Here are FIVE quick things you can do today to make your surroundings healthier!

Remember just ONE SMALL ACTION can make a REALLY BIG DIFFERENCE!

#1 Watch TOXIC BREW. Invest just 20 minutes of your time for this Canadian "MarketPlace" TV show. It's shocking to see name brand cleaners full of harmful hidden chemicals--which especially affect the health of kids and pets in your home. Go to Global Sucess Team, then "Click Here to Enter Site." Then click on "TOXIC BREW MOVIE." If you can't watch it all at once, hit the "pause button" (two vertical straight lines) and come back later to finish.

#2 GO THROUGH YOUR BATHROOM, KITCHEN, LAUNDRY, GARAGE, AND YARD. As you go, dump Febreze, Clorox, Listerine and other toxic products. This information may shock you! This is not from a "kook" source! To find out what's lurking on your shelves, visit the The National Institutes of Health Library of Medicine Household Products Database . You can search almost any brand of product you use daily, find out what's in it, and uncover its links to health effects. Or search by chemical ingredients (see list below for some examples) and discover what brands contain it. Chemical ingredients to look out for: Click each: Sodium Hydroxide, Hydrochloric acid, Butyl cellosolve (2-Butoxyethanol), Formaldehyde, Bleach (sodium hypochlorite), Ammonia, Sulfamic Acid, Petroleum distillates, Sulfuric acid, Lye (potassium hydroxide), Morpholine. One or even a thousand exposures may not be "that" harmful...but millions of exposures over years from hundreds of products is. Did you know that women at home have a 54% higher risk of cancer? And that a study linked that statistic to harmful household cleaners? Let's turn that around fast!

#3 CREATE A SHOPPING LIST. How soon can you switch brands to safe alternatives? I can help you figure out some transition orders of non-toxic make up, daily care items, shampoos, conditioners, baby products--as well as nutrition products that help bodies detox. Do it all at once or little by little. Our GET CLEAN kit of cleaners (featured 5 times on Oprah) saves you from buying $3400 worth of the "bad stuff."

The large kit makes a big impact as it keeps 108 pounds of packaging waste out of landfills, eliminates 248 pounds of greenhouse gases, and is the equivalent of planting 10 trees. A smaller HEALTHY HOME kit is a great gift for weddings, showers, etc.

#4 CALCULATE YOUR HOUSEHOLD'S CARBON EMISSIONS. It's easy. Go to SHAKLEE's page at American Forests and fill in info about your cars, your heating/air, etc. When you push "calculate," you're shown how many trees you could plant to erase your CO2 footprint on the earth, and offset your pollution. SHAKLEE started doing that in 2000--aren't you glad your consumer dollars support a company like that?

#5 JOIN OUR SHAKLEE MILLION TREES/MILLION DREAMS campaign by planting as many trees as you can! Did you know that a mature tree absorbs between 120-240 pounds per year of small particles and gases, like carbon-dioxide, which are released into the air by cars and industry? A single tree also produces nearly three-quarters of the oxygen required for one person; and a canopy of trees in an urban environment can slash smog levels up to six percent. American Forests reports that just 25,000 acres of forest can offset the equivalent emissions of 10 billion automobile miles.

You can plant a tree online- right now! My faves are
American Forests
Arbor day
Trees
Tree Greetings

Eliminate 108 pounds of packaging waste from landfills and eliminates 248 pounds of greenhouse gas.

In the late 1960's air pollution clouded our cities with toxic fumes spewed out by cars and factories. Air pollution in New York, Los Angeles and other major cities were linked to disease and death, thus leaving city life barely breathable.

Another concern was the large-scale use of pesticides, which were often used in highly populated areas. Additionally large amounts of dead fish were reported on the Great Lakes, and the media carried the news that Lake Erie, one of America's largest bodies of fresh water, was in its death throes. Ohio had another jolt when Cleveland's Cuyahoga River, an artery inundated with oil and toxic chemicals, burst into flames by spontaneous combustion.

One prominent politician, Gaylord Nelson, then Senator from Wisconsin, had been frustrated throughout the 1960s because only a few of his Congressional colleagues had any interest in environmental issues. However, during his travels across the United States, Nelson had been greatly impressed by the dedication and the expertise of the many student and citizen volunteers who were trying to solve pollution problems in their communities.

Early in December 1969, Senator Nelson of Wisconsin and a 25-year old named Denis Hayes, former President of the Stanford student body, as national coordinator, became making plans for the inaugural Earth Day.

On April 22, 1970, the first Earth Day was celebrated. It was on that day that Americans made it clear that they understood and were deeply concerned over the deterioration of our environment and the mindless dissipation of our resources. That day left a permanent impact on the politics of America. It forcibly thrust the issue of environmental quality and resources conservation into the political dialogue of the Nation. That was the important objective and achievement of Earth Day. It showed the political and opinion leadership of the country that the people cared, that they were ready for political action, that the politicians had better get ready, too. In short, Earth Day launched the Environmental decade with a bang.

Earth Day 1970 made it clear that the public is committed to saving our environment. Although the battle is far from over we have made substantial progress. In the ten years since 1970 much of the basic legislation needed to protect the environment has been enacted into law: the Clean Air Act, the Water Quality Improvement Act, the Water Pollution and Control Act Amendments, the Resource Recovery Act, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, the Toxic Substances Control Act, the Occupational Safety and Health Act, the Federal
Environmental Pesticide Control Act, the Endangered Species Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act, the Federal Land Policy and Management Act, and the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act. And, the most important piece of environmental legislation in our history, the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) was signed into law on January 1, 1970.

Here is your call to action, celebrate Earth Day 2008 on April 22nd. Plant a tree, reduce green house gasses, or make a commitment to start recycling, these are small steps and yet these steps can do so much for our environment.

For products that are eco-friendly visit Shaklee a environmentally conscious company since 1950

Did you know that it takes approximately 11787 Kwh to heat the average home with electricity, AND, it produces 17740.5 worth of C02 emissions! Additionally, to remove the C02 emissions from an average home heated with electricity, it takes 26.6 trees! When purchasing a gift for your loved one or friend, think about planting a tree. Visit the sites below for more information

You know that good, healthy feeling you get when you've just cleaned house? Sorry to spoil it, but you may have just made your home dirtier.

Think of it this way. You wouldn't let your kids play with toxic chemicals, so why would you let the baby crawl over a floor that's just been wiped with them? That's much more dangerous than the orange juice that was just there.

How dangerous? Just take a look at these statistics.

Over 90% of poison exposures happen at home.
Common 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 three 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 have been linked to increasing the risk of your kids developing asthma, the most common serious chronic childhood disease.

1 in 13 school-aged children has asthma. Rates in children under five have increased more than 160% from 1980 ? 1994.

Children are highly vulnerable to chemical toxicants. Pound for pound of body weight, children drink more water, eat more food and breathe more air than adults. The implication of this is that children will have substantially heavier exposures than adults to any toxicants that are present in water, food or air.

If your home is anything like the average U.S. home, you generate more than 20 pounds of household hazardous waste each year (the EPA designates toilet cleaners, tub and tile cleaners, oven cleaners, and bleach as hazardous waste).

Start detoxing your home with the Get Clean Kit

Use this handy shopping bag instead of paper and plastic grocery bags. It's a great all-around carry-all! Printed with the Shaklee logo in white on one side, and "Go Green and Get Clean" on the other side.

Reusable for 3 to 4 years - replaces 4 to 5 plastic bags each time used, thousands over its lifetime
Made of 100% non-woven polypropylene
Recyclable (#5 plastic)
Water-resistant, washable and non-toxic

Order your Shaklee tote Shaklee Tote

1. Start by replacing a bunch of your cleaners (your general spray cleaner, glass cleaner, counter top cleaner, floor and bathroom cleaners) with a natural, nontoxic all-purpose cleaner. You will only need one to do that. Really!

2. Replace your laundry detergent with a natural nontoxic one so the clothes you wear and the sheets you sleep on have no fumes for you to breathe.

3. Go to your bathroom and read the shampoo, makeup and moisturizer labels. Ask yourself, "Do I really need scent in these products?" Take stock of all of your other products and try to replace one a week with a safer, greener choice.

4. Use BPA-free plastic baby bottles and fill them with breast milk or organic formula. Choose powdered formula over canned formula to avoid BPA leaching from the can-lining.

5. Pay attention (without freaking out) to the toys you buy for your kids. Avoid lead paint and soft plastics that contain phthalates.

6. Shop the perimeter of the grocery store and avoid processed food. Even better, choose organic and locally grown meats, dairy, fruits, and vegetables.

7. Try to get the plastic containers out of your kitchen and replace them with glass containers.

8. Make a vow to stop buying bottled water-NOW. Instead, buy a water filter pitcher and keep two in your fridge at all times.

9. For cleaner and healthier air, open your windows once a day when the outside temperature is comfortable.

10. When buying new stuff for your home, focus on green products especially mattresses and carpets.

Visit Shaklee Green Products

Most of the brand name detergents are not biodegradable. Additionally there are a number of detergents that claim to be environmentally safe. However, if you read the labels you will find that they are filled with dyes, artificial fragrances, and other chemicals such as optical brighteners and other non-natural ingredients. As a rule, if the ingredients contain words like ionic and non-ionic surfactants you can be sure that they are not eco-friendly. What does the label say on your laundry detergent?

Fresh Laundry Liquid Concentrate, a truly eco-friendly detergent. In third-party testing, Fresh Laundry outperforms: Shout, Spray and Wash, and All Small and Mighty.

Clean Credentials
Natural
Biodegradable
Concentrated
Hypoallergenic
No phosphates
No chlorine

This is one great formula works for HE and standard washing machines.

So concentrated that one small bottle (32 oz.) gives you 32 loads. Natural, corn and coconut based cleaners with enzyme booster powers out stains like a champ.

Circles under the eyes are a sympton that generally says "allergies." Allergies generally mean a compromised immune system. The answer? Detox surroundings and the body. Strengthen the immune system. Identify and get rid of the offending food or allergen or toxic household cleaners in your home.

Visit Shaklee for air purification systems, green cleaning supplies and all natural skin care, with no animal testing or cruelty.