Prevention first: Don’t wait until you’ve got fleas to treat the issue. You can minimize or kill off flea problems with the following tactics…

Your pet’s diet and exercise routine – a healthy pet is far less likely to be flea affected. Feed your pet like you feed yourself, healthy whole food based meals that are pesticide-free. Try pet food like Natura Pet or Newman’s Own pet food. Give your pet plenty of exercise as well and play often.

Healthy supplements – Talk with a holistic vet about healthy supplements for your pet. You can also try giving your pet dog garlic which has a scent that repels fleas – grate fresh garlic into his food. Brewers yeast is noted as being a good flea repellent supplement for kitties.

Groom tactics – frequently brush and bath your dog – frequently brush your cat as well, although slipping your kitty into a bath could prove more trouble than it’s worth. When brushing pay more attention to areas that get flea infested first like under the legs, on the belly, and around the head and tail.

After prevention comes treatment:

If your prevention tactics didn’t work you may need a flea repelling product. Aim for the least toxic first and move up the treatment ladder. Basic tea tree oil can kill off fleas on dogs (NOT cats) but needs to be diluted in water before you use it. It’s best to speak with a professional aromatherapist or a holistic vet before using. Herbal flea treatments are another option.

To rid your home of fleas clean like mad. You need to vacuum all the floors and upholstered furniture then get rid of the vacuum bag asap. Wash all washables well and send other items to a green dry cleaner.

Washing your pet’s bedding is something you should do regularly even when there’s no fleas around. Also you can sprinkle crushed lavender near the bed to keep fleas away.

See more green flea prevention and treatment tips.

Carbon monoxide (CO): An odorless but highly toxic gas that can come from all sorts of places; wood stoves, furnaces, leaky chimneys, badly ventilated gas stoves, and indoor grilling products.

Health effects: CO at high levels can result in death but it’s still no fun at lower levels which can result in fatigue, nausea, headaches, confusion, impaired coordination and vision and more.

Fight CO: Your home should have a CO detector installed and you need to do a battery check at least every other month.

Mold: Mold while naturally occurring is just as toxic as any other baddie toxin. It’s caused by little spores in the air that settle down and multiply on damp or wet surfaces. Mold is common in basements, at baseboards, in kitchen, near windows, and under sinks.

Health effects: Mold can produce general allergies, but also may cause rash, asthma, and other more serious issues.

Fight mold Make a homemade mold and mildew remover and use it. Once mold sets up camp for a while, it’s much harder to get rid of so prevention before mold invades is key. IF it’s too late and mold is rampant, you can try to get rid of it using more chemicals (which sucks, but you don’t want mold). Check out the CDC guide to mold for more ideas.

VOCs: We’ve talked at length about what VOCs are here before – it’s a lengthy topic. They’re not good at all though and they’re in an insane amount of products.

Health effects: VOCs can irritate your whole body – your skin, muscles, head, eyes, and so on. They can cause coughing, headache, and a ton of other very serious health problems.

Fight VOCs: There are many ways to keep VOCs out of your home which improves both your indoor air quality and health. Read the following for more info:

• The VOC-free Home – 11 Ways to Keep VOCs Out of Your Home
• Use natural and safe household cleaners
• New Ways to Solve Indoor Air Pollution

All in all the company offers, filtered water bottles (great for plastic landfill reduction), shower heads, kitchen units, and a newly launched Wellness home device that filters and enhances water from the source (i.e. all sinks, hoses, shower heads etc).

According to the company, Wellness filters are not like regular filters. They filter 99% of all water containment, bacteria and viruses plus enhance the water by adding minerals and antioxidants that are proven to aid the skin in healing, aging, and increasing skin hydration by 115%. Additionally these cartridges last an extremely long time – about a year for a family of four (1,200 gallons).

The company tells me that they offer a recycling program for the Wellness Kitchen cartridge – although note, I looked around the site and couldn’t find info on any recycling program, so hopefully they can answer specific recycling questions if you contact them. In addition, each cartridge filters and enhances 1,200 gallons of water which is equivalent to more than 9,000 of the standard 500mL plastic bottles which of course saves landfill space (no plastic bottles) and saves you money.

The Wellness MG-III Home system does not use cartridges and provides filtering for an extended life of 7 – 10 years of life before the filtration media need to be replaced.

Visit Wellness Filter to learn more about all their home water filtering products.

The stories you hear about lead in your hot water are true. If you’re used to filling up pots with hot water from the sink, make the switch to cold. Cold water, unlike hot won’t cause lead to leach from your pipes. According to the EPA houses built before 1986 are most likely to have pipes with lead. However, note that even “lead-safe” pipes can contain some lead – cool water is simply a better choice.

Cold water or not you should run water for 15 to 30 seconds before drinking it, especially if you have not used your water for a few hours, this allows any possible lead to drain out before you get to it.

Most tap water is pretty safe. However, if you’re concerned, it’s easy to find out if your water is safe or not. If not you may want to consider a water filter.

Put your water in a safe pitcher – it’s silly to get lead-free water from the sink only to put it in a pitcher that can add lead to the water.

Ceramic pitchers are usually safe if they’ve been sealed properly, but it’s tough to know for sure if handmade products have been sealed well, and in some cases company made products. The FDA placed limits on lead in dishes back in the 80s, but one, not all companies followed through, and two, if you buy your pitcher used, it could be older than the 80s. To make sure your ceramic pitcher is safe check with the manufacturing company or run a quick home lead test.

If you’re using a glass pitcher, make sure the glass is lead-free. Many manufacturers are now making awesome lead-free recycled glass products, including pitchers.

You can also go with stainless steel, which is colder to the touch than other materials, but will keep drinks icy cold without leeching chemicals, lead, or weird flavors into your water or juice. Some ideas below…

• Steeltek Stainless Steel 64-Ounce Water Pitcher
• Classic Water Pitcher – 64 ounce
• MIU France Stainless Steel Serving Pitcher

Formaldehyde is an icky substance that the EPA calls a possible carcinogen found in things like carpet, plastics, synthetic fabrics, and more. You can naturally reduce the amount of formaldehyde in your home with the following plants…

• Peace Lily
• Spider Plant
• Corn Plant
• Christmas Cactus
• Bamboo
• Gerbera Daisy
• Snake Plant

Most of the above bloom even in medium light, so they’re ideal for indoors. The exception is the Corn Plant which does need bright light, but not full sun so choose a sunny window sill.

For more air cleaning plants take a look at an excellent plant chart from Good Magazine.

Lucky Earth “Waterless” Car Wash is Lucky Earth’s signature car care product. It’s made with just water, natural surfactants (the cleaner) derived from coconut, and silicone. According to Lucky Earth, “The surfactants break up and lift the dirt from the vehicle’s surface, while the silicone allows the dirt to be easily whisked away without scratching.  The silicone leaves a smooth feel and glossy shine on automobiles, boats, and all types of motorsports and watercraft.” View the MSDS product sheet (pdf) which notes no toxic ingredients.

I reviewed the 32 oz. spray bottle of “Waterless” Car Wash which provides enough product to wash your car about 7-10 times. The wash doubles as an interior car cleaner, and can be used on the dashboard, leather seats, doors, and any other non-fabric surfaces. This product must be used with microfiber towels and I also got a set of those to review along with the wash.

What I think:

The directions were posted on the bottle and were simple to follow. You spray the wash onto a microfiber towel and the section of the car you’re cleaning. Wipe the section in a sweeping motion with the damp towel then buff the area slightly with a second, dry microfiber towel. The directions also say to lightly pre-rinse areas that are heavily soiled, muddy, or sandy before you use the wash. One, my car doesn’t really get muddy, and two a rinse defeats the whole “waterless” issue so note that I did not do this.

What I liked:

• It worked super well both inside my car and out. My car not only looked clean but nice and shiny; polished. Actually my pal saw my car and thought I did take the time to polish it, but no, I had just used the wash.
• It didn’t scratch, stain, or otherwise harm my car’s exterior or interior.
• Once you do the first round of wiping on a section, a light film appears which is nice because it shows you where you need to buff.
• It was windy out and when I sprayed I’d get a little on my hands but I wasn’t concerned like I might be with a toxic product because of the natural ingredients.
• The towels had enough mass to almost wash my whole, semi-dirty car. In all, I’d suggest you get three to four towels per normal sized car, because I had two I believe, and could have used a third.
• The product is VOC free.
• The towels are reusable and you can hang them to dry.
• The packaging; including the product bottle and the cardboard around the towels is recyclable. PLUS they actually print a recycle reminder on the packaging – you’d be surprised at how many eco-products I review that don’t do this small thing.
• It’s a value. It costs about $15 for a 32oz bottle and at 7-10 washes that’s a steal over water use or commercial drive-to car washes. The bottle was barely used after I washed my car once, and I think my car is small enough that I’ll get about 9 or so washes.
• It’s portable. Take it on an eco-friendly road trip.
• They offer a refill size which is cool because it saves on packaging.
• The company donates 1% of net profits to Heal the Bay and has other company eco-practices in place.

What I didn’t like:

• It’s hard to clean your hubcaps this way. It’s really time consuming. I did a total slacker job simply because I got bored. What I think you should do is grab a spray bottle of water use a little bit of that first on the hubcaps only, then wash.
• The whole process is more time consuming than washing with water. I’ve seen some sites where people say, “Oh waterless car wash takes about 15 minutes.” NOT true. I have a little car and it took me a good hour, and I likely could have done a better job if I took an extra 30 minutes. NOW just to point this out, I listed time as a con, but I don’t personally find it an issue. I know some people will, but I think it’s worth it to save water. Plus my arms got a killer workout with all those sweeping motions.
• You have to use a different cleaner for your windows and carpet. So you do need to buy more than just the wash, but even factoring those costs in, it’s still a good deal.

Overall this product has a few cons, but far more pros and I’d recommend it as useful, eco-friendly, and pretty darn easy if you’ve got the time – and really what’s an hour? I like that it gave me time to chill and think; we’re too hurried in this society anyhow.

What I’d suggest is buying the Starter Kit which comes with “Waterless” Car Wash  32 oz., Tire Shine  16 oz., and 4 Microfiber Towels. As noted, you can’t wash your fabric or car window with any of this so you might also want to get the Upholstery & Carpet Spot Cleaner from Lucky Earth. They don’t offer a glass cleaner, but I like Earth Friendly Product’s Organic Lavender Window Cleaner.

Visit Lucky Earth to learn more.

Still, I know some of us like to shave (even me). I went through a eco-feminist deal where I didn’t shave for years, but when I moved to New Mexico it was so damn hot I had to shave – I mean, as in so hot you want to shave not only your legs but maybe your head too. At that point I looked for eco-shaving options like…

• Shaving less – you can shave, but the fewer times you shave the less resources you use.
• Shave with the water off. Soak your legs as you scrub then turn the water off and shave.
• Use an electric razor. Eco-destruction caused by plastic is far worse than the tiny amount of energy you’ll use with an electric razor
• For the very brave, use an old school razor – you know, the type with a longer lasting metal and replaceable blade.
• Buy recycled razors. Sadly there aren’t so many around. I LOVE the Preserve company. However, in my smack down, Eco vs. Conventional: the Preserve Razor faces the Gillette Razor, Gillette won for function. I’m still looking and considering giving Preserve another shot though.

Shaving cream:

There are so many good good natural, organic, non-toxic, and non aerosol shaving creams on the market today that it’s silly to use anything else. My favorite hands down is vedaDUDE Glide Organic Shave Gel. But you can also try checking Skin Deep for some excellent non-toxic shaving cream and gel choices. Your local natural foods store, co-op, or organic section of the grocery store will have lots more options as well.

Do you shave your legs? What products are your faves?

Talking Combination Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm

A carbon monoxide detector will sound an alarm if gas levels in your home rise to an unsafe level. Carbon monoxide can leak from any poorly maintained fuel burning appliance and an appliance can go wacky without you knowing. Other places carbon monoxide can come from include, kerosene and gas space heaters; leaking chimneys and furnaces; back-drafting from furnaces, gas water heaters, wood stoves, and fireplaces; gas stoves; generators and other gasoline powered equipment; automobile exhaust from attached garages; and tobacco smoke, worn or poorly adjusted and maintained combustion devices (e.g., boilers, furnaces) or nearby auto, truck, or bus exhaust.

If you’re exposed to carbon monoxide at low levels you may feel fatigue or chest pain. At high concentrations, carbon monoxide can cause impaired vision and coordination; headaches; dizziness; confusion; nausea, flu-like symptoms, angina, impaired vision, and reduced brain function. CO exposure can be fatal. A carbon monoxide detector can actually save your life and all homes should have at least one.

The U.S. Surgeon General and EPA recommend that all homes be tested for radon. Radon, a radioactive gas that you can’t see, smell or taste, can pose a danger to your family’s health. Radon is the most common cause of lung cancer (after smoking) and claims about 20,000 lives annually. Studies show that it’s found in all 50 states and that one out of every 15 homes has an elevated radon level.

According to the EPA, radon can creep into your home through…

1. Cracks in solid floors
2. Construction joints
3. Cracks in walls
4. Gaps in suspended floors
5. Gaps around service pipes
6. Cavities inside walls
7. The water supply

Luckily testing for radon only takes minutes and is easy to do. Learn how to test for radon.

Testing your home air quality is just one part of the puzzle. You need to also keep mold in check, keep icky chemicals out of your home, and take daily steps to improve your indoor air quality.

Source Toothbrush shown above

Green your toothbrush:

When it comes to toothbrushes, plenty end up in the landfill. Right now there are about 306,856,031 people in the U.S. alone. Since most experts advise changing your toothbrush every 3-4 months, not to mention after an illness, that’s an astounding number of brushes used, most of which are plastic. Some better choices for an eco-friendly toothbrush include…

Preserve toothbrushes: The handle is made from 100% recycled plastic and when it’s time for a new toothbrush you can send the toothbrush and case back to Preserve using their postage-paid label and your old toothbrush will be re-processed into plastic lumber for picnic tables, boardwalks and decks. Preserve also makes BPA-free recycled toothbrushes for kids.

Source Toothbrush from Radius: Made with 93% recycled material and 47% renewable resource material. Handles are molded from recycled US dollar bills/recycled flax and recycled wood all blended with recycled polypropylene resulting in a bio-plastic that is 100% renewable or recycled. The head can be changed so you can keep the handle forever.

Acca Kappa Bioceta Toothbrush: Made with biodegradable resin, non-toxic, natural bristles.

Monte Bianco: Resource-efficient toothbrushes (read more at Treehugger)

Green your mouthwash:

Making your own mouthwash is a good eco-option. It cuts down on chemicals and packaging issues. Learn to make your own mouthwash. Note homemade mouthwash won’t have fluoride – the fluoride debate is discussed in the last post.

Read an in-depth piece about natural mouthwash, along with brands to try.

Green your dental floss:

Most dental floss is not biodegradable. You can use a longer lasting water or non-water pick, or choose a more eco-friendly floss.

• Cranberry Floss
• Tom’s of Maine floss
• Smart floss

Green your dentist:

Some dentists have recently gone green. More likely will soon now that the Eco-Dentistry Association has launched. Click the previous link to learn about how you can find a green dentist, how you can get your dentist to go green, and learn about tips for greener teeth care.