Tips and Hints to Keep Whites White

Tips and Hints to Keep Whites Whiteby Annie Berthold-Bond, Care2.com Producer, Green Living Channels
Simple Solution
Now we're officially in summer and we can start wearing our summer white clothing again. Only trouble is, whites don’t seem to stay white very long!
Here are our best tips for keeping those whites looking as crisp and pristine as they do the first day you wear them, without resorting to harmful chlorine bleaching.
Commercial Bleaches
It is best to avoid most commonly available bleach, sodium hypochlorite, a moderately toxic chlorine salt that can bond with other chemicals to form cancer-causing organochlorines in the wastewater system.
“Natural oxygen safe bleaches”are commercially available (found primarily in the health food store marketplace), and are based on hydrogen peroxide. The best choice is to buy commercial non-chlorine bleaches instead of making your own version using store-bought 3 percent hydrogen peroxide because commercial brands, such as Seventh Generations’s ‘Non-Chlorine Bleach - Free & Clear’ include oxygen bleach stabilizers to help reduce the product’s reactivity in the environment.
Tip: Adding ½ cup of lemon juice to the rinse cycle of a medium load of whites will lightly bleach the clothing. This technique is especially effective on clothes that are then hung to dry on the line.
Soften Your Water
The minerals in hard water can gray clothes. If you have very hard water, add ½ cup of vinegar to your rinse water.
Brighten Whites
To brighten whites, and if you don’t have hard water, use the might of minerals in your wash cycle. Add ½ cup borax or washing soda (both are available in the laundry section of your supermarket) to a medium load of laundry.
About Light-Note to read clothing labels, as some direct you to dry the clothes outside of direct sunlight. On the other hand, storing whites in the dark can cause yellowing. A rule of thumb is that natural fibers love the sun and hanging them outside to dry on the line is to their benefit.

13 Symptoms of Chronic Dehydration

13 Symptoms of Chronic Dehydration
Adapted from The Water Prescription, by Christopher Vasey, N.D. (Inner Traditions 2006).
Simple Solution
Most people don’t think they need to worry about dehydration. To them, dehydration is something that happens to travelers in the desert when they run out of water. But there is a chronic form of dehydration that does not have the sudden and intense nature of the acute form. Chronic dehydration is widespread in the present day and affects everyone who is not drinking enough liquid.
This list of 13 symptoms will inspire you to go get a glass of water, and then another, and another. . . :
After each symptom we will show how lack of fluid affects the issue.
1. Fatigue, Energy Loss: Dehydration of the tissues causes enzymatic activity to slow down.
2. Constipation: When chewed food enters the colon, it contains too much liquid to allow stools to form properly, and the wall of the colon reduces it. In chronic dehydration, the colon takes too much water to give to other parts of the body.
3. Digestive Disorders: In chronic dehydration, the secretion of digestive juices are less.
4. High and Low Blood Pressure: The body’s blood volume is not enough to completely fill the entire set of arteries, veins, and capillaries.
5. Gastritis, Stomach Ulcers: To protect its mucous membranes from being destroyed by the acidic digestive fluid it produces, the stomach secretes a layer of mucus.
6. Respiratory Troubles: The mucous membranes of the respiratory region are slightly moist to protect the respiratory tract from substances that might be present in inhaled air.
7. Acid-Alkaline Imbalance: Dehydration activates an enzymatic slowdown producing acidification.
8. Excess Weight and Obesity: We may overeat because we crave foods rich in water. Thirst is often confused with hunger.
9. Eczema: Your body needs enough moisture to sweat 20 to 24 ounces of water, the amount necessary to dilute toxins so they do not irritate the skin.
10. Cholesterol: When dehydration causes too much liquid to be removed from inside the cells, the body tries to stop this loss by producing more cholesterol.
11. Cystitis, Urinary Infections: If toxins contained in urine are insufficiently diluted, they attack the urinary mucous membranes.
12. Rheumatism: Dehydration abnormally increases the concentration of toxins in the blood and cellular fluids, and the pains increase in proportion to the concentration of the toxins.
13. Premature Aging: The body of a newborn child is composed of 80 percent liquid, but this percentage declines to no more than 70 percent in an adult and continues to decline with age.

Five Simple Home Remedies - Yard & Garden

Five Simple Home Remedies - Yard & GardenAdapted from A Year on The Garden Path, by Carolyn Herriot (Earthfuture/Lantern, 2005).
Simple Solution
So often the home garden pest control remedies work as well or better than the chemical counterparts, and with the added bonus that with these formulas made of kitchen cupboard ingredients, you don’t need to worry about poisoning yourself, your pets, or your garden!
Print out these five standby remedies for yard and garden, including a natural fungicide for mildew and black spot:
Simple Soap Solution
2 Tbs. soap flakes
2 litre warm water
Dissolve soap flakes in water and apply directly to infested areas every 5-7 days. Note: Too much soap can cause burning on plants. Pests affected: aphids, spider mites, and whiteflies.
Garlic Oil Spray
10-15 cloves of minced garlic
2 tsp. mineral oil
600 ml water
1 tsp. liquid dish soap
Soak garlic in mineral oil for 24 hours. Strain garlic out and add 600 ml water and 1 tsp. liquid dish soap. Mix thoroughly. Spray plants with this solution. Pests affected: Aphids, spider ites, and whiteflies
Fungicide for Mildew and Black Spot
1 tsp. baking soda
1 litre water
1 tsp. soap flakes
Dissolve baking soda in 1 litre of warm water. Add soap flakes to help solution cling to leaves. Remove infected leaves from plant, then spray top and bottom of remaining leaf surfaces to control spread of the disease.
Sticky Traps
1-2 Tbsp. Vaseline or preferably, Unpetroleum Jelly
4”x8” plastic cards or cardboard
Waterproof yellow paint
Apply paint onto both sides of the card and let it dry. Once the paint is dry, apply Unpetroleum Jelly liberally over both sides of the card. Place the card just above the plant canopy. Pests controlled:Flying pests, such as fungus gnats, and whiteflies.
Sowbug Traps
1 small plastic container with lid
2 Tbsp. cornmeal
Cut a small hole at the base of the container, large enough and close enough to the bottom to allow sowbugs to climb in. Place cornmeal in container. Place container into area infested with sowbugs. After feeding on the cornmeal, the bugs will drink and then explode! (Replace cornmeal frequently.)