Just Released New Green Water Pitcher

I'm so excited about the release of this new product!



Here are just some of the important highlights of this green water pitcher:

• Filters 80 Gallons Of Water – double all the leading brands
• Only pitcher with a refillable carbon block filter (reducing waste in landfills)
• Only pitcher with an automatic meter so you know just how many gallons you have filtered.
  
• Only pitcher made with sustainable coconut shell using zero emissions process.
• Only pitcher proven to reduce 99% of lead found in tap water
  

If you would like to learn more information about this green water pitcher visit:

http://www.SwitchYourHouse.com

For product discounts contact me directly at info@switchyourhouse.com

Green Up Your Laundry

We all know that cleaning isn't always green. That fact holds true for your laundry too. The average household does around 400 loads of laundry a year. I know I am on the high side of that stat! We consume on average 13,500 gallons of water to do that laundry. Most detergents contain solvents, optical brighteners, surfactants, colorants and builders..in short, pollutants.

Our washing machines expend a lot of energy, especially when you are washing in warm water. Dryers are even worse than the washers. On average they consume 875 kilowatts per years. That is 6-10% of the total residential power usage.

That is a lot of bad news..so let's get to the good news. There are a few small changes you can make to make a huge difference. This will green up your home and the environment plus save some money on your electric bill.

- Start by switching to an environmentally friendly detergent
- When you are ready to replace your washer and/or dryer switch to an Energy Star appliance.

Changing your detergent will help keep toxins out of your home and your body. When toxins are on your clothing they transfer not only to the skin but can transfer to the bloodstream as well.

Switching to an Energy Star appliances will help reduce the water and electricity you are using. Energy Star appliances use 30% less energy than a regular model and save more than 7,000 gallons of water a year.

Last tip...run only full loads of laundry and use cold water whenever it is possible. About 90% of the energy used when doing laundry is for heating the water. Cold water is just as effective as using warm water. I have only washed my laundry in cold water for over 10 years when no problems. Another plus is cold water prevents clothes from fading!

If you can hang your clothes out to dry. I just put up a makeshift clothesline in my sunroom. The sun breaks down stains and also will not wear down your clothes the way your dryer does. When I put up my clothes line in the spring it cost a total of $7 the rope hooks everything.

For more information on environmentally friendly laundry detergent and more money saving green tips visit http://www.SwitchYourHouse.com

Formaldehyde In Our Personal Care Products

We are all educating ourselves more and more about the toxins that we expose ourselves to voluntarily in our day to day lives by our product choice. However, sometimes toxins can be hiding where you would not even suspect they might be. One that has been brought to light is the use of a chemical called Formaldehyde.

Formaldehyde is a is a colorless gas compound (HCHO) that is known as a carcinogen, meaning that it causes cancer. It is an allergen that can also irritate your eyes, mucous membranes (eyes, nose and throat) and the upper respiratory system. It can also cause headaches, rashes, hives (blistery, white, and itchy), dizziness, nausea, and chronic fatigue. Some other symptoms include: heart palpitations, ear infections, trouble sleeping, memory loss, trouble focusing, depression, weakness, migraines, abdominal pain, aching joints and muscles, and difficulty breathing.

Sounds like a pretty scary thing right? What's even scarier is what it is in!

Formaldehyde is found in MANY personal care products. What's even worse...it's in even more infant care products as well. We are exposing our newborn babies to this is hospitals when they are born even. This is NOT across the board. These are specific companies that manufacture their personal care products with Formaldehyde. What makes it even trickier is that Formaldehyde comes in many forms so it's not going to be listed as the word Formaldehyde on the product, making it harder for consumers to pinpoint which ones do contain the toxin.

Formaldehyde can be found in hundreds of products, including cosmetics, paper, wood and clothes. Simply touching those products, or just breathing the formaldehyde they release into the air, can cause intense symptoms. Your best defense is to limit exposure to this chemical. Here are a few that I have found so far.

Shampoo:

• Avon Kids 2-in-1 Super Gentle Shampoo for Normal Hair
• Dove Shampoo Extra Volume
• Unilver Shampoo
  
• Johnson's Baby Shampoo (used in hospitals on newborns)
• Softwash Baby Shampoo

Conditioner:

• Avon Kids Super Gentle Conditioner
• Avon Detangler
• Dove Conditioner
• Intense Moisture, Unilever
• Nizoral A-D Non-Medicated
• Daily Conditioner from Janssen Pharmaceutica
• Kissably Baby Soft Johnson & Johnson
  Conditioner

Hair Gel:

• Avon Kids Super Gentle 2-in-1 Soft Styling Gel
• All Hair Types Avon
• Dove Shape & Lift Volumizing Gel
• Unilever (So Multiplicity Discipline Smoothing Gel)
• Innovative Styling Options

Baby Wipes:

• Huggies Natural Care Baby Wipes
• Unscented Kimberly-Clark Huggies Newborn Baby Wipes (Fragrance Free)
• Kimberly-Clark Pampers One-ups
• Baby Wipes with Aloe, Alcohol Free, Proctor & Gamble

Vitamins:

• Flintstones Children's Complete Multivitamin Chewable Tablets
• Centrum Kids Complete Vitamin
• One-a-Day Kids Scooby-Doo Multivitamin plus Calcium

Is there any better reason to choose Shaklee products? You can be sure the safety and HEALTH of your family is Shaklee's goal! Shaklee products are unique ...Shaklee shampoos, conditioners, vitamins, handy wipes and children's vitamins, DO NOT contain formaldehyde!

Visit http://www.SwitchYourHouse.com for more information on safer alternatives.

Source: Dr. Benjamin Asher Pediatric Annals 36:1

Who Needs Iron Suppliments And Who Doesn't?

Who needs iron? Who doesn’t need iron? We read all kinds of reports in the media today regarding who should and should not take iron supplements. Basically, it boils downs to the “experts” saying that children (boys and girls) and pre-menopausal women should take iron, and all others should not. Well, like the song says, “It Ain’t Necessarily So”. There are some other groups of individuals that might consider consuming an iron supplement. Maybe you fall into one of those groups!

The need for iron by young children and pre-menopausal women is well documented. Because of an inadequate intake of iron, 240,000 toddlers and 3 million women in the United States are anemic. This can lead to fatigue, impaired concentration and compromised immune function. Iron that comes from animal sources is more readily available that the iron we might get from vegetable sources. Today, most of us are conscious about the amount of meat we are consuming, and therefore the need for supplementation is enhanced. In the United States, those at risk for being iron deficient in addition to women and children are the elderly, low-income people, minorities, and certain segments of the male population. Other symptoms of deficiency include constipation, brittle nails, difficult breathing, lethargy, tiredness, pale pallor and headaches. Cravings for ice and starch have been linked to iron deficiency. Deficiencies in children can lead to tendencies of hyperactivity, decreased attention span, and lower IQ’s.

Iron deficiency is most often caused by insufficient intake. However, it may result from intestinal bleeding (often from prescription or non-prescription anti-inflammatories), poor indigestion, ulcers, prolonged use of antacids, excessive coffee and/or tea consumption, and heavy perspiration. What can be done? If you are iron deficient, iron supplementation is appropriate. How do you choose a supplement?

First, ferrous fumarate is the preferred salt of iron. It is less toxic, less irritating, better absorbed and more stable than other salts of iron. Second, we know that vitamin C increases the absorption of iron by 30%. Therefore the best supplement would be one that used ferrous fumarate as the source of iron and then combined it with vitamin C to enhance the absorption. Shaklee’s Iron Plus C Complex is exactly this kind of product. It also contains calcium and phosphorous because the balance of calcium, phosphorous and iron is important. All in all, Iron Plus C Complex is no doubt the finest iron supplement available today.

At one time we had a comparable product available in the drugstore, but it was discontinued by the manufacturer probably because of the high cost. You might be able to purchase a cheaper iron tablet somewhere, but you will never purchase a higher quality iron product than Shaklee’s. We regularly hear from people who have gotten great results after using this Shaklee product for just a few weeks. The same people had used various other products for months without results.

Click here to order Iron Plus C Complex.

You can also find out more on ensuring you are getting the right nutrition including iron. Learn more about essential nutrition by visiting http://www.SwitchYourHouse.com

And The Eye's Have It

Are any of you like me? I won't go out of the house without having lipstick on and making sure my lashes look like the models you see in magazines. I have learned recently that mascara is one of the cosmetics most likely to cause health problems. In 1990 according to the Safe Shoppers Bible "there were at least 1,964 emergency room admissions because of mascara-related injuries". A small but significant number of eye maladies women suffer are caused by eye makeup. As an example, Conjunctivitis and Contact Dermatitis can be caused by mascara. Sometimes this occurs because the eyeball is scratched while applying the mascara but a preservative called quaternium 15 is a direct eye irritant, so this could also be the culprit. Some products contain phenyl mercuric acetate – this is both an allergen and skin irritant, which should never be used around the eyes. Not all mascaras are alike – so make sure you know what you are using.

Safe tips when using mascara:
1. Never use mascara if your eye has been injured, infected or scratched.

2. Always handle your mascara carefully and in a sanitary manner. NEVER apply water to mascara. I remember once when I was in a public restroom I saw a woman spit on her mascara brush – this is definitely a no no! Even though mascaras have preservatives, it is still likely to become contaminated by adding something to the mascara.

3. Never keep your mascara longer than three months to four months because over time the preservatives break down.

4. Finally, never apply mascara immediately after applying nail polish or using polish remover because their ingredients can irritate the eyes with direct contact.

If you would like to find out how to purchase a mascara without toxic ingredients or other non-toxic products, fill out the information on the contact page.

Source: The Safe Shopper’s Bible
David Steinman & Samuel S. Epstein, M.D.

If you are looking for a non-toxic alternative at a reasonable price click here

Taking the Confusion Out of What Multivitamin Supplement To Take

We are bombarded with health information every day of our lives. Do this, don’t do that. Eat this, don’t eat that. Take these vitamins or those vitamins and minerals. Don’t take those! So you find yourself asking, what multivitamin supplement should I take? With all that is out there it can be hard and downright overwhelming trying to figure out what your body needs. Let’s face it, we all want to live longer and feel better, but who needs the stress of trying to sift through it all?

The best place to start is asking yourself, what are my problems? How do I feel? How do I want to feel? Write them down. Do you want more energy, or do you suffer from arthritis or digestive problems? Maybe you would like better heart health or immune function. Would you like to sleep at night and feel better in the morning? Pinpointing where you want to feel improvement is the first step, but what next? The next step is made very simple with Shaklee Vitalizer.

Vitalizer combines all the vitamins plus minerals your body needs to work its best so you feel better; without the guess work. For over 50 years Shaklee has been working to provide the best nutrition in the most natural form to give anyone and everyone the opportunity to feel better and to actually be healthier. A recent study has proven that Shaklee supplement users have better overall health in key areas than those who take other supplements or none at all. All this knowledge has been broken down into an easy to take vitamin strip that contains food supplements supporting your immune health, eye health, lung health, joint health, heart health, digestive health and so much more. They actually could not fit all the benefits on the package

No matter what ails you, this is the easiest and best way to get the support your body needs. The delivery system is one of the keys to what makes this system work. Vita-Lea, Vitamin B+C, Caroto-E-Omega and Optiflora are bio-optimized and clinically proven to put what you need where you need it. That is the beauty and simplicity of Vitalizer. Vita-Lea is supported by 7 clinical studies proving its effectiveness and with the folic acid coating it releases in the stomach, just when and where its needed. Next the Vitamin B+C maintains blood levels for over 12 hours. B vitamins are very important for managing stress and moderating functions in the body. Vitamin C as most of us know is a very important antioxidant and also helps with most functions of the body. Caroto, E, and Omega support the heart, immune system and once again just about every other function in the body. Optiflora delivers the right kind of probiotics into the lower intestine to help with digestion and immunity.

Taking the guesswork out of nutrition is the goal behind Vitalizer. 50 years of science nutrition and the leading nutrition company in the U.S., Shaklee goes to the extreme to bring the purest, most potent and most natural products to you. Just taking the Vitalizer strip everyday will go a long way to improving how you feel and how you live.

Why Shaklee?

Shaklee has a long history in the green industry. They were green back when green was just a color. I have seen companies popping up all over the place claiming to be green, non toxic and other hype words companies are using to meet the standards consumers are asking for now.

Here is the most important you must remember. Do you research! I will be posting some very important chemicals that you need to look for in purchasing many household items that claim to be “green”. You can not change your packaging and claim it's less toxic. You can now change the way you manufacture something and claim it is really any different.

The most recent example of that would be the Green Works line. There is nothing any different about the products compared to what they were before the switch to the Green Works line except the company when to a trash powered plant for making that specific cleaning line only. They product that you see on the shelf and purchase is exactly the same as it was 2 years ago. The bottom line is
you as a consumer must educate yourself.

I want to give you some background on the Shaklee corporation because it is by far my company of choice. Once you see some of the things they stand for I think you will understand why. Shaklee is a company that has been around for years. It all started with Dr. Forrest C Shaklee who in 1915 discovered Vitalized Minerals and starting researching the nutritional value of these products. With this discovery not too many years later the Shaklee Corporation was founded. They launched the 1st biodegradable household cleaner in 1960 called Basic H. It was non toxic green cleaner. Over the years they have continued to release hundreds of non toxic green products in many different markets. Shaklee has become the #1 Nutritional Company in the United States. Shaklee also became tthe first company in the world to obtain Climate Neutral™ certification and totally offset our CO2 emissions, resulting in a net zero impact on the environment.

The green awards have kept coming over the years and Shaklee is always ahead of the curve. In 2007 they released the first anti aging tonic. They employee more than 70 scientist and have extensive outside 3rd party testing done on their products on a regular basis to make sure they meet Shaklee's stringent standards. Their products have been featured in over 100 published studies and clinical papers. The most notable study, The Landmark study which was conducted for 20 years by the University of California. In this study groups were tested over long periods of time while taking Shaklee Vitalizer, another brand's dietary supplement and then a group than took nothing at all. The results were astounding. The Landmark study found that the group that took Shaklee's multivitamins were the healthiest. Another strange conclusion was reached as well. People were better off taking no supplements at all vs the alternative supplement to Shaklee's. If you would like more information about the Landmark Study click here.

As you can tell this company doesn't just talk the talk they walk the walk. I will break down some of their other great products and their accomplishments over time for you also.

Watch this video of Earth Day 2009. In celebration of Earth Day, Shaklee Chairman and CEO, Roger Barnett was joined by special guests, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and 2004 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Dr. Wangari Maathai for the planting of Shaklee's millionth tree to commemorate the culmination of Shaklee's "A Million Trees. A Million Dreams™" Campaign. As part of the company's continuing efforts to improve the health of people and the planet, CEO Roger Barnett announced the company's newest campaign to create A Million Healthier Lives in 2009.