned for part two when I talk about eco-friendly insulation options.

When “Fragrance Free” Doesn’t Really Mean Fragrance Free

I was at PetSmart the other day shopping for my dog when I came across this bottle of conditioner by Nature’s Miracle. Thinking I had found a new fragrance free product to try, I took a look at the ingredients on the back. Lo and behold, what did I see listed on this bottle of “Fragrance Free, Unscented” conditioner??? FRAGRANCE!!! Here it is, circled in red in the picture above.

I assume most, if not all, of us canaries would spot this because we know by now you can’t always trust the label. But what if a friend of mine who was trying to be fragrance free bought this product to wash their pet, thinking they were being more eco-friendly (see, it’s even in a green bottle) and fragrance conscious, yet they were duped by a deceptive label. This is just aggravating.

Toxic Dryer Sheets

Photo Courtesy of Care2.com

Here’s a very informative article by Annie B. Bond about the dangers of dryer sheets and why they shouldn’t be used anymore.

Click Here

Toxins in Everyday Household Products with Anne Steinemann PhD

I found this interview on cleanerindoorair.org with Anne C. Steinemann. She is a Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and Professor of Public Affairs, at the University of Washington (UW). She received her PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Stanford University (my alma mater).

This interview was extremely informative and enlightened me on pollutant and exposure information that I was not even aware of. She discusses the statistics of two national surveys she conducted, which site the prevalence of MCS nationally is11.4% and in terms of fragrance sensitivity, more than 30% of the general population reported adverse effects when they were next to someone with a scented product on. The numbers are higher for asthmatics.

She also discusses her study of fragranced consumer products and the chemicals that are emitted. One of the most disturbing things she discusses is that many products that are labeled “green,” “all natural,” and even “fragrance-free” were found to emit toxic or hazardous chemicals that weren’t even significantly different from other products.