From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Jeff Owens)
Date: Tue, 06 Apr 1999 18:17:32 -0700
Home Air Cleaners
Today i got a catalog in the mail which was titled:
Products in harmony with the earth. On two pages were
air cleaners which you plug into the wall. Some used
filters and the prices were not cheap.
On my desk is a book called "How to grow Fresh Air"
I've now compared the two ways to clean the air and
can not see anything earth friendly about the products
in the catalog. This may not be an eco-sham but it
is close. On the other hand the idea of growing fresh
air is inexpensive, non-polluting, and sustainable.
Hmmm...I have the oppisite reaction that you do. I should say that I'm not
familar with this catalog/products or the book so I am using more general
examples.
As a person with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS) I could not live
without my air filter. I don't know how I got along before it. In fact, I
will purchase one for my car as soon as I can afford it. I'd put one in
every room of the house if I could. I also use a respirator mask (massive
ugly filters but no power used in operation).
I have long seen a division between people reducing use of
chemicals/power/etc for environmental reasons and for health reasons. I
try hard to do both.
I argue all the time with other MCSers who do things I consider henious,
like hiring someone to spray weed killers on their non-edible garden. I
and I argue all the time with other organic gardeners, environmentalists,
etc who do things I consider henious, like using sealants on their homemade
"ecological" products.
While you're not advocating here the use of anything toxic, I am reminded
of the arguments I mention above. I have to do a double take and tell
myself that most people, no matter how environmentally aware, simply do not
understand what toxins do to the body, how easy it is to come into contact
with them, or how hard it is to get rid of them.
A few years ago i began seeing specific chemicals mentioned and
how different plants functioned to remove them.
Different plants remove different chemicals from the air so it
is difficult to pick one plant. This is another good argument
for diversity. What i find interesting is that some of the older
plants are the most active cleaners. Some palms and ferns do
a good job. The top rated plant for formaldehyde is Boston Fern.
For xylene and toluene it is Areca palm and for ammonia it is
Lady palm. One of my favorites (peace lily) removes a wide
variety of chemicals and survived my constant neglect.
Plants are wonderful and they do reduce chemical load. I have tons of them
in my home. But, trust me, they are not quick or particularly effective
for people who must have a chemical-free environment.
The top rated plants in the book are all palms (Areca, Lady, and
Bamboo palm). I've found most of these plants as small seedlings
in nurseries for a couple of dollars. That works out to be
a few pennies each year when spread over a lifetime.
I live in a residental part of the city. I do not use any chemicals in my
home and would not be caught dead (literally) with 99% of the crud I see
people on the organic gardening list mention causally all the time as
things they use (Windex, ammonia, bleach (well I have some for emergency
use), PVC pipes, and who knows what else?). My floors are wood, most of my
furnature is real wood or cloth, my walls are plaster, my pipes are metal,
my framing is real wood, my cabinets are real wood, my personal care and
cleaning products are non-toxic. My point being that my house is about as
toxin-free as a modern house can be.
Even so, my house is filled with toxins. Some are things I have, some
older furnature made with pressboard, I have gas heat and a gas stove, some
plastic, and some cloth items in the house contain polyester or nylon.
These generally don't cause me problems but then you add...the air. My
outside air has city problems (pollution) and I have neighbors. Neighbors
do laundry. My worst problem is people on my block doing laundry. They
use dryer sheets. These are one of the most toxic consumer products out
there. I don't get to go outside very often but when I do, a good part of
the time I can't because I can't breathe the air. I've tried...10 minutes
is enough to make me sick the rest of the day.
If I open my front door when someone on the block is drying laundry my
house gets filled with the toxins. Or if someone smokes on the sidewalk.
Or if someone is enough of a twit to come to my door with a cigerette (the
mail carrier smokes while delivering mail...it's insane). Or the
worst...someone wearing perfume comes to my door (it happens about once
every week or two...I need to put up signs). Just a couple seconds of this
exposure takes hours to go away with airing the house (if I can) and having
all my plants. If I turn the air filter on high for a minute, it's gone.
And then there are the heavier exposures. I don't let scented people in my
home but sometimes I have no choice. Like when my sewer backed up and I
had to call the city to check their end of the pipes. I had no choice who
was there and, with 2" of raw sewage covering the bathroom, the hall, and
parts of 3 other rooms, I wasn't about to complain. The cologne-soaked
city worker was only in my home for 2 minutes but it was enough to give me
a migraine for the rest of the night. Thank god I had my air filter or I
would have been sick for days.
Air filters also remove dust, dust mites, mold spores, pollen, pet hair,
and other allergens from the air. Plants can't do that. In fact,
houseplants, even the best cared-for ones, add mold to the air. Regular
cleaning makes most of those problems worse in the short-term. If you have
asthma or allergies that react to particulate matter, there is no
substitute for a filter.
I agree with you in that using electricity to solve problems is not ideal.
Unfortunately, there's a tradeoff involved. My SO and I have a dream of
buying the empty lot behind us and putting up a small building (4-6 units)
for chemically sensitive people. I've thought a lot about how to do it
right. Solar power, wind if possible, solar hot water with a tankless
backup heater, etc.
But, no natural gas, no propane, zero zip. Not even the lines running to
the building. I just fall over with shock every time I see a renewable
energy catalog/article recommend using propane or natural gas. Okay, I
understand the practically for people off the grid but still...
Unfortunately, an all-electric house is very power hungry.
Good design solves a lot of the problem. Passive solar heating/cooling and
etc. But then I read about people, even here, causually talking about
using plywood (plywood is kept together by formaldehyde-based glues),
sealants, caulk, paint, PVC, etc. With no talk of searching out the
eco-versions of these products (you aren't going to find them in 99% of the
places you look).
I can totally understand defining an ecological approach by power usage.
It makes sense on a lot of levels. But it's not my mindset. My first look
at any product or situation to evaluate for eco-fitness is to assess the
toxic damage. What toxins were released and created to make the product
and transport it, what is outgassing, what effects will the product have on
an unhealthy body, a healthy one, the life in the soil/outdoor space
surrounding where it is used?
So anyway...these are all issues I've been meaning to talk about for a long
time. They've been building up...so please don't take my diatribe
personally :-).
Cyndi
_______________________________________________________________________________
Oakland, California Zone 9 USDA; Zone 16 Sunset Western Garden Guide
Chemically sensitive/disabled - Organic Gardening only by choice and neccessity
_______________________________________________________________________________
"There's nothing wrong with me. Maybe there's Cyndi Norman
something wrong with the universe." (ST:TNG) [EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.consultclarity.com/
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