Homemade remedies= garden time!

I loved this story that I heard yesterday on NPR: "One Scientist's Prescription: Grow Your Own Drugs" along with the receipes that follow. I desperately need a garden to grow my own herbs, plants, etc. Oh the things I could do naturally!!!

Here's the book

Grow Your Own Drugs
By James Wong
Hardcover, 224 pages
Reader's Digest
List price: $19.95

Skin Deep: a product database and safety guide

Skin Deep (Cosmetic Database) is a safety guide to cosmetics and personal care products brought to you by researchers at the Environmental Working Group.

Skin Deep helps fuel the nationwide Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, a coalition of public health, educational, religious, labor, womens, environmental and consumer groups working to protect the health of consumers and workers by requiring the health and beauty industry to phase out the use of dangerous chemicals and replace them with safer alternatives.

Skin Deep contains information and online safety assessments for:

• 53,482 products
• 8,863 ingredients
• 2,463 brands
• 1,637 companies

by pooling the data of more than 50 databases and sources from government agencies, industry panels, academic institutions, or other credible bodies.

love these TIPS:

1. Use our What Not To Buy list to avoid especially problematic ingredients — like mercury, lead, and placenta — and the products that contain them.
2. Use fewer products. Is there something you can cut from your daily routine, or a product you can use less often? By cutting down on the number of chemicals contacting your skin every day, you will reduce any potential health risks associated with your products.
3. Use the "Advanced Search" feature of Skin Deep to find products that have fewer potential health issues. Choose a product category and exclude the hazardous ingredients — carcinogens and neurotoxins, for instance — and Skin Deep will generate a custom shopping list for you.
4. Read labels. Marketing claims on personal care products are not defined under the law, and can mean anything or nothing at all, including claims like organic, natural, hypoallergenic, animal cruelty free, and fragrance free. Read the ingredient label carefully to find evidence that the claims are true.
5. Use milder soaps. Soap removes dirt and grease from the surface of your skin, but also strips away your body's own natural skin oils. Choosing a milder soap may reduce skin dryness and your need for moisturizers to replace oils your skin can provide naturally.
6. Minimize your use of dark hair dyes. Many contain coal tar ingredients that have been linked to cancer in some studies.
7. Cut down on your use of powders; avoid the use of baby powder on newborns and infants. A number of ingredients common in powder have been linked to cancer and other lung problems when they are inhaled. FDA warns that powders may cause lung damage if inhaled regularly.
8. Choose products that are "fragrance"-free. Fragrances can cause allergic reactions. Products that claim to be "fragrance free" on the packaging may not be. They could contain masking fragrances that give off a neutral odor. Read the ingredient label — in products truly free of fragrance, the word "fragrance" will not appear there. Find "fragrance"-free products with our advanced search.
9. Reduce your use of nail polish. It's one of the few types of products that routinely contains ingredients linked to birth defects. Paint your toenails and skip the fingernails. Paint nails in a well-ventilated room, or outside, or avoid using nail polish altogether, particularly when you are pregnant. Browse our custom shopping guide for advice on nail polishes that contain fewer ingredients of concern.

I believe it really does provide some good information on products we regularly use; although I suggest to read the facts carefully and do not get thrown off by the number ratings until you read how each chemical is used and how.

POSTCARDEN!

A postcard + pop-up card + garden = Postcarden! It’s pretty much just that, but also a completely unusual way to send along a little big of greenery. Each comes with a packet of cress seeds—add water and watch the seeds grow—and choose between three models: botanical, city, and allotment. The mini-gardens last about two weeks, and the cress is totally edible. It’s currently only available in the UK, but it is making it’s way to us very soon. In the meantime, check out the adorable video of how it works, after the jump ...

Urgent: Tell the USDA What YOU Think about GMOs in Organics

from Whole Foods blog

Tell USDA That You Care About GE Contamination of Organic Food!
In 2006, the Center for Food Safety (CFS) sued the Department of Agriculture (USDA) for its illegal approval of Monsanto’s genetically engineered (GE) Roundup Ready alfalfa. The federal courts sided with CFS and banned GE alfalfa until the USDA fully analyzed the impacts of the plant on the environment, farmers, and the public in a rigorous analysis known as an environmental impact statement (or EIS). USDA released its draft EIS on December 14, 2009. A 60-day comment period is now open until March 3, 2010. This is the first time the USDA has done this type of analysis for any GE crop. Therefore, the final decision will have broad implications for all GE crops.

TAKE ACTION HERE AT THE CAMPAIGN SITE

Pets need natural stuff too...

Meet Axl!

So one of my cats has been having some digestive issues and I needed to find some natural organic ways to help him out...After browsing about 10 "natural cures" sites, this one seems to be the most informative. Sadly, I'm noticing that most websites on natural pet care are trying to sell you something but at least this one has some natural remedies...

http://www.nativeremedies.com/petalive/pet-ailment-disease-list-remedy.html

this one is not bad either, only for dogs:

http://www.holisticdog.org/Symptoms/D_E_F/d_e_f.html#Diarrhea