I just finished a pile of books. Books about toxic chemicals. We are living in a toxic world, and everything we use causes cancer. (Or at least contributes to some sort of environmental pollutant.)
Let's walk through an average person's daily routine, shall we?
Your alarm goes off. Now, for starters, your clock is probably made of toxic plastic and caused a ton of pollution to be made. Also, your mattress, possibly your bedding, and unless you can afford solid wood furniture, that too. And if your furniture is wood, it's pretty likely the stain isn't that good for you. Ditto for the paint on your walls. Do you have a plastic closet rod? Hangers? Where were your clothes made? If they have natural fibers, they're probably still covered in pesticides and made in a sweat shop. But, I'm getting ahead I myself, aren't I? You haven't even bad your shower yet. Sorry about that.
The pipes bringing your water? Made of toxic plastic. Same for your shower walls. Glue and caulking? Probably not that good for you. Your shampoo, conditioner, body scrub, soap, face wash, toner, moisturizer, loofah, toothpaste, toothbrush, makeup, hair dryer, straightener, hairspray and fragrance? Yup! Don't forgot the plastic bottles. It's not just the stuff you are putting on your body here, it's also the packaging. And the pollution created in making both. Bet you didn't use a composting toilet either this morning!!!
Do you take pills? I'm guessing they are some sort of compound that's not naturally derived? Do they come in plastic bottles? What did you eat for breakfast? Commercially prepared food? Did your eggs come in a styrofoam carton? From chickens being force fed pesticide covered GMO corn, injected with hormones and antibiotics, never seeing daylight, with about 2 inches between their neighbors? And if you're into energy and such, you also have the unhappy animal thing... Did you cook them in Teflon covered frying pan? Using some sort of plastic cooking utensil? Ever notice how your orange juice is kinda thick and opaque compared to fresh juice? Yeah... That's not normal.
But anyways, back to your day! Time to leave your worries behind and head to;
1) Work- Unless you are teaching yoga in a field ... You're probably doing something evil to the earth. Plastic furniture, office supplies, disgusting GMO/pesticide covered cafeteria food, toxic refrigerants in the building cooling systems, fossil fuels in the heating, lets not even start on all the issues involved for those of us who work in health care!
2) School- same issues, plus you are incurring debt so you become a slave to "the man" and do not have the freedom to lead the sustainable lifestyle you would like to, assuming you have time to research sustainability while cramming for tests and writing papers at last minute.
3) Full time Mom- Whew! Now you can make more choices, right? Or can you? What are all your toys made of? Wood? Probably not. Using bottles or pacifiers? Yup, your kid's gonna be sucking on some nasty stuff all day! Breastfeeding? There are hundreds of known endocrine receptors that show up in laboratory analysis of breast milk. Using disposable diapers? That gel that forms when they get wet? It's not good for you... Cloth? If they don't say organic, they have pesticides on them. Ever heard of off gassing crib mattresses? I haven't, but my good friend April has! Not a good place for a baby that you want alive. Bedsharing? Studies prove you probably will roll on your baby and kill them. Going to try babywearing? You'll probably suffocate your baby in there. Putting them in a bucket seat or a stroller? Studies show their peripheral oxygen levels go way down when left in there too long. And don't forget the plastic!
Ready to give up and die? Well, if not, lets assume money isn't an issue, you live on an acreage, you grow all your own pesticide free, non GMO food, you have installed solar panels on your home, you source your clothes from ethical places, you make all your own furniture from organic wood, heck, your blankets are made out of buffalo skins and your cooking pot is the buffalo's stomach! You even went all out and finally got that composting toilet to the chagrin of your mother in law. Well... There's still the groundwater leaching effect. Even if you radically change your lifestyle, start living like a crazy person and lose all your friends and family, you're still going to be adding toxic chemicals to your body burden, because there is no safe source of water. Even if people avoid putting stuff directly into our water system, everything ends up in our groundwater eventually, in your body and in the breast milk of the baby you're probably nursing right now. (Why else would you still be reading this!?!)
So... What can we do? Probably nothing. I was mostly in the mood to be negative after reading these books, so I hope you enjoyed it! Good luck living in our toxic world and I hope you come back to read again. Next blog will be far less negative, promise. 😜
