Healthy Travel Tips

Your best bet for staying healthy on the road or anywhere else for that matter, is to keep your immune system strong. While anitbiotics or Tamiflu may shorten the length of time you're ill by a few days, there is no cure. Flu vaccines reduce the risk of catching the bug, but only protect about 39% of the people who take the shot.

Here's how I keep my immune system strong:

• Avoid stress. I get outside--hike, bike, or just take a walk! Being in nature is a healing balm, the wonder and beauty relaxes me and reminds me of the order and grace that exists regardless of what the balance is in my IRA account.
• Increase Vitamin D. Most adults in the US suffer from an acute shortage of vitamin D. 15 minutes of sun a day on my legs and arms will boosts my levels to normal and helps protect your immune system. Yet another reason to get outside on my vacation.
• Increase exercise. Our sedentary lifestyle contributes to our weak immune system. I spend an hour a day walking and on vacation, I hike for hours.
• A Breath of Fresh Air. I avoid toxic places and stay out of hospitals and gyms (with the exception of the Sedona Spa which is hyper vigilant about keeping the place sanitized). 92% of indoor air is more polluted than outdoor air. I open the windows at least 45 minutes a day, except during heavy pollen seasons, ozone or air quality alerts. I avoid staying in places that have been remodeled within six months--most likely the carpet, paint, drywall, and other materials will be out gassing toxins like formaldehyde and other respiratory irritants and carcinogens.
  
• Insist on Truly Smoke-free Lodging. Enforcement can be lax unless the establishment is committed to healthy practices. And a smoke-free room on a smoking floor is still a smoking room. I use http://www.smoke-freehotels.com/ to find lodging on the road.

Can We Strain Carbon Dioxide Out of the Air?

While worries about the stock market, the auto industry, and just about everything to do with the economy are making the front pages of every daily newspaper, worries about global warming have never left the front of our minds. According to most scientists, the Earth is getting warmer, and the environment is already suffering for it. And those same scientists mostly agree that the problem has been created by the amount of carbon dioxide in the air.

While reducing carbon emissions and conserving energy are considered by most to be hugely important steps in reducing or reversing global warming, scientists and researchers have also been considering other ideas. And one new idea that you may not have heard of is CO2 capture plants.

Carbon Capture and Storage
This new idea, called Carbon Capture and Storage (or CCS for short) is a new project that has been widely supported by Britain's Gordon Brown. Europe's plan? To build ten or so carbon capture plants around the European Union by 2015. These plants will be built next to energy production plants (such as coal burning power stations) and will capture and store CO2 as it's created by the burning of coal.

These specialized power stations will cost anywhere from two to three times as much as traditional coal-burning plants. Funding the project will cost the European Union a fortune, requiring subsidies of up to ten billion euros. And most are in agreement that the extra cost is well worth it.

What CSS Does
Like any new technology, there are positives and negatives to Carbon Capture and Storage. While using these plants alongside traditional coal power plants may hugely reduce European carbon emissions, some environmentalists worry about storage issues with CCS. The general plan of the EU is to capture carbon emissions, compacting the carbon dioxide, and permanently storing it in unused sites-- almost like another kind of waste (like landfills).

While the idea of permanently storing CO2 may seem to be less progressive than simply reducing carbon emissions, CCS technology may be an approachable, practical solution for a world which is not yet ready to give up on fossil fuels. Though different parts of the world use different fuels to create most of their power, the EU will be getting about 60% of their power from coal burning by 2030, and this energy source is widely used throughout Asia and in much of the Americas, as well. With coal use spreading, the installation of Carbon Capture and Storage plants will help to hugely reduce the amount of damage these power stations can do to the environment.

According to researchers, the ten to twelve plants being planned in the European Union alone may reduce carbon emissions by 400 million tons per year by the year 2030. This reduction in CO2 makes up about a fifth of the entire CO2 reduction planned in the EU during the next couple of decades. Making CCS technology a large step towards a very important goal.


For now, funding is under discussion, and not all European leaders are in agreement about how to implement CCS. But while the fate of Carbon Capture and Storage in the European Union is still undecided, the fact that this technology is being implemented is like a ray of hope to Europe and the rest of the world. This sort of practical solution may be just what the world needs during the transition to a greener lifestyle. Hopefully, we will eventually be able to meet our energy needs without polluting our atmosphere at all. In the meantime, Carbon Capture and Storage isn't a bad start.
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Conscious Holiday Consumer: Real or Fake Christmas Tree?

Is it more responsible to buy an artificial tree you can reuse again and again or to chop down a tree for Christmas?

Last year, I bought a tree and planted it. But there is no more room for planting trees in my area, so this year, I was "stumped" ho-ho, about what to do for a Christmas tree. I went looking for answers that matched my concerns for the environment and my family's health. What I found surprised me.

I discovered most artificial trees on the market were made in China and contain lead and can out-gas hazardous chemicals into the air. Given that indoor air is likely to be two times more polluted than outdoor air, I figured why add to that risk?

I also learned that I'm not really taking a tree out of the forest when I buy a cut tree. US farmers grow Christmas trees as a crop, replanting the trees every year. No forest is cut down. If I find a tree that isn't sprayed with green spray paint (yes, they do that to make it more uniform in color) or sprayed with fire retardant, I can avoid exposing my family to more toxins. And if I chip the tree up after Christmas for mulch or reuse it in another way, a cut tree is my greenest choice.

In our guest homes, we don't put up religious or secular decorations out of respect for the many cultural backgrounds of our guests. You will find festive lights twinkling and a box of decorations made of natural materials for guests who will celebrate solistice or Christmas. The box includes a sparkly tree made of repurposed wire and crystals that don't out-gas. Now I can start worrying about whether or not the wire has lead in it...

Green Your Living Space With Style

Bau-Biologie,™ a term that originated in Germany, is used to describe a movement promoting the use of healthy building principles as a means to improve living and work spaces and the health of people who occupy them. We use principles like these to design, furnish, and greenovate the vacation rentals in Arizona and Florida.

25 Principles of Bau-Biologie, By Anton Schneider, PhD

1. A building site shall be geologically undisturbed.
2. Residential homes are best located away from industrial centers and main traffic routes.
3. Housing shall be developed in a decentralized and loose manner interlaced with sufficient green space.
4. Housing and developments shall be personalized, in harmony with nature, fit for human habitation and family oriented.
5. Natural and unadulterated building materials shall be used.
6. Walls, floors and ceilings shall be diffusible and hygroscopic.
7. Indoor air humidity shall be regulated naturally.
8. Air pollutants need to be filtered and neutralized.
9. An appropriate balance of thermal insulation and heat retention is needed.
10. The air and surface temperatures of a given room need to be optimized.
11. A heating system shall feature radiant heat using as much (passive) solar heat as possible.
12. The total moisture content of a new building shall be low and dry out quickly.
13. A building shall have a pleasant or neutral smell. No toxins shall outgas.
14. Light, lighting and color shall be in accord with natural conditions.
15. Protective measures against noise pollution as well as infrasonic and ultrasonic vibrations need to be human oriented.
16. Only building materials with little or preferably no radioactivity shall be used.
17. The natural balance of atmospheric electricity and ion concentration shall be maintained.
18. The Earth’s natural magnetic field shall not be altered or distorted.
19. Man-made electromagnetic radiation shall be eliminated (or reduced as much as possible).
20. Cosmic and terrestrial radiation is essential and shall be interfered with as little as possible.
21. Interior and furniture design shall be based on physiological findings.
22. Harmonic measures, proportions and shapes need to be taken into consideration.
23. The production, installation and disposal of building materials shall not contribute to environmental pollution and high energy costs.
24. Building activities shall not contribute to the exploitation of non-renewable and rare resources.
25. Building activities shall not cause a rise in social and medical costs.

Do "Green" Cleaners Really Work?

After my August 13 post about the dangers of house cleaning, a few of you, including one of our house cleaners, asked me if green cleaning products really clean, can green cleaning sanitize surfaces like toilets and countertops? I say yes, because our homes can't be sterilized anyway, no surface stays santized for long.

If that's not enough for you, consider the alternatives. "Disinfectants can be poisonous--they're regulated as pesticides..." says Lori Bongiono, author of Green, Greener, Greenest.

~Water evaporating--air drying, is actually a good way to get rid of germs. I clean with hot water to increase the odds. Studies show air dried dishes have 74% less bacteria and germs than towel dried dishes.

~A super-hooked microfiber cloth and hot water is an affordable choice that works on 90% of household messes. Rubbing alcohol and baking soda work on tougher stains.

~I confess, I keep a caustic cleaner on hand, outside in the shed, for the remaining 1% I can't remove with my green cleaning methods. But almost all of the time, my house is fragrance and chemical free.

~The toilets get baking soda for scrubbing and vinegar for sanitizing.

How to Protect Your Health--Beware Deadly House Cleaning

Staying in a clean vacation rental, classroom, office, or home should not increase our risks of sinus problems, asthma symptoms, reproductive harm, damage to our lungs, and exposure to carcinogens (causes cancer). But it does.

Toxic Teddy Bears? Everyday, we use products that expose us to toxins that impact our health, indoor air pollution, and water quality. For me, going green means making better choices about how I take care of myself and in turn, my loved ones, which includes the planet.

The Law of Diminishing Returns. I focus 80% of my green choices on Indoor Air Quality (IAQ). I avoid smoke of all kinds, VOCs, toxic cleaning products, chemical pesticides, and toxic building materials.

Toxic Building Materials. Many conventional building materials contain formaldehyde, carcinogens (cause cancer), and radon. I stay away from the biggest offenders, granite counter tops, paint and all other finishes with VOCs, carpet and flooring glues, treated wood, drywall. I use "no VOC" paints and finishes, glues, and flooring adhesives. If I have to use drywall or thinset mortar for tile installation, I make sure the house is unoccupied for the period of time the material is outgassing icky formaldehyde and other poisons. Check with the manufacturer for specifications--usually tile related materials take 48 hours. Carpet and other glues can take up to one year.

Fuming Furniture. The majority of affordable cabinetry and furniture available at Home Depot, Lowes, Walmart, Ikea, and similar stores is made of MDF, Medium Density Fiberboard which is loaded with toxic VOCs. While it is exciting to find the low prices on these prefab bathroom vanities, dressers, bookcases, and entertainment centers, we end up paying a higher price with our health.

VOC-free MDF is available, but none of the stores I've checked can determine if their manufacturers use it. Tony Spinelli, of Cabinets by Sun Ray informs me that his supplier carriers a VOC free MDF for about the same cost as the toxic MDF. I can't wait to get my new kitchen cabinets now that I found a source that won't break the bank.

Clean Green Breathing Machines. The U.S. EPA’s Indoor Air Quality Program states that aerosol sprays, cleaners and disinfectants, moth repellents and air fresheners contain dangerous VOCs.

All purpose cleaners, glass cleaners such as Windex, tub, tile, grout cleaners and sealers , degreasers, carpet cleaners, stain removers, floor strippers and cleaners, metal polishes, and oven cleaners contain endocrine disrupting chemicals such as butoxyethanol and other glycol ethers.

Laundry detergents like Tide, multi-purpose cleaners, floor care products and carpet cleaners, non-chlorine sanitizers, toilet bowl cleaners and deodorizers contain harmful APEs. Look for products that use alcohol ethoxylates (sometimes listed as ethoxylated alcohols) instead.

Alkyl phenol ethoxylates (APEs) are surfactants found in laundry detergents, stain
removers, and all-purpose cleaners, which have been found to reduce embryo survival in fish and alter tadpole development. APEs contaminate rivers and streams, and have also been found in household dust.

Over Exposed. School children and janitorial and domestic workers show a much higher prevelence of asthma than those who are not exposed to cleaning chemicals on a daily basis according to numerous studies. Monoethanolamine (MEA), a surfactant found in some laundry detergents, all-purpose cleaners and floor cleaners is a known inducer of occupational asthma.

Ammonium quaternary compounds, disinfectants found in some disinfectant sprays and toilet cleaners that have been identified as inducers of occupational asthma.
Phthalates, carriers for fragrance in glass cleaners, deodorizers, laundry detergents and fabric softners, and are linked to increased allergic symptoms and asthma in children.

A 2004 report from the National Center for Health Statistics states that the incidence of asthma among preschool-aged children rose by 160% between 1980 and 1994, accounting for 14 million missed school days each year and $3.2 million in treatment expenses.

Air fresheners usually contain VOCs such as xylene, ketones and aldehydes as well as benzene and formaldehyde, both of which are known carcinogens. Air fresheners may also contain fragrances--irritants associated with watery eyes, headaches, skin and respiratory irritation, asthma and allergic reactions. Exposure to phthalates, which carry the fragrances in these products, usually aggravates asthma and is linked to reproductive harm, specifically reduced sperm count in men.

UW engineering professor Anne Steinemann analyzed of some of these popular items and found 100 different volatile organic compounds measuring 300 parts per billion or more -- some of which can be cancerous or cause harm to respiratory, reproductive, neurological and other organ systems.

Some of the chemicals are categorized as hazardous or toxic by federal regulatory agencies. But the labels tell a different story, naming only innocuous-sounding "perfume" or "biodegradable" contents.

"Consumers are breathing these chemicals," she said. "No one is doing anything about it."

Industry representatives say that isn't so.

"Dr. Steinemann's statement is misleading and disingenuous," said Chris Cathcart, president of the Washington, D.C.-based Consumer Specialty Products Association, in a statement.

"Air fresheners, laundry products and other consumer specialty products are regulated under the Federal Hazardous Substances Act and subsequently have strict labeling requirements," he said. "Companies producing products that are regulated under FHSA must name on the product label each component that contributes to the hazard."

Okay, so the label may tell us it's toxic and researchers have numerous reports of people -- particularly those with asthma, chemical sensitivities and allergies -- having strong adverse reactions. I'm one of those people. That's enough research for me!

When restaurant owners and airplane cleaners use air fresheners, or when vacation rentals wash towels and sheets in scented laundry supplies its a problem for me. And even when the concentrations are low in individual products, I'm exposed to multiple sources on a daily basis. That's why at home and on the road, I do my best to hang out in healthy homes owned by people who:

~Change HVAC air filters at least once every three months
~Use Permanent or high allergen filters
~Open the windows for a minimum of 45 minutes a day for fresh air
~Eliminate or minimize use of products with synthetic fragrances. This includes "essential oils." Being an "essential oil" does NOT mean it is healthy. Most oils have synthetic fragrance additives.
~Don't bother with HEPA filters on vacuums and other equipment unless you change them regularly. Most filters don't work, especially when they're filled with dirt.
~Never allow smoking of any kind.
~Eliminate or reduce materials made of MDF, particle board, glued woods, carpet, or vinyl
~Eliminate pans with Teflon
~Ventilate and leave the house for at least 48 hours after applications of StainMaster, StainGuard products and installation of drywall and other building
materials.
~Use no or low VOC paints, sprays, adhesives whenever possible
~Cross ventilate or exhaust fans in use to minimize mold growth
~Do not allow pets on soft materials, upholstery where dander cannot be removed
~Burn only unscented, beeswax or chemical free candles. Many wicks contain lead and candle waxes have carcinogenic scents and additives.

Photo by Steve Beinhorn