For every side of a story, there is always another side. For this blog post, I'm going to explore the notion that chemical free living is not always a good thing. As you may be able to guess, I couldn't find much on anti-chemical free living, for obvious reasons. What I could find, though, were multiple blogs posts about how the term "chemical-free" is sometimes misleading and not always the best way to describe organic living. As I mentioned in my first post, water is a chemical. Air is made up of multiple chemicals. The term "chemical" describes more than just harmful, synthetic agents that contaminate our lives. By saying I'm trying to live a more chemical-free lifestyle, I am specifically talking about dangerous chemicals that make up most of the ingredients in everyday products, foods, and drinks.
Some websites, like this one, go as far as to say we should sue companies that claim their products are chemical-free. Why? This author claims that products labeled "chemical free" are misleading and inaccurate. There are laws that require truth in advertising, and he says that these companies aren't telling the truth. This author looks more at the legal side of this case-- that companies that label their products chemical-free are creating false competition for companies that produce the same product that do not mislabel their products.
This blogger claims that chemical-free is a made up term by marketers to scare people into thinking that all other products are chemical laden. The things is, THEY ARE. But, you have to do your own research. Basically, this blogger is saying that just because a product is labeled chemical-free doesn't always mean that the product is free of chemicals. Does that make sense?
The only other sides of the story I found were arguments against vegetarianism. I am a vegetarian for many reasons; a large one is to help weed out more chemicals in my life because as most people know nowadays, much of our meat produces are laced with carcinogens and antibiotics. Obviously, vegetarianism is not for everyone. Some people are even on the extreme side of being against it and go out of their way to argue it.
Bottom line-- do your own research. Always. Not just in this case, but always. Read the labels and ingredients. It only takes a minute and it can save you pain and suffering in the long run.
Monday, September 22, 2014
Monday, September 8, 2014
Introduction: My journey
"I don't have time for that!"
"But...but...organic stuff is so expensive"
"That's too hard/ that takes too much work."
These are common complaints I hear from friends and family who I try to encourage to live a more chemical-free and organic lifestyle. Notice that I say more organic/chemical free lifestyle, because going cold turkey isn't easy on everyone. Many harsh chemical still bombard my life everyday, I'm just dong what I can to alleviate some of that "bombarding."
As most people know nowadays, chemicals do bombard our everyday life. Everything we use from lotions to toothpaste; everything we eat/drink from salad dressings to sports drinks are chemical-laden. If you pick up your lotion or makeup and look at the ingredients, I bet you'll find ingredients such as DEA (Diathanolamine), MEA (Monoethaolamine), TEA (Triethanolamine), Parabens, Phthlates, Fragrance, Triclosan, and Talc. All of these ingredients are known carcinogens, which are cancer-causing agents. And this is hardly even the tip of the iceberg. But the FDA says they are "safe." Not only are these chemicals extremely dangerous to our health, but they are also toxic for the environment (more on that later).
The truth is, leading a chemical-free lifestyle is easy and hardly time consuming. The only thing that makes it difficult is that there aren't many options in the grocery store that offer natural and organic ingredients. What all grocers do sell, though, are (cheap) products that you can buy to create your own products which is fun, rewarding, and great for you! Some products that I use as a staple in my every day life are on the more expensive side, but they last forever and many have a variety of uses. For example, I use unrefined organic coconut oil everyday for various things like cooking, as lotion, in my hair, and as a topical antiseptic.
I have only begun my journey living chemical-free about a year or so ago. The more research I do, the more I want to ween away from using chemicals in my life. I have found time over the summer to create a lot of my own products or buy natural, organic products, and I can already feel my body adjusting to this and thanking me. Throughout this blogging project, I will be sharing some of my recipes, discussing the harms of chemicals in every day products, taking about products I like, and sharing my experiences and opinions on various related topics.
I want to know from my readers: what is your biggest concern when it comes to living chemical-free? Is there anything stopping you? What would help or motivate you to transition to a chemical-free lifestyle?
For now, I will leave you with this video. (It specifically talks about children, but it can be applied to anyone's life). Thanks for reading!
*Disclaimer: When I use the word "chemical" in my blog, I am referring to dangerous, cancer-causing, toxic chemicals. The word "chemical" is very broad-- water is technically a chemical, but I'm not talking about water here.
**This is a introduction post. Throughout my blogging I will frequently be referring to these other blogs/websites which I will be reading and following, as well as random other websites I've found pertaining to the topic I am discussing.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/green-living/
http://chemical-free-living.com/
http://www.dailyfinance.com/2010/02/25/green-and-almost-free-living-without-toxic-chemicals/
http://thegreenists.com/
http://reducefootprints.blogspot.com/
"But...but...organic stuff is so expensive"
"That's too hard/ that takes too much work."
These are common complaints I hear from friends and family who I try to encourage to live a more chemical-free and organic lifestyle. Notice that I say more organic/chemical free lifestyle, because going cold turkey isn't easy on everyone. Many harsh chemical still bombard my life everyday, I'm just dong what I can to alleviate some of that "bombarding."
As most people know nowadays, chemicals do bombard our everyday life. Everything we use from lotions to toothpaste; everything we eat/drink from salad dressings to sports drinks are chemical-laden. If you pick up your lotion or makeup and look at the ingredients, I bet you'll find ingredients such as DEA (Diathanolamine), MEA (Monoethaolamine), TEA (Triethanolamine), Parabens, Phthlates, Fragrance, Triclosan, and Talc. All of these ingredients are known carcinogens, which are cancer-causing agents. And this is hardly even the tip of the iceberg. But the FDA says they are "safe." Not only are these chemicals extremely dangerous to our health, but they are also toxic for the environment (more on that later).
The truth is, leading a chemical-free lifestyle is easy and hardly time consuming. The only thing that makes it difficult is that there aren't many options in the grocery store that offer natural and organic ingredients. What all grocers do sell, though, are (cheap) products that you can buy to create your own products which is fun, rewarding, and great for you! Some products that I use as a staple in my every day life are on the more expensive side, but they last forever and many have a variety of uses. For example, I use unrefined organic coconut oil everyday for various things like cooking, as lotion, in my hair, and as a topical antiseptic.
I have only begun my journey living chemical-free about a year or so ago. The more research I do, the more I want to ween away from using chemicals in my life. I have found time over the summer to create a lot of my own products or buy natural, organic products, and I can already feel my body adjusting to this and thanking me. Throughout this blogging project, I will be sharing some of my recipes, discussing the harms of chemicals in every day products, taking about products I like, and sharing my experiences and opinions on various related topics.
I want to know from my readers: what is your biggest concern when it comes to living chemical-free? Is there anything stopping you? What would help or motivate you to transition to a chemical-free lifestyle?
For now, I will leave you with this video. (It specifically talks about children, but it can be applied to anyone's life). Thanks for reading!
*Disclaimer: When I use the word "chemical" in my blog, I am referring to dangerous, cancer-causing, toxic chemicals. The word "chemical" is very broad-- water is technically a chemical, but I'm not talking about water here.
**This is a introduction post. Throughout my blogging I will frequently be referring to these other blogs/websites which I will be reading and following, as well as random other websites I've found pertaining to the topic I am discussing.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/green-living/
http://chemical-free-living.com/
http://www.dailyfinance.com/2010/02/25/green-and-almost-free-living-without-toxic-chemicals/
http://thegreenists.com/
http://reducefootprints.blogspot.com/
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