The real dirt on clean

90% of poison exposures happen in the home.

Common chlorine bleach is the #1 household chemical involved in poisoning.

Organic pollutants found in many common cleaners and even air fresheners are 2 to  5 times higher inside your home than out.

A person who spends 15 minutes cleaning scale off shower walls could inhale 3 times the “acute one-hour exposure limit” for glycol ether-containing products set by the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment.

Common cleaners give off fumes that can potentially increase the risk of kids developing asthma, the most common chronic childhood disease.

1 in 13 school-aged children has asthma.   Rates in children under five have increased more than 160% from 1980 to 1984.  Children are highly vulnerable to chemical toxicants.

The average U.S. home generates more than  20 pounds of hazardous waste (toilet cleaners, tub and tile cleaners, oven cleaners, bleach) each year.

To be entered in a drawing  for a free Shaklee Get Clean Laundry Kit worth $50.70, send your answers to these questions, by April 14, 2014, to: Shirley Kresge:      tamannrich@aol.com OR Anson Kibby :       Anson@MotherEarthViews.com We will NOT sell or give your email address to anyone else.   We WILL acknowledge your entry in the contest.   We PROMISE to follow up with you regarding your interest in having a healthy home and a healthy planet.

"Saving" for health

Ever since I was old enough to start to understand finances, I remember learning that it was a good idea to put away a little money every week, or every month, into a savings account - because over time, it would amount to a lot of money; money that I would need someday when I was old.  I find it interesting that I didn't get the same kind of education related to "saving" for my health, that by "investing" in my health on a regular basis (....continued from), I would someday reap the benefit of having a healthy and vigorous body and mind, even as I got a lot older.

I also find it interesting that I really don't hear people talk about "investing" in their health even today, but that is, in fact, what we need to do.

We wouldn't expect to come to the end of our "earning" years, when we were working full-time, earning a decent living, and have anything to rely on if we hadn't put some of that money away for our "retirement."  And we all know that this isn't something you do only during the last 5 or 10 years before you "retire," or end your earning career.

So I wonder how we expect to live our whole lives, unconcerned about how we are investing in our healthy bodies, and expect to have any "health" reserve for our "retirement?"

Now I will grant you that some people do a much better job than others in taking care of their bodies:  regular exercise, healthy weight, good diet, etc.   Then there are those of us who don't exercise, allow ourselves to get overweight, eat poorly, may also smoke and/or drink in excess.  The former group will obviously have much more of a "health reserve" when aging takes its toll.   The latter group will succumb early to age-related deterioration, not having "put away" some of the things that help to keep age-related illnesses at bay.

Saving for, and investing in, our health makes as much sense as saving for, and investing in retirement funds, against the day that will eventually come when we can no longer work, or reach the point that we don't want to.

There are so many options today for us to take advantage of to keep our bodies in good health - even options that help us to slow the aging process.  But so few people, even the ones who live a healthy lifestyle, put the smallest amount of thought and consideration into what we can do to prepare ourselves for the years beyond the vigor and impunity of youth.