Green Living

Natural Remedies For Burns, Constipation and Anxiety

Aloe Vera Aloe Vera is good for sunburns and household burns. Aloe Vera gel soothes and cools the surface of the skin by calming the irritation and heat of the burn. Juice from an Aloe Vera plant possesses natural inflammation fighters known as salicylates. Once the pain and swelling of a burn reduce, the other ingredients in Aloe, like polysaccharides, provoke the body into producing antibodies which speed up the healing process. Studies done with Petri dishes show that fibroblasts (regenerating skin cells) reproduce up to 4 times faster when being treated with Aloe Vera. To use Aloe Vera, rub into the skin on the affected areas, repeating every couple of hours until the heat and pain start to recede. Aloe Vera tends to dry the skin, so consider using a moisturizer after the Aloe Vera has done its job. When treating a burn, avoid Aloe Vera products that also have alcohol in the ingredients because they will further dry out the skin. The bright green Aloe Vera gels use artificial colors to achieve the green hue, so it’s best to avoid those and opt for the clear products. Consider keeping an Aloe Vera plant in your kitchen. Cut parts of the plant ...

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Natural Remedies For Aches, Pains, Headaches, And Respiratory Infections

Arnica Tablets and Cream Arnica Tablets and Cream are good for bumps, bruises, sprains and muscle aches. Arnica is made from the extracts of the mountain daisy, which is a flowering plant that is common at high elevations in Europe. The herbs healing properties were discovered when people saw that mountain goats tended to eat the plants after they had a bad fall. Scientific studies support that an active component in arnica known as helenalin, impeded the body’s inflammatory response to injury by stopping the release of an immune system regulator called NF-kB. It is important not to use the raw arnica herb because it can be toxic, and thus is best to use only gels or tablets. When using arnica for relief after some type of surgery or for extensive muscle aches, take 5 tablets of homeopathic arnica 4 times a day until the pain subsides. For smaller injuries like bruises or sore muscles, a topical arnica cream or gel can be applied as soon as possible to the affected area. Apply the cream or gel 3-5 times per day until the pain, bruising and/or swelling is lifted. 12X tablets of arnica are available commercially, but 6X tablets are more powerful if you ...

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Green Rugs

Carpets can be troublesome because they catch all different types of pollutants and dust, as well as pesticides that are brought in on the bottoms of shoes. Insects like bed bugs like to hide in carpets and they are not easily detectable. Vacuuming helps to combat the dirt that accumulates in the carpet, but vacuums aren't able to get everything. If you've ever ripped up your old carpet, you know how much dust and filth is sitting underneath. Furthermore, carpets are typically produced with petrochemicals, which means they are not eco-friendly because petrochemicals are derived from crude oil. Some great alternatives to carpet flooring are tile, wooden or slate floors. The downside is that you lose the warmth and comfort of having a carpeted floor. The solution to this downside is to place rugs on the floor for comfort and decoration. Rugs can be washed in the washing machine and hung outside to dry, or you can beat them with a stick or broom to clean them. Thus, rugs are much easier to maintain then carpet. There are some qualities to look out for in rugs in regards to their manufacturing and the materials used to make them to make sure ...

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Put Your Junk Mail To Use

Most junk mail ends up in the trash or recycling bin. Over 100 billion pieces of junk mail are delivered through the mail every year! Check out some creative things you can do with your junk mail: Use Your Junk Mail As Packing Material. Run your junk mail through a shredder and use it to pack boxes, and secure delicate items with a little extra padding. Use Your Junk Mail As A Funnel. This may seem like an unlikely trick but it sure is a handy one. Take one of the return envelopes that you get in the mail and cut out a small part of one of the corners of the envelope. Use it as a funnel to refill your salt and pepper shakers. Firewood or Junk Mail? Use your junk mail instead of firewood. Before you go and toss all of your junk mail in the fireplace, there are a couple things you have to do. Putting raw junk mail in the fireplace won’t be very effective however; you can use a product called the Newspaper Brick Maker, which will help you make paper bricks out of your junk mail. When you do this, your junk mail will burn like real wood. The Newspaper ...

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Save Energy And Lose Weight By Turning Down The Thermostat

On a cold night, it’s highly desirable to go crank up the central heating and make your house cozy and warm. The University College London came out with a new study claiming that keeping your house warm on cold nights may make you fat. The study is working off the idea that when people are exposed to cold temperatures, it engages their body to generate its own heat. For example, when a person is cold the body reacts by shivering which helps to burn off calories. If you crank up the heat indoors and keep your home warm inside, the body isn’t required to use additional energy to make itself comfortable. People are capable of producing extra heat for their bodies without shivering in mildly cold temperatures (for example, in a slightly cold room with the thermostat set around the low 60s), according to The New York Times. This is known as non-shivering thermogenesis. This process might include a substance that is known as brown fat. Adults hold brown fat in particular areas of their body, like the side of their neck and their upper back. Brown fat is not like regular fat, which stores extra energy and calories. Rather, brown ...

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