Toxic Free Talk Radio Archives
Overcoming the Challenges of Finding Toxic-Free Home Furnishings
My guest today is interior designer Sarah Valiant, Founder of Valiant Design Company. We’ll be talking about toxic chemicals in home furnishing and decorating products, the toxic-free products she uses for her clients, and how we can help encourage change in the interior design field. Over the last few years, Sarah noticed a substantial shift with her clients’ wishes for toxic-free options for the decor in their homes. As Sarah herself believes in a toxic-free environment for her own family, she eagerly embraced this change. So much of what we decorate our homes with is replete with formaldehyde, phthalates, VOC’s, flame retardants and toxic glues. With all of these chemicals being severely detrimental to our health, Sarah believes it is imperative that we work to bring to market, options that are safe for us and the health of our families. Sarah was very hard pressed to find healthy, yet attractive design items for her clients due to a severe lack of options on the market and so she decided to develop her own solution. Her company, Valiant Design Co., developed a product line called Healthy Home. Currently it designs and manufactures a line of organic and toxic-free cushions, but Sarah intends to expand that to include furniture, fabric, and bedding in the near future. Sarah acquired a Bachelor of Commerce (Hons) from Queen’s University and began her career in event design. She later attended the KLC London School of Design in the UK. After graduating with Honors, she worked for two leading design firms in London and Paris before returning home to Canada to start up her dream company. Her passion to create beauty through functional and toxic-free design drives her from project to project. www.valiantdesignco.com
How to Live With a Reactive Body
My guest Larry Plesent is the Founder of Vermont Soap, He began making organic soap products because his own body was “reactive” to toxic chemicals in common personal care products. He’s now written a book called The Reactive Body Handbook, which tells what he’s learned over the past 20 years about surviving in our artificial toxic environment. 
Vermont Soap makes “100% natural and non-toxic alternatives to the chemical based personal care products now in general use, including; handmade bar soaps for sensitive skin, anti-aging products, 100% natural shower gels, castile liquid soaps and non-toxic cleaners. Most products made by Vermont Soap are certified to USDA organic standards. Larry is also a writer,philosopher, restaurateur and farmer. www.debralynndadd.com/debras-list/vermont-soap
What Major Retailers are Doing (or Not) to Reduce Toxic Chemicals in the Products They Sell
My guest today is Mike Schade, Mind the Store Campaign Director at Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families. The Mind the Store campaign works with the nation’s leading retailers on creating comprehensive chemicals policy. For the previous eight years, Mike was the Markets Campaign Coordinator with the Center for Health, Environment & Justice (CHEJ), a national environmental health organization where he led national campaigns to phase out PVC plastic, phthalates, BPA and dioxin. Prior to CHEJ, he was the Western New York Director of Citizens’ Environmental Coalition. Ethisphere Magazine listed Mike as one of the 100 Most Influential People in Business Ethics for 2007 and the PVC Campaign received two awards from the Business Ethics Network. www.saferchemicals.org
How Organizations are Reducing Toxic Chemicals to Protect Public Health
My guest today is Liz Harriman, Deputy Director of the Toxics Use Reduction Institute (TURI) at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. We’ll be talking about what businesses, community organizations and government agencies are doing to reduce the use of toxic chemicals to protect public health and the environment. As Deputy Director of the Toxics Use Reduction Institute, Liz Harriman is responsible for managing the operations and technical functions of the Institute, as well as working with the other TURA agencies to set direction for the program. In her 20+ years working at the Institute, she has provided technical research and support services to Massachusetts companies with the goal of identifying safer alternatives to toxic chemicals used in manufacturing and products. Recent technical work includes prioritization and hazard evaluation of chemicals, chemical alternatives assessment, and flame retardants. Ms. Harriman is a registered Professional Engineer and holds Bachelors and Masters degrees from Cornell University in Civil Engineering and a Master’s degree in Hazardous Materials Management from Tufts University. www.turi.org
The Best Water Filter Just Got Even Better
Today my guest is Igor Milevskiy, founder of Pure Effect Advanced Water Filters, a small, family-owned company that makes exceptional water filters which remove fluoride, radiation, and pharmaceuticals as well as chlorine, chloramine, lead, and other common pollutants…at an affordable price. I’ve been using a filter from Pure Effect for over a year now and love it. Igor just developed a new carbon cartridge that is the best I’ve ever seen. We’ll be talking about his new carbon filter and water filter cartridges in general—how different filter media remove different pollutant. Even if you have a water filter, it may not be removing water pollutants as effectively as you think. Also find out how you can pay for your filter by selling these exceptional filters to others (and there’s no fee to join). www.debralynndadd.com/debras-list/pureeffect-filters
How to Prevent and Fight Cancer with a Ketogenic Diet
My guest today is Ellen Davis, author of Fight Cancer with a Ketogenic Diet and creator of Ketogenic-Diet-Resource.com, a website showcasing the research on the positive health effects of ketogenic diets. We’ll be talking about what a ketogenic diet is, how it can help your health, and how to prepare it. I read her entire book because a friend of mine who has cancer is on this diet and improving. You’ll be surprised to find out what single food feeds cancer. Ellen is currently finishing a Master’s degree in Applied Clinical Nutrition at New York Chiropractic College and works to help others implement a ketogenic diet for health. She has authored several articles on ketogenic diets for the Well Being Journal and recently released the second edition of her ebook which has in over 45 countries. Ellen lives in Cheyenne, Wyoming. http://www.ketogenic-diet-resource.com | http://www.healthy-eating-politics.com | http://www.gluten-free-diet-resource.com
Ethical Silk
My guest today is Eva Power, Founder of The Ethical Silk Company in Dublin, Ireland. We’ll be talking about the benefits of silk as an alternative to synthetic fibers, and silk production. Eva uses only silk that is produced in a way that is toxic-free, animal friendly, and fair trade. “The Ethical Silk Company produces 100% eco-friendly & ethically made mulberry silk products, where no silkworms are harmed or killed in the production process, resulting in beautiful natural mulberry silk. All tailoring is done in the Nano Nagle Tailoring Unit in Theni, India. This tailoring unit is run by the Presentation Sisters, where they teach women various crafts including tailoring as part of the local Women’s Federation. This Women’s Federation aims to empower the women through self-help groups.” www.theethicalsilkco.com
Toxics Throughout History—Exposure to Toxic Substances is Not New
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
The World of Organic Foods and Beverages
Today my guest is Max Goldberg, who blogs about organic food and drink at Living Maxwell. We’ll be talking about what he’s learned about organic and natural products from his extensive research in this area. Called an “organic sensation” by The New York Times and named as “one of the nation’s leading organic food experts” by Shape Magazine, Max Goldberg is the founder of Living Maxwell, one of the most widely read organic food blogs in the country, and Pressed Organic Juice Directory, the world’s first pressed organic juice directory. An organic food activist, partner of the Just Label It! campaign, and speaker at industry trade shows, Max runs the Organic Food Industry Group on LinkedIn, where his weekly curated email is read by thousands of organic food CEOs, founders, and executives from all over the world.Max received his BA from Brown University and his MBA from the Columbia University Graduate School of Business, and he is the author of the upcoming memoir CLEAR: Life After a Decade of Antidepressants and Other Escape Mechanisms. Max has been featured in The New York Times, Fox News Channel, CNN, Forbes, Shape Magazine, Self Magazine, The Huffington Post, Veria Living, and numerous other publications. www.livingmaxwell.com |
www.pressedjuicedirectory.com
Which Poison Will Change Your Life?
My guest today is Glenna Chance, author of Which Poison Will Change Your Life? While pursuing her career in music in 1988, Glenna was poisoned by an illegal pesticide application. Her life-altering diagnosis of the chronic illness Multiple Chemical Sensitivity catapulted her into a new direction, and she has since battled the physical ramifications and lack of legal parity that often accompany MCS disability. Glenna has worked tirelessly to bring recognition to the illness and support to sufferers. We’ll talk about the the social and political forces that contribute to MCS and many other “invisible” illnesses that are the result of explsure to toxic chemicals in ordinary everyday consumer products. Glenna is a professional musician, environmental consultant and Multiple Chemical Sensitivity advocate and activist. 
She is the founder and director of MCS Advocacy.com, an agency which advocates for the MCS-disabled and their families who need assistance in finding housing, benefits, nontoxic products and medical and legal resources. She is a proponent of life lived in harmony with the universal truths of nature. MCSAdvocacy.com
