cryptogon.com news – analysis – conspiracies

August 25th, 2007

Becky and I wash our hair with vinegar and baking soda. We brush our teeth with toothpaste made from baking soda, vegetable glycerin and salt. We use plant based bar soap for hand washing and bathing and plant based detergents for dishes and laundry. Becky makes a moisturizing lotion out of raw aloe vera. For deodorant, the crystal stick works well, although, it won’t stop your pits from sweating.

At best, the “personal care” and “household cleaners” industries amount to institutionalized insanity. (I think of it more as genocide for profit.) Becky and I have totally turned our backs on that reality and feel as though we’re much better off as a result; never mind the cost savings.

If you’re interested in this issue, you might want to check out Exposed: The Toxic Chemistry of Everyday Products and What’s at Stake for American Power by Mark Schapiro.

Via: Alternet:

American industry would have you believe that taking potentially hazardous and toxic chemicals out of everyday consumer products — removing phthalates from children’s toys and cancer-causing coal tar from hair dye — would damage our economy and result in a loss of American jobs. In his latest book, Exposed: The Toxic Chemistry of Everyday Products, Mark Schapiro busts this myth and reveals the grim fact that some companies, whether American or international, often have two production lines: one that manufactures hazard-free products for the European Union and another that produces toxin-filled versions of the same items for America and developing countries.

Schapiro examines how America, once a leader in environmental protection, came to allow potentially toxic and mutagenic chemicals, banned by the EU, into everyday products. He also looks at how the EU’s economy — almost identical to that of America — continued to thrive even after these chemicals were banned, essentially “calling the bluff” of the American industry.

Lots of Simple and Inexpensive Alternatives:

Better Basics for the Home: Simple Solutions for Less Toxic Living by Annie Berthold-Bond

Clean House Clean Planet by Karen Logan

Baking Soda: Over 500 Fabulous, Fun, and Frugal Uses You’ve Probably Never Thought Of

Vinegar: Over 400 Various, Versatile, and Very Good Uses You’ve Probably Never Thought Of