Comments on: Ask Almost-Doctor Dan: Handy Or Harmful?

By: Amanda

Amanda — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 17:04:17 +0000

Thanks, Doctor Jen, for mentioning the overuse of antibiotics! Good bacteria is essential inside our bodies, too. Some schools of thought believe the breakdown of this good flora, good bacteria, probiotics, whatever you want to call it, is a major reason for allergies and increased virus-realted illnesses. Just let your body do what it’s supposed to do without adding all the fake stuff.

By: Brandi

Brandi — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 20:46:37 +0000

Hey… OK.. after re-reading this post and your new ‘green’ post, I am going to try to go ‘green’ with my household products.. As an almost-doctor myself (a year to go), I absolutely know how horrible (and useless) it is to use the products (as I think I’ve said before), but I’ve been brain washed and given my slightly OCD personality I have not been able to give them up. I have decided to make the switch now after all the various recipes you listed on the other website.
As for Maggie.. vaccines (such as the flu shot) are very different than the use of anti-bacterial soaps, etc. Please do not confuse the issue. The mechanism (physiology wise) of the two are very different.

By: YoungHouseLove

YoungHouseLove — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 01:18:09 +0000

Thanks so much for weighing in Doctor Jen! So good to know that Almost-Doctor Dan is in such good (and brainy!) company!

xo,
s

By: Jen

Jen — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 00:39:43 +0000

OH and i wanted to add, that i am a doctor, a Ph.D., and I studied bacteria for my dissertation and work on bacteria now as well. My take on the hand sanitizers. are very similar to antibacteria soap, in the sense they are not necessary. *but are convenient*. if they just like antibacterial soaps have triclosan in them, then they are NOT effective against the flu… however if they are alcohol-based they are better all around. In fact we use 70% alcohol in the lab to “disinfect” our surfaces and equipment.

By: Jen

Jen — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 00:29:24 +0000

Hey another opinion from a nerdy scientist!! Not only is everything mentioned true but the increased and constant use of antibiotics (that yes are mainly against the natural, unharmful, bacteria that live everywhere) is building up antibiotic-resistance in the truly nasty bacteria!! so keep using regular soap and water, or natural alternative. Also salt water is great for washing fruits and veggies!!!

By: YoungHouseLove

YoungHouseLove — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 03:07:17 +0000

Thanks Bailey! So glad you’re whipping up little Mrs. Meyer’s reed diffuser things. We still use them around our house too! And as for the Dr. Bronner’s documentary, we’re totally adding it to our list of things to see. It sounds super interesting!

xo,
s

By: Bailey

Bailey — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 01:19:40 +0000

Love the Dr. Bronner’s soap. Have you seen the documentary about him? Apparently he escaped from a mental asylum and created this amazing soap recipe! The film is called “Dr. Bronner’s Magical Soapbox” and was really interesting.

Also wanted to thank you for the tip (which you posted in another post long ago) about putting the Mrs. Meyer’s cleaner into a bottle with some bamboo skewers with the points snipped off and making a DIY diffuser…I can’t tell you how much money that has saved me now that I don’t have to purchase those stupid wasteful wall plugins. Thanks guys!! Looking forward to the DIY cleaner post!

By: YoungHouseLove

YoungHouseLove — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 20:47:14 +0000

Good question! We’ve switched over to no VOC paint when it comes to the crisp white trim throughout our house and any future furniture painting projects (we love Home Depot’s line of No VOC paint called FreshAire) since we wouldn’t repaint perfectly good rooms just to use no VOC paint but will touch up the trim fairly frequently and paint random pieces of thrift store furniture quite often so it pays to have some white semi-gloss no VOC paint laying around for those purposes. Of course we would love to do even more when it comes to cutting down the toxins in our home so stay tuned as we explore newer options for everything from non-toxic spray paint to all natural glues and poly. Hope it helps!

xo,
s

By: anu

anu — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 20:40:08 +0000

This is a great post! Question to you guys though – it seems that you are environmentally minded, but clearly, you are also budget minded. How do you balance these two? I noticed that you use products that would not be particularly environmentally friendly (spray paint, spray adhesive, polyurethhane, low VOC-paints rather than VOC free paints,) in repurposing efforts. Do you ever consider non-toxic alternatives, even if they might be more costly?

By: Katherine

Katherine — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 21:48:17 +0000

Thanks for spreading the word about this guys – lots of interesting comments! It’s too bad that so many people fall for the marketing of these products, when they’re actually unnecessary and harmful to the environment. Personally, I’ve been using Method liquid handwashing soap, as well as handmade soaps from a local craft fair, and both work just fine.

I just thought I’d chime in about the hand sanitizer issue – I had never used it, but we bought some last year for a backpacking trip. I guess it comes in handy in situations where you’re not able to wash your hands, but the 59 mL bottle I bought over a year ago is stil 95% full…and I haven’t been sick once. Also, interestingly enough, I heard something on the radio this morning about a young child who got alcohol poisoning from hand sanitizer, and now her mother is trying to warn other parents and schools about the potential risk…

Anyways, great work! Love your blog!