The sad truth is the carpets that hold up best to traffic are the ones coated with toxins. And we don’t want those in a place where humans dwell.

If you do have a healthy wool carpet in your home, you can still clean it without harsh chemicals like perchloroethylene – which the EPA has linked to kidney and liver damage. Naphthalene, made from coal tar, is also considered a carcinogen that can harm the central nervous system.

Ask cleaning services if they simply steam to lift dirt or apply shampoos to loosen those hard-to-clean coffee and wine stains. Treatments like Oxi Fresh use an oxygenated method by applying less water and natural ingredients. Some cleaners also use citrus-based products that smell much better than standard chemicals. Just check and see if their products are plant-based chemicals (Biokleen, NatureClean and Seventh Generation’s Natural Citrus Carpet Cleaner) or made with synthetics.

Here are some natural ways to go for maintaining cleaner carpet:

1. For daily maintenance, have guests and family members remove shoes when entering the house if you have carpet on the first floor. Otherwise, remove shoes before heading upstairs. Obviously there can be exceptions, such as when you are entertaining. Guests often complain about taking off shoes for a more formal event. They may have holy socks or need the height so their pants won’t droop.

2. ehow tells us to spot clean with vinegar and water by mixing equal parts into a spray bottle and applying to the stain, then blotting with a clean, dry towel. For tougher stains, you can make a paste of baking soda and water and coat the stain. Let the paste sit for about 30 minutes, then wipe away with a damp cloth. For deeper cleaning, they suggest going with biodegradable cleaners like AFM Safecoat added to a rented carpet cleaner.

3. Do It Yourself recommends regular vacuuming to prevent dirt and pet dander from settling into your carpet fibers, and to sprinkle on some baking soda before your sweep to eliminate potential orders. You can even add spice, such as cinnamon or cloves, in the baking soda before you spread it. Also, let the baking soda sit on the carpet to lift stains and dirt at least 10 minutes before you vacuum.

4. For spot removal, use a clean dry cloth or paper towel to soak up the spill and blot the stain rather than rubbing it. Once you blot it, apply club soda or soda water to dissolve and lift, then blot up the liquid. You also can use hydrogen peroxide and vinegar mixed with water or rubbing alcohol to lift the stains. You might also try making your own spot cleaner with a teaspoon of liquid dish detergent and one to two cups of water.

In terms of cleaning fiber rugs, such as sisal, it is best to just use water or soda water. These can be the hardest rugs to maintain because many products don’t work very well to get out the stains.

Let us know if you have some other tried and true green methods of carpet cleaning!

Image: adriagarcia

Imagine the consequences of 20 years of nuclear waste dumping in the blue waters of the Mediterranean Sea that surround the Italian Peninsula and its islands.

It’s an unfolding crisis that has the international community alarmed, including the fishing interests in Japan.

We’re talking about the coasts of 22 countries in Africa, Europe, the Middle East and Asia, and a pending ecological and public health disaster which is being allegedly swept under the rug by the Italian government.

I only learned about it recently in a Counterpunch post on the nightmare, passed along to me by a devastated reader. Meantime, the disaster is also catching on in the mainstream media.

The post writer, Michael Leonardi, is a university educator who lives in Calabria with his wife and baby. He says after returning from a visit to the States, he was alarmed to learn that the Tyrrhenian Sea – which his daughter has been bathing in since birth – was intentionally poisoned with toxic waste.

“How shocked and dismayed we were to discover that government officials have known about it all along,” he shares. “And how enraged we are that a journalist has been killed, possibly for trying to reveal the truth about the disposal of waste by the international Ecomafia and their colluding government and corporate interests.”

The journalist described was Rai television reporter Ilaria Alpi. Leonardi says she was following the trail of arms and toxic garbage trafficking from Italy to Somalia in 1994 when she and her camera man, Miran Hrovatin, were gunned down and killed in Mogadishu.

“Many here believe, including the Mafia pentito, Franceso Fonti, that she was killed because she learned too much about the collusion between the Mafia and Italian military,” argues a bold Leonardi.

So how is the dumping engineered by the bad guys?

Leonardi says dozens of ships with the radioactive and toxic cargoes have been intentionally sunk by organized crime syndicates.

Leonardi says epidemic levels of cancerous tumors and thyroid problems have occurred in the area and along the coasts of the Mediterranean – where fishermen make a living by selling their catch throughout Italian and on the international market.

The public outcry is heating up as Greenpeace and the Italian environmental organization Legambiente work to bring the disaster to the surface. CNN reported on the scuttled hips, as well, last week. The report says it is believed between 32 and 41 of the ships sunk in international waters between Italy, Greece and Spain.

Lending credence to the sinking, testimony by Franceso Fonti, who admitted his role in helping to sink three ships in the fishing waters, including the Cunsky.

Last week a robot sub was sent down off the coast of Centraro to shoot photos of the ship thought to be the Cunsky. The images document the presence of drums like those used to transport and store radioactive and toxic wastes. The hope is that the barrels are still in tact but no one knows for certain what they contain.

“Traces of Mercury and Cesnium 137 have recently been found near the town of Amantea in Calabria further south of Cetraro by about 50 kilimeters,” explains Leonardi. “Amantea is considered a “hot spot” for tumors and ground temperature around the contamination area is six degrees warmer than normal.

“The population is demanding the truth and government action,” he says, adding international cooperation is needed.

Images: enigmachck1, Wiki, Wiki

This is a new SIGG water bottle with a Keith Haring lady liberty design, part of a limited edition series celebrating America, land of the free, home of  thirsty. Perhaps you could score one of these cool designs for free by getting rid of an old SIGG bottle that contains poison, and you can enjoy the benefits without having to worry about exposing your body to a synthetic drug known to disrupt normal endocrine function.

I simply won’t stand for that in a water bottle. How about you?

If you bought a metal SIGG bottle before August of 2008, you have until Halloween to trade it in for a bottle with the new and improved EcoCare liner free of bisphenol A (BPA), a synthetic sex hormone chemical linked to cancer and neurological problems. In other words, switch that trick for a treat.

What is the trick in the SIGG exchange program? Last week, Steve Wasik, chief executive officer of SIGG Switzerland, shocked the reusable water world by admitting that the liners were made with an epoxy resin that contains BPA. As Elaine Shannon of the Huffington Post pointed out, this was an about-face from his previous posture that the bottles simply didn’t leech the harmful chemical and were totally safe.

“He decided on his authority, consumers didn’t want or need to know more,” Shannon observes, adding it is difficult to see Wasik’s stance as anything but cynical.

Wasik’s posting on the SIGG website explained that the BPA debate has heated up dramatically in the last 12 months with the conversation progressing from a focus on leeching to the mere presence of BPA in products. He stresses that this dialogue has evolved to the extent that “some states are considering legislation.”

In fact, last May, Chicago was one of the first U.S. cities to ban the sale of baby bottles and sippy cups containing the chemical and the Food and Drug Administration recently announced it would undertake a new BPA review. In 2008, the FDA resisted recommending retailers discontinue using products that contain BPA until it had completed its risk assessment process. “However, concerned consumers should know that several alternatives to polycarbonate baby bottles exist, including glass baby bottles,” the feds said.

Meantime, you have to follow your own instincts and decide if you want to exchange your SIGG or simply find another aluminum or other bottle brand.

In terms of determining if you have the old kind of bottle, SIGG has provided the best kind of crisis PR fact sheet on its site with visuals that show the difference between the bad and good liners.

The EcoCare liner has a dull, pale yellow appearance while the former liner has a shiny copper bronze appearance.

For details on the exchange program and other issues pertaining to the safety of these bottles, go to the My SIGG website.

For the love of your friends and colleagues, freshen your breath, but pass on the Listerine unless you want a little cancer to go with that minty mouth. An Australian study of 3,200 people has found that alcohol-based mouthwashes actually increase your risk of developing oral cancer, and that risk increases nine-fold if you smoke or drink. It’s thought that the ethanol in the mouthwash helps cancer-causing chemicals like nicotine absorb into the skin.

Listerine has long been considered a smart part of a healthy dental care regimen. We’ve all seen the cute cartoon animated commercials where germs are sent scrambling. But this may be one case where the cure is worse than the disease. Thankfully, you’ve got better options:

Jason’s Healthy Mouth mouthwash is free of alcohol, saccharin and anything else you wouldn’t want swishing around your mouth. Try a 16 oz bottle for $7.36.

Prefer DIY? Here’s an easy single-serving recipe:

2 oz. of water
1/4 tsp. baking soda or sea salt
1 drop peppermint oil
1 drop tea tree oil

Mix, rinse, and spit. Ahhhh…now you can smile and breathe easy.

Image: razee

Once home, many of our soldiers who served in Iraq have to battle chronic rashes, tumors and even cancer.

The Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) is demanding to know why. Why did the giant contractor KBR knowingly expose our forces to carcinogenic toxins at its power plants in Iraq?

KBR, the largest non-union construction company in the United States, has struck gold in its massive contracts with the U.S. government, raking in $17 billion in Iraq-related work since 2003.

The former Halliburton subsidiary has relied on both military and non-military personnel to protect its workers, including 16 Indiana Guardsmen who are now suing the defense contractor, accusing the company of being aware it was exposing them to cancer-causing chemicals. The Guardsmen, who suffered a myriad of health problems since coming home (one died from lung cancer), claim KBR managers “downplayed and disregarded” the risk from contamination at their site. KBR denies any wrongdoing.

“The situation…may just be the tip of the iceberg,” observes IAVA Executive Director Paul Rieckhoff. His nonpartisan agency wants Congress to take action and request the contractor to testify about its knowledge of toxic exposure.

Meantime, Indiana Senator Evan Bayh has vowed to reintroduce legislation to create a medical registry for military personnel exposed to toxins. It would track service members exposed during wartime service and guarantee them access to priority care at VA hospitals. Bayh says the registry is modeled after our government’s response to Agent Orange during the Vietnam conflict. Veterans suffering can cut through the red tape and get the treatment they need.

IAVA has been lobbying for such a registry. “This latest example of toxic exposure underlines the urgency,” says Rieckhoff, who founded this first organization of Iraq and Afghanistan vets in 2004 and now boasts more than 125,000 veteran and civilian supporters.

Image: Army.mil