Toxic Free Talk Radio Archives
Why One Couple Decided to Get an Organic Farm and Make USDA Certified Organic Gourmet Personal Care Products
My guests today are Diana Kaye and James Hahn, husband and wife, and co-founders of their USDA certified organic business Terressentials. They own a small organic farm in lovely Middletown Valley, Maryland and have operated their organic herbal personal care products business there since 1996. Terressentials was originally started in Virginia in 1992. It grew out of their search for chemical-free products after Diana’s personal experience with cancer and chemotherapy in 1988. Prior to Diana’s cancer, they were involved in commercial architecture in Washington DC. Diana and James are proud to be an authentic USDA certified organic and Fair Made USA business. They are obsessive organic researchers and artisan handcrafters of more than one hundred USDA certified organic gourmet personal care products that they offer through their two organic stores in Frederick County, Maryland, through a network of select retail partners across the US, and to customers around the world via their informative web site. Their products also caught the eye of the producers of the Discovery Channel’s Dirty Jobs show. The show’s host, Mike Rowe, “helped” them make a batch of their very popular Pure Earth Hair Wash, which was enormously funny and has been aired repeatedly on the Discovery Channel around the globe. Their Pure Earth Hair Wash was just named the “Best of Washington DC” by the Washington Post. www.terressentials.com
Your Baby’s Toxic Womb
My guest today is Penelope Jagessar Chaffer, a multi award winning documentary filmmaker, writer and children’s environmental health advocate. She’s working on a film called Toxic Baby. Today we’ll be talking about what Penelope has learn about how toxic chemicals can affect your baby even before it’s born. Penelope is the first black, female director to be nominated for a British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) award. Born in London, of Trinidadian parentage, she started her career at the BBC, before moving to Channel 4. She has won many awards for films created for the BBC and Channel 4. In addition to being the director, producer and writer of Toxic Baby, Penelope has been named one of the top 100 Green Online Influencers and has been awarded the “Mom On A Mission” award by Healthy Child, Healthy World, the non profit named by Vanity Fair magazine as one of Mrs. Michelle Obama’s two favorite charity organizations. Penelope’s TED talk with Professor Tyrone Hayes on the effects of toxic chemicals on babies and children has been viewed over 300,000 times. She is also an author for Toxipedia, writes her own blog and for publications around the world. A mother of two, Penelope lives in Brooklyn, New York City. www.toxicbaby.com | www.ted.com/talks/tyrone_hayes_penelope_jagessar_chaffer_the_toxic_baby
The Healthiest Chocolate I Could Find
My guest today is “Chocolate Girl” Vanessa Barg, founder of Gnosis Chocolate. We’ll be talking about chocolate, of course, how to choose the best chocolate for good health, and Vanessa’s unique chocolate creations. A Certified Holistic Health Counselor who has studied with Andrew Weil, Deepak Chopra, and David Wolfe, Vanessa created Gnosis Chocolate in 2008 at the green age of 23 years old to help her clients experience the joy of conscious nutrition. Gnosis now imports from Indonesia and exports to Japan – it’s a worldwide brand. She directs, product development, sourcing, marketing, operations, and just about every other element of the brand herself. “Yes, it’s a lot of time and energy,” she says, “but if you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life.” www.gnosischocolate.com Use promo code “toxicfree10” for 10 percent off your purchase.
How Toxic is Your Hair Salon?
My guest today is Will Simpson, Business Development Manager for Green Circle Salons. We’ll be talking about toxic chemicals you are being exposed to in hair salons, what salons can do to be less toxic, and what you can do to reduce your own exposure as a consumer of salon services. Will is a member of Green Circle Salons, one of the fastest growing environmental movements in North America. With a background in customer service and finance, Will joined Toronto-based Green Circle Salons in 2010. Over the subsequent years, the movement has grown across Canada and into the US, with Will at the helm of customer relations. Green Circle Salons has now achieved an industry-wide presence through its diverse partnerships with salon professionals, manufacturers, and policy makers. Will’s career has been equal parts service and strategy, incorporating unique marketing and business development solutions to create a green space inside of the consumer driven salon/spa industry. Will currently lives in Toronto, where he works within the community to embrace the possibilities of a wholly sustainable lifestyle. www.greencirclesalons.ca
How to Help Your Liver Detox Your Body
My guest today is Dr. James Gatza, author of The End Of Health Roulette and Founder of Total Shake. We’ll be talking about the role of the liver in removing toxic chemicals from your body and what you can to to help your liver perform that vital function. Dr. Gatza is a Doctor of Chiropractic Medicine with over 25 years of experience. He uses Applied Kinesiology, Nutrition and Body Chemistry with an extensive background in the treatment of chronic symptoms and disease. He is trained in Clinical Laboratory Diagnosis, X-Ray Diagnosis, Spinography, and Physiotherapy; as well as Reflexology and Cranial-Sacral Therapy. He has attended state of the art seminars on the effects and treatment of Food Allergies, Clinical Nutrition, Acupuncture, and Herbology. For over 20 years, Dr. Gatza has treated over 20,000 patients with weight problems, and other common diseases such as diabetes, irritable bowel syndrome, chronic neck & back pain, headaches/migraines, high blood pressure, breathing problems, joint pain, sleep problems, carpal tunnel syndrome, chronic fatigue & fibromyalgia, high cholesterol, joint swelling, and much more. Early in his career, Dr. Gatza realized that most doctors treated the symptoms of illness, and not the CAUSE. He found that because of this backward, thinking, the usual medical approach either didn’t work at all, or at best, helped a patient temporarily. This left patients stuck in the drug/doctor revolving door. In fact, Dr. Gatza found that in most cases, under that type of “care”, patients experienced the same symptoms or worse, over and over again while their doctors simply continued to drug them. Not satisfied with these drug/doctor “solutions.” Dr. Gatza searched and found workable answers as to WHY a person’s body is not working the way it should and devises individual treatment protocol to improve the function of each individual. www.totalshakesystem.com | www.gatzawellness.com
ToxIN ToxOUT — How to Get Harmful Chemicals Out of Our Bodies and Our World
Today my guest is Rick Smith, one of the two authors of Slow Death by Rubber Duck and their newest book ToxIN ToxOUT. Since the runaway success of their first book, they’ve been asking “How do I get this toxic stuff out of my body?” and this book is their answer. We’ll be talking about their practical and sometimes surprising advice. Rick Smith is a prominent Canadian author and environmentalist. He is the Executive Director of the Broadbent Institute (www.BroadbentInstitute.ca), a progressive policy thinktank. From 2003 to 2012 Rick was Executive Director of the national charity Environmental Defence Canada. He co-authored the 2009 book Slow Death by Rubber Duck: How the Toxic Chemistry of Everyday Life Affects Our Health which became a bestseller in Canada and Australia and has now been translated into six languages. With a Ph.D. in biology and a stint as Chief of Staff of the federal New Democratic Party, Rick’s career has been equal parts science and politics. He is regarded as one of the country’s leading environmental campaigners and has spearheaded important new “green economy” policies at both the provincial and federal levels. He lives in Toronto with his wife and two small boys. www.toxintoxout.com
An Environmental Ethic for the 21st Century—Without Toxic Chemicals
Today I’m celebrating Rachel Carson’s birthday with my guest Patricia DeMarco PhD. In 1962 Rachel Carson wrote Silent Spring, the book about toxic pesticides that laid the groundowork for the environmental movement and the establishment of the EPA. But she also wrote many other books and papers as a naturalist. Today we will be talking about what Rachel left us and what we can still learn from her work today. Patricia has been a Rachel Carson scholar since 2005, with service as the Executive Director of the Rachel Carson Homestead Association and as the Director of the Rachel Carson Institute at Chatham University. She writes and speaks extensively on the environmental ethic of Rachel Carson and her relevance to modern times. She is currently writing a book titled “Pathways to Our Sustainable Future.” www.rachelcarson.org/ | www.rachelcarsoncouncil.org | www.rachel_carson_homestead.myupsite.com
How Endocrine Disruptors Disrupt Our Endocrine Systems
Toxicologist Steven G. Gilbert, PhD, DABT, a regular guest who is helping us understand the toxicity of common chemicals we may be frequently exposed to. Dr. Gilbert is Director and Founder of the Institute of Neurotoxicology and author of A Small Dose of Toxicology- The Health Effects of Common Chemicals.
He received his Ph.D. in Toxicology in 1986 from the University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, is a Diplomat of American Board of Toxicology, and an Affiliate Professor in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, University of Washington. His research has focused on neurobehavioral effects of low-level exposure to lead and mercury on the developing nervous system. Dr. Gilbert has an extensive website about toxicology called Toxipedia, which includes a suite of sites that put scientific information in the context of history, society, and culture. www.toxipedia.org
Developing a Toxic Free Toy
My guest today is Jim Barber, a Managing Partner at MWB Toy, LLC, a startup toy company based in Danbury, CT. We’ll be talking about how MWB Toy is developing a line of toxic-free toys under the Luke’s Toy Factory brand name. Luke is Jim’s son, and the toy designer. These toys will be made in the USA with sustainable and safe materials. With 85% of the world’s toys produced in China and a slew of quality & safety issues in recent years, Luke’s Toy Factory set out to create sustainable, competitively priced toys made in the US. These toys will utilize organic by-products of industrial farming and industrial manufacturing operations, and never use paint!. Moreover, by eliminating overseas shipping from China they cut down on their carbon footprint and reduce pollution that results from transportation.. Jim is the owner of Jim Barber Studio, Inc, a well known still life photography studio that counts over 100 of the Fortune 500 companies as clients. His work has won many awards for advertising and annual report photography. He is also a judge of the ARC awards, the premier worldwide award competition for the annual report industry. Kickstarter project: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/lukesfty/ecotruck-made-from-safe-organic-materials-in-the-u
Beyond Organic: How BioDynamic Agriculture Contributes to Good Health
Today my guest is Thea Maria Carlson, Director of Programs of the Biodynamic Association. We’ll be talking about the basics of biodynamics and how to find and choose biodynamic foods. Biodynamics is a spiritual-ethical-ecological approach to agriculture, food production and nutrition. It was first developed in the early 1920s based on the spiritual insights and practical suggestions of the Austrian writer, educator and social activist Dr. Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925). Today, the biodynamic movement encompasses thousands of successful gardens, farms, vineyards and agricultural operations of all kinds and sizes on all continents, in a wide variety of ecological and economic settings. Biodynamic farmers strive to create a diversified, balanced farm ecosystem that generates health and fertility as much as possible from within the farm itself. Biodynamic practitioners also recognize and strive to work in cooperation with the subtle influences of the wider cosmos on soil, plant and animal health. Thea is a farmer, organizer, educator, and artist with roots in California and the Midwest. She joined the Biodynamic Association while farming with Turtle Creek Gardens in 2011, and continued to balance both roles until she became Director of Programs in 2013. Her previous work includes teaching gardening, nutrition and beekeeping; developing community and educational gardens in California, Chicago and Maine; organizing strategic communications training programs for nonprofit leaders; and farming with Blue House Farm and Mendocino Organics. Thea earned a B.S. in Earth Systems from Stanford University, a permaculture design certificate from Occidental Arts and Ecology Center, and is trained in the Art of Hosting. www.biodynamics.com
