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Green & Ethical Living - Ideas for living green that are practical,
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You can Make a Difference

Green and Balanced living is an attitude of mind - an attitude that will transform your life into the best it can be. With just a little bit of time and effort on your part, I promise that you can Make a Difference!!!

I am not one to sit back and be complacent just because I live in as green a way as possible, and run my business according to my values - see our green policy if you like. I want to DO SOMETHING. My own personal changes have been to reduce the toxic chemicals in my life from cleaning and decorating products to make-up - the following explains why.

Our lives are full of chemicals (25/6/06)

Our lives are full of chemicals. Increasingly in the last couple of hundred years, we in the west have changed from natural diet and natural most everything to man made. And, perhaps this would not be such a problem, except that virtually none of the chemicals used is fully safety tested on its own - let alone in combination with all the other chemicals.

I am not being alarmist. Surely you will have heard some of the horrifying results of recent laboratory testing. The worst by far I think was carried out by a paediatrician in the US. She found that EVERY human child is now born carrying over 200 toxic chemical substances in his or her blood. Each of our children now BEGINS life with that quota of unnecessary and potentially dangerous chemicals. Yes, it is a frightening thought, but it seems like things have to get frightening before we can persuade authorities to act.

There is hope for Europe (followed by others in the future) but only if enough of us make our support known After years of failing to protect us, governments are finally becoming aware of the problem. The European Union is working on legislation which - if properly designed and implemented - will require manufacturers to provide vital health and safety information on thousands of chemicals for the first time and require the replacement of the most hazardous substances with safer alternatives. This draft legislation is called REACH - the Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals.

So far, REACH has been constantly weakened by the global chemical industry (and especially parts of German industry), which, with the help of the current US government, is working to systematically undermine REACH by issuing misinformation and raising fears of job losses, even though the long-term economic, health and environmental benefits of the legislation are far greater than the predicted cost.

You may not know this, but there is one EU politician doing his best to ensure the chemical industry can continue to use harmful chemicals in the products we use every day... go straight to the action, and make sure your name goes on at least one email that supports the REACH legislation in its strongest form> http://chemicalreaction.org/

The Chemical Home

If you want to really scare yourself, you can go up to the Green Peace website and see just how many toxins you have in the home> http://www.greenpeace.org.uk

Support Green Peace in making a difference

Even if you don't have the money or the inclination to become a member of Green Peace, you can help them make this world a cleaner place - safer for wildlife and safer for us. Simply go up to their website, and put your name down for their free newsletter. Then once a month or so they'll send you details on how you can help with the current issues and campaigns that arise all over the world. You can help whilst sitting at your computer - its simple and easy, so please consider adding your voice, and keeping informed.

Keeping Up to Date

It isn't practical for me to try to keep up to date with all the news and issues that Greenpeace brings to light - I recommend that you all regularly check their blog for news.

http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/blog

All the articles written by Derby Stewart-Amsden are FREE ACCESS on and off line - I would simply ask that you include the Bio and link information, Derby