| Brad Yeutter | Feb 12, 2008 07:42 PM (UTC) |
Living green is more than just re-using a canvas bag at the grocery store. It is more than purchasing a hybrid car. It is so much more than these things.
It is about making healthy choices for yourself and your family. Choices that will have farther reaching impact than just showing off to other people that you are green. Watch the episode of Southpark about the growing Smug for a good laugh and some rather scathing social commentary about the green movement.
I am not however writing about the level of smugness that we feel trying to protect the earth. I am writing about how companies cynically endanger us to make a buck.
When little Jennifer Smith of Salt Lake City, UT was but a year old she crawled over to the dishwasher while her mother was unloading the dishes. She put her small finger in the detergent dispensing cup and ate a finger full of wet but un-dissolved commercial dish detergent. In minutes her face was red and blistered, the inside of her mouth and tongue were burned white. Luckily she was rushed to a nearby hospital emergency room for quick medical attention. She recovered in a few days.
Another documented case was a 20 month old boy who had to be fed through tubes for five months and suffered through many operations. Again, the culprit was dishwasher detergent.
This is only two of thousands of cases reflecting children ingesting and being exposed to, what most consider common household products, terrible life threatening consequences.
It is estimated that the U.S. Poison Control Center has nearly 1.5 million reported cases of accidental ingestion of poisons every year. Sadly most of these cases were under 12 years of age.
Have you ever wondered what the strong odor in the cleaners isle of your supermarket is?
Ingestion is only one of three major ways that these products enter the body. Inhalation is even for more dangerous because when breathed in these harmful chemicals go directly into the blood stream and can quickly affect the lungs, heart, brain liver and kidneys.
By the way, that strong smell in your supermarket cleaner isle is caused by what industry experts describe as "out gassing". Out gassing is the vapors escaping from the "sealed" containers on the supermarkets shelves. Which obviously are extremely harmful to your health.
Have you ever been literally driven out of your bathroom shower while using one of the most popular tile cleaners? These types of cleaners must contain strong chemicals in order to do the job. The job may get done but you are at risk from the strong vapors that are generated. By the time you have exited the bathroom the chemical vapors have entered your blood stream and are wrecking havoc with your health.
Where are your rubber gloves?
Do you know that one square centimeter of skin (the size of a dime) contains 3 million cells and 4 yards of nerves? How do you think nicotine and hormone replacement patches work? Do the chemicals somehow enter the body from the patch through the skin to do their work? Of course they do.
This same absorption occurs every time a cleaning product touches your skin. By the way, if your baby happens to crawl across your nicely scrubbed kitchen floor, even several days after, the skin will pick up and absorb whatever harmful chemicals happen to be in the cleaner.
Consumer Beware!
Why isn't the consumer informed and protected from the potentially dangerous chemicals contained in cleaning and personal care products?
The government has very limited power to regulate and require proper testing.
Products that kill 50% of lab animals can still get designated as "non-toxic".
Of 17,000 household chemicals only about 5,100, or approximately 30%, have been adequately tested and less than 10% have been tested on the nervous system.
No law requires manufactures to list the exact ingredients on the package label.
Kind of scary isn't it.
You can stop this type of cynical abuse by large corporations by not purchasing their products. Look for viable alternatives made by companies that have your well being in mind!
Veriuni all natural Cleaners are just such a company. Veriuni uses all natural ingredients that are biodegradeable, breaking down without the production of microtoxins. Veriuni products are also packaged with labeling and plastic that have been recycled. They are also ultra concentrated so that you can reduce the amount of plastic that you are throwing away. Just one bottle of the Veriuni All purpose cleaner makes 128 quarts of ready to use product. That costs out at around 10 cents per quart. (Last time I looked, the most popular All natural cleaner in the supermarket was around $4.99!)
You owe it to yourself and your family to check out the Veriuni Line. Go to http://www.moreinfo247.com/9240340.92/VCL for more information.
Quit paying the corporate giants to disregard your family's health! Companies look at bottom line figures to decide what is working and what is not. They spend huge amounts to find out what consumer buying patterns are. Why? Because they can not make money if they are not offering what you want!
If you take your money elswhere, start buying more environmentally freindly products you are telling the corporate giants that you want them to be more socially responsible. Companies like SC Johnston will find out what you are buying and research how to make a comparable product.
The retail consumer goods industry works like this. If they already have you as a paying customer they flat out do not care. They will hold focus groups and conduct surveys so that you think they are listening. This is just to keep you buying the product lines they already have in place! Do not fall for it. Certainly there is a turnaround time for new product development. However, They want to generate more market share. Consumers that are not already customers are who they target. Targeting people already buying their products is kind of like preaching to the chior.
When you take your dollars elswhere you are telling the corporate giants that the need to shape up.
above it is stated that the government has very little power to require proper testing or to regulate these companies.
Tell your politicians that they need to make and enforce the laws. Our governement has absolute power. Unfortunately today's government is run by lobbyists not politicians. Lobbyists are professionals that get paid very well to sway the opinion of politicians. They have HUGE expense accounts at their disposal to basically buy your congresspeople!
Take away this power. Take your business elswhere. Check out http://www.moreinfo247.com/9240340.93/VCL today and start telling the large corporations that you are tired of their cynical abuse of you and your family!