Dehydrator: Non toxic, Plastic-free, Best?
girrlguide
11 months ago
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plllog
11 months agolast modified: 11 months agomatthias_lang
11 months agoRelated Discussions
Toxicity of using plastic containers/earthbox
Comments (9)You know... you gotta take some things with a grain of salt. Everything has positive and negatives. Not everyone can afford expensive stuff. I have a big cinderblock garden set up. "Don't do it! The bricks will leach all your water!" they told me. Uh huh. As you can see by this old photo -- bit wilted, sorry it was the worst part of late July at the time -- apparently the plants survived. While I was setting that up, I decided to use a whole bunch of Dollar Store big tubs to plant things in. "Don't do it! The plastic has chemicals and is weak!" they said. As you can see, despite these many challenges, my homemade earthboxes worked out. I also used a variety of terracotta pots; Ceramic pots; Walmart plastic pots; ...and everything grew. And I ate the result. And nobody died. That was in 2006 that I first set all that up. All of it was perfectly fine until March of 2015 when we had an ice storm. Horrible, especially for my trees. Every single container I had was destroyed. Every. Single. One. The terracotta and the ceramic and the plastic -- as well as the tubs. A small fortune in gradually collected pots in front and back of my house. The only thing that wasn't destroyed was the cinderblock! So all I can tell you is that all that stuff lasted for nine years for me -- all of those different things outdoors. And it only died with the ice storm and even my quality ceramic and terracotta pots bit the dust just as much -- often even worse, most the plastic just cracked, those others shattered. So, you know, whatever... Do what you can afford, man! Gardening is fun! Plants grow even when we don't want them to, to which weeds attest. Put them in any growing media with some decent amendments for nutrients (or, in inorganic media and then water with nutrients), get the plant into the light, and it'll probably grow. That saying, "Don't let perfection be the enemy of good" probably fits here. If you've got lots of cash, buy premade products. If you don't, buy some cheap tubs (surprisingly, walmart online will now free deliver most of these things) and go to town. :-) PJ...See MorePared-down, non-toxic cleaning - share your tips!
Comments (41)Thanks caseby- your results are somewhat reassuring. I've recently started purchasing the Clorox wipes and use them in my weekly "house blessing". I quickly wipe all knobs (including outside door knobs) and phones and I also use one to wipe my chopping blocks (which are wood - another story but I DO wash them in dishwater throughout the week as well.) Something about sponges which I read here eons ago is that they can be disinfected by putting them in the microwave for 2 minutes (of course not if they have metallic parts). I've been doing this daily when I fix my coffee in the morning. Makes me feel virtuous. I just checked google and found a whole bunch of hits recommending that sponges be microwaved anywhere from 30 seconds to 60 seconds. So I guess I will continue. (Now I don't know exactly when to toss the sponges, always more questions, LOL). Anyway, I think the microwave cleansing should be considered a non-toxic cleaning method (if you don't have a leaky microwave which could be toxic in other ways - check google for ways to test your microwave or just buy the cheap end of microwave ovens and replace every 5 years or so, that's what I plan to do. My last one I had for 25 years and was horrified to read here about someone who had actually had their leakage measured - it pentrates walls - yikes! always something to worry about, maybe I'm one of those obsessive compulsive wannabes's, LOL) --Alice...See MoreActual answer to non toxic wood type for Worm bin.
Comments (4)Hi John: I would not use cedar either because it will still leach out resin. Guess anything you have in mind should be OK and I suggest you apply a couple coats of paint before use. Paint stores have paint at reduced prices where they were miss tinted. Or failing that, I got a gallon of paint at the recycling depot for free. I used 2x4s for the frame and plywood for the sides from HD. I did use sheet insulation to protect the wormies in winter. Surely painting the bin should not influence the organic certification??? You could leave painting off if it does I suppose, but you realize the bin will last a few years less before it start crumbling....See MoreI need non toxic windows that do not off-gas!
Comments (34)Milgard sent this pic. It is hinged on the top, it goes on a push out window and you have to swing it in to get to the latch and push the window open. Some companies won't make roto operators in small sizes. If I use push outs, the screens will hit things like the mattress and the kitchen faucet. In a little sleeping loft like this you'd have to push the mattress over, lie on the floor, open the screen toward your face or over your head and stick your arm out the window to operate the window! I can't reach to do that above the kitchen sink unless I jump on the counter, which I can do but.... In a regular or large house there would be room but it wouldn't matter as all the windows could be larger anyway. I can't have sliders in the awning locations as there needs to be some awnings so they can be opened in rain and wind as the house has no eves as the width required for eves won't be allowed on the road. Tiny houses have much tighter parameters. This is basically a stick built recreational vehicle and it needs to conform to RV codes. My compromise to avoid vinyl and push outs/hinged screens, appears to be getting the clad wood as those appear to be the only ones that anyone will make in all the sizes and styles called for if I put a casement in the slider location. Sierra Pacific uses a less fuming water based wood treatment but they don't want to make the casement in the size I need because it is a few inches short of egress code, even though I can fit through it easily. Loewen and possibly Marvin will make them but their wood treatment is solvent based. I didn't design this house but it is well designed and the operating types and sizes are proper for each location. Being a tiny house and already framed there is really not much room to change anything even if I could reframe it. All I can do is put a casement in the slider location, awning won't work because it has to be egress upstairs. If I was starting over I would design according to the sizes/types available in the least toxic window. I was lucky enough to find this custom tiny house builder who agreed to sub non toxic insulation, cabinets, paint, flooring, MC instead of Romex, etc., others weren't willing to customize anything. If I hadn't been made environmentally ill and chemically sensitive from a house with toxic mold, I wouldn't have to be so careful as to toxic materials but I was and the only way to detox from this is to avoid exposure to more chemicals and toxin exposure so as to allow my detox system to catch up and clear out accumulated toxins and that won't happen if one is accumulating more as would happen if living in an off-gassing house with a toxic encephalopathy headache daily. I am by far not alone with this issue as it is becoming more common everyday as buildings become older and moldy and materials and products become more toxic. I know of many, thousands, who are now having to build non toxic....See MoreLars
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8 months agolast modified: 8 months agogirrlguide
2 months ago
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