Editor’s note: This week, Lighter Footstep’s Chris Baskind takes a look at something most of us use every day: soap. This post was originally published on July 31, 2007.

For more information on products that may contain sodium laureth sulfate, see Jennifer’s post on "natural" beauty products.

Well, they smell good, at least.

But take a look at the label of your favorite hand soap, shampoo, or body wash. The first listed ingredient is likely water — followed by sodium laureth sulfate (SLES) or some closely related compound.

Sodium laureth sulfate does the heavy lifting in most of the personal cleaning products on your shelf, right down to toothpaste. It’s a cheap and powerful foaming agent, and it’s foam’s ability to suspend dirt before it gets rinsed off which makes things clean. While concerns have been raised from time to time about sodium laureth sulfate’s long-term safety, nothing has really stuck. SLES is an entrenched part of our daily lives.

It’s also a detergent. While detergents are sometimes called "soaps," there’s a difference. Soaps are derived from fats; detergents are synthetic.

Detergents and Your Skin

As a detergent, sodium laureth sulfate is gangbusters. It may actually be too effective for some people, stripping the skin of necessary moisture. If you have dermatitis or certain other skin conditions, SLES may make things worse. And then there are all the other chemicals present in modern hand soaps and body washes.

Switching to real soap may provide relief to some people with sensitive skin. But it’s more than that — soap making is an art, and good soap can be an eco-friendly and relatively inexpensive luxury.

Soaps are different from detergents in that they’re derived from fats and oils. The Egyptians made crude forms of soaps — though they were used for things like wool making, not washing. Modern soaps are primarily fashioned from vegetable oils, and owe their basic formulations to Arab recipes dating from the 7th century.

Being Kinder to Yourself

Commercial soaps are comparatively poor in glycerine content and may dry the skin. But handmade soaps are rich in moisturizers and replenish the body’s oils as they wash away dirt. This is the sort of balance many people find refreshing after years of exposure to harsh, detergent-based personal care products.

There are as many varieties of handmade soaps as the oils which are used to make them. But the classic base is olive oil, which has been used therapeutically for centuries. Olive oil contains oleic acid, linolenic, and alpha-lenolenic, — which assist skin in the natural production of prostaglandin — along with a variety of antioxidants. Other common soap making oils include palm, jojoba, almond, and coconut.

While many natural soaps are unscented — a good thing for people with sensitive skin — they’re often scented with combinations of aromatic oils and colored by natural dyes and clays. These ingredients can sometimes produce allergic reactions, so pay attention to what’s in your soap and how you react to it. But it’s variety of traditional soaps which lends them so much charm: their colors, scents, and textures.

Where to Find Natural Soaps

Switching from detergents to natural soaps also provides an opportunity to support local artisans. In addition to well-known national brands such as Kiss My Face, your neighborhood natural foods store or gift shop probably stocks soaps made in your own region. Craft shows are another place to meet area soap makers. And a quick Google search for natural soaps will yield plenty of online options.

So get the chemical detergents off your shelf — and enjoy the eco-friendly world of natural soaps.

Editor’s note: Household paint can be a toxic substance that keeps on giving off VOCs long after it’s dried. This week, Lighter Footstep editor Chris Baskind points us to a healthier, greener alternative to common paints: milk paint. This post was originally published on July 17, 2007.

By now, a lot of people have heard about the hazards of VOCs — Volatile Organic Compounds. In this case, “organic” doesn’t mean they’re good for you.

VOCs are a toxic soup of carbon-based molecules such as ketones, aldehydes, and hydrocarbons. Indoors, they escape from a variety of things you probably take for granted: certain kinds of treated wood, carpeting, plastics, cleaning supplies — even cosmetics. And VOCs vapors tend to hang around.

How big a problem is this? The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has research showing that indoor air can be 2 to 5 times more polluted than the air you breathe outside. Exposure in effected homes and businesses is chronic, and VOCs are a big contributor to “sick building syndrome.”

A major source of VOCs is household paint. Fortunately, paint manufacturers are getting on the low- or zero-VOC bandwagon, from specialty companies like AFM to old-guard names such as Sherwin Williams.

Concern about VOCs has also led to a revival in milk paint. Milk has been used as a pigment base for thousands of years: it’s cheap, widely available, and imparts a rich glow that was very popular until locally-made paint was displaced by the convenience of non-perishable oils around the middle of the 19th century.

Milk paints hung on as a craft item and for the restoration of historic wall and furniture finishes. But now modern companies are turning out milk paint with the explicit purpose of providing zero-VOC wall coverings for healthy indoor environments.

One such manufacturer is the Old-Fashioned Milk Paint Company. Their one concession to convenience is that they’ve chosen to use dried milk, which allows customers to mix as they go. Otherwise, Old-Fashioned Milk Paint sticks to tradition, choosing clay, ochre, iron oxide, and other natural pigments to arrive at about 20 mixable colors. In theory, you could drink their paint. That’s about as green as it comes.

Got a home project coming up, or are you looking for a way to cover-up a conventional wall finish? Perhaps milk paints are for you. Visit the Old-Fashioned Milk Paint Company website for color ideas, or try one of these other milk paint manufacturers: Real Milk Paint, The Original Milk Paint Company, or Vintage Paint Works.

Feeling a bit do-it-yourself? Check out Pioneer Thinking’s 1870 Milk Paint Formula. Sounds like eco-friendly fun. 

Editor’s Note: This week’s post from Lighter Footstep reveals how to stay cool when it’s oh-so-hot. Five Unusual Ways to Stay Cool, by Chris Baskind orginially appeared on July 13, 2007.

In the Northern Hemisphere, the heat is on.

There’s no doubt summer is here — and with it, the perpetual quest to stay cool. For those of us interested in sustainability, the thought of huge summer cooling bills (and all the greenhouse emissions they cause) is enough to send a chill down the spine.

You’ve probably already heard the basics of summertime energy management: keep your air conditioner filters clean; make sure your weather stripping is tight; draw the drapes during the heat of the day; and avoid the use of big heat-creating appliances like ovens and ranges whenever possible. If you want a quick review of hot weather energy-saving ideas , check Lighter Footstep’s Giant List of Summer Cooling Tips.

But there are other ways to keep your cool through the summer. We’ve rounded up five for your consideration, including several tried-and-true methods from the days before central air. Give one or two a shot, and see how they work for you.

Go Tropical

Take the lead of those who spend most of their lives in tropical climates: loose, lightweight cotton and linen clothing rules.

The guayabera, sometimes called the ÒMexican wedding shirt,Ó is constructed to cool you naturally. A relative of the traditional Filipino barong,
the guayabera wicks moisture from the skin and is worn untucked to
promote air circulation. Madras is another good summertime choice for
both men’s and women’s’ clothing.

Don’t forget the old standard of the American Deep South: seersucker.
Originally an Indian import, its crisp cotton and cooling ridges make
it a hot weather classic.

Cool That Pulse Point

When you were sick as a child, you mom may have brought you a cold facecloth. This idea works the same way.

Chill your pulse points by running cold water over your wrist for a minute or so each hour. Splashing water on your temples or face can produce a similar effect. And be sure to put some of that tap water into a glass and stay hydrated.

Don’t Eat: Graze

Ever notice how you feel hot after a big meal? It’s not just because the food was served warm.

Big, protein-laden meals force your body to stoke its metabolic fires. The solution is to break up your eating into smaller, more frequent meals. You’ll feel cooler — and it’s better for you, anyway.

Eat to Sweat

Latin America, India, Thailand — some of the world’s hottest places. And they happen to serve some of the world’s hottest foods.

Scientists have argued for years over why this is the case, but the most likely reason is that spicy foods make you sweat without actually raising body temperature. Chalk it up to capsaicin, a chemical found in things like hot peppers. Once your skin is damp, you’ll feel cooled by its evaporation.

Perhaps it wouldn’t be a bad idea to also reread our article on Choosing a Safer Deodorant.

Stay Cool Under the Covers

A lot of people find it difficult to sleep in hot weather.

Want to cool the bed down? Fill a standard hot water bottle with ice water. Use it to cool your ankles and the back of your knees — it works. You can also try bagging your sheets and tossing them in the freezer for an hour or two before bed.

Cooling your head cools your entire body. Opt for a cool and absorbent pillow of organic cotton it at all possible. Put aside down and latex pillows until the weather cools down this autumn.

Stay hydrated — stay cool — and enjoy an Earth-friendly summer!
—
Copyright © 2007 Lighter Footstep Media

Editor's Note: Today, Chris Baskind editor at Lighter Footstep writes on the importance of keeping dryer sheets at bay from our pets.

Well-meaning pet owners are using dryer sheets to control pet hair. Is this such a good idea?

We love our pets — and they love us. Which is the main reason dog and cat dander seems to get everywhere: on the sofa, your clothes, and your carpet. Your furry companion loves to sit wherever you do.

There's a tip making the rounds these days: use a dryer sheet to repel pet fur. And it seems to work. Dryer sheets cut down on static, which is what makes fur cling to fabric surfaces. Some owners even use dryer sheets directly on their animals to reduce the static buildup which accompanies thunderstorms and alarms jittery pets.

But is this safe?

First, hats off to Bounce for their truly generous support of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. As part of their Bounce Everywhere campaign, they've donated $10,000 to the ASPCA. It's part of a bid to promote dryer sheet usage by pet owners that goes by the slogan, "Share the love, not the hair!"

Dryer sheets repel static and smell so darn good because they're full of chemicals. Formulas vary from product to product, but your favorite fabric softener or dryer sheet (not necessarily Bounce) might contain such unpleasant substances as benzyl acetate, camphor, or even chloroform.

Possible health risks

None of this stuff is good for humans, and the same is true for pets. The Merck Veterinary Manual warns that cationic detergents, which are present in fabric softeners and dryer sheets, can cause a variety of problems for animals ranging from minor irritation to widespread systemic distress and pulmonary edema. Bounce's own product literature cautions pet owners to keep dryer sheets away from animals to avoid accidental ingestion.

Animals lick their fur and the areas on which they rest, so using dryer sheets to repel dander may needlessly expose Fluffy or Fido to health risks. The danger is increased when pets are allowed to use sheets as toys — and cats, in particular, just love them. Some owners have reported kidney failure in animals which have ingested dryer sheets.

A better way

Want to keep pet fur at bay — the safe and natural way? Brush your animal companion daily. A stiff brush or rubber squeegee will make quick work of any hair which gets on furniture. Use a lint brush or length of masking tape to remove danger from clothing.

A few minutes of extra work means fewer chemicals in the lives of you and your pet. Take a little extra time with your cat or dog — and show you care.

—
Copyright © 2007 Lighter Footstep Media