River Soap WebLog

Compostable Swifter Pads

River Soap WebLog — Sun, 04 May 2008 23:09:00 +0000

This is a great product,
method's compostable sweeping clothes

like swifter but bigger, sturdier ( my swifter handle broke) and compostable! What could be better

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Anti-Inflammatories: It's all in what you eat

River Soap WebLog — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 15:35:00 +0000

Berries are a great anti-inflammatory food choice, especially blueberries and strawberries which are packed with anti-inflammatory phytochemicals and anti-oxidants. The pigments in brightly colored fruits, vegetables and berries contain many phytochemicals that have anti-inflammatory properties. One phytochemical is quercetin, which is found in apple and red onion skins and has strong anti-inflammatory properties.

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Canada labels BPA toxic!

River Soap WebLog — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 21:13:00 +0000

BPA which is found in those clear polycarbinate plastic bottles has been labeled as a toxic chemical in Canada and banned from use in infant bottles. Hooray.
BPA aka Bisphenol-A poses a risk by mimicing human hormone.

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Another link to 'Green'

River Soap WebLog — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 15:56:00 +0000

ReGeneration.org

is another interesting website devoted to 'green' living.

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Heart Disease: What's your risk?

River Soap WebLog — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 16:30:00 +0000

Learn YOUR Risk!
By age 20, you should know your risk factors. The important risk factors you can control or treat include:
smoking
high blood pressure
high blood cholesterol
diabetes
being overweight or obese
physical inactivity
It’s essential that you measure your risk of heart disease and make a plan for how to prevent it in the near future. The Risk Assessment Tool is for people age 20 or older who do not already have heart disease or diabetes.
Click here for the Heart Attack/Coronary Heart Disease Risk Assessment Tool from the American Heart Association.
This tool will help you assess your risk of having a heart attack or dying from coronary heart disease in the next 10 years. It will also check to see if you may have metabolic syndrome, a group of risk factors that greatly increase your chances of developing cardiovascular disease, including stroke and diabetes.

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Inflammation: How it relates to 'Western' Diseases

River Soap WebLog — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 15:34:00 +0000

Inflammation is the body's basic response to injury. Conditions that have 'itis' and 'osis' at the end of their names are all some form of inflammation. Inflammation is a process in which white blood cells and chemicals protect the body from infection, and repair injury. More and more research is also finding a significant link between inflammation and a host of seemingly unrelated diseases that have begun to be epidemic in Western cultures, such as asthma, diabetes, obesity, depression, heart disease, arthritis, Alzheimer's disease, osteoporosis, and other aging diseases.

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Cooler Roofs

River Soap WebLog — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 00:45:00 +0000

Over 90% of the roofs in the United States are dark-colored. These low-reflectance surfaces reach temperatures of 150 to 190°F (66 to 88°C) and contribute to:

Increased cooling energy use and higher utility bills;
Higher peak electricity demand, raised electricity production costs, and a potentially overburdened power grid;
Reduced indoor comfort;
Increased air pollution due to the intensification of the "heat island effect"; and
Accelerated deterioration of roofing materials, increased roof maintenance costs, and high levels of roofing waste sent to landfills.
In contrast, cool roof systems with high reflectance and emittance stay up to 70°F (39°C) cooler than traditional materials during peak summer weather. Benefits of cool roofs include reduced building heat-gain and saving on summertime air conditioning expenditures. By minimizing energy use, cool roofs do more than save money – they reduce the demand for electric power and resulting air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.
For more information: Cool Roofs

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Compact Fluorescent Bulbs Lighting a better way

River Soap WebLog — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 23:46:00 +0000

If every American home replaced just one light bulb with an ENERGY STAR qualified or Compact Fluorescent bulb, we would save enough energy to light more than 3 million homes for a year, more than $600 million in annual energy costs, and prevent greenhouse gases equivalent to the emissions of more than 800,000 cars.energystar.gov

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Recycle your Compact fluorescent light bulbs

River Soap WebLog — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 17:23:00 +0000

Compact fluorescent light bulbs are great. According to GE they use 2/3 less energy than regular incandescent light bulbs and last up to 10 times longer. Replacing a 60 watt incandescent with a 13 watt CFL can save you at least $30 in energy costs over the life of the bulb. In addition, last longer and use 70% less heat then standard bulbs so they are safer to operate. The down side is that CFLs contain a small amount of mercury- an average of 5 milligrams. That is why it is important to recycle your CFLs rather than throwing them in the garbage.The EPA has a basic website that can help you find a recycling center that will take your CFL bulbs EPA: CFL recycling centers. All Ikea stores will recycle your CFL as well.

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Health Notes Online from BBC.co.uk

River Soap WebLog — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 16:20:00 +0000

The BBC has a great site that gives loads of information for those looking to self diagnose or explore health and medical conditions. Everything from cancer to child breathing problems.
BBC Medical Notes

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Trans fat free is anything but free

River Soap WebLog — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 17:51:00 +0000

So now that the trans fat labeling on foods is in effect what does it really mean? Trans fat free doesn't actually mean that there are no trans fats in the food- it means that there is less than a half a gram of trans fat in a serving. Eat three servings of trans fat free foods and you may consume as much as 1.5 grams of trans fat. And as we all know there are no safe levels of trans fat. So what to do? As always read the label, look out for ingredients such as partially hydrogenated oils and vegetable shortening avoid margarine and hydrogenated anything.

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A real family business!

River Soap WebLog — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 16:00:00 +0000

River Soap Company has been making all natural, all vegetable soaps since 1991. Owned and run by two sisters, River Soap is a real family business in the traditional sense.
Dad runs the retail end and Mom is our national sales rep. Both sisters still attend to the daily operations of River Soap Co. as they have for the last 16 years but the big credit to making River Soap run so smoothly is our great employees. Thanks everyone!

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Flax seed oil

River Soap WebLog — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 16:23:00 +0000

This Wikipedia article gave me a better undertanding of the difference in fish oil versus flax seed oil (I always thought that fish oil was better- but being vegetarian I went with flax seed but put my son on fish oil). In turns out that flax seed oil has 6 times more omega-3's than fish oil. It is the ratio of omega-3 to omega-6 that is important, a Western diet typically gets a ratio between 10:1 and 30:1, an ideal ratio is 3:1 to 5:1. Dietary sources of omegas-6 are whole grain cereals, eggs and poultry, nuts and baked goods instead of eating less omega-6 consume more omega-3. Wikipedia:Omega-3

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How essential oils made

River Soap WebLog — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 17:51:00 +0000

Most oils are collected by distillation (steaming) or enfleurage (in grease). Both methods are time consuming and labor intensive, and require expert use of complicated equipement and top quality materials. Huge amounts of plant stock are needed to distill minute quantities of oil: it takes about 250 pounds of rose petals to produce one fluid ounce of essential oil.

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All Natural Soap: Vetiver

River Soap WebLog — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 14:14:00 +0000

Vetiver is a tall, tufted, perennial, scented grass with long narrow leaves and an abundant complex lace work of underground white rootlets. Native of South India, Indonesia and Sri Lanka. The essential oil is produced mainly in Java and Haiti by steam distillation from the roots and rootlets. Our vetiver comes mainly from Haiti.
Actions/Home use- Aid in acne, cuts, oily skin, wounds. Beneficial for arthritis, muscular aches and pains, rheumatism, sprains and stiffness. Also used for insomnia, depressions and nervous tension. Vetiver is deeply relaxing and valuable for anybody experiencing stress.
Our vetiver soap contains avocado oil and oat and wheat bran.
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Sweet Ctrus Soap

River Soap WebLog — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 16:08:00 +0000

We put calendula also known as marigold flowers into our sweet citrus soap. Ancient Egyptians valued it as a rejuvenating herb. Hindus used it to decorate temple altars and Persians and Greeks garnished and flavored food with its golden petals. It is a soothing antiseptic and an excellent skin healer, especially for cracked skin and chapped lips. In the American Civil War, doctors on the battlefield employed the leaves to treat open wounds." The Complete Book of Herbs. By Lesley Bremmes

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Clean Cleaning

River Soap WebLog — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 00:00:00 +0000

Put baking soda in old herb/spice shaker container and use on stoves, sinks, bath tubs, tires, etc. just like you use Comet or Ajax. Read the baking soda box. It's amazing how well it cleans greasy, messy pans and casserole dishes! Wet the surface first, shake baking soda on generously, and let sit for awhile.

Make a volcano in your drains and toilets by putting in about ¼ cup of baking soda followed by a good amount of vinegar (1/2 cup to 1 cup) - and watch it fizzle! Great at keeping drains running clean

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BPA: Which Canned Tomatoes Can You Buy?

River Soap WebLog — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 01:39:00 +0000

Which Canned Tomatoes to buy?
Bisphenol-A or BPA is used as a lining on tin cans. Acidic foods can cause BPA to leach out and into the food we eat.
Organic Grace has compiled information from various food manufacturers as to whether they have BPA linings in their tomato cans. At this point it appears that only Trader Joe's & Westbrook Farms and perhaps Westbrea, though their website is vague, are a safe bet to eat.

Amy's
Amy's: Not Safe
Company says they DO use BPA.

Bionaturae: Depends
Bionaturae carries tomato paste and strained tomatoes in jars, but the company says they DO use BPA in cans. However, they are researching an alternative.

Eden Foods
Depends
Company says they DO use BPA in tomato cans. However, organic bean cans do NOT contain BPA.

Trader Joe's : Safe
Company says they do NOT use BPA.

Westbrae Natural: Unclear
Company email response says "We do not test our packaging for Bisphenol A."
Westbrae Natural cans have a clear coating on the inside that according to their website:
" It is a type of food grade epoxy -- it's the simplest earth friendly coating available."

Westbrook Farms: Safe
Company says they do NOT use BPA.

Wolfgang Puck
: Not Safe
Company says they DO use BPA.

Progresso NOT SAFE

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How safe is your water bottle?

River Soap WebLog — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 20:53:00 +0000

Bisphenol A (BPA) and Water Bottles: If you own polycarbonate bottles, including the Nalgene bottles , labeled #7 on the bottom, wash them by hand with mild dishwashing soap, not in the dishwasher, to avoid degrading the plastic and increasing leaching of BPA. Look for cracks or cloudiness on your reusable clear plastic bottles a sure sign that it is time to throw it out. Sigg aluminum water bottles have an 'internal protection lacquer' which claims to be 100% safe. However, for my peace of mind, this stainless steel (and only stainless steel) alternative from KleanKanteen fits the bill.

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Chemicals found 92% of 6 year olds

River Soap WebLog — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 16:59:00 +0000

Newsweek: The Chemicals Within
" Many common househols products contain compounds that could be affecting our health. ... The Environmental Working Group found an average of 200 chemicals in the cord blood of 10 new- borns, including known carcinogens and neurotoxins." Bisphenol A is found in baby bottles, sippy cups, juice bottles and the lining of food and beverage containers including cans and takeout containers among other things. Bisphenol A can leach out of the plastic and into our bodies. " The CDC has found BPA ( Bisphenol A) in 92 percent of Americans 6 and older who were tested." What to do? Throw out your babies plastic bottles and sippy cups and replace them with glass or aluminium. Replace your plastic shower curtain with a cloth one. And don't buy canned tomatoes- the acid in tomatoes causes the BPA to leach out- instead buy tomatoes in vacuum sealed boxes.

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Basil Essential Oil

River Soap WebLog — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 16:06:00 +0000

Basil contains anti bacterial properties derived from it's essential oils. Basil essential oil has the ability to inhibit several species of pathogenic bacteria that have become resistant to commonly used anibiotic drugs. In addition," basil is a great source of vitamin A .......which can protect the epithelial cells ( the cells that form the lining of numerous body structures including blood vessels) from free radical damage, but also helps prevent free radicals from oxidizing cholesterol in the blood stream. Only after it has been oxidized does cholesterol build up in the blood walls, initiating the development of atherosclerosis, whose end result can be a heart attack or stroke" WHFoods.com. Help keep those pathogens and free radicals away, add some basil to your meal.

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Simple All i oli sauce

River Soap WebLog — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 16:53:00 +0000

How to make any bland vegetable delicious- Add this simple All-i-oli sauce.
1/4 cup mayonaise
1t or more lemon or lime juice
1 garlic clove mashed
1/4 t salt
1/4 t chipotle powder or chile powder (optional)

Mix all together and serve as a with vegetables, pour over vegetables as a sauce or add a dollop to shrimp or other light fish when cooking to make a light flavorful sauce.

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Delicious Cruciferous Cauliflower recipe

River Soap WebLog — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 16:39:00 +0000

1 small head of cauliflower divided into flowerets
2 garlic cloves sliced
1/4 cup olive oil
2 T vinegar
2T water in which cauliflower was cooked
1T paprika
salt to taste
Steam or boil cauliflower until tender (10-15 minutes). Meanwhile, heat olive oil and fry garlic slices until light brown, set aside.
Add paprika to olive oil with heat off, stir in 2T vinegar and 2T of water. Heat, season with salt and pepper and add cauliflower flowerets cover and cook 10 minutes on low heat.

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A Green Dream!

River Soap WebLog — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 19:00:00 +0000

Allure Magazines October 2007 Best of Beauty Issue
proclaimed River Soap Company a green dream........

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An apple a day keeps the bone loss away

River Soap WebLog — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 16:55:00 +0000

A flavonoid found only in apples called phloridzin may help prevent bone loss associated with menopause, suggests a study published in Calcified Tissue International.

A side effect of the sex hormone changes that occur during a woman's transition through menopause is a tendency towards increased inflammation and free radical production, which in turn, promotes bone loss.

Because of their anti-inflammatory actions, polyphenols have been suggested as one means of protecting against bone loss during this pro-inflammatory time in women's lives.

French researchers have discovered that phloridzin may eliminate bone loss in post menopausal women, and even increase bone mineral density.

So go ahead and eat an apple (or two) a day- but make sure it's organic.

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