APPLE SLINKI MAD!!!

Yes, I’m apple slinki mad!

After winding through 80 or so apples or so on Saturday I was pretty pooped! The kids loved them, my kids so much they ate at least 5 apples each and asked for more today. At the end of the day, us hard workers who were left over were rewarded with a fresh apple juice of course, courtesy of the apple slinki machine AND the juicer. It is truly the easiest and fastest way to peel and core apples.

That’s enough raw apples for me, I’m now looking forward to making stewed rhubarb and apple, apple pies, apple cakes, apple tarts, apple…..

Apple Slinki Fundraiser This Saturday

Hi all,

This Saturday, August 28th between 9 and 1, St Andrews Church Cooks Hill will be hosting a fete. As part of this fete sound earth will have delicious apple slinkis for sale; yes that is apples cut and peeled into slinki and the kids can’t rate them enough!! Also we will be selling the fabulous Appeel Slinki machine for you to make these delicious snacks at home and to raise money for the pre-school.

I had my appeel slinki machine going the other night and chopped, peeled and cored apples at a rate of knots. It was so easy and quick I even surprised myself as to how quick these machines work – with minimal waste!! I whipped up that apple pie as quick as quick. 

I already have the fresh apples which I bought from the local farmers markets (pink ladies, they are my favourite!) and am ready to go this Saturday. Looking forward to seeing you all there.

Jeddah

 

House Proud Women Double their Chance of Breast Cancer

I just read some very interesting reports from the Silent Spring Institute and I feel it puts some of my recommendations into perspective.

Basically the report has shown that women who are the highest users of fragrances, mould killers (think bathroom cleaning products), insect repellants and other cleaning products were twice as likely to develop breast cancer than women who reported low usage of these products. Many of these products contain phthalates which are known endocrine disruptors which have shown to increase the risk of breast cancer in animal studies. So why should we be surprised when the same problems turn up in humans too?

The problem is I am constantly recommending people to keep their houses clean. What I mean by clean may be different to what others are thinking and it might help the more… shall I say ‘relaxed’, housekeepers out there hold their heads high.

The best way to avoid pollutants is to stop bringing them into your house altogether. This is the most important thing to remember because once chemicals are already in your home they are harder to get rid of. Stop buying products that list ‘fragrance’ on the label, they will most probably contain phthalates. Try Bi-carb soda, it works wonders in most cleaning situations.

Most of us have a TV, computer or other electrical devices. These probably contain flame retardants which are associated with a whole host of problems. Even mattresses and couches can be treated with flame retardants. So the best advice here is to choose wisely and carefully about what appliances/furniture etc you bring into the home (do you really need a TV in your bedroom?).

If you are already stuck with something that is contentious then keep your house as dust free as possible. Flame retardants, frangrances and other chemical nasties break down and become part of the dust in your house. People with small children should be extra careful about this because small children inhale dust at phenominal rates (they crawl on it, lick it, eat it, you get the picture!) Vaccuming regularly with a vaccume with a HEPA filter and wiping surfaces with a damp cloth or mopping are the best ways to keep your house clean.

And if your house smells bad and you are thinking about using a air freshener, you’ll like this next piece of advice. Air the house out regularly. Try for an hour each day to fully exchange the indoor air with the outside air which is generally much cleaner. No need for air freshener and cleaner, sweeter air for everyone.

Now that’s what I mean by a clean house! 

Take Care,

Jeddah

BPA is Being Phased Out of Australian Baby Bottles

Phasing out BPA in baby bottle is a good move, but if we look at the problems associated with BPA we will understand how little the Australian government policy actually achieves.

The phase out is a voluntary agreement with major retailers so it is not a blanket ban on BPA in baby bottles. Cheap stores and smaller labels will still stock baby bottles that contain BPA.

The government still considers BPA to be safe in the doses that a baby is exposed to even if they use a bottle that contains BPA. The phase out is supposedly in response to public concern. It would be unwise for the government to take any other position against BPA when it is in so many consumer products, many of which have no real alternatives (eg tinned food: see this older post).     

The phase out will not protect children and babies from the toxic effects of BPA. Animal studies are showing that BPA exposure has the greatest risk when children are exposed in the womb. Pregnant women eating tinned food and collecting BPA lined receipts are exposing their unborn children to BPA at a time when such exposure can cause the greatest problems. A lot of the damage may already be done before a child could possibly use a baby bottle.  

My recommendations still remain the same: Avoid BPA where ever possible, choose to eat fresh produce and avoid plastics.

So a big thankyou to the government for listening to parental concerns and helping initiate a voluntary phase out with the big retailers but once again they have failed to actually implement a policy to protect children from chemical harm. 

Jeddah

See the government media release here:

http://www.health.gov.au/internet/ministers/publishing.nsf/Content/0D1BD3415FBE24B4CA25775200179277/$File/mb040.pdf

Toxic Dust Bunnies

Toxic Dust Bunnies: It would be a good name for a band! 

Dust is a reoccurring theme throughout my house, and it probably is in your house too. Those little fluff bunnies that live underneath your bed may sound cute but when you find out what they are really made of you probably won’t want to keep them as pets.

Dust is a mixture of outside debris, human skin cells, dead animal bits and it also collects the broken down chemicals that are floating around your home. Environmental health studies often show a direct correlation between household dust and the toxic body burden of the residents. Studies show that such nasties as PBDE’s, lead, PCB’s, VOC’s are all found in common household dust.

Stop a moment and think about the family members who are most likely to inhale this dust. Young children are closer to the floor and spend a lot of their time crawling around so are the most susceptible family members to be affected by the components of dust. It is estimated by the USA’s environmental protection agency that the average adult ingests 0.56mg to 110mg of dust per day (and the higher intake quoted here is for attic workers). Compare this with a two and a half year old whose intake of indoor dust is estimated at 50 – 100mg per day per person. A six year old’s intake is estimated at 3mg per day. Quite a vast difference!

If dust is a major pathway for human contamination then this is relatively good news, it is fairly easy to keep dust levels down. By clearing out dust regularly, contaminates can be effectively eliminated from your home with minimal expense. 

GOOD                  

• Ask people to take their shoes off at the door to keep contaminants outside and place a washable mat just on the inside to act as the first point of dust collection.
• Wipe dust off electrical appliances like televisions and computers with a damp sponge.

BETTER                

• Regularly vacuuming carpets, rugs, curtains and lounges, using a vacuum with a HEPA filter will help keep dust levels down.
• Steam clean carpets regularly, making sure not to use additional chemicals. 

BEST                     

• Choose furnishings and floorings that do not harbour dust. Good examples are tiles or wooden floorboards and curtains that can be cleaned easily. Surfaces that can be sponged, mopped or washed clean are preferable.

Good luck

Jeddah

Crying in the Car Park

I was watching a wonderful TED talk featuring Dr Glenn Albrect today and it reminded me of an experience I have had with my six year old. Glenn talks about “solstalgia” to describe the sense of homesickness you have when you are still at home . A person who has witnessed a great change in their home environment might feel solstalgia. Keep this in mind while I give you a little background to my family and before I tell you all about the crying in the car park…

When children rank “the environment” as their first worry alongside their “friends and family dying”, I feel justified in shielding my children from too much exposure to the big problems of the environment. I try instead to help them love nature, trying to emulate the childhoods of the great environmental advocates. The defining characteristics of the childhoods of these great people, such as David Suzuki, seems to be an early childhood exploring nature accompanied by an adult and later by themselves. So instead of teaching my children about the destruction of coral reefs, I put my effort into giving them opportunities to find wonder in our natural world. Keep in mind my interests keep me firmly on the green side of the fence so alot of adult-speak must filter through.

Here’s the crying part:

We drove in the carpark of our nearest supermarket and my six year old burst into tears saying “Mum, there is no room for the animals and the trees. It’s not fair”. She was so stricken with grief. Absolute sadness filled her every bone. I found a park and she crawled over the front and sat on my lap for at least ten minutes crying her poor little eyes out. I found myself saying things like, “we need the supermarket”, “if we didn’t have a car we couldn’t visit X”. I did not have the words to help her and the words I was saying felt like lies.

I still don’t have the words to help her but I feel Glenn Albrecht’s term soltalgia opens up new ways of expressing the emotions we feel over the changes in our environment. I know some of the natural history of my hometown and sometimes I stand and imagine what it looked like before it was developed. I guess this is what my child is doing too. But is it possible to feel homesick for an environment you have only heard of and read about but never seen?

Check out his blog to get a better sense of solstalgia  

Today is No Plastic Day

I can’t believe I nearly missed out on NO PLASTIC DAY!

I have been so busy getting some sample chapters ready for the publisher my research time has been devoted elsewhere. So here is how my day panned out on the plastic front:

Breakfast had it’s fair share of plastic due to the nature of packaging these days. It was homemade rice pudding but the rice, the milk, and even the spices were plastic wrapped.

Two packed lunches: sushi wrapped in the prototype of my new non-plastic reusable lunch wraps (I’ll get these out as soon as I have tested them to be as great as I think they will be) and my favourite stainless steel drink bottle of course. Oranges peeled out and about.

Dinner: No plastic!

Shopping: I did a little bit of shopping today and came home with one plastic bag full of dirt covered potatoes, the shop had run out of the paper kind 😦

WEll not too good and not too bad considering I didn’t even realise it was world no plastic day today!

How did you go?

See ya

Jeddah

Furoshiki Fundamentals

How I ever lived my life without the tradition of purposeful furoshiki I will never know. Today, heading out to a picinc I was required to carry two platters of food. My dilemma – how could I keep them fresh without cling wrap and how to carry two heavy awkward platters. Answer – wrap them furoshiki style.

Grab a small, preferable square, table cloth. Set the platteror bowl diagonally in the middle of the cloth. Fold over two opposite sides to cover the object.

With the remaining two, tie each individually in a knot close to the object.

With these two knotted pieces of leftover fabric, tie them in a sturdy knot to make a carry handle. That’s it.

Really quick, looks cute so excellent to wrap a present and completely reusable.

A slight variation for a book or present gives a nice bow on top.

Place object in the middle on a diagonal.

Fold over the diagonals like we did before and tie these sides once.

Tie the sides in the opposite direction in a double knot.

Pull the original knot through to the top and complete it’s double knot so it is secure. Then fluff out the bow!

Try it and you’ll be pleased you did!

Jeddah

Phone Call From a Friend About Preservatives

One of my lovely friends called me the other day to ask about a certain preservative in the food she was serving her one year old; Was it bad? She had already answered this question by doing a google search and yes the preservative was linked to asthma and other problems no-one wants for their child.

Her question really was; How much bad stuff can I feed my child before any ill effects will be noticed?

This is really impossible to answer. Each individual is made up entirely different. There is no telling in advance what reaction any one person may have to a certain chemical. The reaction may be immediate, in which case most people learn to avoid certain foods. A reaction might appear in the following three days in which case it is more difficult to pinpoint the problem. Problems might not turn up until years later when it is truly impossible to tell what exactly caused it. Or perhaps, even though the chemical is known to cause adverse reactions some people may never have any known problems from it at all. What studies into preservatives and additives attempt to show is that when exposed statistically a certain amount of people get a reaction. The more people with adverse reations then the more likely it is you too will have a bad reaction.

For sensitive kids, books like Sue Dengate’s “Fed Up” or a pocket sized book called “The Chemical Maze” might be handy. They will certainly show you quite quickly how many dodgey chemicals get put into our foods.   

It feels like common sense to me to avoid things that you know have the potential to be harmful in the whole family’s diet. I don’t have a hierarchy of which preservatives or additives to avoid, I just try to avoid all of them! One easy way that I do this is by choosing organic foods. In organic processed foods 95% of the food must be certified organic and any additives must be from a deemed ‘safer’ list of preservatives and additives. It’s really clear to see the difference in the label when you choose an organically certified product. For one, you will recognise the vast majority of ingredients and there are usually fewer ingredients.

The other way I routinely keep preservatives and additives out of my family’s life is by basing our diet on fresh fruit and vegetables. Instantly this removes any need to worry about chemical non-foods in your diet! Just do your best to move toward this ideal (we are still trying!) and then you can relax about the occasional times when you slip up, are rushed, are invited to a party etc.  

I’m sorry there is no easy answer, every family must use their own judgement.

Take Care,

Jeddah

Pollution Makes You Dumb!

Yes, that’s right, pollution does make you dumb and new research is being done that shows a direct link between pollution and brain impairments. Brain scans of children in Mexico exposed to heavy traffic have similar patterns to those in the early stages of Alzheimers disease. In another study, women in their mid to late 70’s who live within 50 metres of a busy road exhibited poorer memory skills than their counterparts who did not live near areas of traffic. It seems as though the super small particles in the air carry toxic metals and other pollutants that promote an inflammatory response in cells and genes, depending on the chemical. This is really bad news for children as their growing bodies are especially susceptible to pollutants.

See the news article here for further information.

Yes, this does make me feel like moving to the country, but until then the good news is that a diet high in anti inflammatory fruits and vegetables is shown to help. So here we are back to the same old message: base your diet, and that of your family, primarily on fresh fruits and vegetables. 

Anyone got some helpful ideas on doing this? Fresh ideas are always welcome.

Jeddah