CELL PHONES

CELL PHONE DANGER:
Finger on the Trigger by author William Thomas

If you must pack a cell phone, treat it like a loaded pistol. Keep it turned off. Don't carry it near ovaries, testicles, or the heart. "Microwave frequencies are the same as those used in radar and your microwave oven," says Florida cell phone tower opponent Joe Chwick. "You wouldn't think of sticking your head in the oven, but there is no hesitation to putting the cell phone to your ear."

British military scientists have discovered that cell phone transmissions disrupt the brain sites for memory and learning, causing forgetfulness and sudden confusion.

Other studies show that electromagnetic signals from cellular phones reduce the ability to concentrate, calculate and coordinate complicated activities such as driving a car. Startled by $4 billion a year in extra claims among cell phone-wielding drivers, North American insurers did a double-take when they found simply juggling the phone while driving phones is not solely responsible for causing the 600 per cent increase in accidents. Instead of just another dangerous distraction, tests conducted by the US Department of Energy found that using a cell phone severely impairs memory and reaction times. "Hands-free" mobile speaker-phones cause even more crashes because they typically emit 10 times more brainwave interference than handheld units. University of Toronto investigators report that the heightened probability of crashing your car persists for up to 15 minutes after completing a call.

The government of British Columbia may join England, Spain, Israel, Switzerland and Brazil in restricting or banning the use of cell phones by drivers.

Health Safety Code 6 looks only at microwaves burning skin. "Basically, Health Canada claims if it can't cook you, it can't hurt you," says Walter McGinnis, a certified electrician who has been testing EMFs and collaborating with fellow testers and researchers for nearly a decade. "It's like saying cigarettes aren't dangerous unless they burn you."

Roger Coghill became a longstanding advocate for health warnings to be affixed to mobile phones after this biologist found that cell phone transmissions damage the ability of white blood cells to ward off infectious disease by disrupting the immune system's electromagnetic communications.

Dr Neil Cherry has measured accelerated aging, increased cell death and cancers caused by radio frequency microwaves from cell phones and their relay towers. With the brain's electrochemical communications repeatedly zapped by lightning-like cell phone pulses, the PhD biophysicist warns that headaches, fatigue, lethargy, nausea, dizziness, depression, arteriosclerosis and even Alzheimer's can result from frequent or prolonged calls. "There is also a higher incidence of cardiac problems in terms of the timing function in hearts," says Cherry. "You get more heart attacks and more heart disease–it has now been shown in many studies."

In 1995, mobile phone sales in North America exceeded the birth rate. Hired by the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association to condone cellphones, public health scientist George Carlo found that rare tumors on the outside of the brain are more than doubled among cellphone callers–particularly on the right side of the head where phones are usually held. Carlo told ABC's "20/20" that cell phone causes genetic damage that leads to cancer.

For partial protection, buy an antenna shield. Limit calls to one-minute, six to 10 minutes a month. Never use a cell hone with children anywhere in sight.

How can convenience count more than cancer?

William Thomas is an award-winning Canadian journalist specializing in health and the environment. He lives on Gabriola Island, BC. Source: alive #216, October 2000

COMPOSTING

COMPOSTING:

Don’t waste your waste. It’s good for you.

Have you ever stopped to thing about what dirt is made of? Dirt is dead stuff and all the little creatures that eat it. I read somewhere that there are more varieties of life in a handful of dirt than all the species in the Amazon combined. Soil covers the earth in many places and is only about a foot deep. About half of it is ground up rock and minerals and the other half is air, water, and decomposer creatures who are eating dead plants and animals. It’s a giant recycling facility. So the question is why throw something in an enormous garbage heap when you can recycle it into new life giving humus. Composting for your plants helps them grow healthy, vibrant and vitamin rich and it helps restores the world’s diminishing top soil. It also restores 99.6 percent of industrial volatile organic chemicals (VOCs) in contaminated air.

24% of US waste is food scraps and yard trimmings. The quickest way to reduce the amount of waste you produce is by composting or giving your scraps to someone who is. That’s ¼ off the total right there. Here are some tips

1) Keep your scraps in a freezer bag in the freezer. Then take them out when full and dump in the pile.

2) Put scraps in a container you keep by the sink and dump every other day.

HOW TO COMPOST RECIPE (abridged version)

1) 2 parts DRY: leaves, dry grass clippings ( I spread them in the drive way for a couple of days to dry in sun) , sawdust, straw, wood chips, nut shells.

2) 1 part WET: fruit and vegetable scraps, tea, coffee, green grass clippings.

3) Keep it in container of choice .

4) Keep it aerated by turning or sturing regularly. This will prevent stink. A well balanced compost does not smell bad.

5) Keep it moist by adding water when it gets dry.

6) Keep adding to it or start another pile. Your pile is done and usable when you don’t see food pieces and it looks like dark rich soil.

ELECTRICITY

EMFs and your health

I don’t want to say “I told you so”, but I did! More than 10 years ago I was getting headaches, earaches and feeling sick after talking on a cell phone and I knew they were no good for me. I’m also the one that said sunscreen causes more cancer than the sun. All you have to do is look at the extreme length of unpronounceable ingredients on the list to figure that out. Slathering yourself in petroleum products then baking them into your skin with sunshine couldn’t be good for you, now could it.

But back to cell phones. You know it’s big business because now there’s coverage everywhere: the Sahara, the Amazon, the middle of the Atlantic ocean. Their marketing strategy has been so good that now even folks in “developing” countries with no indoor plumbing have them. So if the World Health Organization isn’t warning you about the danger just remember how many people died of lung cancer before we got a Surgeon General warning on cigarette packages.

On the other hand, CNN chief medical correspondent Sanjay Gupta refuses to put a cell phone up to an ear to talk, and neurosurgeons are beginning to speak out about the danger. So maybe the director of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute wasn’t being a quack, lunatic, conspiracy theorist when he warned his staff of possible cancer risk from cell phone use.

Electromagnetic fields (EMF) is the non-ionizing radiation created from power lines, computers, microwaves, phones etc. X-rays, which were thought to be safe for many years, and nuclear material produce “ionizing radiation” which can alter humans genetically and cause cancer. Some researchers think that only ionizing radiation can make you sick. There have been court cases where those living near power lines have fallen ill, and been awarded settlements.

Some precautions you can take if you don’t feel the need to wait for “official” evidence:

1) Electric blankets? Forget about it. I’m guessing that means heating pads too. Try using a hot water bottle. It worked for granny.

2) Don’t plug major electronics (stereo, tv, computers etc) near a bed or on other side of a wall from one. Plug them into external walls so their radiation doesn’t leak into other rooms or the rest of the house. Keep all electronics, including alarm clocks, at least 6 feet from the bed.

3) Unplug things when they aren’t being used or plug them into a power strip with an on off switch. Electronics still use energy and radiate even when turned off. Billion dollars a year of electricity US wastes every year with turned off things.

4) Keep cell phones and Bluetooth away from your head. Get a headset that decreases radiation.

5) Stop using the microwave. It’s a big radiating machine that also molecularly alters your food. It doesn’t save you as much time as you think it does, especially if it is also shortening your life span. (for more on this subject see)

ELECTRIC DANGER: Radio frequency radiation–the kind of radiation we’re exposed to from sources such as cell phones, cell phone antennas, cordless phones, wireless routers, and other wireless technologies such as the iPhone–may have biological and health effects. Of the hundreds of studies conducted, 47 percent found increased cancer risks, 69 percent found disruptions to cell function, 77 percent found disruptions to electrical signaling in the body, and 83 percent found neurological, physiological, and behavioral effects. A survey by the European Union Commission found that most Europeans believe cell phones and cell phone antennas damage health

And yet governments keep saying “There is currently no convincing evidence, from animal or human studies, that the energy from cell phones is enough to cause serious health effects.”

A BBC television news program broadcast in May 2007 reported on schools with wireless networks (WiFi). The program claimed that children in those schools are exposed to radiation up to three times the intensity generated by a cell phone antenna. The program prompted Sir William Stewart, head of the UK Health Protection Agency, along with the UK’s Professional Association of Teachers, to call for an immediate moratorium. Some schools dropped plans to install wireless networks. Others initiated plans to remove wireless networks.

The BioInitiative Report was released in August 2007. An international group of leading scientists formed the BioInitiative Working Group to summarize what is known about wireless health risks and to examine the inadequacies of current standards in light of that evidence. They found significant evidence of harm: cancer (including childhood leukemia), nerve and brain damage, DNA damage, increased stress response, and decreased immune response. All of these effects were found at levels of radiation well below the current standards. Almost immediately upon the report’s release, the European Environment Agency called for action to establish appropriate levels of exposure to minimize risk.

Why is the European Environment Agency ready to act while Health Canada and the US Food and Drug Administration are not? The answer lies in the fact that Europe has a much stronger public health tradition than Canada and especially the United States. The public health approach taken by the European Environment Agency is to take action when there’s reasonable evidence of harm.

Jeffry Fawcett has a PhD in environmental economics and political economy. He is a writer and health educator, president of the Sustainable Health Institute (sustainablehealthinstitute.org), and co-producer of the Your Own Health and Fitness radio show. Excerpted from Alive magazine issue #306, April 2008

Electro Awareness by author Milt Bowling

Electric Fields: When you plug your lamp into the wall outlet, you create an electric field along the wire and in the surrounding air–without having turned on the light. The higher the voltage, the stronger the electric field is.

Magnetic Fields: Turn on your lamp, and the electricity begins to flow, creating a magnetic field which exists in the room environment with the electric field. The greater the current, the stronger the magnetic field is.

Electromagnetic Fields : As frequencies increase, the electric and magnetic fields couple to form one. This is called an electromagnetic field or EMF. The magnetic field components of EMF are measured in Milligauss (mG) and can be determined by using a sensor called a gaussmeter.

We are bioelectrical beings. Doctors, checking us for heart problems, send us for an electrocardiogram. For concerns about our brain they send us for electroencephalograms. The electromagnetic pulse of the Earth (Schumann resonance) varies around eight hertz (Hz), the same as the human alpha brain wave. Life evolved with this natural rhythm of our planet.

Man-made frequencies are another matter. They can interfere with the body’s natural rhythms. Whether caused by a genetic predisposition, a toxic accumulation, or both, some of us are more sensitive to EMFs than others. Electrosensitivity (ES) has been recognized by the World Health Organization and by countries like Sweden, where it is classified as a handicap or disability. Reported Symptoms of Electrosensitivity: poor short-term memory, difficulty concentrating, and problem-solving, insomnia/fatigue, depression/anxiety, headaches, irritability/frustration, dizziness, tinnitus, skin rashes, chest pressure, rapid heart rate

The “Official” word: The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC 2002), a subset of the World Health Organization, classifies EMF as a Group 2B carcinogen (“possibly carcinogenic”) based on “consistent statistical associations of high-level residential magnetic fields with a doubling of the risk of childhood leukemia.”The California Department of Health Services (CADHS, 2002) concluded that “EMFs can cause some degree of increased risk of childhood leukemia, adult brain cancer, Lou Gehrig’s disease, and miscarriage.”

Milt Bowling, public speaker, consultant, author, and advocate, is President of Clean Energy Foundation. www.cleanenergycanada.com. Source: alive #283, May 2006

Exposed Canadian Breasts at Risk by author Andrew Michrowski

Canada has the world’s highest extremely low frequency (ELF) magnetic fields in residential areas. This includes the electric power frequency. And we have among the most elevated exposure for cellular phone and mast emissions. Not surprisingly, we also have the world’s greatest incidence of breast cancer.

Breast cancer depends on the ability of the pineal gland to properly secrete the melatonin hormone at bedtime. This hormone is a strong radical scavenger, helpful in fighting cancer. Magnetic fields inhibit melatonin production.

Melatonin suppresses estrogen production by the ovary and prolactin production by the pituitary gland. Melatonin reduction results in increased estrogen and prolactin production, and thereby induces increased turnover of breast epithelial stem cells at risk for malignant transformation. The likelihood that breast stem cells will be affected by cancer-casing agents (such as chemical carcinogens occuring in the environment) is increased by the reduced production of melatonin.

Scientific experiments also have demonstrated the effect of ELF magnetic fields on the target cell activity of melatonin in cultured human breast cancer cells. This suggests that this frequency (and possibly radio frequency/microwave) exposure could have negative effects on how needy cells actually succeed in using melatonin to correctly regulate cell growth and division. Magnetic sensors in cells translate weak fields into biomechanical effects. It also seems that weak fields resonate with living systems to eventually amplify into biological significance.

An Electric History of Cancer

The first observation that the use of electric power accounts in part for higher risks of breast cancer was made in a 1982 study of residential magnetic field exposures of adults. Since then, the 1998 working group US National Institutes of Health report determined that there was some evidence that residential exposure to ELF magnetic fields is carcinogenic. This assessment was based on studies of:

• Women who used electric blankets throughout the night compared with never-users.
• Persons who had lived within 300 metres of Swedish 220 and 400 kV transmission lines.
• An excess of male breast cancer among central office technician telephone employees.
• Breast cancer among men under 65 in electrical occupations.
• Two-fold increases in skin breast cancer observed in exposed men in the electrical trades.
• Significantly elevated risk for male breast cancer in the electrical transport industry.
• Increased risk factors for high occupational 60 Hz electromagnetic field exposure were noted in six thousand, eight hundred cases of breast cancer from cancer registries.

Scientific and government panels consider the two to three-fold increases in risk for breast cancer rates from ELF exposure "low" or "insignificant." This barely acknowledges a doubling of breast cancer rate, which represents 31 percent of all cancers in women. Yet that is just how press releases of publicly-funded research present the case for public consumption.
Would the public accept more visible two-fold increases of deaths from car accidents, plane crashes or twice the number of oil tanker spills?

During the breast cancer healing process, exposure to ELF and radio frequencies should be totally removed. You can measure electromagnetic field levels in your house or workplace with a gauss meter. Exposure management requires better training of electricians (to respect existing electrical codes), better building design–especially in clinics–by architects and builders. If we collectively reduce long-term electromagnetic exposure to absolutely safe levels, we will observe a like decrease of major diseases such as breast cancer.

Source: alive #207, January 2000

For more info : Robert O. Becker's book, The Body Electric, and in Ellen Sugarman's book, Warning, the Electricity Around You May Be Hazardous to Your Health.

ACIDITY & ALKALINITY

What is acidity and alkalinity?

The pH scale ranges from 0 to 14. Natural water is 7 which is the median or neutral point. 0-7 is acidic side of scale and 7-14 is alkaline. At night the body undergoes and “alkaline tide” which shifts it into a higher state of alkalinity, activating enzymes that sweep toxins from the bloodstream and organs. If you aren’t sleeping properly this process is interrupted. Toxic buildup lowers immune response, creates fatigue, hormonal imbalance, yeast infection, and many other diseases.

A high state of alkalinity allows for regeneration and repair and even heightened awareness. Excess alkalinity can lead to anxiety r panic disorders that include hyperventilation.

Touch a litmus paper to your tongue or dip it into a urine sample and compare the color on the chart. Saliva, however won’t tell you anything about pH of your blood and neither will urine. Urine is generally acidic most of the day because the kidneys excrete acid and metabolic byproducts produced by digestion and muscle exertion. Alkaline urine an hour after a large meal shows healthy ability to counteract acid production in the stomach.

Most Organic Vegetables and fruits are alkaline forming because of their mineral and enzyme content. Factory farmed produce tends to be very nutrient poor due to depleted soils. Meats, , alcohol, coffee, sugar, grains and cooked foods are acid forming. Another way to balance your pH is to oxygenate the blood with relaxation techniques and deep breathing to eliminate excess CO2 .
Some supplements to rebalance your pH: Trace Mineral B12, Greendrinks, Similase (protein digestive enzyme), mineral supplements. Ask your alternative health care provider for help.

All disease thrives in an acid environment in the body. It will not flourish and thrive in an alkaline environment

The Impact of Acidity on Our Organs

HEART - The heart is one of the most alkaline-dependent organs in the body. It is partly enervated by the vagus nerve which functions best in an alkaline environment. Correct heartbeat is altered by acid wastes. These wastes rob the blood of proper oxygenation and degeneration of the heart follows. An alkaline system creates an ideal heart function.

STOMACH - Digestive difficulties (belching, bloating, sensitivity at the waist, intestinal gas, regurgitation, hiccups, lack or limitation of appetite, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, constipation, colic in children) may indicate vagus nerve problems and possible hiatus hernia syndrome, which can produce acid residue throughout the system. Hiatus hernia can quickly reduce necessary hydrochloric acid in the stomach. Without proper hydrochloric acid breakdown of foods, the foods become too acidic.

LIVER - The liver has over three hundred functions, including processing acid toxins from the blood and producing numerous alkaline enzymes for the system and is your first line of defense against any poisons. All the nourishment obtained through the gastrointestinal tract enters the blood by way of the liver. The load on the liver is much heavier when acid waste products are constantly floating in the blood. If the liver becomes too congested with protein acid wastes, death is imminent.

PANCREAS - The pancreas is highly dependent on correct alkaline diet. All aspects of pancreatic function reduce excess acidity and regulate blood sugar balance. To have proper blood sugar balance, you must maintain a primarily alkaline-forming diet.

SMALL INTESTINES - The Peyer's Patches, in the upper portion of the small intestines are crucial to life. They are essential for proper assimilation of food and producing lymphocytes for the lymphatic system's wide ranging nodal network. They also produce large amounts of the enzyme "chyle", which is a major alkalizing substance. The uninterrupted flow of chyle into the system is crucial. Too much acid waste production from acid-forming foods is a great burden on the Peyer's Patches, which lessens the production of chyle.

KIDNEYS - In an adult, about 1 liter of blood per minute passes through the kidneys. By executing their primary duty, the kidneys keep the blood alkaline and extract acid. Kidneys that are over-stressed with too much acidity create kidney stones, which are composed of waste acid cells and mineral salts that have become gummed together in a waste acid substance. Therefore, by reducing acid-forming products from entering the body, the chances are better that you can avoid this painful condition.

COLON - The colon must be kept clean of accumulated acid wastes. Poisons collect on the colon walls and in cases of diarrhea or constipation will harden and reabsorb into the bloodstream. Good bowel action (complete elimination) must be done at least 2 times per day.

LYMPHATIC SYSTEM - There are 600-700 lymph glands in the body. Lymph fluid carries nutrition to the cells and removes acid waste products. Lymph fluid flows best in an alkaline environment. When the body is overly acidic, it slows, creating one of the most chronic, long-term, life-threatening situations. Gradually, the lymph dries and begins to form very tiny to very large adhesions throughout the tissues. These adhesions can interfere not only with lymph fluid but with blood flow as well. Hindered lymph flow increases tissue acid storage. Not drinking enough purified water will also slow the lymph. Waste products from foods that are not properly digested are reabsorbed into general circulation via the lymphatic ducts of the small intestine. In addition, bowel movements that do not completely clear the body of its daily poisons are also reabsorbed.

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

1. EXERCISE - Moderate exercise is alkalizing to the body. Excessive exercise (past the point of exhaustion) can create an acidic problem due to lactic acid buildup. People who are acidic usually feel worse from exercise because their detoxification organs are not working properly due to excessive acid in the tissues. Yet without exercise, acid and toxin buildup are likely. The waste disposal is done in liquid form by urine and perspiration, it is imperative that we drink plenty of water, When one is going through any diet program, doctors tell him to drink 8 glasses of water a day. They know the disposal is through urine, but they don't tell you what kind of water to drink. Since all waste products are acidic, the best kind of water is acid free alkaline water. Drinking 4 glasses of this alkaline water is much more effective than 8 glasses of regular, bottled water or filtered tap water. There are devices called water ionizers that split alkaline minerals and acid minerals in regular tap water by electrical means.

2. QUALITY AIR - If your environment is polluted with chemicals, dust, smoke, pet dander, mold, micro-organisms, then much of your energy reserve will go just in detoxifying. Today, even in the forest and near the ocean, the amount of negative ions are much lower than they were only a few decades ago. Also, since we sealed buildings to conserve energy and started making our homes and furnishings with synthetic materials, the number of cases of asthma and chronic fatigue have risen dramatically.

3. FOOD COMBINING - Food combining is key to creating an alkaline environment because when you combine properly you reduce putrefaction in the body creating a more alkaline condition.

4. ALKALIZING DIETARY SUPPLEMENTATION - When you purchase supplements you must ask yourself what your goal is and will these supplements actually help alkalize and remove acid from your body. Green drinks are very helpful in filtering out toxins and acidity in the body.

5. ALKALINE DIET - Eating an alkaline diet is very powerful in making everything else work better. In general, it is important to eat a diet that contains both acidic and alkalizing foods. People vary, but for most, the ideal diet is 75 percent alkalizing and 25 percent acidifying (foods by volume).

6. HOW NEGATIVE EMOTIONS CREATE ACIDITY: Have you ever been so upset with someone or something that you get an upset stomach? All negative emotions create an acidic environment. Have you ever heard anyone say you are letting your problems "eat away at you" or "get the best of you"? Fear is the underlining cause of most disease. It will undermine your life and your health. Fear causes anger. Anger causes hate. Hate will consume you with continual suffering. Love and understanding cleanse and heal the body creating an alkaline environment within you.

ACID/ ALKALINE:

Many antibiotics, synthetic hormones (also found in food and environment) , prescription medicines for everything from glaucoma to high blood pressure can actually cause deptression. Heavy meals with not enough hydrochloric acid to digest them can too. Such as lots of red meat. Alcohol is a depressant. Not being able to digest doesn’t make amino acids from food available so you are unable to make neurotransmitters. Bicarbonate of soda (1 teasponn in a glass of water) can bring your intestinal pH from acid to alkaline. Use it when you feel yourself coming down with a cold. Germs like acid environment. Everytime we eat a big steak, take a prescription, get stressed our system neutralizes the resulting excess acid by “borrowing” from our alkaline bank which is the minerals stored in our bones. How we restock our alkaline bank: nuts, rice, honey, fish, vegetables. Milk and many prescription drugs don’t work because they can’t rebalance a system which is already highly acidic and can’t use the calcium it offers. Milk is ACID, so it just makes the problem worse. (Cultured is another story). Countries with the highest milk consumption have more fractures and worse calcium levels. (Mild exercise reduces the risk of falls and fractures by 25%) Potasium and Sodim-bicarbonate is called Alka-Aid which helps to alkalanize the whole system but a change in diet would be better. This will help you have strong bones and a better immune system. Calcium supplements don’t work because Calcium is hard to absorb (that includes enriched foods) It needs to be accompanied by vit D and it should be in the calcium citrate form to be effective. Calcium is only one of 17 vit and minerals your bones need to be healthy

RECYCLE LIE

RECYCLING WILL NOT SAVE THE PLANET

After preparing a tasty meal, you toss one of your used cans into the blue recycling bin. As it arcs through the air, it glints with the light from your energy-efficient fluorescent light bulbs for a moment before it lands with a satisfying clang.

With a smug smile on your face you lug your blue bin out to the curb, happy in the knowledge that recycling helps to save the environment–or does it?

Many of us recycle religiously, but are unaware that recycling is not the ultimate panacea when it comes to saving our environment and the fight against global warming.

An Energy Trade-Off

Just think of all the energy consumed in the recycling process:

• A fleet of fossil fuel-burning trucks transports the materials from your curb to the recycling facility.
• Those materials must then be processed before they can be recycled:
• labels burned off cans
• ink washed out of paper
• contaminants removed
• massive furnaces fired up to burn and melt
• more energy-burning machines run to crush, shred, and cut
• After all that, the recycled materials are finally shipped off elsewhere to be used as raw materials in manufacturing (see sidebar for more details).

Don’t get the wrong idea, recycling can save energy and the environment, but it depends on the material and situation. Environmental policy analysts Alexander Volokh and Lynn Scarlett studied recycling initiatives in the US and came to an interesting conclusion: “Like all other activities, recycling makes economic and environmental sense in some cases and not in others...The challenge is to figure out how to tell which cases are which.”

Recycled paper supplies almost 40 percent of the fibre used to make new paper. We’re constantly told that saving even a small amount of energy is a good thing. But does this benefit outweigh the environmental cost?

When recycling paper, the de-inking process produces a chemical sludge. This toxic byproduct can cause water pollution if not disposed of properly. Ghislain Bolduc, manager of a paper recycling plant, tells Chemical Marketing Reporter, “For every ton of mixed office waste paper that we de-ink, we create roughly one ton of sludge.”

Contrary to popular belief, we don’t need to recycle paper to save our trees. Unlike some other materials, trees are a renewable resource–if managed properly. Some forestry companies would rather clear-cut virgin stands of old growth trees than waste time and money on replanting.

But there are initiatives for better standards. The Forest Stewardship Council, for example, is a stakeholder-owned organization that promotes responsible forest management worldwide. By controlling our forests, we can continue to sustain and harvest this renewable resource without worrying that we’ll run out of trees.

So if recycling paper isn’t as eco-friendly as we’d hoped, what about other materials?

Glass is best recycled because it cannot be burned and takes over 4,000 years to decompose. But as with paper, only 40 percent of the energy is saved by recycling.

Steel and Aluminum recycling saves high amounts of energy (recycled aluminum saves an astounding 95 percent), but most metallic waste comes from industries such as construction and mining. Most big companies do recycle, but the average household recycles a relatively small amount.

Plastic recycling saves fossil fuels and keeps plastic packaging out of our landfills. However, considering the amount of bad plastics out there that leach chemicals into your food and water, you’re far better off reducing the amount of plastic in your home.

Recycling–a Last Resort

Ultimately, recycling mostly makes us feel good and gives us the psychological benefit of knowing we’re doing our small part to save our planet. The commercial and manufacturing sectors also love recycling because it means they can keep making products and we can keep consuming them.

But, as environmentalist William McDonough says in his book Cradle to Cradle (North Point Press, 2002), “Recycling is an aspirin, alleviating a rather large collective hangover of overconsumption.”

We are repeatedly told to reduce, reuse, and recycle, but how many of us get hung up on the final R? Reduce, reuse, recycle is not a mantra, it’s a hierarchy–and reducing comes first. According to McDonough, “The best way to reduce any environmental impact is not to recycle more, but to produce and dispose of less.”

If we’re going to alleviate global warming, recycling alone just won’t cut it. We need to make fundamental changes to our lifestyles and consumption patterns. Being eco-friendly doesn’t mean you have to renounce all your world’s possessions or join a hippie commune–all it takes is a little imagination to think outside the blue box.

Reduce

There are many simple ways to put that first R into action and cut back on waste:

• Buy products with little or no packaging, or spend money on good quality items that will last a long time.
• Stay away from the mall.
• Live a simple, uncluttered life; it will benefit your mental well-being as well as the environment.
• Reconnect with the earth and grow your own food in your backyard or community garden.

Reuse

There are also many practical ways to reuse products:

• Buy second-hand goods, or sell your own.
• Use glass jars for food storage and plastic containers to store nonedible items.
• On your next grocery shopping trip, take your plastic bags back to the store and use them again.
• The list is endless–check out the Internet for more ideas. Leave recycling as a last resort.

The Recycling Process

Where does all that stuff in the blue box go after curb pickup? Here’s a rundown.

Paper

1. After sorting, inks are removed with a chemical wash in a large vat.
2. De-inked paper is pulped and pushed through screens to remove contaminants.
3. Pulp may be bleached with hydrogen peroxide, chlorine dioxide, or oxygen.
4. The pulp is mixed with new wood fibre and sprayed onto a wire screen.
5. The resulting sheet is then dried, trimmed, rolled, and shipped out.

Plastic

1. At a sorting facility, unusable plastics and contaminants are removed.
2. The plastics are then washed and chopped into flakes.
3. Flakes are dried and then melted in a furnace.
4. Molten plastic is forced through a fine screen to remove contaminants.
5. The plastic is squeezed into long strands, cooled, chopped, and sold.

Aluminum Cans

1. Cans are sorted with giant magnets that remove ferrous metals.
2. Sorted cans are condensed into briquettes and shipped to aluminum companies.
3. Condensed cans are shredded, crushed, and burned (to remove labels).
4. The resulting chips are melted down and mixed with virgin aluminum.
5. Molten aluminum is poured into heavy blocks, rolled into sheets, and shipped.

Glass

1. At a sorting facility, coloured and clear glasses are separated.
2. Large contaminants are removed by hand, and then the glass is crushed.
3. Magnets, screens, and vacuums remove smaller contaminants.
4. Crushed glass is mixed with raw materials and melted in a furnace.
5. Molten glass is poured into bottle or jar moulds, cooled, and shipped.

SKIN

SKIN

The skin is an organ that is our first line of defense against irritants and disease and is 70% water. It absorbs sunlight and converts it to vitamin D, it helps you detox through sweat glands and protects you from injury and foreign invaders. You feel with the skin and the nerves it contains. We also absorb our nutrients and eliminate toxins through it. In just one square inch there are 19 million cells, 650 sweat glands, 100 oil (sebum) glands, 65 hair follicles, 19,000 sensory cells and around 13 feet of blood vessels. (go see the Human Body Exhibit and you’ll see for yourself how amazing it is) It is made of the Epidermis (thin outer layer that is always growing and sloughing off old cells- over 40lbs of cells in one lifetime are shed) the Dermis, the middle layer and the Subcutaneous tissue which is the innermost layer and consists mostly of fats. It is a shock absorber giving the skin flexibility, insulation, and protects the internal organs. This layer diminishes over time which causes wrinkles and sagging. Adding healthy fat to your diet can help maintain this layer: coconut, avocados, raw nuts and seeds). Doing a periodic cleanse can help reduce the accumulated toxins and improve the health of your skin

WHAT THE BODY NEEDS

BASIC REQUIREMENTS OF HEALTH: (What the body wants)

Light: Spend time out doors in full spectrum, natural light. The sun is not your enemy. Man made light is only a small part of the spectrum and can make us feel drained. Not to mention the harmful EMFs involved in creating artificial light. Even if you live where it’s foggy all the time go outdoors in a t-shirt and get some light and vitamin D in your skin. You can also buy full spectrum lighting for the house which will help improve your mood. Dr. Michael Smolensky’s (author of The Body Clock Guide to Better Health) researched circadian rhythms (biological cycle lasting 24-hours) and the sleep/wake pattern and found that: "Our words, 'menstruation,' 'moon,' and 'month,' all come from the Greek word for 'measure of time.' A woman's menstrual cycle runs its course in about twenty-eight days, one lunar cycle. Periods usually start spontaneously in the week of the full moon in women not using birth control pills or hormone replacement therapy, particularly those with ample exposure to natural daylight and dark cues. His research showed that the more we use bright lights at night, the less regular our periods. So our bodies were created to follow the natural flow of light and darkness. Modern life, however, often brings late nights in bright lights or in front of computers that disrupt the body’s natural light cues, throwing us off. You might find that dimming the lights in your home right after dinner also helps regulate your periods!

Air: Breath: holding your breath you poison yourself with carbon dioxide, raise your blood pressure and pump stress chemicals into your bloodstream. You can go without food, water, shelter for various lengths of time but a lack of oxygen will kill you in just a few minutes. Hyperbaric chambers (oxygen chambers) are being used now to treat a variety of illnesses, cheaply, and quickly. Gurus have been telling us to breathe (pranayama yoga exercises for example ) for millennium. So make a point to oxygenate your body: get lots of fresh, clean air. Get an air filter (Hepa variety) for indoors and when you go about your day, check in with your body to make sure you are taking deep breaths. Some of us tend to take shallow little breaths when we are nervous, upset, focused on something or distracted, which is just about all the time. We also are not taught to breathe correctly. Use the diaphragm and let the air go deep down into the body instead of just staying in the shoulder, upper lung area. If congestion and mucus keep you from breathing correctly, find out how to remedy the situation. Living with unnecessary symptoms will create more problems later.

Movement: Everything is moving all the time: molecules, planets and everything in between. If you have a life that requires a limited range of movements from your body make sure you include some activity that gets you moving in other ways because if you don’t use it you will lose it. People who sweat for at least 15 minutes a day are healthier than others. The lymphatic system, vital to our health and well being, requires movement. Digestion and circulation are also improved. No movement means stuck chi (energy). And that means all those toxins in your body are staying there. Movement is just like light. You need the natural full spectrum, not the man made limited variety. We humans think we can improve on nature but mostly we just make unhealthy copies of it. Go for a 15 minute fast walk and stretch. Remember yoga is about moving your whole body and attuning with it, not about hurting yourself getting into weird positions so take it easy. I also highly recommend Tai Chi, Chi gong. Get a CD if you don’t have the money for a class. They have them at the library. Remember every teacher is different so if your first time you get a bad or boring one just keep looking. Go do it outdoors and breathe deep while you’re at it and you’ll get air, light and movement all in one shot. The body will love you for it.

Water: You’ve heard it before: the planet is ¾ water and so is the body. Most of us however are ¾ soda, coffee and beer because that’s what we’re drinking instead of water. You wouldn’t put coffee in your car instead of gasoline would you? Then why are you treating your car better than your body? You need water that isn’t out of a plastic bottle and that isn’t filled with chlorine and fluoride. You aren’t a swimming pool. So get a water filter. For about $200s you can get an excellent filter that will last you about a year and a half before you need a replacement cartridge ($50). That comes out a heck of a lot cheaper than bottled water and you don’t contribute non biodegradable and toxin leaching plastic into land fill garbage dumps. What’s good for you is good for the planet. After weeks of research I found this one is the best buy for your money:

Food: The body uses food as fuel and to build itself. And what is food? Well, it isn’t stuff that comes out of cans, or shrink wrapped packages, or stuff made in factories, mass produced by machines, from farms with soil that is so depleted of vitamins they have to use tons of chemicals and pesticides to get anything to grow. Once again the emphasis is on getting something made by nature as opposed to humans. We are clever little monkeys but there is still a lot we don’t know. And a wise man is one who knows that he doesn’t know.

Peace: So now that we’ve got the external environment taken care of there is something else we need for health: balance and order in the internal environment aka Peace. Which brings happiness and health and lots of other great things. How do we get inner peace? By slowing down, quieting the fearful ego inner dialogue that keeps us running in circles, and re-learning how to be. We are all taught that it is natural and normal to worry, fret, complain, struggle, and suffer. That is one way to go through life but it is a vast and eternal universe so I’m quite sure there are at least a million ways to do any little thing. We’ve been doing it this way for a long time and it still isn’t working for us so lets try something new, shall we? Just remember: we don’t get away from pain and fear by running away from it or ignoring it. Feel what you feel then transcend.

WATER

WATER

75% of Americans are chronically dehydrated. And probably ½ of world population. In 37% of Americans the thirst mechanism is so weak it is often mistaken for hunger. Even mild dehydration will slow down your metabolism as much as 3%. One glass of water will shut down midnight hunger pangs for almost 100% of dieters studied. Daytime fatigue is caused by dehydration a lot of the time. Research suggests that 8-10 glasses of water a day can ease back and joint pain for up to 80% of sufferers. A mere 2% drop in body water can trigger fuzzy short-term memory, trouble with basic math, and difficulty focusing eyes. 5 glasses a day can decrease colon cancer by 79% and bladder cancer by 50%.

GREEN FOODS

GREEN FOODS

Chlorophyll- They contain large quantities. It is the single most versatile cleansing, healing and detoxifying substance known to man. It protects from toxic chemicals and radiation, it is an excellent wound healer and internal cleanser and promotes intestinal regularity. The chemical structure of chlorophyll molecule is almost identical to that of human red blood cells. They are therefore thought of as blood building foods.

Other benefits: Antioxidants ; Lipopolysaccharide has been shown to improve the immune system; They promote Lacotbacilli production, and some contain B12. Alfalfa grass was given to people as the first vitamin supplement.

Cereal Grasses: wheat, barley, oat, rye , alfalfa, kamut, grass. They are sprouted first and have a balanced array of vitamins, minerals, amino acids and enzymes.

MILK

MILK

Studies show that most people can not assimilate the calcium in pasteurized milk (our ancestors drank cultured dairy or raw which has enzymes for a more easily digested product. Enzymes like alactase, and lipase responsible for breaking milk down once its in the stomach. Pasteruization kills bacteria AND enzymes which makes the proteins and calcium and other minerals largely inassibmilable. But it has a longer shelf life and no harmful bacteria. ) Studies also show that it causes a host of diseases including diabetes and that it does nothing to prevent osteoporosis. Giving babies cow milk causes intestinal blood loss, allergies, indigestion, and diabetes. A study done in 1992 showed that the body mistakes a protein found in milk with a protein found on the surface of insulin-producing cells so children with genetic disposition to diabetes are at higher risk. Milk in the stomach curdles and the curds attach themselves to other bits of food, delaying their digestion as well, sometimes to the point of putrefaction. So everything you eat with your milk also becomes basically unusable. More fat is absorbed by adults from homogenized milk than from pure cream. Osteoporosis occurs when the bones cease to absorb calcium which leads to a weakened skeletal system. Milk is designed to deliver sufficient calcium but without the enzymes it is useless.

Boron which is an essential factor in absorbing calcium from food and in building bone was studied recently . The level of estrogen more than doubled in those given boron which made Hormone replacement therapy unnecessary.

As long ago as the 1930’s it was suspected that pasteurized milk contributed to osteoporosis and infertility. Dr. Pottenger studied 900 milk fed cats. It was a 3 generation, 10 year study. The group getting raw milk thrived and reproduced. The Pasteurized group had in the first generation cardiovascular disease, bone loss, respiratory distress, and endocrine dysfunction. The 2^nd generation displayed poor bone and tooth development. Half the 3^rd generation was stillborn and the remaining kittens were sterile.

PESTICIDES

One in 4 strawberries tested contained multiple hazards: carcinogens, reproductive toxins, hormone disruptors and more carcinogens. Bell peppers and spinach have some of the highest levels of neurotoxins of all foods studied. The number of pesticides was less but the potency was more. Spinach being the highest carcinogenic food tested. Avocados and onions are some of the lowest risks. Children are at greater risk because they have faster metabolisms and they are smaller so toxins become more concentrated in them

PESTICIDE POISONING CHART
know which foods are the most contaminated with pesticides:

All samples were washed or peeled as you would at home.
Environmental Working Group compiled from FDA and EPA data.
Organically grown fruits and vegetables were found to have no toxic pesticide residue.

10 MOST CONTAMINATED

· Strawberries

· Red & Green Bell Peppers

· Spinach

· Cherries Sweet

· Peaches

· Cantaloupe Mexican

· Celery

· Apples

· Apricots

· Green beans

· Grapes (Chilean)

· Cucumbers

10 LEAST CONTAMINATED

· Avocado

· Sweet Corn

· Onions

· Sweet Potatoes

· Cauliflower

· Brussels sprouts

· U.S. Grapes

· Bananas

· Plums

· Asparagus

· Watermelon

· Broccoli

Check out PAN pesticide action network on line.

COCONUTS

Tender coconuts are also a good source of proteins. The percentage of proteins in tender coconuts is higher than that in cow's milk, the release said.

The coconut is one of the greatest gifts of this planet.

Coconuts are a prehistoric plant which can survive many months floating at sea.

The coconut is a natural water filter that takes almost 9 months to filter each liter of water. The water travels through many fibers being purified where it is stored away STERILE in the nut itself.

This coconut water is pure clear and is one of the highest sources of electrolytes known to man.

Coconut water is identical to human blood plasma which makes it the universal donor. Plasma makes up 55% of human blood. By drinking coconuts we give ourselves a instant blood transfusion.

Many peoples lives have been saved in 3rd world countries by the coconut IV. C

Coconuts in their young stage of growth are the most health enhancing.

Drink at least one a day (I drink 5 or 6).

Coconuts are a great blood purifier.

Other comments on Young Coconuts:

"It's a natural isotonic beverage, with the same level of electrolytic balance as we have in our blood. It's the fluid of life, so to speak." In fact, during the Pacific War of 1941-45, both sides in the conflict regularly used coconut water - siphoned directly from the nut - to give emergency plasma trasfusions to wounded soldiers.

ASPARTAME

ASPARTAME:

It’s a neurotoxin, over 200 times sweeter than sugar. It’s made by the Monsanto corporation (need I say more?) and is marketed as “Nutrasweet”, “Equal”, and “Spoonful” among other names. It is added to over 9,000 food products. It changes into formaldehyde in the body and has been linked to migraines, seizures, vision loss and symptoms relating to lupus, Parkinson’s Disease Multiple Sclerosis, Gulf War syndrome etc. It is commonly found in “diet” food. It contributes to weight gain however, by causing a craving for carbohydrates and that news is from the Congressional record. A study of 80,000 women by the American Cancer Society found that Aspartame users actually gain more weight than non users.

At a conference on Aspartame in 1998 the keynote speaker from the EPA stated that when the temperature of aspartame exceeds 86 degrees the wood alcohol init converts to formaldehyde and thento formic acid which in turn causes metabolic acidosis. (Formic acid is the poison found in the sting of fire ants). Methanol toxicity mimics multiple sclerosis leading to misdiagnosis. Multiple sclerosis is not a death sentence but methanol toxicity is.

Systemic Lupus has become as rampant as multiple sclerosis expecially among diet coke and diet pepsi drinkers. Some places even add aspartame to the sugar. Aspartame whenit converts to formaldehyde in the retina of the eye can cause blindness. Formaldehyde is grouped in the same class of toxins as cyanide and arsenic—deadly poisons! It stores in the fat cells. Aspartame changes the brain chemistry, altering dopamine levels, and can lead to seizures. It also causes birth defects. The Aspartic acid Phenylalanine(amino acids) inAspartame are toxic without the other amino acids accompanying it. It goes past the blood brain barrier and depletes serotonin which causes manic depression, panic attacks, rage and violence. Using Aspartame at the time of conception makes phenyulalanine concentrates in the placenta , causingmental retardation according to many doctors. In the original lab tests phenylalanine (one of the ingredients of aspartame) caused braintumors in rats . Tumors were found to have high aspartame content.

I don't need scientific proof, personally, because if it doesn't taste good, leaves a funny taste and I feel bad after eating it-- that's enough for me!!! Here is more info just sent to me by a reader from this very graphic and convincing link : http://myaspartameexperiment.com

IS ASPARTAME A HAZARDOUS CHEMICAL?

THE INDEPENDENT, JUNE 6, 1999

WORLD’S TOP SWEETENER IS MADE WITH GM BACTERIA.

“A Monsanto spokeswoman confirmed that aspartame for the US market is often made using genetic engineering.”

OSHA, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration classifies methanol, formaldehyde and formic acid, components of aspartame as hazardous.

Carol Guilford convinced me to let her attempt to explain Aspartame, The Poison, in just a few paragraphs.

Aspartame is a very sophisticated, clever drug. So, first off, let me point out that this sophisticated, clever drug could never have been “discovered” accidentally.
Incidentally, James M. Schlatter, the scientist who, working on an ulcer drug licked his finger to find the sweet chemical NutraSweet has never been questioned.

PHENYLALANINE, 50% of the aspartame molecule is isolated from the chain of amino acids with which it exists in nature. Isolated phenylalanine, neurosurgeon Dr. Russell Blaylock, M.D. tells us crosses the blood brain barrier to interfere and kill the neurotransmitters of the brain by “exciting them to death.” (“Excitotoxins: The Taste That Kills”)

In 1987, Dr. Louis J. Elsas, then Professor of Pediatrics and Director of the Division of Medical Genetics at Emory University testified at the hearing before the United States Senate Committee on Labor and Human Resources, concerning “NUTRASWEET”—HEALTH AND SAFETY CONCERNS.”

Dr. Elsas told the Senators, “In the developing fetus such a rise in maternal blood phenylalanine could be magnified four to six fold by the concentrative efforts of the placental and fetal blood brain barrier and this concentration kills such cells in tissue culture. The effect of such an increased fetal brain concentrations in vivo would probably be much more subtle and expressed as mental retardation, microcephaly, or potential certain birth defects.”

Does autism ring a bell? When Dr. Elsas told the senate this significant fact about phenylalanine, in 1987, infant autism rates were 1 in 1500, today they are 1 in 150 and rising.

How many of us ever heard of Alzheimer’s, in 1980? The rates have doubled since aspartame was approved; a conservative statistic is 5 million in the US have the disease.

PHENYLALANINE converts to DKP, diketopiperazine, a tumor agent. The suspicious study of DKP by Searle Pharmaceuticals prompted the FDA to audit the experiment, the results of which are documented in the Bressler Report.

ASPARTIC ACID is 40% of the aspartame molecule. Dr. Madelon Price, in 1998 was Professor of Neurobiology at Washington University, in St. Louis, Missouri told her students: “Aspartic acid (aspartate) has been known to be a neurotoxin for 30 years. (now 40 years) Rodents that have ingested too much aspartame as infants are stunted as adults, obese and have sexual and reproductive dysfunctions. (7)

At the same lecture to her students that day, someone asked Dr. Price whether the phenylalanine in neotame, the aspartame clone, approved by the FDA was the same as the phenylalanine in aspartame. Dr. Price answered, it was. Neotame is now in the food supply, unlabeled, without a PKU warning for those who cannot metabolize phenylalanine. “Ah, says industry… but there’s such a small amount of phenylalanine in neotame, it doesn’t count.”

Wait a minute. Dr. Price explains, “Aspartate (aspartame) is additive in its effects with glutamate and other excitotoxins. In other words, a subtoxic dose of aspartame added to a subtoxic dose of glutamate (MSG) may add up to a toxic dose. Unfortunately it is hard to find food that does not contain added glutamate, and for some categories of food it does not have to be listed on the label.

METHANOL is 10% of the aspartame molecule. Methanol (wood alcohol) is a known poison and addictive, too. Doesn’t everyone knows someone who carries a diet Coke around all day?

The aspartame industry claims there is more methanol in a glass of orange juice than in aspartame products, but in a natural product, such as orange juice, the poisonous wood alcohol has the antidote for methanol inherently in it-- ethanol.

Free methanol turns into formaldehyde (embalming fluid).

In 1998, a research team from the biology department of the University of Barcelona, Spain, C.Trocho, et al concluded: “Aspartame converts to formaldehyde in vivo in the bodies of laboratory rats.”

“Formaldehyde is a highly reactive small molecule which strongly binds to proteins and nucleic acids forming adducts which are difficult to eliminate through the normal metabolism pathways… the amount of formaldehyde adducts coming from aspartame in tissue proteins and nucleic acids may be cumulative. It is concluded that aspartame consumption may constitute a hazard because of its contribution to the formation of formaldehyde adducts. “

The formaldehyde from the free methanol then breaks down to formic acid, ant sting venom.

Yes, a very, sophisticated, clever drug—killing us sweetly.

EAT LOCALLY!

WHAT’S A LOCAVORE?

Stop and think about everything that had to happen to get that tomato to your plate.

This tomato started out on land acquired by the U.S. based Jolly Green Giant Company in partnership with the Mexican Development Corporation. The land was previously an ejido which is land used by farmers for publically owned cooperative farms. The tomato seed, a hybrid developed from an original Mexican strain, is now patented and owned by Calgene Inc., who bought the research from the University of California Davis. They developed the hybrid from a research grant paid for by U.S. tax dollars. The land was fumigated with methyl bromide, an ozone depleter 120 times more potent than chlorofluorocarbon-111. It was also treated with herbicides, and pesticides developed, manufactured, and distributed by the Monsanto corporation, one of the U.S’s largest polluters. Production waste was shipped to the world’s larges hazardous waste landfill in Emelle, Alabama, a predominantly poor African American community. The Mexican farm workers were given no protection from the pesticides: no gloves, masks, or safety precautions. They make approximately $2.50 a day and have no access to real health care. Once harvested, the tomato was placed with others in a plastic tray, covered in plastic wrap, then put in a cardboard box. The plastic is manufactured with chlorine produced by the Formosa company of Point Comfort, Texas. Workers and citizens of Point Comfort face significant risk of cancer and immune-suppression due to exposure to dioxin, a by-product of chlorine production. The cardboard box from British Columbia’s 300 year old trees, which are processed in Great Lakes region pulp mills, where the residents are warned against eating dioxin contaminated fish. The box is then shipped by United Trucking Company to Latin American farms. The boxed tomatoes are reddened by ether ( a tasteless gas with no nutritional value) are sent via refrigerated trucks throughout N. America. Both trucks and distribution centers are equipped with CFC cooling equipment made by Dupont of Wimington Delaware. Once the tomato arrived at its destination in Toronto the plastic packaging was thrown away, picked up, shipped back to the US and burned in an incinerator in Detroit Michigan. Throughout the process, fossil fuels drove the tomato around. These were drilled from the Gulf of Comache, Mexico , extracted by Chevron and processed by Pemex, the Mexican oil company. The fuel was shipped via tanker dodging 3800 existing oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico, to refineries on the U.S. gulf coast.

And still somehow they manage to make a profit off that 75cent tomato. How do you suppose that happened?

Do something radical to fight for the environment and food justice: GROW A TOMATO!!! Your body will thank you for it and so will your planet.