GROW - tips for LiViNG green! - Tip 006 - toothpaste marketing

Tip 006- toothpaste

Once again - marketing has so cleverly wormed its way into your pocket book! 


A friend of mine told me that his father used to work at a toothbrush company (one of the big ones).  They were trying to figure out ways that they could increase SALES!...so the old opening (rectangle) was changed to a circle opening; then, a swirl was added (to commercials and marketing materials) to show people how THEY want you to use the toothpaste!  this tripled the sales.


Obviously, ANY company wants to make money, and thats not the problem here.  I think what bothers me most are these deliberate 'tactics' that annoy me.  


So when you are squeezing that toothpaste tomorrow morning; just remember...you REALLY dont need a ton of toothpaste - or the swirl.  Those things just make the toothpaste companies richer.


simple drawing in illustrator CS5 by me

GROW - tips for LiViNG green! - Tip 005 - perfume - try something natural

Tip 005 - perfume


Reduce your use of perfume, or eliminate it altogether!  


Marketing companies in America; have once again convinced the public that by using these perfumes; you will gain status, live glamously, you will be more attractive, etc.


But PLEASE people consider this:
perfume is usually a chemical bathed in formaldehyde!  how does smelling like chemicals make you a better, more attractive person? 


Believe me; my nose is very sensative, and most perfumes to me-smell like bug spray, not roses or the beach.  


Whats worse, are the body sprays. In fact, most of them still contain harmfull propellents (which make them spray).  


If you need a little extra scent, i recommend zumbar and deep steep natural fragrances.  


We have to stop thinking that adding chemicals to our bodies will resolve 'THE STINK'.  you gotta wash that stink off!  and you dont do that by using chemicals!  it just masks it.  


As far as being more glamourous, or have a better social status...well, thats up to YOU to determine...not some faux idea of that; conjured up by a marketing company; which has NO CLUE WHO YOU ARE! :-)

GROW - tips for LiViNG green! - Tip 004 - water cleaning

Tip 004 - replace chemicals with water

Try this - when you are cleaning your house/apt; think about the amount of spray you use.

Start with water - then to disinfect give it a 'once over' with your favorite cleaning product.

Regarding your favorite product - WHY is it your favorite?

Some times WE get used to the idea of buying the same products over and over...just because its something we have said 'this works'. But rather than 'following' your regular brand, you REALLY should 'switch it up' - try something new.

some window cleaning products show 2 spritz from the spray bottle to clean a tiny mirror. why not try 1?

when you are cleaning tough messes in the kitchen, you should first use a reuseable sponge or my favorite - a dish brush; to cut down on the papertowel consumption. your cleaning time will be cut in half, and by using water, your chemical consumption is also reduced.

think about this - when you reduce the amount of chemicals you use, it in turn slows the process of the supply and demand...how that factory has now a smaller demand. this is a VERY small step...but its a start :-)

i like seventh generation - http://www.seventhgeneration.com

i still recommend starting with water.

GROW - tips for LiViNG green! - Tip 003 - new years resolution diets

This New Years - a lot of people have made resolutions regarding diet and exercise.

This is great! A fresh start. A new year.

However, what soon follows are the daily tasks, stress and destractions that impede the original plans for a healthy lifestyle.

The key to a successful health plan; is to understand that it is a LIFE CHANGE and not a diet.

By that, I mean that your whole relationship (that YOU have with food) should be throughly examined.  


THE #1 RULE is to eat ONLY when you are hungry! 


Do you eat because you are bored?  or when you are angry?  


Do you say, "i need some comfort food"?  


Americans always seem to associate foods with comfort.  When REALLY, food is about getting  our bodies full of nutrition/energy.  FUEL.  


So many people diet, and when the diet ends, they go back to their over eating and the junk foods.  


If we understand that food needs to supply our body with nutrients - then why do we have constant cravings for garbage?  


Part of the problem; is that garbage foods usually contain addictive ingredients, in order to:

• KEEP US AS CUSTOMERS
• CONTINUE OUR CONSUMING
• ADD TO CORPORATE PROFIT

well, that has NOTHING TO DO WITH FUELing OUR BODY!  


When you decide to change your relationship with food, and ASK yourself 
WHY AM I EATING THIS?  you will begin to gain an understanding.


Good Luck with those resolutions!

GROW - tips for LiViNG! - Tip 002 - chemical use - soaps

Man, there are alot of "SMELLS" out there!

Have YOU ever considered what the effects of perfume/soap could be on yourself; and others?

Think about this - perfume and soaps are usually chemicals.

For an example only; lets use an old 'tried an true' soap - IVORY.

The commercials say that it gets you 'clean' ...right.

Think about this...doesnt water pretty much do the same thing?

If you get dirty in the yard...water can wash that dirt right off.

Too many people in this country have been convinced by corporations that they need to get chemicalized - to get a sense of being clean...when really, its only adding nonsense to your body (perfume does NOT = CLEAN)

From wikipedia - here are the ingredients in Ivory soap -

Ingredients

The Ivory soap bar (classic) had contained: sodium tallowate, sodium cocoate or sodium palm kernelate, water, sodium chloride, sodium silicate, magnesium sulfate, and fragrance.^[6] The soap bar had a determined pH value: 9.5.^[7]

New varieties of Ivory soap contain altered ingredients, such as in "Simply Ivory" (or "simplement ivory"): sodium tallowate and/or sodium palmate, water, sodium cocoate or sodium palm kernelate, glycerin, sodium chloride, fragrance, one or more of the following: coconut acid, palm kernel acid, tallow acid or palm acid, and tetrasodium EDTA.^[3]

EDTA -

The compound was first described in 1935 by Ferdinand Munz, who prepared the compound from ethylenediamine and chloroacetic acid.^[2] Today, EDTA is mainly synthesised from ethylenediamine (1,2-diaminoethane), formaldehyde, and sodium cyanide.^[3] This route yields the sodium salt, which can be converted in a subsequent step into the acid forms:

In this way, about 80M kilograms are produced each year. Impurities cogenerated by this route include glycine and nitrilotriacetic acid; they arise from reactions of the ammonia coproduct.^[4

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So, now you tell me how THAT (the above) determins that you are clean? as opposed to just using water?

It seems to me that rather than cleaning OFF the 'dirty', its an application of chemicals and fragrance (of course; with the exception of the chelating ingredient...which can be drying AND/OR damaging).

I like zum bar - orange /patchouli - check out their ingredients:

Saponified 100% food grade olive, coconut, palm & castor oils, in a goat's milk base, with herbs, pure essential oils, mineral pigments and aloe.

We cant totally escape being chemicalized...but we DO have the choice to not be fooled by large corporations convincing us that we CLEAN via toxification.

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GROW - tips for LiViNG! - Tip 001

GROW - tips for LiViNG! - Tip 001 - reduce energy consumption

One might question; 'where DOES electricity come from' - 'how is it made?'

Although this idea, or thought may seem 'simple' to some...I am quite sure that most people really dont know that answer.

So, my first tip of the year is;

In order to understand how and WHY we need to conserve energy; we must first understand where it comes from, and knowing that will HOPEFULLY help us to understand why we need to reduce our energy consumption.

http://www.alliantenergykids.com/EnergyBasics/AllAboutElectricity/000419

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GROW - tips for LiViNG!

GROW - tips for LiViNG! - Intro

This blog is about tips for living in the modern world. With so many influences; the public (especially the American Public) has been convinced to use chemicals to lighten, brighten, improve and enhance their lives - all to the benefit of corporate gain.

I am suggesting that we RECLAIM our existence - RECLAIM our BRAIN!

Think logically when we use these products - TO OUR BENEFIT.

All of the content within this blog - is solely based on MY thoughts and experiences in life.

The 'TIPS" are also mere suggestions to make people think and to UNCONDITION society.

I am not a 'green' expert; nor am i a nutritionist. I am just like everyone else in this country. a consumer- who is tired of contributing to the chain of supply and demand.

I want to make a difference in the world and how we live in that world; in order to make it a BETTER world. ya dig?

enjoy! life! :-)