Green Goes with Everything

Your kids are dashing out the back door to play with friends, and the last thing you yell before the door slams behind them is, "Don't get too dirty, I just washed those clothes!"

Dirt is outside, in the ... well, dirt. That's obvious, right? Clean is inside, where you vacuum, wash dishes, do the laundry, dust, polish, wipe, and scrub. Most of us aren't farmers anymore; we don't spend much time outdoors. In fact, we spend nearly 90 percent of our time indoors-at home, at work, and, of course, in traffic.

We think of home as our refuge, a place where we know we're safe from danger. Except we're not. And I'm not talking about the fight against crime. I'm talking about the fight against grime. During the last several decades, Americans have become obsessed with counters that are spotless, rooms that smell like perfume, furniture that gleams like glass, dishes that sparkle, clothes that smell like springtime, and toilets in which the water swirls as blue as the water off some South Sea isle.

It's a beautiful picture, isn't it? Not as beautiful as you think. The result of all this scrubbing and buffing is that we're exposed almost continuously to hundreds of insidious, invisible, and dangerous chemicals, potent substances that exist in products we use every day: cleaning supplies, cosmetics, deodorants and other personal care products, dry-cleaned clothes, laundry, plastic food containers, paints, varnishes, home and garden supplies-it's a very long list. Many of these are petrochemicals that are volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which means they escape into the environment-into your home and into you-even under normal use. In fact, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has found that levels of organic pollutants are two to five times higher inside our homes than outside. In short, our homes have become toxic waste sites. But that's not even the worst of it; those chemicals are in us, too. We inhale them, we swallow them in our food and water, we absorb them through our skin. Pregnant women pass them to their developing fetuses through the placenta. A couple of years ago, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention conducted a comprehensive study of the degree to which the bodies of Americans age six and older are contaminated by 148 specific toxic substances. There was some good news: Lead levels in children have dropped significantly. But the bad news stunned environmental health experts: Most Americans, but especially children, have dozens of pesticides and other toxic compounds in their bodies, many of them health threats. A source of many of these toxins? Common, everyday, run of the mill household consumer products. There's no polite way of saying this: Your body is a landfill, a dumping ground for a mind-boggling array of toxic chemicals. So is mine. So is your child's.

Some of these chemicals-and the substances they break down into, called "metabolites"-stay in our bodies for only a short while, passing out again within a matter of days. Others are more persistent: They circulate in our blood, or lodge in our fatty tissue, muscle, bone, brains, and other vital organs for years. And in most cases we don't even know they're there. But this is not a case of "what you don't know can't hurt you."

Experts call the total amount of chemicals and pollutants that are present in our body at any given time our "body burden." I don't know about you, but I didn't even know there was such a thing-and you'll know what I mean when I say that, in a sense, I wish I still didn't.

But now I do, and I wanted to know more. I read an article not long go about a journalist who decided to have a body burden test-which is no small burden in itself, since it requires more than a dozen vials of blood and urine. That might be one reason why hospitals and laboratories don't routinely offer such tests. But this intrepid journalist wanted to see what chemicals were sluicing through his veins and taking up residence in his cells. You can imagine how shocked he was to discover that among other chemicals that ought not be in anyone's body, he had a very high level of flame retardant in his system. A little sleuthing gave him a probable answer: He flies a lot, and airplane seats, carpets, blankets, and pillows are loaded with flame retardant.

The award-winning journalist Bill Moyers participated in a similar test conducted by renowned Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York and learned there were eighty-four toxic chemicals detected in his body. This is hardly the sort of news you look forward to hearing; these are not the sorts of substances you want to be carrying around every day.

And yet I desperately wanted to know what was streaming through my own blood. Having done the research, I knew to expect significant levels of many of the chemicals I was being tested for. But nothing can prepare you for the hard cold facts.

Now understand, it took me more than three months even to get a lab to agree to take my samples. It turns out this testing is extremely specialized and the chemists are very careful in deciding whose blood to test and how to present the results. They are adamant about not scaring the public with information about body burden chemicals when there are few scientific studies on their long-term effects.

I was thrilled when, in a rare opportunity, the Harvard School of Public Health agreed to supervise my body burden test. The blood draw alone was daunting. Look, I am no shrinking violet, okay? But let me tell you, having seventeen vials of blood drawn from you-that's right, almost a dozen and a half-is no picnic. That's how many the lab in British Columbia said they needed. And since they're one of only four labs in the world qualified to do these tests, who was I to argue?

So off went the blood vials. Waiting for the results was hard; being told the results was harder.

Now you can take the Body Burden Test online at no charge and it only takes a few minutes.

Host a Green Goes With Everything book club with your friends! Support one another on your journey to a greener and healthier life by sharing tips, discussing important topics from Green Goes With Everything, and making commitments on how to improve your "Body Burden" score.

Download the Green Goes With Everything Book Club Party Series Host Tool

This is what I want you to remember about chlorine bleach: It's commonly misused and its misuse can be really bad for you. What's more, household bleach-sodium hypochlorite-is the number-one household chemical involved in poisoning. It's corrosive and can cause serious skin and eye irritation and may aggravate respiratory problems. It's much more dangerous when it comes in contact with ammonia, which happens frequently when several types of household cleaners are inappropriately combined. How dangerous? The combination of these two common household chemicals can release chlorine gas, a close cousin to the stuff that was used in chemical warfare in World War I. Even the label of a leading brand says "DANGER: Corrosive. May cause severe irritation or damage to eyes and skin ... Avoid breathing vapors and use only in a well-ventilated area." Does that mean that I'm supposed to hold my breath while I'm doing my laundry?

There are lots of hard decisions to make when you consider the potential safety of common household cleaners. But because of the potential for misuse, this one is a no-brainer. Just don't use chlorine bleach. Happily there are effective alternatives to chlorine bleach, including Shaklee Get Clean Nature Bright Laundry Booster and Stain Remover. As we said above, it's natural, biodegradable, phosphate free, and chlorine bleach free.

Take the Body Burden Test online to find out what other regularly used products affect your healths. It's no charge and it only takes a few minutes.

Bottled water is a serious environmental problem and can even be a health problem too. It's also often not what it appears. More than half of all Americans drink bottled water occasionally, a third of them regularly. The fastest growing commercial beverage in America isn't Coke or Pepsi; it's bottled water.

The main reason the bottled water industry has exploded over the last decade isn't because tap water is unsafe. It's because, with the market for soft drinks basically flat, beverage manufacturers needed a new growth industry. They piggybacked the chic of the bottled water sold in restaurants in places like Europe onto health worries of all kinds and mounted large advertising campaigns.
According to the International Council of Bottled Water Associations, in 2003, Americans spent nearly $8 billion buying 24.5 million liters of bottled water. The thing is there is no evidence that bottled water is better for you than tap. And the regulations covering bottled water aren't as tough as they are for tap water. But here's the best part: In some cases that chic bottled water comes from a public water supply.

In 1999, the Natural Resources Defense Council announced the results of a four-year study analyzing more than one thousand bottles of 103 brands of bottled water. Here's what they discovered:

While most of the bottled water was found to be of high quality, about a third contained levels of contaminants including synthetic organic chemicals, bacteria, and arsenic-that exceeded allowable limits under either state or bottled water industry standards or guidelines.
While the FDA is nominally responsible for assuring the safety of bottled water, the FDA's rules do not apply to waters that are packaged and sold within the same state. That's roughly two-thirds of all the bottled water sold in the United States.

The FDA also exempts carbonated water and seltzer. Bottled water is subject to far less rigorous testing and purity standards than tap water. For example, bottled water must be tested far less frequently than city tap water for bacteria and chemical contaminants. What's worse, bottled water rules allow for some contamination by E. coli or fecal coliforms.

About one-fourth of bottled water is actually bottled tap water, according to government and industry estimates (some estimates go as high as 40 percent). And FDA rules allow bottlers to call their product "spring water" even though it may be brought to the surface using a pumped well, and it may be treated with chemicals.

Here's something to think about: cities around the country spend hundreds of millions of dollars every year to ensure that public water supplies are safe, and then spend hundreds of millions of dollars more to pass out commercially bottled water at meetings. The U.S. Conference of Mayors did think about this and in 2007 passed a resolution calling for a study of the impacts of using bottled water. In the meantime, mayors and city councils across the country have banned spending public money on bottled water.

Sloan Barnett is a regular contributor to NBC's Today Show and the Green Editor for KNTV, the NBC affiliate in San Francisco. She has been a television and print journalist for more than 10 years, and wrote a popular consumer advice column for New York's Daily News for nearly a decade. She lives in San Francisco with her husband and three children. FMI, please visit: www.greengoeswitheverything.com

"Today" show contributor and the green editor for KNTV, the NBC affiliate in San Francisco, Sloan Barnett has been a television and print journalist for more than 10 years. She also wrote a popular consumer advice column for the New York Daily News for nearly a decade. Her book on living greener and healthier-without sacrificing convenience and budget, titled GREEN GOES WITH EVERYTHING: Simple Steps to a Healthier Life and a Cleaner Planet, was published by Simon and Schuster in September 2008.

As a regular contributor on NBC's "Today Show," Sloan appears monthly live in the studio. On KNTV, she presents weekly green reporting packages and then answers topic-related questions live. Her stories have ranged from the controversies surrounding organic food labeling to the issues concerning children and cell phones.

Sloan has also appeared on the "Oprah Winfrey Show" (on "Going Green 101"), PBS ("Building Green"), and as a green expert on Reuters and Fox. Before her recent move to California, Sloan was a consumer contributor for Court TV's "Catherine Crier Live," where she could be seen weekly in the studio offering consumer advice and answering viewer e-mails and letters. She joined Court TV in 2004 as an anchor and host for "Open Court," "Both Sides," and "Closing Arguments."

Previously, Sloan was a co-host and consumer expert for the program "Lifetime Now," which aired weekly on the Lifetime Network. Before this, she was the consumer reporter for "Pure Oxygen," the Oxygen Network's highest-rated program, and a co-host for Oxygen's "SheCommerce," a woman's consumer talk show.

Born and raised in New York City, Sloan graduated magna cum laude from Brown University before earning a law degree at New York University's School of Law, where she is now a member of the Board of Trustees. Upon graduation, she worked as an Assistant District Attorney in Manhattan. As an ADA, Sloan handled a full range of cases including narcotics, robbery, domestic violence and assault from arrest through trial.

From 1998 through 1999, Sloan co-hosted a talk/magazine-format show with Phyllis George called "Woman's Day TV." The program appeared nationally, every weekday on PaxTV, and included celebrity interviews and segments covering all issues relating to women.

* NBC Today Show, September 29th 8 o'clock hour

* iVillage.com Green Channel, beginning September 23rd

* NBC Affiliate Top 10 Markets, September 29th - October 3rd

o New York City
o Los Angeles
o San Francisco
o Philadelphia
o Chicago
o Dallas
o Washington DC
o San Diego
o Miami
o Hartford

* NBC Today Show, October 2nd 9 o'clock hour

* People Magazine, hits stands October 3rd

* NBC Weekend Today, October 25th

1. Get Concentrated: instead of buying ready-to-use cleaners, check out concentrated cleaners where you simply add the water yourself. No more difficult than condensed soup and I know you can do that!!!!

2. Buy a filtered water pitcher: not only are you preventing plastic from entering landfills, but you'll save a few bucks a day by refilling your own water bottle.

3. Say Yes to Economy: Our economy stinks, but buying economy size uses less packaging and saves you lots of money.

4. Just say no to paper towels: Reuse your old cotton t-shirts or towels to clean your house. Leave the rags right near the sink to prevent temptation.

5. Composting is no longer for hippies! Pick up a composting bin at your local Wal-Mart and use the compost as fertilizer for your yard. No more need for expensive chemicals to spread on your grass.

6. Need a coffee table? Consider buying an old farmhouse antique (no lead paint, please!) It may be less costly than a store-bought new table and it won't have toxic finishes on it.

7. Call me insane, but we just started to reuse Ziploc baggies. Not only was I wasting plastic everyday but I was spending more than $5 a week on baggies!

8. Give up anything disposable: Think about how much you spend on those plastic storage containers, only to throw them away when you are finished. Start using glass containers for your food storage; they will save you money and your health!

9. Eat in more often. This is my favorite---my family is healthier, we save a bundle on food, and most importantly, we spend time together.

10. Visit your local library: Take the kids on a Saturday, have them pick out 2 of their favorite books, and return them next week! It's free and it's green.