There are many legitimate work at home ideas and companies out there. There are also some really bad ones. We mostly hear about the really bad ones and get them confused with some good ones. Well, how do you tell? First, figure out your beliefs and how you want to work from home. How much time do you have to give it (there really are no good get-rich-quick or get-someone-else-to-do-the-work-for-you good opportunities out there)? What do you want to work with? What is your comfort zone: with people, on the phone, on the internet, etc? Are you ready to learn? It has taken me a long time to figure that out. I have been with my company for 5 years and I would never stop being a customer. Why? Let me describe my company - and I would love to take credit for this but I heard someone else say it and I apologize but I don't remember who that was - but here goes:

Imagine for a moment that you are driving to your local grocery store and you see a sign at the corner of a building that reads: "Wholesale store coming soon. All non-toxic products. Safe for you, safe for your children, and safe for your home. Also environmentally safe - in manufacturing,  packing and distribution."

You drive up to the door and see signs hanging inside that say, "Purchase your monthly necessities by the 16th and we'll give you 10% at checkout!" You notice that the products they sell are going to include everything you already buy - soaps, shampoos, household cleaners, laundry detergents, supplements, weight loss products, pharmaceuticals, skin care and cosmetics, and lots more...

Other signs you see state,  "Bring a friend and we'll send you a check for a minimum of 7%  of their purchase!"

Then you see their phone number and email address and under it says, "Call us or visit us online - stay home and save your gas - we'll deliver it to you!" "Do not buy bulk - we'll do this for you every month."

You turn your car around and as you drive out of the parking lot you notice one last sign: "Try us and we'll give you $100 of free products of your choice."

***

What do you do? Personally, I don't drag my kids out to the store to hear them tell me what they want today or how they want to walk and not ride or how their sibling is bugging them... I stay home and order my monthly products knowing that I am not exposing them to potentially disabling indoor air pollution and also understanding that my 5-second rule when they drop things on the floor really won't kill them when they eat it! I order only what I need for the month and I rest happily knowing that when I order something I help another family reach their goals for financial fulfillment.

Want to know more about it?

There are serious effects of "UNNECESSARY" toxic chemicals on our health and environment.  Those who continue to use caustic chemicals in their home, which are contained in typical household products, will wish they had converted sooner once they get their diagnosis. In the early 1900s it was 1 in 8000 that would get cancer, now 1 in  3 or 4 people will be diagnosed with cancer.

Subject: 70-80% of cancers linked to environmental exposures to toxins

Health and the Environment
Original Air Date: December 12, 2006

Many of us don't realize how many toxins are in the environment around us. In fact, the things we use to make our world cleaner may actually be the things that are poisoning us, says Deirdre Imus, wife of radio personality Don Imus. Dr. Oz talks to Deirdre about the importance of having safe, non-toxic environments for our children and about her efforts to enhance health through environmentally friendly measures.

According to Deirdre, Americans are exposed to more than 82,000 chemicals in our environment, yet the Environmental Protection Agency has reviewed fewer than 2 percent of them for safety. "Knowing that information," Deirdre says, "Why wouldn't we decide to identify, control and ultimately prevent those environmental factors that are making us sick?"

Deirdre says her work began more than 15 years ago when she met her husband, who at the time was raising money for kids with cancer. Since then she has launched countless eco-friendly initiatives, including The Imus Ranch for Kids with Cancer, The Deirdre Imus Environmental Center for Pediatric Oncology and the Greening the Cleaning® institutional program, which helps eliminate toxic cleaning agents and replace them with safer, non-toxic alternatives.

Deirdre says that according to the Center for Disease Control, 70 to 80 percent of cancers are linked to environmental exposures to toxins.With that in mind, she says it's critical that individuals take steps to eliminate toxins from their households. To get started, she suggests eating meat substitutes and organic food, using all "green" cleaning products and buying organic cotton clothing.

Related Resources
                          Deirdre Imus's website is www.dienviro.com.*

You know I am definitely about getting all toxic chemicals out of my house. I can't stand the idea of contributing to my kids' risk factors for cancer and other diseases that are already in the family line. My side lives until way past 85 (unless an accident takes us first) but my husband's side - oh my goodness. I would rather know that I did not contribute to their possibility of getting these diseases. But I'll tell you - I can't stand to clean - I do it because it needs to be done - but I can't stand it - I'll do it with products that are not toxic and that makes me feel better about it - but I can't stand it. How about you? Are you one of those clean-freak moms that do it because it needs to be done or a clean-freak mom that enjoys cleaning?

We often believe that legally marketed household cleaners are safe to human health and neurological function. Manufacturers bank on that. They know that people believe that because it is in stores for sale then they (the manufacturer) have met standards set by the government to sell this product. That is not true - well, not completely. Because very few hazardous chemicals are tested, very few have legislation created for manufacturers to meet.  Why is it that Asthma has increased by 400-600% (depending on who is stating it) since the early 90's? Why is it that when people change their household cleaners to more natural cleaners their asthma is greatly reduced, if not gone altogether? Why are these not the stories that make it to headlines more often?

This link is to an article at Envirosense. It lists a bunch of chemicals in products that we use in our homes and then gives great ideas for cleaning with more natural substances that we used to use in the pre-WWII era: soap, vinegar, baking soda, washing soda, ammonia, borax, alcohol, cornstarch, etc. It's a very interesting article.

http://es.epa.gov/techinfo/facts/safe-fs.html

What has been your absolute worst stain to deal with as yet (if you have kids, you know there will be more)? Mine was a disgustingly long rust stain on a white carpet. It was there when we moved into the house. I had a carpet cleaning company come out and clean it a week before we moved in. They were supposed to be one of those steam only companies but the guy walks in and sprays the carpet with a chemical before getting the machine going. He sprayed the stain and said he didn't think it would come out and I would have to place a couch over it (it was that large) or get the carpet replaced. He cleaned the carpet and he was right - the stain did not come out. I was disappointed but a week later we moved in and with hot water and my cleaner that stain came right out. Why is it that every time a carpet cleaning company comes out they think their chemical is the only one that will work on stains? And why do they say that they only use steam when they come in and spray some chemical on it? They really irritate me. Needless to say I saw the local vacuum and carpet cleaner repair man and asked him what carpet cleaner does he NOT repair and I bought that machine! Now I clean my own carpets! Everything Washes!

I know that for the longest time I didn't. I would spray the shower and bath, turn the fan on, close the door and come back in at least a half hour until most of the fumes were gone. Otherwise I couldn't breathe and my eyes would sting if I stayed and cleaned right away. Because of that I never let my girls clean the bathroom. The cleaners were toxic for me - I wasn't going to do that to them. That's no longer an issue for me but how can the name brand companies provide us with products that are so horrific to work with and get away with it?

This is a link to an interesting article underlying the many different diseases and disorders that may be caused by the use of synthetic chemicals. My question is, "If synthetic chemicals are created to mimic actual, natural chemicals then why are we creating fake ones? And is this the reason our bodies are reacting to these synthetic chemicals - because they are fakes?

http://womenshealth.about.com/cs/azhealthtopics/a/envtoxrephealth.htm

Are you like me? Do you still have the August 2007 Parenting magazine? If you do, check out the note concerning "safer bath products" on page 36. The "Environmental Working Group (EWG)...recently released a report on kid's shampoos and body washes." If you thought you were buying safe stuff just because they are marketing it for children, think again. They found several children's shampoos and body washes to contain I,4-dioxane that the EPA calls a "probable human carcinogen." "Since the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) doesn't regulate the chemical in bath products, it's up to you to avoid them." You have to know about it first. Where do you go for that info? Well, there are a few sites that help and I have them listed in the sidebar. The government does it's due diligence by providing you with the information somewhere - they just don't talk about it much - that or the media don't think it's important enough to mention. What do you think?

Hi Everyone!

This is a blog to help people learn about all the toxic junk put into our household products. It's disgusting how these chemicals are added to the products at the expense of our health. I am sick and tired of all these companies using harmful and potentially harmful substances and then saying we should go ahead and spray our kids toys and trays with it. That's just nuts! There is a lot of info out there to save ourselves but making headway is rough. As well, so many give incorrect or incomplete info and without further researching their claims you may be believing in total garbage. One of their tricks is to make a statement and then give you incomplete references because they are making some of it up, or not giving you the whole story, or plainly misinterpreting the research to their advantage. So this blog is here to help start a dialog for those of us who want the truth and want better health and truly better home environments. Look at this video and tell me what you think... http://tinyurl.com/lguap