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A TOUCH OF NATURE
August 15, 2002 Issue
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This newsletter is sponsored by The Herbs Place.com
Natural Health Solutions for Adults, Children and Pets!
Newsletters, Online Classes & *Herbal Medicine Chest*

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Read or search for specific topics of previous issues.

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DONNA'S COMMENTS
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In the past six months, the Environmental Protection Agency has approved a number of new uses for more than a dozen old and dangerous pesticides, including one previously used to make Agent Orange, a military herbicide used during the Vietnam War. These toxic pesticides will now be used on common foods -- including kids' favorites like grapes, strawberries, peaches, and blueberries -- even though safe and effective alternatives are available.

In allowing these new pesticide uses, the EPA ignored requirements intended to protect children from exposure to these dangerous chemicals. Young children's organs are still developing, and their bodies and immune systems may be more vulnerable to toxic chemicals; they can also be exposed to far more pesticide residue than adults. The Food Quality Protection Act -- passed unanimously by Congress in 1996 -- therefore typically requires the
EPA to set the safe level of pesticide exposure for kids at one-tenth of the safe level for adults.

But the EPA ignored this part of the law in allowing the new pesticide uses, even while admitting that the risks to children are not fully understood. In light of signs that some pesticides harm children's developing brains and nervous systems, the EPA has ordered chemical manufacturers to do more research on these pesticides. But in the meantime, the EPA nevertheless has decided to approve these new pesticide uses now, without taking the required steps to protect kids.

The EPA is accepting public comments until a AUGUST 19 DEADLINE.

We need to protect our children and the earth from dangerous pesticides.

Donna

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CRITTER FACTS
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NATURE AND HISTORICAL GUIDES

Sherpa Guides showcases an online collection of guidebooks with excellent content. These books can be read online or can be purchased in "dead tree format." By putting these books on the web, Sherpa Guides hopes to gain exposure for the books while spreading the gospel of conservation and historic preservation. If we promote tourism, we want it to be eco-friendly.

Areas currently included are: Southeast, Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia and California. They're adding states, so check back for more:
Sherpa Guides

LOVE AFFAIR WITH BLUEBIRDS

The country has a love affair with bluebirds. After all, they are so beautiful in their resplendent blue plumage, so why not? And they're beneficial too, eating and spreading seeds and berries, but especially consuming insects by the thousands. In fact, bluebirds are known to eat beetles, weevils, ants, bees, wasps, cicadas, assassin bugs, caterpillars, grasshoppers, crickets, spiders, millipedes, centipedes, sow bugs, snails, earthworms and more! A true gourmet!

Read more about these wonderful birds.

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CHARACTER QUALITIES IN NATURE
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ORDERLINESS & TIMELINESS: Chipmunk

Beginning in early Spring, the chipmunk is diligent about its business. It had outgrown the mother's den and was preparing a home of its own. It chooses a location and digs its burrow, making a tunnel two inches in diameter that reaches a depth of five feet. At the base of the tunnel, the chipmunk constructs a toilet.

Higher above it digs as many as six storage rooms, which are filled during Summer. These bins are capable of holding as much as a bushel of food. The pantries are neatly organized and the chipmunk places just the right kinds of food in them. As it searches along the forest floor, it's careful not to store anything which would rot or spoil such as meats, fruits or vegetation.

A short distance from the pantry lays the master bedroom, for which the chipmunk took special care to choose the material for its bed and the right day on which to make it. If the day is too wet, the leaves won't dry. If there's no humidity in the air, they become too brittle and break. It prefers oak leaves for thickness and fragrant smell. First the stem is bitten off, then using its teeth and forelegs, it rolls up the leaves and brings them to the burrow bedroom to make a perfect mattress.

The chipmunk also takes care to make his abode secure by digging another tunnel exit and being careful not to leave any signs which would betray its location by carrying away any evidence of digging.

The industrious chipmunk completed its project by late Fall and was ready to enjoy a long rest which would confine it to its burrow until early Spring. The chipmunk could rest, content that it had made every provision for its safety and comfort in its orderly home.

Source: Character Sketches, Vol. I, Institute in Basic Life Principles

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GARDENING FOR WILDLIFE- Restoring the Balance
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MEDICINAL PLANTS

Ever wonder what some of the herbs you may be using look like in the wild?
Here's a gallery of photos of some plants you may have in your own backyard.

LAWNS WITHOUT CHEMICALS

You can have a beautiful, healthy lawn without applying chemicals that harm wildlife and our environment. Learn how to implement organic lawn care techniques in your own backyard. It will benefit wildlife, pets and children.

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"GREEN" INFO- Making It a Way of Life!
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SAFETY FIRST! CABINETS FULL OF TOXIC CLEANERS
ARE A CONSTANT DANGER FOR CHILDREN AND PETS

Glass Cleaners:

Many of the best selling retail brands no longer contain ammonia, a powerful eye and lung irritant. They now may contain other harmful chemicals, including Butyl Cellosolve and methanol (methyl alcohol), which can cause blindness or death if accidently ingested. For a green alternative, mix equal parts water and vinegar (or lemon juice) and apply with a spray bottle.

Dish Cleaners:

Many automatic dishwasher detergents are high in phosphates, which create algae blooms in bodies of water. They may also contain chlorine bleach, an eye and lung irritant with a nasty byproduct: toxic organo-chlorines that are formed when bleach goes down the drain. Liquids for hand-washing dishes aren't as harmful, but they may contain nonbiodegradable, petroleum-based detergents. You can find low-impact alternatives at most health food stores and even in supermarkets. Look for phosphate- and chlorine-free dishwasher detergents and dishwashing liquids made from plants, not petroleum.

Bathroom Cleaners:

Relentless advertising has convinced us that it takes a small army of products just to clean the bathroom: toilet cleaners, tile scrubbers, sink and tub scourers, antibacterial cleaners, mold and mildew fighters, deodorizers, and stain removers. But not only are these products a cauldron of creepy chemicals, they're also unnecessary. You can whip up your own grime-fighters instead, using a few relatively benign ingredients (and a little extra elbow grease). Baking soda makes an excellent scouring powder. White vinegar or lemon juice cleans and deodorizes. Soap and water cleans as well as it did for your great grandmother.

A Natural Alternative

I've used Sunshine Concentrate for all of the above jobs, although I like the vinegar and water better for glass. Baking soda is a wonderful cleanser. I add Lemon Essential Oil to the Sunshine Concentrate for a disinfectant and as a fresh natural scent. These two ingredients last forever which is great on my budget and storage space for cleaners. I use Sunshine concentrate for all of our laundry, hand pumps, and I even use it in the dishwasher. [Note: Not all dishwashers will work with this liquid concentrate. I use one pump in mine and it does a great job.]

Read more about my favorite cleaning products:
Sunshine Concentrate
Lemon Essential Oil

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CREATION IN THE BIBLE
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You open Your hand and satisfy
the desire of every living thing.

Psalm 145:16

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MUSINGS: POETRY & PROSE
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"Before, I had gone out as a stranger,
knowing nothing of what Africa held in store for me ......
for Africa had taught me that only in primitive vastnesses
can one find oneself and grasp the meaning of the
word Unity."

---- Vivienne de Watteville

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GOOD NEWS ABOUT OUR PLANET
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CENTRAL AMERICA UNITES FOR CONSERVATION

Seven Central American countries have come together in the name of conservation. The countries' environmental ministers, working through a regional environmental authority known as CCAD, are supporting a five-year, $12 million Nature Conservancy project funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development. The goal is to protect landscapes within a biological corridor and create markets for environmentally-sound products. The Conservancy will work with the World Wildlife Fund and the Rainforest Alliance, which bring expertise to the "green" markets side of the project - looking at ways to market certified coffee and generate ecotourism, for example.

The project will focus attention on four landscapes: the Gulf of Honduras, the Mosquitia, the Gulf of Fonseca and the Amistad/Bocas del Toro region. Wild areas, on the order of 4 million acres, were chosen, in part, because they cross borders. These landscapes harbor enormous biodiversity but lack "peace parks" that were created when the region's civil wars and revolutions ended a decade ago. The vision is to create a viable network of conservation so that a jaguar could comfortably walk from Mexico to Columbia.

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DISCLAIMER:

The content, suggestions, and web links in this newsletter are for informational purposes only and not necessarily endorsed our sponsor "The Herbs Place.com" This is a personal publication by Donna Watkins. The ideas and information expressed in it have not been approved or authorized by anyone either explicitly or impliedly. In no event shall Donna Watkins or "The Herbs Place.com" be liable for any damages whatsoever resulting from any action arising in connection with the use of this information or its publication, including any action for infringement of copyright or defamation.