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EAT YOUR FISH

These fish are your best choices for both environmental sustainability and health reasons, and are safe to eat at least once per week:

  • anchovies,
  • clams,
  • Dungeness crab,
  • king crab (US),
  • snow crab,
  • Pacific cod,
  • crawfish,
  • Atlantic herring (US/Canada),
  • lobster (US/Baja/Cananda/Australia),
  • Atlantic mackerel,
  • blue mussels,
  • farmed oysters,
  • wild Alaskan salmon,
  • sardines,
  • farmed scallops,
  • shrimp (US/Canada),
  • squid,
  • tilapia (US/Central America),
  • farmed rainbow trout,
  • canned tuna (light/skipjack).

    • The fish you should absolutely avoid include:

  • bluefish,
  • striped bass,
  • American eel,
  • weakfish,
  • king mackerel,
  • bluefin tuna,
  • swordfish,
  • shark,
  • croaker,
  • Atlantic salmon.

    • CLEANING HOUSE

    Does the area under your kitchen and bathroom sinks qualify as a hazardous materials storage site? Cleaning up your cleaning products can eliminate many of the nasty chemicals that you and your family are exposed to.

    I use a combination of purchased, natural cleaning products, from companies such as Seventh Generation, Ecover, and Mrs. Myers, to name a few, as well as some standard household items and homemade formulas. Consider these:

  • Baking Soda - cleans, deodorizes, softens water, scours.
  • Borax - remember "20-Mule-Team Borax"? It is great for cleaning, deodorizing, disinfecting, softening water, and cleaning wallpaper, painted walls and floors.
  • Citrus Solvent - cleans paint brushes, oil and grease, some stains. (Citrus solvent may cause skin, lung or eye irritations for people with multiple chemical sensitivities.)
  • Cornstarch - can be used to clean windows, polish furniture, shampoo carpets and rugs.
  • Isopropyl Alcohol - is an excellent disinfectant. (It has been suggested to replace this with ethanol or 100 proof alcohol in solution with water. There is some indication that isopropyl alcohol buildup contributes to illness in the body.)
  • Lemon Juice - can be used as a natural deoderizing, or in place of vinegar for an acid cleaner.
  • Soap - plain, unscented soap (liquid, flakes, powders, bars) is biodegradable and cleans most things really well. Avoid using soaps that are labeled as antibacterial or anti-microbial
  • Toothpaste - makes an excellent silver polish for jewelry and other sterling items.
  • Trisodium phosphate - is a mixture of soda ash and phosphoric acid. It's toxic if swallowed, but is less dangerous than most other caustics for tough jobs, such as cleaning drains or removing old paint.
  • White Vinegar - is one of the most economical things you can buy, and it cuts grease, removes mildew, reduces odors, and is effective at cutting wax build-up and the alkaline deposits on bathroom and kitchen fixtures.

    • HOMEMADE FORMULAS AND CLEANING APPROACHES

    Looking for more alternatives? Here are a few options:

    Air Fresheners:

  • Baking soda with a sprinkle of lemon juice or essential oils (available at natural food stores) placed in small dishes absorbs odors around the house.
  • Reduce cooking odors by simmering a tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice in a cup of water on the stove while cooking. To reduce strong odors (such as fish, cabbage, or onion) from surfaces such as utensils and cutting boards, wipe them with vinegar and then rinse with cold water.
  • Simmer water with cinnamon or other spices on stove, or place bowls of fragrant dried herbs and flowers in room.

    • Basic All-Purpose Cleaner:

    Mix vinegar one to one with water in a quart jar, add a 1/4 cup of baking soda (or 2 teaspoons borax). This is good for cleaning water spots on shower walls, bathroom chrome fixtures, windows, bathroom mirrors, and darn near any other surface you want to clean.

    Mold:

    Clean mold from tile grout or walls by mixing one part hydrogen peroxide (3%) with two parts water in a spray bottle and spray on areas with mold. Allow it to soak for a half hour or so, and then rinse with cool water.

     

    Tips for the Uninsured and Underinsured

    With over 46-million American's uninsured, and many more underinsured, coping with illness and injury, whether environmental, genetic, or accidental, is a real challenge. Here are some ideas that may help you when faced with health challenges.

  • Kris Carr's suggestion in her book, Crazy Sexy Cancer Tips, is to immediately talk to the social service worker at the hospital. These employees are usually familiar with what support is available in your state from federal and state sources (such as medicaid).
  • The Foundation for Health Care Coverage has an excellent website (www.coverageforall.org or call them at 800.234.1317) with information to assist uninsured people find out what kind of assistance is out there and how to go about obtaining it.
  • Something I have done in the ensuing years when I have had to use medical doctors (such as when I crushed my hand building a fence, or had a ruptured cyst) is tell the doctor as soon as they walk in the room, "I am uninsured. I'll pay your bill, but since I'm cash and carry can you work with me to keep it controlled—for example, can we order tests one or two at a time, and really use a process of elimination?" Doctors have been great when I say this right up front. The orthopedic doc for my hand, for instance, always charged me for "minimal visits" even when he was with me a long time. When the cast finally came off, he showed me all the exercises to do and made a number a suggestions, rather than send me off to physical therapy.
  • Particularly if you have kids, do consider getting a basic term life insurance policy. (Don't get suckered by cash-value life insurance or any of the other fancy policies.) It may seem morbid, but this investment will help protect your family against bankruptcy when you die (whatever the cause), and it isn't as outrageously expensive as health insurance. For a young adult, the cost should be less than a couple hundred dollars per year.
  • And, finally, follow the advice that Kris Carr's physician gave her (because her cancer is so rare, there was no good treatment regime): "Focus on building your immune system through diet and lifestyle."

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    Reduce the Impacts of Your Commute

    We all have to drive, but here are some easy tips for reducing the impact of your trip.

  • Most importantly (and totally inexpensive): Check the air pressure in your tires! Most people don't ever do this; in fact, I just read in ODE magazine that "at least half of all motorists are estimated to be driving on soft tires."
         When tires are inflated below recommended air pressure levels, fuel economy is reduced up to three percent, and tires wear out faster.
  • At the gas station, don't put in extra after the pump automatically stops. Here's what EPA has to say about this practice:
         Topping off the gas tank can result in your paying for gasoline that is fed back into the station's tanks because your gas tank is full. The gas nozzle automatically clicks off when your gas tank is full. In areas of ozone nonattainment, gas station pumps are equipped with vapor recovery systems that feed back gas vapors into their tanks to prevent vapors from escaping into the air and contributing to air pollution. Any additional gas you try to pump into your tank may be drawn into the vapor line and fed back into the station’s storage tanks. And, you need extra room in your gas tank to allow the gasoline to expand. If you top off your tank, the extra gas may evaporate into your vehicle’s vapor collection system. That system may become fouled and will not work properly causing your vehicle to run poorly and have high gas emissions.
  • Finally, check your air filter. Simply replacing a dirty air filter can boost fuel efficiency by up to ten percent!

    • Reduce Your Energy Footprint

    Place TVs, stereos, VCRs, DVD players, coffee pots, and other such appliances on a power strip with an on-off button, and turn the power completely off to them when not in use. These appliances use small amounts of electricity 24 hours per day, even when not in active use. According to government sources, that standby power corresponds to the annual output of eight large power plants.
         When its time to replace appliances and electronics, look for ENERGY STAR certification. The ENERGY STAR program is a voluntary labeling program started in the early 1990s by the Environmental Protection Agency and the US Department of Energy. These agencies calculate that Americans saved $14 billion over a decade by selecting products that are designed to use less energy. Learn more about ENERGY STAR and tax credits at www.energystar.gov
         Indoor lighting accounts for about a quarter of the electricity used in the United States, and conventional lighting is terribly inefficient, with less than 25% of the actual energy being converted to visible light. Compounding the inefficiencies, the heat given off by artificial lighting increases the energy used for cooling buildings by about 10%. Although the commercial sector is the largest user of light energy, home lighting is still a big energy hog—estimated to use up to 25% of household electricity. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, if every U.S. household replaced the light bulbs in their five most frequently used lights with energy saving bulbs it would save $3 billion per year in electricity costs and prevent greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to eight million cars.