Blogs

With a whole store full of products to choose from, I'm often asked which products I use at home. I've pretty much tried everything we have at one stage or another and have developed a few favourites based on what works in my hands. I'm definitely not a clean freak but I like to know that certain areas of the house, in particular the toilets and kitchen are not turning into science experiments.

When the federal government finally approved the scheme to pay householders for returning solar generated power "back to the grid" from the 1st January 2010, everyone got excited. We would still get those "generous" rebates for having solar panels installed on our homes but now we could justify getting bigger, more expensive panels to make more electricity than we could use to sell back to the electricity providers at an amazing 60c per kilowatt hour generated.

Keeping your manicured and painted nails looking good can be tiresome and expensive. Why not just use house paint? Yes, I'm being facetious, but it is true that house paint and nail polish have many ingredients in common. Ingredients such as toluene, formaldehyde, phthalates and acetates produce toxic VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds) as house paints dry and for an undetermined period afterwards. In fact, less than 50% of VOCs are released in the first year after painting.

The Australian Dental Association stated in January that there is a tooth decay epidemic. They say that 48% of all Australian children have untreated dental decay. Their president, Dr Neil Hewson admits that tooth decay is on the rise.

And yet, the majority of Australians are drinking fluoridated water for the sole purpose of keeping children’s teeth free from decay. It appears, Dr Hewson, that the fluoride experiment of the past 50+ years is NOT WORKING.

With water fluoridation due to start in the Hastings region some time this year, we thought we should try to get an idea of how much fluoride we’re already being exposed to on a day-to-day basis by testing urinary fluoride levels of some helpful locals before we start drinking fluoridated water. Our state health officials are constantly telling us that we need fluoride in our water to prevent tooth decay, but what if we’re already getting it from other sources? Will we still need it? What if we’re already getting too much?