Tag Archives: indoor air quality

Grow Up…With Vertical Gardening

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green_wall_musee_du_quai_branly_priesnitzMany of the things we’re told to do to deal with environmental issues are negative – stop driving so much, turn off lights and use less power, buy less, etc. Here at Natural Life Magazine, we like to focus on the positives. And in terms of improving both our indoor and outdoor environment, greening (the real kind, using plants) works well.

In a study published in Environmental Science and Technology, British researchers recommended more plants at street level to improve air quality in cities. In fact, they found that the creation of “green walls” or vertical gardens in urban areas could cut pollution by up to thirty percent.

I wrote about this in Natural Life Magazine in 2006, noting that vertical gardens save space, create privacy, reduce dust, remove air pollutants, insulate against temperature extremes and noise, and enhance biodiversity. Not bad for a style of planting that’s been popular for centuries!

And the issue is gaining traction. National Geographic recently published a spread of photos of green walls around the world.

But there’s more. As I have also written, vertical farming in the urban environment is also a way to obtain an abundant local food supply without converting any more fragile ecosystems into farmland. As author and social critic James Howard Kunstler has said, “The age of the 3,000 mile Caesar salad is coming to an end.”

So whether it’s to purify the air, grow some food, or just decorate your surroundings, try planting a wall!

Clean Your House the Non-Toxic Way

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toxic-air-freshenersIt’s almost Spring where I live, and I find myself casting a critical eye on dust, clutter, closet contents, and the various bits of end-of-winter dirt that I see everywhere in my home. Inevitably, at this time of  year, my thoughts turn to cleaning. We don’t use commercial cleaners to get the job done because we know the dangers. A fool-proof way to avoid that is to make them yourself using healthy ingredients you’ll probably find in your refrigerator and cupboard. It’s surprisingly easy, you’ll save money, and your home will smell naturally wonderful. We’ve published many articles on this topic in Natural Life  Magazine over the years. And some of them are on the website for your immediate use. (Of course, there are lots more of them in back issues of Natural Life, and access to twelve years of those is available with your subscription.)

To get you started, here is a list of what’s on the website:

What’s the Dirt on Household Cleaners?

Eleven Steps to a Clean, Green, and Healthy Home

Mold Misery

The Dangers of Antibacterial Soap

Air Fresheners or Air Pollutants?

What’s Wrong With Fabric Softener?

DIY Cleaning Alternatives

And if  downsizing, giving away, and simplifying is on the agenda as well, this article about Taming the Power of Possessions will help. Lastly, this article about Refusing, Reducing, and Reusing will provide plenty of ideas for ways to lessen the trash and clutter in your home.

Happy, healthy cleaning!

If you like these articles, you may also enjoy my book Natural Life Magazine’s  Green and Healthy Homes.

 

Precaution Required With Electromagnetic Fields

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When Rolf and I, newly married in the early 1970s, were shopping for our first house, he was adamant that it wouldn’t be located near high tension power transmission lines. At the time, I humored him but didn’t give his concern much credence. Subsequently, as part of my research for various articles in Natural Life Magazine, I began to bump into research reports that supported his concern about chronic exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMF). And now that small electric appliances and electronic devices are ubiquitous, many of use are living in an electronic smog of low frequency radio waves. And there is more research being done into their effects.

In an article for Natural Life back in 2008, I wrote that the problem could include not just high power transmission lines, but cell phones, cordless phones, wireless internet service, baby monitors, dimmer switches, computer monitors, fluorescent light bulbs, halogen lights, radios, microwave ovens, and regular electrical wiring. These are all things that researchers now say can make some people ill with symptoms that can include nausea, headaches, asthma, chronic fatigue, chronic pain, tinnitus, brain fog, restless sleep and rashes. The illness is sometimes called electrohypersensitivity or EHS. And it may be just the tip of the iceberg, since new research indicates that exposure to EMF may cause damage at the cellular level.

So I was interested to read an article today reporting that some families think their kids are being made sick by Wi-Fi in their elementary schools. Unfortunately, the school board is behaving a bit like I did back in the early ‘70s and disregarding these parents’ concerns. That is in spite of evidence that EMF, like many other harmful things, is a bigger threat to children due to their small size and immature brains and immune systems. At least one of the parents is suggesting he’ll homeschool his children this year unless the Wi-Fi is turned off in favor of regular connectivity.

The anecdotal evidence the parents have presented, as well as the formal research into the problem, should lead the school board to practice the Precautionary Principle: If a policy has a suspected risk of causing harm to the public or the environment, in the absence of scientific consensus that the policy is harmful, the burden of proof that it is not harmful falls on those taking the action.