The Vaccination Decision

To vaccinate or not to vaccinate?  My children and their health always come first, and this question continues to plague me anew as I now have twin baby boys – two baby boys who were born prematurely, nonetheless. 
 
For our family, the answer to the vaccination question is not always a simple “yes” or “no.”  I’ve found it to be more of a “Yes, but…” or “No, but…” Some of the questions that I wanted answered were:

- What are the risks of not vaccinating?
- What are the side-effects of vaccinations? 
- Do cocktail vaccines compound any side or ill effects?
- Can I pick and choose vaccines if I choose to vaccinate? 
- Can I stagger and space out the vaccine schedule if I choose to vaccinate?
- A good friend’s son had meningitis and our daughter played with him; will vaccinating help   protect my kids from such illnesses?
- Are boys really more vulnerable to the side-effects or ill-effects of vaccinations?
- Will prematurely born babies/children be more susceptible to illnesses if they are not  vaccinated?
- Are there any natural supplements or treatments that can help my babies’ better take or  withstand the vaccines so that they do not suffer any side effects?
- What are the risks of traveling (virus-filled recycled air!), especially to places like Asia or the Dominican Republic,  if my children are unvaccinated?  

Aside from online research, I also found these books helpful:

• Childhood Vaccinations – Answers to Your Questions by Dr. Katia Bailetti (mother and licensed naturopathic doctor. Her focus is in children’s health as well as supporting families through pregnancy, childbirth and parenthood.  Her practice, which is based in Toronto, also offers vaccination support for families).
• Vaccinations – A Thoughtful Parent’s Guide by Aviva Jill Romm (midwife, herbalist, and mother of four, Aviva Jill Romm sifts through the spate of current research on vaccine safety and efficacy and offers a sensible, balanced discussion of the pros and cons of each routine childhood vaccination.)

As always, I find out who the powers-that-be are behind every website with articles that I read and peruse.  I take pro-vaccination articles written by doctors who are part of a pharmaceutical company with a few grains of salt because to me, that doesn’t make for an unbiased opinion.  On the same token, I am also wary of anti-vaccination sites and articles as their sources and statistics are not unbiased either.  Because a lot of information that I found online about vaccinations are from diametrically opposed sources, I decided to delve deeper.

I sought the help of our pediatrician and pediatric naturopathic doctor to learn more about vaccinations first-hand.  I also consulted with a naturopathic doctor who offers immunization support, as well as education and information for families and parents who wish to know more about vaccination pros, cons and options.  It was very enlightening to learn that we actually had CHOICES – that my initial instinct about this issue being more than a clearly defined “Yes, of course” and “No way” was substantiated by facts. 

We found out that we could choose to:

1. fully vaccinate our children as per the schedule specified by the Minister of Health and LTC;
2. fully vaccinate our children as per individualized schedules and staggered schedules designed with the help of both our pediatrician and naturopathic doctor, with the naturopathic doctor offering naturopathic options to lessen any negative impacts or side effects;
3. selectively vaccinate our children – that is, opt out of some vaccines — as per individualized schedules and staggered schedules designed with the help of both our pediatrician and naturopathic doctor, with the naturopathic doctor offering naturopathic options to lessen any negative impacts or side effects;
4. not vaccinate at all and let their immune systems fight off diseases on their own

It wasn’t a decision that came by easily for us, but I’m glad that we took the time and made the effort to find the answers to our questions, and to assemble a team of experts that we trust to help us.  Between our pediatrician, pediatric naturopathic doctor, and specialist naturopathic doctor, we were able to make a decision that was right for us.

 Each child is unique, each family is unique and we did what we believe is right for our family and for each of our three children.

 

Coming out of the dark : post-partum depression and ascension

The past year has been a wild roller coaster ride — physically, emotionally, mentally and hormonally.  As I settled into my new role as a mother of one plus multiples, I am beginning to find the time to look up and come out from the fog and mist that has come to envelope me.

I was warned about the hormonal crash and post-partum blues that I would be going through after giving birth to my twins so it wasn’t a big shock when the waves of fear, anxiety, sadness and even anger washed over me.  To survive,  I cocooned myself  and hibernated as I tried to cope with my life.  Having been a very healthy and active woman prior to my twin-pregnancy, the physical ailments and weaknesses that now plague me served to drive me further into my hobbit hole.  Diabetes, mastitis, allergies, eye infections, an injured back, mono even… I found consolation in the fact that at least it was me getting sick and not my children.

It was a long, dark winter; my only light source were my children’s smiling faces.  There were days when I just did not know how I was going to even get up and take care of my kids.  But there were also days when I knew that this too shall pass and I will feel and get better.  Those days and those lucid, peaceful moments were what I hung on to.  Those and the knowledge that I had been down this road before when my daughter was born, and the fact that I had made it through that.

Post-partum depression is one of those things that still carry a stigma.  Strong, capable and willful women are not immune to losing the hormonal battles that rage within after they, or I should say, WE give birth.  As I was the first time around, I was afraid to let the people around me know that I was having a tough time; that I was crying in the shower (when I was lucky enough to find the 5 minutes to even do that) and crying while I breastfed and crying while my babies cried.  I was afraid that they would think me weak and unreliable and just plain crazy.

I knew too that the fact that I wasn’t happy with the way I look made for an even unhealthier mental state.  There really was nothing that anyone could say that would have made me feel better about myself.  The feeling of being a failure loomed largely and darkly, almost totally obscuring the light that my children shone upon me.  They are my salvation.  Every time I felt like I couldn’t, I simply COULDN’T anymore, I would look up and there would be a little face looking at me — overweight, sweaty, tear-streaked, bleary-eyed and grumpy old me — with nothing but innocence and love and tenderness.  And I knew that for as long as these three angels need me and love me and see me as their favourite person on earth, I would do anything to be worthy of their trust.

It is spring now and I find myself coming out of the dark.  It’s been months and months; I have gotten help from my husband, my Mom, my sisters, my friends, my family home visitor and nurse, my doctor, my psychotherapist, my naturopath, and tomorrow, my personal trainer.  It takes a whole village to raise up a mother too when she has fallen so deeply into the abyss.  It takes monumental effort to get up and rise again, but it can be done.

To everyone who stood by me these past few months, I love you and I am ever grateful to you.

“Fall seven times, stand up eight.” (Japanese proverb)

 

I am no Angelina Jolie : The joys and challenges of breastfeeding twins

 

Breastfeeding one of our twins in the NICU

Um, yeah, I really am no Angelina Jolie…but I am managing to successfully breastfeed our newborn twins.  Not only am I a few hundred pounds heavier and not even within a few thousand leagues in the looks and sexiness department as far as she is concerned, but I also am a few million dollars short income-wise and have no staff to speak of at home.

However poor I am in dollars, I am as rich as Angelina is breastmilk-wise.  My dairy bar is gushing and thank goodness, for my boys seem insatiable.  Someone told me that my position on breastfeeding is pretty extreme because I am exclusively breastfeeding my prematurely-born twins.  It never even occured to me to NOT breastfeed them so I don’t really know the alternative position, or the less extreme choice.

“How do you do it?”  If I could literally collect a loonie for every time I get asked that question, I just might be able to afford to pay for a personal trainer who can at least make my arms look like Angelina Jolie’s.  Yes, breastfeeding in and of itself is a challenge and a skill that sometimes doesn’t come so naturally, and yes, breastfeeding preemie twins compounds this challenge, but it CAN be done.  And if I can do it, then anyone can. 

1. Ask for help.  For a Type-A control freak like me, asking for help isn’t an easy thing to do.  But I knew when I was in over my head and this time, I knew I was.  I wasn’t a first-time breastfeeding mom; after all, I breastfed our daughter for 3 years.  But I was a first-time twin mom and I needed to learn how to breastfeed two little babies.  At the same time sometimes.  So I asked the lactation consultant at the hospital to teach me how to tandem feed. 
2. Be flexible.  Literally and figuratively.  Once I’d gotten the hang of tandem feeding, I realized that it wasn’t always easy when my boys nursed at the same time.  Especially complicated when they tandemed while I was alone with them because it meant that I didn’t have enough hands to maneuver them, pick them up and burp them.  So I learned where best to tandem feed (in bed, my back supported by pillows), and which pillows work best (a nursing pillow while they were smaller; and bed pillows not that they are not so teeny anymore).  I also learned how to pick them up one at a time (without dropping them on the bed) and tandem burp (arms crossed with my hands going to the baby on the other side).  Lastly, I learned how to put them down gingerly (again, without dropping them on the bed) once they had fallen asleep in my arms.  The thing is to be flexible (figuratively) enough to not to always expect to tandem feed and to be flexible enough to be ready to tandem feed when necessary. 
3. Pump, pump, pump, and pump some more.  To increase that milk supply.  While they were in the NICU, I was pumping 10x a day.  Once they came home I eased off the pumping because, the tandem feeding helped to ensure a good milk supply.  And once I was comfortable enough to resume pumping, I did so even just once a day or once very two days so I could freeze some milk and step out with my daughter for our Saturday morning Mother-Daughter Breakfasts.
4. Have someone else give the babies a bottle at least once a week.  Coming home from the NICU, both my sons were amenable to bottle-feeding whilst breastfeeding like pros.  However, once my Mom left and my husband went back to work thus leaving me on my own, I stopped giving my boys a bottle…and only resumed when my husband and I had to go out one Saturday night.  Surprise, surprise… only one of them would latch onto a bottle.  My other son would only take in around 20cc — just enough to stave off starvation but not nearly enough to fill him up.  So now, I’m re-teaching him to take a bottle, and the training happens with my husband while my daughter and I are enjoying some girl-time on Saturday mornings.  Having breastfed twins who can bottle feed just helps make a (twin) breastfeeding mom sane. 
5. Go for organic fenugreek and blessed thistle if supplements are necessary to help increase milk supply.  Being the paranoid control freak that I am, I downed a couple of bottles of these herbs.  My milk supply is excellent right now and I think it was the combined obssession with feeding on demand, pumping and the herbs that got me here.  Just be forewarned that the night sweats (happy to know that I am not the only breastfeeding mom to experience this!) will be maple-syrup scented because of the fenugreek and that blessed thistle is an appetite stimulant (I would down yogurt and granola at 3am!).
6. Hang in there even if it hurts.  The first few weeks of nursing my twins, my nipples were so sore and every time they latched, I thought I would pass out from the pain.  Because they were so tiny and their mouths were too, they had a tough time latching properly much to my nipples’ chagrin.  But with a little time and lanolin, and a lot of practice, hope and teeth-gnashing, I am now pain-free as we have mastered our latch.  Again, do ask for help if you are having trouble with the latch.  A good tip I was given is to try pointing the nipple area up to their little mouths and to gather-squeeze the aureola area of the breast to help their mouths latch properly.
7. Relax…(if possible) breastmilk will sustain and nourish BOTH babies.  My sons have more than doubled their birth weights and grown over 3 inches each by the time they were 10 weeks – my exclusively breastfed sons, without any formula supplements!  Admittedly, I was taking them to their pediatrician weekly after our NICU discharge to be weighed (because of course, I couldn’t relax then) just to make sure that they ARE gaining weight, but I have now weaned myself of that weighing scale and am convinced that their clothes are not shrinking but that they really are growing nicely.  Nothing wrong with wanting to weigh your babies regularly though… I was trying to convince my husband to take ours to the produce department of the grocery store just so we could weigh them weekly without taking them to their pediatrician.
8. Get some BabyD Drops or a good Vitamin D supplement for the babies.  My babies had (and still have some residual) breastfeeding jaundice.  Since the sun isn’t always there for us, a good Vitamin D supplement helps with the jaundice.  I love the Baby D Drops (400 IU per drop and made locally) because I only need to give them a drop each daily — the drop goes directly on the nipple just before the baby latches on, or directly into their little mouths (it is only a drop after all).  Much easier than giving them 1ml of the liquid non-concentrated versions.
9. Drink, drink, drink.  Water that is… although sometimes, I do crave a glass of wine.  Or Bailey’s with my milk.  But I stick to wholesome, non-sugary, non-caffeinated and natural beverages like water, organic tea, organic rice milk or fresh juices.  As a 24/7 dairy bar, staying hydrated is a means of survival.  Besides, I’ve never been thirstier in my life!
10. Enjoy breastfeeding.  If a neurotic like me can get to this point, then anyone can.  I really honestly enjoy breastfeeding my twins.  Tandem feeding them gives me a real kick – and my husband, my mom and sisters too apparently (my hubby kept taking photos and my sisters actually asked for a demo) — just because it’s such a unique experience.  I’ve never felt anything like it… looking from one beautiful face to another, looking from one set of eys to another.  My husband says it was like breast-tennis, the way my head and eyes were going from side to side.  Nursing them individually is also really special.  Yes, they’re twins but they each have their own way of nursing, and I bond with each one of them in a different way too. 

While I wish that I could look a quarter as good as Angelina as I nurse my twins (heck, even 1/10th as good is goood enough!), I try not to let the fact that I am still 30lbs heavier than my usual and that I sweat like a pig on a spit and that my hair is frizzy eclipse the fact that I am very blessed to have my babies, and doubly blessed to be able to breastfeed them.

 

Phthalates and my NICU babies

So as a new mom again, I’m up at all hours of the night.  Inasmuch as my twin boys’ growth spurts do keep me up for hours and hours, thinking and worrying about how much poison they have ingested in the NICU keeps me up for the rest of the night.  And as exhausting as nursing around the clock is, I am honoured and happy that I can do this for my babies.

Don’t get me wrong — I am ever grateful to the wonderful nurses and doctors in our NICUs who have helped me with all 3 of our prematurely born babies, because ironically (the universe’s cruel joke on me), in spite of my healthy lifestyle, I delivered our babies at 34 weeks in both of my pregnancies and all 3 of our babies stayed in the NICU for 17 days.  All 3 of them had NG tubes for feeding for most of their NICU sojourn, and all 3 of them had anitbiotic IVs for sepsis.  All 3 of them were oh-so-exposed to phthalates.

Phthalates make plastic pliable and soft — “rubber” duckies, those smelly rain boots, IV tubing, the bag where the medication is in for IVs — and are linked to reproductive and developmental toxicity.  Oh great.  I’m breaking out in a fenugreek-scented sweat again just thinking about how poisonous this stuff is.  And not surprisingly, boys are at greater risk for its ill effects:

“…certain circumstances such as intensive medical treatment can result in higher-than-average exposure, which may be a particular risk for newborn males.  [Di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate or] DEHP is added to polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastics for use in medical equipment including IV bags, blood bags, and various types of tubing, as well as many industrial and consumer PVC products. DEHP does not chemically link to PVC and leaches into fluids (such as blood and saline solution) that contact the plastic. The amount of leaching depends upon factors such as type of fluid, length of storage, and temperature.”  (Julia R. Barrettm “Rocking the cradle : phthalate exposure in NICU infants,” Environmental Health Perspectives, Sept 2005.)

Last week, CBC aired “The Disappearing Male.”  Watching my worries played out in a documentary only intensified my fears.  My husband and I found ourselves hugging our boys that much more tightly.

What are we to do?  What can I do?

For now, I can only hang on to the hope that all this nursing can somehow counteract all the poisons and bad stuff that their little bodies have ingested.  And that is what I remind myself every time I am awakened at 1:15am, then 2:05, then 3:30, 4:50…

 

A natural pregnancy and birth

32 weeks pregant

Throughout my pregnancy, I was religious about eating healthily and was even exercising regularly and doing martial arts until I was put on modified bed rest.  I never took any medication aside from my prenatal vitamins (Maxum Matregena by Genestra) and later on, the insulin that I needed for my GDM (gestational diabetes).  We use no toxic products at home and continued to eat as much organic and local food as possible.

I had no illusions about having a home birth given that I was with the Special Pregnancy Programme at the High Risk Clinic… but I was hopeful about delivering our twins without a c-section.  As was my incredible doctor and obstetrician.  Notwithstanding the fact that Twin A was breech/footling breech and Twin B was transverse.

During my hospital stays due to the threat of premature labour, I also got shots — steroids for my babies’ lungs, in case they were born too early.  “So much for drug-free,” I thought.  But the alternative was too dangerous, so of course, I chose to go the “safer” route as far as our babies were concerned.

True enough, I went into labour weeks before my due date.  A few hours after being admitted into the hospital (again), my doctor still did a couple more ultrasounds as they knew how opposed I was to a c-section.  But alas, my boys had other ideas, so in I went for an emergency c-section.

Ironic how after years of keeping my body free of medication and such (I gave birth to my daughter naturally and without even an aspirin), there I was getting drugs shot up in my spine.  Having never had surgery, I was scared to death.

Thankfully, my c-section was uneventful and my boys were born without much ado.  I, however, was still in a state of shock and was also still being pumped full of drugs (morphine after the operation).  As soon as humanly possible though, I got off the morphine drip and just settled for good ol’ Tylenol for pain management.

To say that I felt like I “failed” in terms of this last pregnancy and birth was an understatement.  Firstly, I was really upset that I once again, in spite of being perfectly healthy prior to my pregnancy, had a high risk pregnancy and premature delivery.  Secondly, I was catatonic that my body had to ingest all these drugs.  And lastly, even more catatonic that my prematurely born boys were also getting even more drugs — antibiotics for sepsis.

A few hours after my boys were born, I asked my nurse for a breast pump.  While my boys were in the NICU, I would pump like mad to make sure that my milk came in.  As I lay alternating between pumping like a madwoman and a drugged stupor that first night, I realized that I didn’t fail myself and my newborn babies in terms of having the natural pregnancy and birth that I was striving for.

Things might not have gone as planned; my boys and I may have gotten more than our share of meds, but we’re here, and we’re all ok.  I did my best for them in utero and continue to give them the best of me.  I am now breastfeeding them full-time… it isn’t easy and it takes up all of my time and energy, leaving little for other pursuits like showers and eating.  My daughter is very excited and was very happy to have been involved with the whole pregnancy and birth.  Having been breastfed for over 3 years, she now fondly watches her brothers partake of the 24/7 dairy bar that she herself enjoyed for so long.

At the end of the day, I still did what was natural for me — chose to give them, all three of them, the best that I can.  Such is my natural pregnancy and birth.

 

On raising a mother

 

It’s not easy as any parent knows, to raise a child.  For a first-time mother like myself, the feeling of being unsure about what I’m doing is compounded.  There are times of isolation and uncertainty; times of great frustration and stress…followed closely by moments of feeling like a total failure when I feel certain that the only thing I’m doing for sure is messing up my child for life.  I imagine her going to her therapist one day saying, “It all started when I was 4, when I realized I’d rather die of thirst than drink from a styrofoam cup.”

I’m grateful that I have family and friends to turn to, especially when things get hairy and I feel like I’m going to lose my sanity completely ~ people with whom I can talk with openly and share everything and anything, knowing that I will be accepted (for the neurotic & obssessive person that I can be) and listened to, and not judged.  I’m grateful that I have a mother who is always supportive of my decisions and my life; a mother who never once has said “I told you so,” inasmuch as I know it pains her sometimes to watch me struggle through my mistakes.  I’m grateful that I have sisters who I know will always listen and laugh with me.  I’m grateful that I have girlfriends who are always there to share the joys and trials of womanhood and motherhood with me.

I know that I am incredibly blessed.

My husband has said to me more than once, “Look at the big picture.  When you feel that you’re getting upset about something so trivial as clothes on the floor and uneaten fruit, stop and think about it.  It’s not something to dwell on.  Don’t sweat the trivial things.”  As infuriated as I sometimes get with him for his logic (I mean who could argue with that?), I appreciate how he can always help me see things in a different light whenever I get tunnel vision.

I’m trying to do and have as much of the pie as I can.  Raise my own child.  Take care of my family and our home.  Run a business.  Change the world.  And carry and raise two more children.  Be better, be more; do better, do more.   The reality is, I have to make choices because I can’t do it all.  One balmy afternoon after I picked up my daughter from school, we rushed home so I can prepare dinner.  She sat by the window, looking out at the park across the street, and quietly watched the children playing there.  When I poked my head out from the kitchen to ask her if she wanted brown rice or pasta, I realized that she really doesn’t care… and she really won’t remember what grain I gave her tonight.  What she will remember is my saying, “Ah, we’ll figure out dinner later.  Let’s go play outside!”  and her squealing in delight as I scooped her up from the sofa and ran out the door with her.

The truth is I can’t do it all… not on my own anyway.  And I don’t need to do it all; at least not all at the same time.  At the end of the day, it’s not so much how much I do for my children that counts, but how I do it, and how much I can laugh and play and learn with them as I do these things.  Yes it does take a village to raise a child, but it takes a village, a couple of Shamans, and an obscene amount of organic ice cream to raise a mother. 

 

Organic AND local food

As opposed to organic VS local food, that is.  Which is better?  While my first choice is always organic food, I also make it a point to buy local food that is in season. 

ORGANIC

We eat certified organic food simply because it lowers our pesticide and fertilizer exposure by as much as 90%.  Yes, they are costlier, but if more of us choose to support and buy organically produced fruits and vegetables, we will increase the demand for such chemical-free products, thus encouraging farmers and producers to use only organic and earth-friendly methods of farming and food production.  Not all of us can go 100% organic on the fruits and vegetables end so It is important to know which fruits and vegetables are heavy on the chemicals so we can prioritize our purchases.  Below is a list compiled by the Environmental Working Group.

RANK	FRUIT OR VEGGIE	SCORE
1 (worst)	Peaches	100 (highest pesticide load)
2	Apples	96
3	Sweet Bell Peppers	86
4	Celery	85
5	Nectarines	84
6	Strawberries	83
7	Cherries	75
8	Lettuce	69
9	Grapes – Imported	68
10	Pears	65
11	Spinach	60
12	Potatoes	58
13	Carrots	57
14	Green Beans	55
15	Hot Peppers	53
16	Cucumbers	52
17	Raspberries	47
18	Plums	46
19	Oranges	46
20	Grapes-Domestic	46
21	Cauliflower	39
22	Tangerine	38
23	Mushrooms	37
24	Cantaloupe	34
25	Lemon	31
26	Honeydew Melon	31
27	Grapefruit	31
28	Winter Squash	31
29	Tomatoes	30
30	Sweet Potatoes	30
31	Watermelon	25
32	Blueberries	24
33	Papaya	21
34	Eggplant	19
35	Broccoli	18
36	Cabbage	17
37	Bananas	16
38	Kiwi	14
39	Asparagus	11
40	Sweet Peas-Frozen	11
41	Mango	9
42	Pineapples	7
43	Sweet Corn-Frozen	2
44	Avocado	1
45 (best)	Onions	1 (lowest pesticide load)

I call this list my guide to my non-negotiables when it comes to fruit and veggie shopping – the first 30 on the list are my non-negotiables. They must always be organic given that the numbers seem high enough for me to consider them as unsafe safe for my daughter’s little body.  As always very young children are at most risk, so I avoid it at all costs.

LOCAL

Buying and eating local food that is in season reduces fossil fuel consumption while powering up our local economy and supporting our local food producers. Last year’s Oxford Word of the Year was “Locavore.”  According to Wikipedia,

“A locavore is someone who eats food grown or produced locally or within a certain radius such as 50, 100, or 150 miles. The locavore movement encourages consumers to buy from farmers’ markets or even to produce their own food, with the argument that fresh, local products are more nutritious and taste better. Local grown food is an environmentally friendly means of obtaining food, since supermarkets that import their food use more fossil fuels and non-renewable resources.”

The best places to buy local, fresh and even organic produce are our Farmer’s Markets.  Now that the warmer weather is here, keep an eye out for weekly and daily markets.  Some of my favourite year-round local food markets are:

1. Fresh from the Farm on the Donlands www.freshfromthefarm.ca
2. St. Lawrence Market
3. Kensington Market

We also have some ready links available on our site at http://www.greenmom.ca/gFood.shtml where you can access more information about our Local Greenbelt and the local food movement in Toronto.

At the end of the day, local food that is produced sustainably and without pesticides is really my first choice. And that really is what it is all about : CHOICES.  It’s up to each one of us to make our own, and having the information handy helps us make more informed choices.

 

 

To Oil or Not to Oil

That is the essential question.

Essential oils are one of our planet’s greatest underappreciated resources.  The use of aromatherapy is a system of natural help that can surpass simple medicine, as it can be used to prevent illness, as well as to alleviate symptoms. In the fourth century,  Hippocrates, the father of medicine, said that “The way to health is to have an aromatic bath and scented massage everyday,” recognizing that  burning aromatic herbs and oils offered protection against contagious diseases.

Today most of our medicines and household cleaners and “air fresheners” are chemically-based.  The cumulative effect of these products combined with the toxic air we breathe (indoor air pollution can be much worse than outdoor pollutants!)  just cannot be good —  for our health and our planet’s.  Hence the movement towards renewed interest in using essential oils in our daily life, and doing away with the chemical stuff.

Essential oils are chemical-free, natural and extracted from many species of leaves, roots, flowers, trees, grasses and fruits…… The safest alternative for our chemically-laden lives, right? 

While the answer is a resounding “YES!”, before you run out to fill your medicine cabinet with a range of fragrant oils, there are cautions that everyone needs to be aware of.   Many of these oils are the active ingredients in western medicine, and as such they require knowledge and understanding before using them.  After all, you wouldn’t just take some of your cousin’s perscription medication because you liked the colour, or the shape of the pill, would you?

There are very few oils that can be applied directly to the skin.  Most oils are diluted in a base, or carrier oil, so that they can be massaged or rubbed into the skin in the correct dosage.

Other methods of using essential oils are

• inhalation, using steam or applying the oils to a tissue
• in baths, showers or saunas, foot and hand soaks, diffusers and humidifiers
• the addition of essential oils to various products, such as creams and shampoos or household cleansers.

It is very important to first learn

• about the individual oils before you use them. 
• how much to use of each oil, and what its ratio of dilution is

Many oils have strong effects on various medical conditions and we need to be aware of the effects of the oils first.

For example:

• Hyssop, Rosemary, Sage and Thyme Essential oils should be avoided if one has high blood pressure
• Rosemary, Fennel, Sage, and Hyssop oils should be avoided if one has epilepsy 
• Angelica should be avoided if one has diabetes

It is also very important to be carefull of essential oils during pregnancy. Many, many oils have an Emmenagogic reaction, that is, they can bring on menstruation. Personally, it is recommend that women do not use any essential oils during the first trimester- just to be on the safe side.

Instead of listing Oils to be avoided during pregnancy, which is rather extensive, the following is a list of oils that are generally considered safe during pregnancy.  Although this list is accepted as “safe”, it is strongly recommend that you use extreme caution with essential oils during pregnancy and to see a qualified doctor of homeopathy or naturopathy before using any.

• Tangerine
• Mandarin
• Grapefruit
• Geranium
• Chamomile Roman
• Rose Bulgar
• Rose Maroc
• Jasmin
• Ylang-Ylang
• Lavender 

 

Remove stains naturally

White clothes are just stain magnets but it doesn’t stop me from letting my girl wear her white dress, white skirt, and we’re in our white martial arts uniforms a couple of times a week too.  Grass stains in the summer, mud in the fall, brown snow in winter, more mud in the spring, blood stains occasionally from tripping on sidewalk cracks.  Instead of bleach though, here are some of my favourite non-toxic stain removers:

BLOOD STAINS 

• for fresh stains, run cold water on the stain and wash off 
• pour and rub salt or cold soda water on the stain, soak in cold water before washing
• soak in milk overnight and wash as usual the next day

GRASS STAINS

• a friend of mine recommended rubbing molasses on the stain and laundering as usual after a few minutes
• rub vinegar onto the stain; wash as usual
• for more persistent grass stains, make a vingar + baking soda paste, rub onto stain and wash

MUD & DIRT

• let mud dry then rub off caked on mud with a brush before treating
• moisten dried stain with sater and rub on eco-friendly detergent like Nellie’s Laundry,  let stand, and wash as usual
• slice a potato, rub freshly cut side on the mud stain; let dry and wash as usual
• or if you’ve just boiled some potatoes for mashed potatoes, wash the stained whites in the water from the boiled potatoes

 

Hang on to your DVD or HD-DVD player

 (Greenpeace image)

With electronics, obsolescence seems to be the name of the game.  Being thrifty with regards to our electronics purchases has also meant by default, being environmentally-friendly. 

When VCR went out of mode to make way for DVD players, we hung on to our VCR for as long as we could.  It came to a point where we were getting VCR tapes for free because everyone was giving us their old movies.  By the time we finally bought a DVD player, prices had gone done significantly.  And it helps that we try and buy reconditioned items too.

The advent of Blu-ray seems to be spelling the end for DVD and HD-technology.  So says the manufacturers of Blu-ray: “jointly developed by the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA), a group of the world’s leading consumer electronics, personal computer and media manufacturers — including Apple, Dell, Hitachi, HP, JVC, LG, Mitsubishi, Panasonic, Pioneer, Philips, Samsung, Sharp, Sony, TDK and Thomson” (Blu-ray.com).

But is this really the end?  At the risk of sounding like a techie idiot (which in many aspects I probably am), I stand my ground and say that for as long as our DVD is working and our daughter’s “Sound of Music” and “March of the Penguins” dvds are playing on them, we will not add our DVD player to the landfill. 

Hanging on to our would-be obsolete electronics not only saves us money, but it also:

• makes a statement about our not subscribing to mass-marketed obsolescence as Annie Lenorad’s The Story of Stuff so engagingly illustrates
• reduces waste significantly –  portable DVD players with LCD screens are considered “hazardous waste” when discarded, so there’s that much more of an impetus to keep those in use for as long as possible.

  • More than 140 000 tonnes of computer equipment, phones, televisions, stereos, and small home appliances accumulate in Canadian landfills each year. That’s equivalent to the weight of about 28 000 adult African elephants or enough uncrushed electronic waste to fill up the Toronto Skydome every 15 years” (EnviroZine by Environment Canada).

• gives our provincial government time to figure out a way for us to recycle our end-of-life electronics more effectively.  “So far, Alberta and Saskatchewan have passed legislation for collecting and sorting obsolete electronics, and other provinces are expected to follow suit over the next few years“(Natural Resources Canada).   Bearing in mind that the handling of hazardous waste by our province haz-waste watchdogs is questionable, we probably shouldn’t hold our breath…but hold on to our DVD players instead. 

If however, you feel that you really need to replace that DVD player with a Blu-ray Disc player, consider gathering your friends’ and neighbours’ working electronic stuff too and donating them to Renewed Computer Technology where new homes and uses will be found for them…far from the landfill.