BETTER BASICS FOR THE HOME(ISBN=9780609803257) 英文原版 pdf 在线 2025 epub 免费 书籍 下载

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　　The Commonsense Rule of Thumb

　　It is a great relief to establish a healthy home. Two-thirds of

us cite healthy air and water as an extremely important local

priority, second only to safety from crime, according to Roper

Starch Worldwide. National Wildlife Federation research has noted

that up to 80 percent of us are concerned about how pesticides and

indoor air pollution affect our health. Other polls show that a

natural lifestyle is one that women, mothers in particular,

overwhelmingly want because it protects the health of their

families.

　　Yet polls ever since Earth Day 1990 consistently show a

significant gap between wanting a more healthful environment and

knowing how to create it. We are realizing that the government

doesn't fully protect us from toxic products, leaving an uneasy and

pervasive feeling that we have to take charge of safeguarding our

families' health. The stumbling blocks seem insurmountable.

　　Having lived in a healthy home for more than a decade, I've

learned that after some initial adjustment, the way to establish

such a home is quite simple. The most important guideline for

choosing safe materials is to follow this basic rule of thumb: Use

only materials that have been around so long, and been used by

people without harm for so long, that they are "generally regarded

as safe" (GRAS for short), otherwise they would have long since

been abandoned. Using only GRAS substances will take us back to the

time before plastics and forward to new technology using old and

safe materials. It will introduce us to plants and healing herbs;

minerals such as baking soda, borax, and washing soda; and products

from animals and insects such as milk, honey, shellac, and royal

jelly. We may not have realized that these natural materials could

clean, disinfect, moisturize, or make paint. This discovery will

open up a new way of looking at our world.

　　Our alternative is to get a combined degree in toxicology and

environmental studies in order to do a simple risk analysis of

bathtub cleansers that won't cause harm, or to go shopping armed

with research files. That's a stretch for even the most well

intentioned among us.

　　Help also comes from something we all already have, even if we

need to clear out cobwebs to find it, and that is our common sense.

If the choice for polishing furniture is between polish in a can

that reads "fatal if swallowed" or using a simple but effective

recipe of lemon juice and raw linseed oil, common sense and the

GRAS rule guide us to the lemon and raw linseed oil.

　　Mixing up face creams or wood stain isn't much different than

cleaning the windows with vinegar, soap, and water instead of using

Brand Name X, or making a cake with flour, eggs, and milk instead

of buying a mix. And it seems amazing, although true, that we can

make paint ourselves using milk and lime. With a few simple staples

we can clean our houses, wash our hair, rid the dog's bed of fleas,

and do many other things too.

　　Looking for cause and effect is another way of choosing safe

products. Sometimes I wonder if we've allowed consumer products to

deplete the earth's resources or to be so toxic because the

products don't look like the raw materials used to make them. We

don't see the connections. A can of pretty robin's-egg blue paint

in a hardware store isn't visibly connected to its ingredients of

fungicides and petroleum or to the smokestacks of the factory where

it was made. Seeing the loss and damage that occurs in its creation

might incline us to purchase a more ecological brand or to buy a

little less. Or having access to the old-timers' recipe for milk

paint might inspire us to try it out ourselves.

　　Just because a formula is old, or its ingredients are natural,

doesn't mean it is safe, of course. Some old paint recipes call for

white lead. A musty-smelling 1951 housekeeping book I found

recently at a yard sale recommended using DDT paint on screens and

windows. DDT paint! For those of you not familiar with DDT, it is a

pesticide, now banned, that is symbolic of the worst of the

industrial age's impact on the environment. Natural materials such

as turpentine, citrus solvents, and tung oil can cause health

problems for many. Needless to say, we need to look at the old

recipes with a discerning eye. The key is to integrate the best of

the old-the simplest, most wholesome ingredients and methods-with

the best of the new-information about the effect of poisons on our

collective health, and how to replace them with safe

alternatives.

　　Signal Words

　　Besides choosing GRAS materials, the next best way to protect

yourself and the world at large from toxic products is to read

labels and pay particular attention to "signal words." They are

placed on products by order of the federal government, with the

primary purpose of protecting you, but sometimes to tell you about

the products' potential impact on the environment. POISON/DANGER

means some-thing very toxic; only a few drops could kill you.

WARNING means moderately toxic; as little as a teaspoonful can

kill. CAUTION denotes a product that is less toxic; two tablespoons

to a cup could kill you. There are a few others, such as strong

sensitizer, which means the product can cause multiple allergies.

I'd suggest that everyone get over the "it will never happen to me"

way of thinking and read labels, believe them, and simply avoid

toxic products. Calamity might not happen to you, but it could

happen to a child, or a neighbor, or a fish or a dog.

　　Putting Better Basics into Practice

　　Most people have some practical concerns about living without

toxic chemicals. Just how much of a change is it going to be? Does

living this way take more time? Is it more expensive? How do I

begin? My answers to these legitimate questions follow. But

basically, I suggest you just jump in and try it. I've never once

had a person tell me they've regretted it. Some people want to

switch to less toxic living on the spot; others stop restocking

toxic cleansers as they run out, learning about the alternatives as

they go along. Most start switching to natural body care gradually.

Choose any way that will work for you. To make it easier to start

the process of changing over, I have placed an icon (#) at

particularly easy recipes, hoping this will offer you the

encouragement you need to give Better Basics for the Home a

try.

　　……

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