9/5/10

If you can't afford to buy all-organic fruits and vegetables, buy the ones that really count. Ideally, thin-skinned fruits like strawberries, grapes and apples should always be organic. Berries absorb pesticides and herbicides like sponges. Apples are cultivated with high levels of pesticides, so scrubbing each apple and peeling it is important. And because grapes have been found to be heavily sprayed as well, immerse them in water, using a special soap spray to clean them. You can even peel each grape for safer eating.

9/4/10

A product that hails itself as "all natural" really doesn't mean anything at all since there are no regulations in place that define what "natural" actually means. Anything from a bottle of water to arsenic can be called "all natural" since H2O and the poisonous substance are both found in nature. As with anything, buyer beware; check the ingredients list and not just the boldface marketing on the front of the box.

9/3/10

The next time you travel, consider staying at a hotel that participates in the program Clean the World. This nonprofit organization collects discarded bars of soap from participating hotels and recycles and sterilizes them to make new bars of soap that they distribute to those in need around the world. The simple act of donating soap can save lives because many diseases and illnesses can be prevented by the simple act of washing hands. Learn which hotels participate at cleantheworld.org.