Monthly Archives: August 2013

Image

Which Side of the Fence?

Which Side

“Homesick” Update … MCS/ES Safe Housing

Here’s the new trailer for the film Homesick!

I am really looking forward to seeing this important film. So many of us are in need of safe, non-toxic housing in areas with clean, non-toxic outdoor air. When we are unable to function “as designed” in “normal” or moldy housing or when neighbors do things like use pesticides, conventional laundry products, smoke and burn things, or when there are wireless devices nearby, because of the disabling effects these harmful and toxic pollutants have on us, then safe housing can make such a great difference, allowing us to be more fully human again…

From Dual Power Productions: “Homesick was originally filmed in 1995. Director Susan Abod was so sick that she couldn’t finish the film. In 2011, we came on board to help. We’re excited to bring Homesick to you on September 15, a film that is even more relevant now than when it started in ’95.”

“Homesick”

“Imagine your house is making you dangerously sick. Common products like paint, carpeting, new building materials and insecticides are now your worst enemies. Your bones ache, you’re feverish, you suffer from extreme headaches, disabling fatigue, mental confusion, asthma and nausea. The longer you stay in your house, the sicker you get but you can’t imagine how or where you’re going to find a safe home. You are one of the millions suffering from the silent epidemic of Multiple Chemical Sensitivities (MCS).

In Homesick, Susan Abod hits the road to learn whether other people with MCS are finding safe housing. On her journey to the Southwestern United States, Susan meets people from all walks of life. Their living quarters range from a house on stilts to tents and a teepee.

Join Susan as she explores a little known world and discovers how people are coping with this growing epidemic.”

More MCS Housing Resources:

Continue reading

20 Petrochemicals to Avoid in Personal Care and Laundry Products

 

Re-posting with permission

20 of the most common Petrochemical Skin Care Ingredients to Avoid

The Organic Natural Beauty Directory urges all consumers to carefully read the ingredient labels on the products they intend to buy and be fully aware of what goes in them, that way you will know what to avoid. Ingredients are listed most used to least used (meaning that the first ingredient listed is what makes up the largest part of the product). It is extremely alarming to know that many major brands of skin care and personal care products contain petrochemicals in them.

It pains and angers me to see big beauty brands advertising on TV that they are ‘natural’ but when you look at their ingredients they may also contain some petrochemicals- so make sure you know your ingredients. This is why modern day consumers need to beware of ‘greenwashing’ and become educated on what the ingredients being used are.Your safest bet as a consumer is to choose products that contain all natural, whole and unprocessed botanical ingredients.

According to the ‘campaign for safe cosmetics website’.

“Many of these petrochemicals are known and scientifically proven to be toxic.”

“They can cause eye impairment, intestinal damage, kidney and liver problems, breathing problems, cysts, skin spots, rashes, premature aging and hair loss. Some are endocrine disruptors (that can cause hormonal disruptions and produce adverse developmental, reproductive, neurological, and immune effects), and some even carcinogenic (that can cause cancer, and in particular breast cancer)”.

Our skin is the largest organ in our body so it makes sense that we as consumers wake up & start taking control of what we feed ourselves.

Here is the A-Z list of the 20 most common petrochemicals used in personal care products:

toxic skull and bones

Continue reading

Doing The Best We Can

Sometimes I forget to mention that I have been on this path of learning for many, many years. I did not learn all this overnight, and I continue to learn something new each day.

Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.

Do the best you can until you know better.
Then when you know better, do better.

I know a lot of people become overwhelmed when learning the reasons behind our deteriorating quality of life. We can make many mistakes and more than a few excuses.

Change can also be more challenging when we don’t have general support. I also post more of what we need to avoid instead of inspirational or alternative things to do, because the safer alternatives are generally so simple (or should be) although some are still sometimes hard to find commercially.

When I am more able, and if people want, I hope to offer more ideas on possible directions to move towards, instead of so many to move away from. For now, I am doing the best I can presenting information on issues that have an adverse impact on our health and well-being, as so many people still have absolutely no idea.

So, when I found this photo with this quote, it resonated deeply, as it is what I have been endeavoring to do all this time, and I share it with you in hopes that it makes life easier for you too.

“Do the best you can until you know better.
Then when you know better, do better.”

Maya Angelou

(With thanks to FB Treasured Sentiments for creating the image)

Fragrance-Free and Healthy Schools (updated)

Are you sick from sick schools?

How Healthy is Your SchoolTeachers and students suffer when school buildings are not healthy, sometimes even developing permanently disabling conditions as a result.

MCS/ES. Asthma. Autism. Learning disabilities. Behavior problems…

Unhealthy school buildings can present real barriers to access.

It shouldn’t be like that. You shouldn’t lose your health or your job or have your child’s health and future suffer because there’s something unhealthy in the air at school.

There are enough examples of the benefits of a healthy learning environment over an unhealthy one (from toxic chemicals, molds and wi-fi for example), and tools for how to make change happen.

Here are some resources (in no particular order):

Continue reading

Human Rights, Property Rights and the Environment

Toxic Chemical Trespass

Human Rights and the Environment No More Toxic Chemical Trespass

Human Rights and the Environment
No More Toxic Chemical Trespass

Forgive us our (chemical) trespasses
By Carolyn Raffensperger
This is not a trespass in the property sense. It is a violation of our shared rights to a clean and healthy environment. Forgive us for destroying the Earth, our bodies, our communities, each other.
http://www.sehn.org/blog/?p=176

and

and this

What is done to the planet, is done to us…

Do We Not Have the Right to a Healthy Environment?

In Brazil, they now have the right to a healthy environment!

Learn more about Human Rights and the Environment here:

Continue reading

MCS/ES Page

I have finally added a Page to the top of the blog that deals with MCS/ES under the following headings:

MCS – Multiple Chemical Sensitivities, etc
Environmental Sensitivities
Categorical guidelines for levels of disability
Getting diagnosed
ICD Codes
Treatment Options
Mind and Brain
Support
Human Rights and Accommodations

https://seriouslysensitivetopollution.wordpress.com/mcses/

seriously sensitive to pollution