Stealing...for your reading knowledge

...from this blog for your reading pleasure...thought you might be somewhat interested if you enjoyed...or rather, were informed by my last blog entry. thank you, non-toxic kids!

Here is what the blog entry said:
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Where do I start?
This question came to me via email from a reader. She asked me where she should begin to make her home safer for her family and for the environment. What a great question! So many of my posts come from emailed questions. Thank you, and keep 'em coming. I've been on the move, literally, this week and not posting as much as usual. We are renovating our house and have moved out into a small cabin with an outhouse (more on this later :) ). So this will be brief, but I will add to it later if need be. Tips for how to start making better environmental health choices for your family and the planet:
1. Lead test your children's toys. You can buy lead test kits and test as many as you can. If you find any with lead, get rid of them, and then try to buy only unfinished wood toys, or toys painted with non-toxic paint.
2. Make sure there is no lead paint in your house, or if there is, it is sealed with a lead barrier. Check doors, old furniture, and other odds and ends in your house. It lurks in surprising places, and can cause serious neurological development problems in children.
3. Change from plastic sippy cups and bottles to glass or BPA free alternatives.
4. Try to buy and use only non-toxic cleaning and laundry products. There are many good brands, but Seventh Generation and bio-Kleen are two that I use often.
5. Decrease your family's chemical load. As you run out of soaps and shampoos, replace them with products that have no phthalates, parabens and other harmful chemicals. Some good brands are Burt's Bees, Desert Organics, Avalon Organics, Aubrey Organics and many others.
6. Lessen your use of plastic. Try to use cloth bags for groceries, and produce. Avoid microwaving in plastic, and try to move towards using glass to store food instead.
7. Try to eat less processed, packaged foods. Visit farmer's markets or join a CSA.
8. Buy as much organic food as you can, but visit this link to find out the good that is the most beneficial to buy organic.
9. Avoid buying bottled water, it is in most cases worse then tap water and is terrible for the environment in many, many ways.
10. Sign up for the CPSC's email alerts about toy recalls. That way you will know right away if you have a toxic item. I could go on and on (as you all know) but I like ending on 10. I hope this was helpful, Meg! Thanks for emailing.

****Sorry for stealing....but I did give credit....and I thought it was a good list!