Buy Organic

The Australian Government has approved the use of the Gardasil vaccine by making it available for a nationwide vaccination campaign commencing next year. It will be administered to school girls aged between 12 and 18 and will be available through a GP for women aged up to 26.

Gardasil is a vaccine designed to protect girls against the Human Papillomavirus (HPV), the most common sexually transmitted disease in females. HPV is the cause of around 70% of cervical cancers which if not detected early via a pap smear, often results in death.

The Gardasil vaccine is expected to prevent around 70% of cervical cancers and 90% of genital warts. This is clearly a good thing but what are the risks of the vaccine itself? The problem is that at this stage we don’t know. This vaccine has only recently been approved for use in the United States and is expected to be widely used throughout Europe. Only time will tell whether or not this vaccine has serious side effects or create other health problems.

It is important to note that the vaccine does not protect women who have already been infected with HPV so sexually active women should continue their annual Pap smear even after having been vaccinated.

The potential or unknown health risks have led many people to be wary about the vaccine and others are using outright scare tactics to discourage people from using the vaccine. Others give a balanced commentary as to why young girls and women should get this vaccine.

For more information on the cervical cancer vaccine, contact your GP or call the East Perth Medical Centre.

Polishing any kind of cutlery, serving dishes, or jewellery can be a messy and toxic business. There are, however, eco friendly ways to clean and polish silver, copper, gold, brass, chrome, and stainless steel using non-toxic products found around your home.

Clean and Polish Silver

To polish silver without using harmful chemicals you can try any of the following methods. The method you choose may vary on the level of tarnish and the value of the object. Be gentle with expensive objects.

1. Make a paste of baking soda and water. Apply with a soft, damp sponge. Rinse with hot water and polish using a clean cloth, or
2. Polish silver using white toothpaste. Rub a little toothpaste on tarnished silver and polish, or
3. Put aluminium foil in a pot and fill with water. Add 1 teaspoon of baking soda. Add 1 teaspoon of salt. Bring to the boil. Add silver pieces and boil for a couple of minutes. Rinse and polish with a soft cloth.

Clean and Polish Copper

There are a number of different ways to clean and polish copper without using chemicals. Most involve using lemon or vinegar and salt. Either of these methods will work it just depends on which you find to be the easiest or most convenient.

1. Polish copper using a paste made from lemon and salt, or
2. Cut a lemon in half, dip into a course salt and polish and rinse, or
3. Place a lot of salt in a bowl with a little water. Add enough vinegar to cover the salt. Place the copper item in the bowl and rinse after 5 minutes.

Clean and Polish Gold

Be gentle when cleaning any precious items such as gold. The following method generally works well.

1. Gold can be cleaned using white toothpaste. Only use a little and polish well with a soft cloth.

Clean and Polish Brass

Most people seem to agree that cleaning brass with tomato sauce works well but there are other options.

1. Polish brass using tomato sauce. Rinse with water and it should be clean and shiny, or
2. Make a lemon and baking soda solution and use to polish brass, or
3. Make a vinegar and salt solution and use to polish with a soft cloth.
4. Rub polished brass with a little olive oil to help prevent tarnishing.

Clean and Polish Chrome

Chrome is generally easy to clean and polish.

1. Wipe over chrome with a soft cloth moistened with vinegar, or
2. Clean with a mixture of baking soda and water, or
3. Clean with baby oil.

Clean and Polish Stainless Steel

As with chrome, stainless steel is also particularly easy to clean.

1. Clean stainless steel with undiluted vinegar and rinse.

I forgot to mention in my last post that if you do head over to Urban Baby, then make sure you enter their competition. You just need to fill out a simple form and you will be in the running to win a My Organiser 2007 diary and filing system.

The My Organiser is designed to make the life of a new parent easier by helping you to get all your documents and appointments in order. This would also make a great Christmas gift although it seems a little overpriced at $49.95.

You won’t have to pay anything if you win so enter now, it’s free!

I don’t really celebrate Christmas but I don’t have children. I think if I did then things might be different. Who doesn’t want to see the joy on their child’s face when they open their Christmas presents, or any presents for that matter?

Of course, if your child is too young to appreciate the spirit of giving then you get to open their presents for them. Lucky you! Giving the gift of baby clothes or toys is really just a bit of fun, although fun which is no doubt appreciated by new parents. It gives you the chance to buy a cute outfit for your child (or a loved one’s child) which is more than just the regular everyday clothes they wear. Something a bit special. Christmas is the perfect excuse to splash out and buy that adorable outfit you’ve been eyeing off all year.

The only problem with buying Christmas gifts is facing the crowds at the shopping centre. The only way to shop in peace is to buy online. Most stores offer next day deliver (so you can shop until late December) as well as gift wrapping so you don’t even have to worry about buying Christmas wrapping paper and wrapping them yourself. Buying online really is the hassle free way to shop.

My choice for organic baby gifts is Urban Baby. I’ve bought a few organic baby outfits for friends’ babies and they have worked out really well. Urban Baby has a wide range of organic baby clothes which would make the perfect Christmas gift. They also have plenty of items for Mum and Dad so no one needs to feel left out.

CafePress is one of the biggest online t-shirt shops on the internet. They have been around since 1999 and deliver unique t-shirt designs around the globe. They print millions of designs on various t-shirt styles as well as other clothing, toys, calendars, clocks, mugs, mouse pads, and more. One of their more popular t-shirts is the 100% organic cotton t-shirt. It is a lightweight fitted white t-shirt which is made in the US.

There are literally millions of designs to choose from, most of which can be printed on the organic t-shirt. Use the search feature on the homepage to narrow your search. Categories include:

• Australian designs
• Funny t-shirts
• Animal t-shirts
• Political t-shirts
• Art t-shirts
• Photography t-shirts
• Sport designs
• Geek t-shirts
• and many more

Naturally CafePress delivers to Australia so if you are looking for an affordable organic Christmas gift then now is the time to place your order. You can search the CafePress Market Place for the design of your choice. Select the Organic Cotton Tee as your t-shirt of choice. Choose your size and the number of t-shirts and complete your order. Your t-shirts will be printed and delivered to your home or work address.

One of the great things about CafePress is that they have a wide range of sizes to fit everyone. The organic cotton t-shirt is available in small, medium, large, x-large, and 2x-large. The organic tee is quite fitted so choose a larger size if you want a looser fit.

Make your own eco friendly toilet cleaner with this easy recipe. In fact, it’s not even a recipe, just put a little baking soda around the toilet bowl, brush, and your done. You could also try using white vinegar or a mixture of lemon juice and borax. These are such easy ways to clean your toilet (and inexpensive) it’s surprising more people don’t use it.

So the top 3 ways to clean your toilet without nasty bleach or other highly toxic chemicals are:

1. Baking soda
2. White vinegar
3. Lemon juice and borax

Simple, quick, and environmentally friendly.

What we eat inevitably affects our health. Most people know what they should be eating; lots of fresh fruit, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, lean meat etc. Basically the more natural and less processed the better. Nuts have many health benefits and can easily be introduced into your diet if you don’t already eat them on a regular basis.

The possible health benefits of eating nuts in moderation include:

• improving your cholesterol
• reducing your risk of heart disease
• reducing your risk of diabetes
• reducing your risk of stroke
• reducing your risk of developing dementia
• increasing the amount of dietary fibre in your diet
• providing a good source of protein

The kinds and levels of vitamins found in nuts depends on the type of nut but can include:

• folate
• iron
• magnesium
• niacin
• potassium
• selenium
• vitamin E
• zinc

Why eat organic nuts?

As with most conventional farming methods, pesticides, herbicides, and other chemicals are used when producing nuts. Small amounts of these chemicals remain on the nuts which we consume and which can build up in our bodies over many years. The specific effect this has on our health are unknown but is believed to be a factor in many diseases including cancer.

A wide range of organic and biodynamic nuts can be found in supermarkets and health food stores around Australia such as:

• organic almonds
• organic brazil nuts
• organic cashews
• organic hazelnuts
• organic macadamias
• organic peanuts
• organic pecans
• organic pistachios

Some of these are sourced from overseas but it is possible to find locally grown organic nuts.

I never really liked mashed potatoes because I always found it to be boring and missing the flavour of roast potatoes cooked with meat, for example. However, this recipe (below) for organic garlic mashed potatoes is delicious and I’m sure to make it again and again in the not too distant future.

Recommended potatoes for mashing include:

• Desiree
• Nicola
• Purple Congo
• Tasmanian Pink Eyes
• Toolangi Delight
• Brownell

Some of these varieties are available as organic potatoes but some are not. The solution to this is to grow your own potatoes. Potatoes are very easy to grow and are fun to grow too. I love pulling up potatoes. If you want to get your children involved in gardening, get them to start with potatoes; you really can’t go wrong.

How to Grow Organic Potatoes

Firstly, get yourself some potatoes. You can get seed potatoes from a garden centre but the varieties available is often limited. I’ve heard that growing potatoes from those bought in a supermarket can have limited yields. I haven’t had any problems growing them this way but you might find you need to try a few different varieties until you find one that grows well in your area.

Once the potatoes have started to sprout you can either plant them whole or cut them into smaller pieces with at least one eye per piece. You can plant them in any soil but this method works particularly well:

• Place the potatoes on the ground, 30cm apart.
• Cover them with a 50/50 mix of straw and well rotted animal manure.
• Add blood and bone.
• Cover with compost or mulch.

As the potatoes grow, cover them with more of the above mixture to ensure they are not exposed to sunshine. If they are exposed to sunshine they will turn green making the potatoes toxic.

The potatoes will be ready for harvesting in around 16 weeks. Once the plants have flowered and they start to die they are reading for picking.

Be sure to plant your potatoes in a different position in your garden the following year to avoid diseases.

Organic Garlic Mashed Potatoes

• 4 large organic potatoes
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic
• 1/4 cup whipping cream

Method:

• Boil the potatoes in salted water until tender (around 20 minutes).
• Drain and return to the pot.
• Melt the butter in a frying pan over medium heat.
• Lightly fry the garlic until tender (about 3 minutes).
• Add the garlic and butter to the potatoes.
• Add the cream.
• Mash the potatoes coarsely.
• Season with salt and pepper.
• Serve.

Not surprisingly, fish taken from the wild cannot be labelled as organic as there is no control over the habitat of the fish and what they eat. Fish from certain regions will, naturally, be subjected to less pollution and contaminants than others but only farmed fish can be called organic.

Why buy organic farmed fish instead of wild fish?

• There is no control over pollution levels in the waters where wild fish is found.
• There is a growing world wide problem of over fishing, resulting in endangered and extinct species whereas organic farmed fish is produced in a sustainable manner.

Why buy organic farmed fish instead of conventionally farmed fish?

• No pesticides.
• No dyes.
• No antibiotics.
• No genetically modified organisms.
• Lower stocking densities.
• Better water quality.
• Fish are fed certified organic feed.

Conventional fish farms are often criticised due to their use of pesticides, dyes, and antibiotics as well as overstocking the farms leading to water pollution from fish waste and uneaten food.

Organic fish farms can also be criticised as the fish are not living in a ‘natural’ environment. There is also the question of the organic feed. How is it produced and is it what the fish would eat in their natural environment?

Whether organic or not, there is still the risk of disease and pollution by having so many fish of the same species in the one small area.

Organic Perch

Australia’s first certified organic fish farm sells organic silver perch under the Soulfish brand. This is available in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Brisbane, and in other parts of NSW or you can buy direct from Soulfish at wholesale prices.

There are very few certified organic fish farms in Australia at the moment although that number is expected to rise in the coming years as the demand for pesticide and chemical free fish increases.

I’m sure you didn’t need another reason to drink red wine but researchers are now suggesting that resveratrol (found grape skins and wine) might be able to improve athletic endurance and keep you slim. So far this has only been found to be the case in mice taking a resveratrol supplement but it’s something to keep in mind.

The research suggests:

Resveratrol boosts muscle endurance by increasing the energy-producing components within muscle cells, called mitochondria. Mitochondria play a crucial role in burning fat to provide fuel for endurance exercise, perhaps explaining why mice on the supplement were slimmer in the study.

Resveratrol might also be used to prevent muscle wasting in the elderly.

Previous studies have shown the compound can extend the lifespan of mice by around 15%.

Resveratrol is also being used in a clinical trial involving people with diabetes.

Add to that the other benefits of drinking red wine and eating grapes and you’ve got a very healthy drink or fruit snack.