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These are a few of my favorite things…
Posted on May 29th, 2011 @ 6:25 pm

julieandrewsYou know how there are some things that you just can’t imagine living without? Maybe it’s an appliance, or your phone, or a favorite food? I was thinking about a few of these things today and I thought it would be fun to list some of my favorites – in no particular order. I would love to have you join in and provide your favorites – but since my blog gets way too much spam if I open it up for comments, I think I’m going to suggest that you add your favorites on Facebook (www.facebook.com/GardenGirlSkinCare). If you aren’t already a fan (or whatever they call it now) – please do click on the “like” button so you can be a part of the community.

Anyway -  here is my random mix of favorite things. Clearly it is not comprehensive or exhaustive, but it was fun to create!

  • My family (I know that’s obvious but this list wouldn’t be complete without it)
  • My friends (see above)
  • Garden Girl products (of course!), my personal “must have’s”: You’re Fresh, Even Stephen, Break Free, Nature Nurture, Super Hero serum, Eye Can’t Believe It, Chill Out lotion, Alive body wash,  Simmer Down bath salts, Hand it to You hand cream and Zippity Do Dah peppermint foot cream
  • My new VitaMix!
  • Our SodaStream soda/seltzer machine
  • White vinegar (for cleaning and laundry)
  • My tumble composter from Costco (so easy!)
  • My husband’s old (2003) Prius – such a great car
  • My BlackBerry
  • My laptop
  • Facebook
  • Mineral makeup
  • Greek yogurt
  • Chocolate
  • Banana Bread
  • Smoothies
  • Gooey brownies
  • Hot fudge
  • Ice cream (Brigham’s Mocha Chip or Chocolate Chip are 2 all-time favorites)
  • Broccoli (seriously)
  • Spinach (again, seriously)
  • Juicy tomatoes in the summer – especially with fresh mozzarella and basil! (and crusty bread)
  • speaking of bread….CARBS (but I try to squeeze in whole grains whenever possible) – especially chewy, crusty bread and pasta
  • A big salad with tons of stuff in there – especially if someone else did all the chopping
  • Shortcut dinners like all natural frozen potstickers from Costco, Mama Rosie’s spinach ravioli, Bell & Evan’s chicken, Trader Joe’s mandarin orange chicken, Trader Joe’s frozen brown rice, quesadillas, omelettes
  • My rice cooker
  • My Kitchen Aid mixer
  • My favorite cookbooks: America’s Test Kitchen Family Cookbook, Gourmet cookbook, and King Arthur Flour Cookie Book
  • Cooking Light magazine
  • Epicurious.com and other online recipe databases
  • Food Network
  • Any good workout I can find that’s 20 minutes or less and that I can do at home
  • Our Weber Grill
  • My latex mattress
  • Central air conditioning (i know – VERY un-eco-friendly but we do keep it on the warm side)
  • Caribbean Sol sunblock
  • Caribbean Sol all natural self tanner (nice!)
  • Trader Joe’s Powerberries (DO NOT BUY these if you are not already addicted – they are so yummy that they are pure evil…)
  • Our pizza stone
  • Pizza dough from Russo’s
  • Actually – Russo’s in general, along with Trader Joe’s (can’t imagine life without it), Costco, and Whole Foods
  • Reusable grocery bags (just seems like an obviously good idea, doesn’t it? and now I have finally gotten the hang of always having them in the car…)

I could do an entire list of my favorite food from Trader Joe’s – actually I think I have in the past? And I know I’ve done a “favorite finds at Costco” Facebook posting. Those are always fun!

Anyway – that’s my random list, for better or for worse. It makes me laugh that it is mostly food – apparently I have a one-track mind…

I’m looking forward to hearing what some of your favorites are!


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Garden Girl · eco tips · eco-conscious · face care · facebook · family · friends · latex mattress · mineral make-up · sunscreen · sweets
The “Big Three” Household Toxins
Posted on March 6th, 2011 @ 10:42 pm

In a recent Boston Globe article, Dr. Perry E. Sheffield, an assistant professor of preventive medicine and pediatrics at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, was quoted as saying “Effectively, we’re conducting experiments on our population.”

In our homes, every day, we are exposed to all kinds of chemicals. And, as the article states, it’s nearly impossible to prove “scientifically that certain diseases are caused by household chemicals, such as bisphenol-A, phthalates, and flame retardants.” But the three scientists that were interviewed for the article have changed their own habits at home, based on their own research and therefore their understanding of the risks we are exposed to.

The “Big Three” that are the focus of the article are: Bisphenol A (BPA), phthalates and fire retardants.

The first, BPA, is one that I have written about numerous times. It seems that every few months there is a new study linking it to some issue. The Globe summarized recent studies, saying:

“In one study of 427 men published in December, those who had the most bisphenol-A — known commonly as BPA — in their urine reported the highest levels of sexual problems, from decreased desire to lower satisfaction with their sex lives. In a 2009 study of 250 toddlers, girls (but not boys) were more likely to act aggressively if their mothers had high urine levels of BPA during pregnancy.

And a national survey of more than 1,400 adults showed that people with higher concentrations of BPA in their urine were more likely to have been diagnosed with heart disease or diabetes, according to a 2008 study in the Journal of the American Medical Association.”

Phthalates are another group of chemicals that I have been following for the past few years. Found in many things including fragrances and perfumes, as well as certain types of plastics (shower curtains, and other flexible plastics), carpeting, household cleaners, solvents and other products, phthalates have been linked to reproductive issues, developmental delays and other health concerns.

Lastly, fire retardants are increasingly found in everything from furniture, mattresses, pillows and even children’s pajamas. Think about it – we are coating our beds and bed-clothing in chemicals and then breathing them all night, every night. That just can’t be good. I get that we want to reduce the combustible items around us when we’re sleeping but this doesn’t seem like the smartest solution. That is one of the reasons that we decided to buy a natural latex mattress (which we LOVE, by the way) and pillows. Latex is naturally flame-retardant so it’s not coated in chemicals. The concern with fire retardants is that they can cause neurological problems, among other things.

These “Big Three” are not the only toxins in our homes that we are exposed to, but they are definitely the ones that are of the most concern.

“Virtually all of us are exposed to these chemicals, which can break free of the products they are embedded in and become airborne or dissolved in liquids or food. Research by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that 93 percent of Americans over age 6 have BPA in their bodies.”

The problem is,  we know that exposures can be cumulative but no one really knows how much is too much. And we also don’t really know much at all about how all of these chemicals interact with each other. According to the article, no one knows” in part because chemical companies aren’t required to find out.”

“Toxicity studies on new chemicals are not required unless the compounds will be used in drugs, pesticides, or food. There’s actually a disincentive for companies to study the potential health effects of new chemicals, according to Carl F. Cranor, a University of California-Riverside professor and author of a new book, “Legally Poisoned: How the Law Puts Us at Risk From Toxicants’’ (Harvard University Press). If a company studies a chemical, it must tell the EPA what it finds; if it doesn’t study the chemical, there’s no chance it will find something bad, he said.”

Isn’t that the crux of the issue? No one is taking responsibility. And in the end, we are the guinea pigs.

To read more, check out the full article. Also included are tips to reduce your exposure in your home.


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BPA · chemicals · children · latex mattress · organic mattress · phthalate-free · phthalates · toxins · toxins in the home
Organic mattress fiasco
Posted on December 3rd, 2007 @ 8:29 pm

A couple of months ago my husband and I decided to bite the bullet and “invest” in an organic latex mattess. With all of the news about the chemicals in mattresses, it wasn’t a difficult decision. I mean – we SLEEP for HOURS on our mattress – and I just could not imagine doing that on something laden with toxic chemicals.

So, me being me, I wanted to try to shop local which meant I did lots of research and found what seemed to be a great New England company, based in Maine. I contacted a few other companies but decided to go with the Maine company, SimplyOrganicSleep.com. Well, were we in for a treat.

First they told us the mattresses were made in New York, but it turns out only the mattress cover is made there. The latex is actually poured in Sri Lanka. Hmmm.

Second, the mattress was on backorder. So a VERY long story (involving 2 days off from work, shipping NIGHTMARES with DHL where the packages went from NY to PA to OH to PA to RI back to OH back to RI) short, we finally got the mattress parts about a month late.

Then – we got to put it together. Yes – it came in 3 pieces. Each one is a dead weight – a huge floppy 70lb piece of latex. The great thing is that you can customize how you want it – soft, medium, firm layers – any combination. But it was a bear to put together the first time. Plus we found lots of rips, tears etc crom the shipping experience. What a nightmare. We asked to have new latex shipped. It arrived a week later – but it was terrible. It was all really soft – totally different from the first set.

Well – I’ll spare you the rest of the details and frustrations but the end result is that we kept the original set to avoid putting the mattress together for the 3rd time.

And you know what? We actually LOVE the mattress. (Thank goodness). I have to say it is incredibly comfortable. We sleep very well and have far fewer aches and pains in the morning. But would I recommend the company we used? Probably not. There are plenty of others out there – so definitely check them out.


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chemicals · latex mattress · organic mattress