It’s officially cold and flu season.  Everyone seems to be sniffling, sneezing and coughing, trying desperately to find remedies to ease their symptoms. I tend to get sick like clockwork this time of year. Last year around this time I was feeling pretty miserable. This time around it seems to be a bad cold with lots of uncontrollable coughing. In between coughs, I decided to check in with some great green minds from around the blogosphere to see how they would combat a vicious cough the non-toxic and natural way.

Here’s what the great green minds from around the blogosphere  had to say about treating a cough the natural way:

• Sarah from Practically Green mixes ginger, honey, lemon and garlic into her green tea (or rum).
• Lizandra from Safer Chemicals Healthy Families swears by colloidal silver to get rid of bronchial problems.
• Lisa from Retro Housewife Goes Green suggests:

Boiron’s homeopathic cough medicine, sucking on peppermints, and/or honey (the whiskey trick is good as well!). To get better colloidal silver, Emergen-C, olive leaf extract, elderberry extract and oil of oregano.

She also found this interesting concoction works: take an onion and slice it, then pour honey over it, let it sit in the fridge for a few hours and then take a spoonful every 15 minutes. Sorry Lisa, that doesn’t sound very appetizing.

• Hillary finds that 9 times out of 10 when she gets a cough it is post-nasal drip-related. She uses her Neti pot twice a day.  She remembers her family physician recommending a couple teaspoons of Crème de Menthe.
• Julia from It’s Not Like a Cat suggests making a cup of tea with eucalyptus, licorice, wild cherry bark, and mullein and honey. She has also had luck with sipping very hot chicken broth spiked with lemon, garlic, and cayenne or red pepper.
• Anastacia starts with her Neti Pot and then makes a mixture of minced garlic mixed with raw honey.
• Amity from Green Gifts Guide has found that Eucalyptus Oil worked well for her last spring when she had her first (and hopefully last) case of bronchitis. She made a steam tent in the bathroom sink and inhaled it.
• Jennifer from It’s Not Easy to be Green suggests mixing generous amounts of honey and lemon juice in hot water. The alternative is a salt water gargle.
• Claire from Moms Rising shared a great article, Non-toxic Tips for Winter Coughs & Colds. I tried out the simple recipe from Dr. Greene for combating a cold.
• Xinyu, Jennifer (buckwheat honey) and Local Bites agree that honey is the cure (with a little lime juice). Sam agrees, but adds a little citrus and whiskey to his mixture.
• Laura says a Neti pot will  flush the sinuses that may be draining, wild cherry bark tea for the cough & elderberry to boost your immune system. Zinc and echinacea are also helpful.

It seems the general consensus for treating a cough the natural way is:

Honey works

According to the New York Times, the thinking is that sweet substances of any kind help soothe the back of the throat and break up mucus in the airways. Honey is also known to have antioxidant and antimicrobial properties.

Citrus juice helps

Most citrus juices (lemon, orange) are rich in vitamin C, which helps to strenghen the immune system. Vitamin C is also acidic so it will help thin the accumulated phlegm in the airway passages.

Looking for more natural ways to soothe your cough?Hop over to Healthy Child Healthy World for a few more suggestions.

I’ll add my own tip: sleep and lots of it!

Do you have any favorite all natural cough remedies?

Disclaimer: This post is not meant to be medical advice. I’m not a physician. Please consult a physician if your cough persists.

One of our sponsors, Essential Safe Products (ESP), has some BIG news to share.  They are heading to the Grammy Awards and Oscars in 2012! No, they haven’t been nominated for an award, but they will be hobnobbing with some of the biggest celebs.

ESP has been named the featured sponsor for the 2012 Grammy Awards Backstage Talent Gift Lounge and coveted Gift Bag. How awesome is that? For those of you not in the know, there is an entire gift lounge filled with all of the hottest and trendy brands for the celebs to check out and take home. There will be a small section in the gift lounge completely dedicated to ESP.

Take a peek at last years Grammy Awards Gift Lounge:

I recently introduced you to Essential Safe Products, a site started by a Florida mother of six who has always been dedicated to providing a healthy and safe environment for her family. She created ESP as a one-stop, easy and friendly resource for those looking to learn about and lead a non-toxic lifestyle in the kitchen and on-the-go.

ESP will be the only non-toxic kitchen and on-the-go product company represented in the Grammy Gift Lounge. What a fantastic way to spread the ‘green and eco-friendly’ word. Over 150 celebrities will walk out of that lounge with gift bags from ESP with all sorts of non-toxic offerings valued at over $250.

Hannah from ESP shared with me why she is so excited to be a part of the Grammy buzz:

We are really hoping that by being a part of the gift bags we can help get the word out about hazardous chemicals and give people a place where they can find products to help them make chemical free changes in their lives at their own pace. There are so many people in this country who have never heard of BPA, and if they have, they don’t know about the dangers or other chemicals in products!  By being in the Grammy Lounge, I am hoping the media exposure will get various newspaper and television outlets to start talking about toxic chemicals…..

ESP will also be a partial sponsor for the 2012 “Everybody Wins at the Oscars” nominee gift bag. These bags are given to those celebrities who don’t actually win the Oscars, but who were nominated.

At the Grammy Awards Hannah will be working the booth with her fiancé (lucky them!) sharing their non-toxic mission with all of the celebs. Congratulations ESP for helping to bring green, eco-friendly living to the mainstream.

p.s. I’m available to help out!

What do you think about an eco-friendly, green company getting into the Grammy and Oscar gift bags?

[Top image used under Creative Commons from Viktor Hertz/Flickr]

In honor of Thanksgiving I am about to close up my lap top for a few days to spend some uninterrupted time with friends and family. I hope many of you get the chance to do the same over this long weekend. Before signing off I wanted to share with you a few groovy green things to think about over the next few days.

Green Advocacy

2011 Safe Chemicals Act

I had a chance to tune in to last weeks Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works hearing on the 2011 Safe Chemicals Act. The 2011 Safe Chemicals Act is looking to reform the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) with the hope that the outcome will be placing the burden on manufacturers to prove the safety of a product before it hits supermarket shelves.

What you can do

If your State Senator is a member of the Environment and Public Works committee ask them for their support in passing the Safe Chemicals Act.

Bisphenol A in your Thanksgiving meal

A new report was recently released by the Breast Cancer Fund showing the presence of the toxic chemical bisphenol A (BPA) in canned foods used to prepare a typical Thanksgiving meal.

What you can do

This Thanksgiving please try to avoid canned foods and find safer alternatives. To help out, The Breast Cancer Fund has a list of no-can recipes for Thanksgiving.

Around the web

• Over at the Clear Conscience Blog for J.R. Watkins Naturals I shared 4 Simple Ways to Green Your Thanksgiving.
• In case you missed it, this month Green Moms Carnival shared insight and useful suggestions on how to green your Black Friday as well as your holiday shopping in general. My post ,  4 Ways to Be a Greener Consumer on Black Friday and Beyond ,was included.
• Healthy Child Healthy World offered a great round-up of Five Fantastic Non-Toxic Pest Remedies. I also shared my tips on non-toxic pest control.
• I can’t wait to share with you the great green tips I learned from Roger Cook, landscape contractor for This Old House during an interview this week. For that you will have to wait until after Thanksgiving!

I am so thankful for all of you who inspire me and  teach me on a daily basis. Happy Thanksgiving to all!

What are your Thanksgiving plans?

See you back here next week!

Lori

[Photo used under Creative Commons from Scarleth White/Flickr]

Last week we found out that many popular household cleaners have hidden toxic chemicals. Tide Free & Gentle, Simple Green Naturals, Glade Touch Odor, Clorox Clean Up, Bounce Free & Sensitive and multiple air fresheners made the list of products tested and were found to have carcinogens, reproductive toxins, endocrine disruptors and allergens.

We own them, now know they’re toxic and want to get rid of them. What do we do?

After hearing about the report, many Groovy Green Livin readers contacted me letting me know that they were switching to  green,  non-toxic cleaners and some were even attempting to make their own (the greenest option out there!). Now the question becomes what to do with all the old, toxic cleaners taking up unwanted space in our cupboards and cabinets.

Here’s what NOT to do with toxic cleaners:

• DON’T flush them. Flushing toxins down your toilet could potentially contaminate waterways.
• DON’T pour them down the drain. These toxins could end up polluting a river, lake or stream.
• DON’T dump them in your yard. They will end up poisoning plants, animals and you.
• DON’T throw them away in the trash or recycle bin. It’s actually illegal to throw hazardous waste in with your trash. They will end up in a landfill where they leak into the soil and air.
• DON’T burn them. This could cause poisonous fumes, a dangerous explosion and air pollution.

Here are a few tips to help you safely dispose of  toxic cleaning supplies:

• Treat cleaning supplies as hazardous waste. Hazardous waste is any product that is poisonous or toxic, can catch on fire or could mix with other chemicals and cause an explosion or dangerous reaction.
• Check in with Earth911.com for disposal rules in your area. Just type in your zip and your options will appear. I typed in “household cleaners” and my zip code. A number of  hazardous waste collection programs came up.
• Many cities and towns have regular collection days or local collection sites that can take the toxics off your hands and dispose of them properly. Contact your local Department of Public Works for more options.

If you want to know what’s in your cleaning supplies make your own!

My favorite ingredients for DIY cleaners are:

• Baking soda
• Vinegar
• Water
• Tea tree oil
• Castile soap

What are some of your favorite DIY home cleaner recipes?

[Photo used under Creative Commons from Terrance S. Jones/Flickr]

This information in this post was provided by Women’s Voices for the Earth and Healthy Child Healthy World. Today they co-released a report about hidden chemicals in your cleaners.

Cleaning product companies aren’t required to tell us the chemicals they use in their products, and what they’re keeping secret from you could be hazardous to your health. Women’s Voices for the Earth (WVE) commissioned an independent lab to test 20 popular cleaning products for hidden toxic chemicals from five top companies: Clorox, Procter & Gamble, Reckitt Benckiser, SC Johnson and Son, and Sunshine Makers (Simple Green). Products tested included all-purpose cleaners, laundry detergents, dryer sheets, air fresheners, disinfectant sprays, and furniture polish.

What WVE found:

Simple Green not so green

Hidden toxic chemicals were found in ALL products tested. They included carcinogens, reproductive toxins, endocrine disruptors, and allergens.

• Tide Free & Gentle, a detergent marketed to and used by moms for infants’ laundry, contained 1,4-dioxane, a known cancer-causing chemical, as did Bounce Free & Sensitive.
• Simple Green Naturals also contained 1,4-dioxane as well as phthalates, linked to reproductive harm. Simple Green All-Purpose cleaner contained toluene, linked to pregnancy complications.
• Glade Touch Odor contained phthalates, linked to reproductive harm, and galaxolide, linked to hormone disruption.
• Clorox Clean-Up contained chloroform and carbon tetrachloride, both linked to cancer.
• High levels of allergens appeared in fragranced air fresheners, yet there were no warning labels.  Allergens were also found in products marketed as fragrance-free.
• None of these chemicals were listed on the product’s label.

Consumers deserve to know what chemicals they are being exposed to, so that they can easily avoid products that may cause allergic reactions or serious long-term health impacts like cancer, birth defects, or pregnancy complications. WVE is calling on Congress to pass new federal legislation that requires cleaning product manufacturers to disclose all the ingredients they use in their products directly on the product label.

Cleaning Products Right to Know Act has been introduced in Congress and will require household cleaning products to bear a label including a full list of product ingredients. This is the first step in pressuring companies to creating safer cleaning products. Go to www.womensvoices.org to ask your legislators to support the Cleaning Products Right to Know Act!

What You Can Do in the Meantime:

• Make your own cleaning products! Until we know what’s in the products we buy off the shelf, we can mix our own with safe ingredients like vinegar and baking soda. Visit www.womensvoices.org for recipes and tips.
• If you are concerned about a cleaning product that you currently use (and like), call the company’s toll-free number and inquire about the problem ingredients discussed in this report.  Ask the manufacturer to disclose all of their fragrance ingredients and any contaminants, and ask them to remove any phthalates, musks and toxic contaminants from their products.

Do you make your own cleaning products?