(check list below for further info)

WHAT YOU CAN DO? 

In general, avoid toxins (see list below), mined products, manufactured goods, imports, and shopping!  Substitute with organic, biodegradable, hand-made, and local products.  It's also important to start making your own stuff, grow your own food, learn to knit, weave, spin, etc.   Those are skills that no society can afford its citizens to lose. Promote local self-reliance and global cooperation. Cooperation, not competition, will enhance our chance to survive and do well.  For high technology, which is important for communications & education (computers, etc.), try your best to carefully manage use and re-use. 

SUBSTITUTE! (Below is what I currently do. It's not a final list because I'm always experimenting...and so should you!)

• FOR ALL-PURPOSE CLEANING -- I'm currently using CHICKEN STOCK,  APPLE CIDER VINEGAR, EGG WHITES, and  BEET & PEPPERMINT GREENS!
  • Apple cider vinegar (I use Bragg's which is raw/not pasteurized and organic) cleans hair, skin, (in bath I use 1-2 teaspoons) clothes, mirrors, glass, dishes (for spot-free, hand-dry), floors, and laundry; removes calcium build-up on faucets and pots (wrap faucet in cloth soaked in vinegar for 30 minutes); helps keep drains clear; cleans teeth and makes a great mouthwash. 
  • Chicken stock or egg whites, straight or diluted, in cold water can clean tubs, sinks, faucets, and dishware.  They are great at removing wax build-up on faucets resulting from the use of commercial soaps and other tough cleaning challenges (such as the glue used on jar labels). I make my own chicken stock by simply boiling a whole chicken or chicken with bone, pour off liquid into a large pitcher, put in frig, let fat rise to the top, skim off fat, and what remains is a jell-like chicken stock - ready to use!
  • Beet green water or peppermint water is also good for cleaning windows, mirrors, leather, vinyl, woodwork (doesn't dry out wood). Both are easy to grow and easy to dry for long-term storage. To make: put 1 teaspoon of dried greens or 1/2 leaf  in a blender with water, then sieve out the plant material.
    
    CAUTIONS:
    • Don't soak your hands in peppermint water. Maybe it's my imagination, but peppermint seems to make my hands feel arthritic.  In fact, when I drink peppermint water it has that effect on my other joints, as well. 
    • Beet greens are high in oxalic acid.  See:  http://www.juicingbook.com/oxalic-acid.php // http://www.juicingbook.com/vegetables/beetgreen/    

• SKIN AND HAIR -- For my hair and skin, I use salt, oat flour, or apple cider vinegar (1-2 tsp. to full tub).  The vinegar seems to be effective against many skin conditions, including: lice, scabies, shingles, and seborrheic dermatitis (http://www.earthclinic.com/Remedies/acvinegar3.html).  Sea salt or oat flour seem to soothe the skin.  I also use dry oat flour as a dry soap to clean my hands, and any kind of food-based oil to remove stubborn grease stains.  I occasionally use egg white as a hair jell, and egg yolk as a hair conditioner.
• DEODORANT -- Try very salty water as a deodorant (1/4 teaspoon/1/8 cup water).  Consuming wheat baked with fast acting yeast (not sour dough) appears to increase body odor.
• TEETH & MOUTHWASH -- I brush my teeth first using straight apple cider vinegar, swish, and then rinse or brush with oat flour, then rinse.
• MORE ON CLOTHING -- Try hand washing, then line dry. Sunlight is a natural bleach and disinfectant.  If you use a machine, try a front loader - it's more effective and needs less detergent.  I hand sew and knit (using undyed yarn) many of my clothes in order to avoid toxic materials and sweatshops. I try to avoid cotton or silk because they are not locally produced. I dye the yarn in combinations of beets, turmeric, and black turtle beans (use uncooked beans and only soak for two days, otherwise beans start to spoil)!  I haven't yet learned how to avoid dyes fading...stay tuned.
• COSMETICS, HAIR DYE, HAIR SPRAY OR PERFUME: I do not use any of this stuff for lots of reasons.
• JEWELRY --  I don't wear any jewelry that comes from mined materials. Diamonds are not a girl's best friend - http://apscuhuru.org/campaigns/diamonds/index.xhtml
• DISHWARE -- I use ceramic, glass or stainless steel (however, even these materials can be contaminated with various substances. SEE http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radioactive_scrap_metal Avoid plastic, aluminum, or stickless pans.  Also, avoid using dish washer.  It's a major source of indoor air pollution.
• HOME & TRANSPORTATION -- We live in downtown Philadelphia in a small 1300 square foot townhouse. We generally walk, rather than drive. We own a Toyota Prius, a hybrid, but have also joined phillycarshare.org/, since our son often uses our car.

• AIR CLEANERS --  Certain houseplants are beneficial to remove toxins from the air, such as formaldehyde, benzene etc.  The best plants for removing these and other toxins are philodendrons, spider plants, aloe vera, English ivy, golden pothos, and Boston fern. To learn more, there is a really good book available called: "How to Grow Fresh Air: 50 Houseplants That Purify Your Home or Office"by B. C. Wolverton. http://www.ourlittleplace.com/nontoxic.html

• PLANT & LAWN CARE -- For excellent potting soil, go out in the woods and dig some up!  Do not use store-bought chemicals, even if the container says it's safe.  There's no way to know.  Make your own compost and plant fertilizer using ingredients such as: rotting leaves, egg shells, vegetable waste (no citrus or meat products). ALSO SEE: ZWA'S LAWN CARE KIT
• FOOD -- Try growing your own herbs, greens, and other foods!   Greens from planted root veggies are very nutritious and easy to grow, such as: beets, turnips, parsnips, radish, & carrots!.  Avoid foods that are imported, highly processed, packaged, canned, bottled, baked, radiated, highly refined grains and sugars (including maple syrup).  Eat and cook with any and all basic foods that are organic and can be grown in your local area (not imported!)

AVOID!

NOTE: Despite the assurances of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency, many environmental health hazards are associated with the manufacture, use, and disposal of consumer products. (See Health & Wastes & Toxics)  "EPA Registered" on pesticide and other products does NOT mean that the chemicals were fully tested for safety by the EPA or are safe to use. Most chemicals have not been fully tested for safety by the EPA. The EPA continues to rely heavily upon research and reporting by industry.

• Driving a car - try to live within walking distance of where you work
• Any mined product - including products such as: aluminum, gold, diamonds, baking soda, perlite, stickless cookware
• Plastics, synthetics, or petroleum-tainted or treated products, containers, and packaging
• Soaps and detergents, petroleum-tainted cosmetics, jells, & personal care products
• Outside lawn & garden chemicals, pesticides, & fertilizers
• Inside pesticides, pest strips, & flea collars (see: Pesticides) 
• Bleach & non-biodegradable detergents and cleaning agents
• Paper: tissues, napkins, towels, diapers
• Fluoridated water and fluoridated dental products (see: Fluoride)
• Chlorinated water and chlorine cleaning products (see: Chlorine)
• Talc (see: Wastes&Toxics)
• Fiberglass (including air filters and insulation) see: Wastes&Toxics)
• "Dry clean only" clothes
• Air fresheners / perfumes / scented candles (These scents are particularly harmful for the growing numbers of chemically sensitive, allergic, and asthmatic sufferers.)
• Aerosol spays
• New homes: Most new buildings need a period of years to "out-gas" due to the use of toxic construction materials. In addition, old buildings may harbor lead paint and/or lead plumbing.
• Dishwashers: The biggest source of indoor air pollution may be the dishwasher and its plastic parts. US tap water is laced with traces of toxic chemicals, including by-products of water-treatment with chlorine and fluoride. Environmental Science & Technology reports that the hot spray of a dishwasher liberates 96 to 100 percent of the toluene, ethylbenzene, and cyclohexane in the water within minutes and releases it into the surrounding air. Washing machines, showerheads and faucet taps also release toxins in lesser amounts. (The hotter the water, the more toxins are freed.) Chlorine cleansers compound the problem University of Texas researchers warn. Listed in Earth Island Journal Winter 1999-2000 Page 3, Earth Island Journal is published quarterly by the non-profit Earth Island Institute www.earthisland.org