DrDeClutterBlog.com

I realize my book, and most requested presentation title is Burn Your House Down, but tongue-in-cheek humor aside, over 80% of Americans don’t realize that home fires are the most common disaster in the U.S. today – and all avoidable.

With heating costs rising this winter, the National Fire Protection Association has found that more than four in 10 families say they are using alternatives such as a space heater, fireplace or a wood-coal stove to stay warm. The figure is even higher among families with children younger than 18 years of age.  The NFPA reports children are twice as likely as adults to die in a home fire. Alternative heating sources are involved in 74% of fire-related deaths, according to the US Fire Administration.

So, organize your heating space; take necessary and “common sense” precautions this winter to stay warm and safe as well.

Check tips and ideas at the NFPA site.

They even have some fun fire education and safety games the kids can play online! Or, go to Sparky.com - I had fun! This game is awesome! It’s real-time playing when the smoke alarm goes off! very cool. Try it!

Have you thanked a farmer today?

We depend on farmers for all of our food and so much more. America’s agricultural producers work in harsh weather conditions, handle dangerous chemicals and materials, and operate large machinery and equipment. If you’ve never worked on a farm you won’t know the daily hazards that can affect farm workers in so many different ways. From overhead electrical lines that can sag and catch a vehicle or moving machine or antennas, to getting stuck or caught in a moving part of a machine, taking off fingers arms and legs in an instant.

According to the Western Farm Press, 

•  Each year, 551 workers die while doing agricultural work in the United States.
•  Approximately 88,000 suffer lost-time injuries.
•  Most are preventable.

National Farm Safety and Health Week (Sept. 19-25) recognizes the hazardous nature of the agriculture industry and promotes awareness of safety solutions. This annual event was initiated by the National Safety Council (NSC) in 1944 and proclaimed as such by each U.S. president since.

The US Government has acknowledged this week to shine a light on Farm Safety and Health. You can find out more at the National Institute for Farm Safety.

President Obama says, “I encourage these individuals and their families to conduct regular training on respiratory protection; proper handling and usage of pesticides and other hazardous materials; the inspection, maintenance, and safe operation of machinery and other equipment; and emergency response and rescue procedures.  Additionally, farms and ranches with children or novice farmers should receive proactive health and safety instruction to prevent injury or illness.”

If you’re a farmer, be careful, organize in order to stay efficient and take your time in order to limit mistakes, even when you don’t think you have the time.

If you’re not a farmer, thank them today for bringing your meals and so much more to your daily life that you enjoy!

Thank you, Farmers! (And, GO BIG RED! Thanks for the video!)

It’s always something!

I use resusable totes all the time. I LOVE TOTE BAGS! My mom says, “You have too many tote bags!” I say, “Can you ever have too many tote bags?!”

Now, the problem with tote bags is that they get dirty. Reusable grocery bags are great for the environment, but reusing them over and over, throwing them in a lump in the hot car and using them for many purposes is going to gather e coli and all kinds of bacteria. That’s not including just what you and others add to the bags when you touch them and put them on counters at the store, at home, on the floor, in the car, on a bus, at the bus stop . . . you get the picture.

Bags used for food can also gather Salmonella and Listeria creating the potential to make you sick. Or, if they don’t make you sick immediately, these little creatures can cause disease in people with weakened immune systems and weaken your immune system.

However… food-safety expert Michael Hansen, senior staff scientist at Consumers Union says, “A person eating an average bag of salad greens gets more exposure to these bacteria than if they had licked the insides of the dirtiest bag. These bacteria can be found lots of places, so no need to go overboard.”

But Hansen notes that there are some reminders to good health. “It’s easy to spread bacteria from meat, fish, or poultry to other foods – in your kitchen or in your grocery bags. So we do think it’s wise to carry those items in disposable bags. Reusable bags are fine for most everything else, but it’s a good idea to wash them occasionally.”

So, do this: 

1. Wash bags regularly in the wash machine or with soap by hand (no bleach necessary) reducing bacteria by 99.9 percent. 

2. When bagging your goodies, make sure to separate raw foods from other food products.

3. Make sure to use plastic of some sort to bag raw meat to guard against leaking. Have a few plastic bags that are washed well after each use and reuse them in your bag collection.

4. If your bags are accumulating, go through them and decide which ones you really use, keep them in good repair and clean, store or let go of the others.

Happy reusable grocery bag bagging!

Check out my post from last fall on cleaning your purse for your health too!
 

Do you love mice? Maybe you have a pet mouse? Cool!

Do you love wild mice building nests in your house, eating stuff, chewing through walls and your belongings, leaving droppings and odors and running around spreading germs? EW! Probably not.

Okay, I know you won’t like this post, but you also don’t like mice in your house, right?

I haven’t had a mouse in my apartment for the 9 years I’ve lived here. It’s never been a concern. So, having them this week has not been enjoyable. I thought it was just me, but with 290 units here I just found out from management that my building, of 14 buildings, is mouse-targeted this week for some reason.

How to get rid of them?

1. Rent a Cat. Free lunch, exercise for the cat and it’s part of the cycle of nature.

2. Live Traps. Get the traps that capture but don’t kill, and let out to run free again!

3. Old faithful wood and wire Snap Mouse Traps. If you’re going to kill them, this is the best of course. “Should be” instant and over with. At least their spirit will run free. However, if you live in an apartment complex, this is not a good idea. They will run right back into the buildings.

4. Mouse Glue Traps and Pads. The big bad one.

A conversation here about glue traps: Many people are against these, including me, before I had mice this week!  Glue traps are considered, and rightly so, inhumane. There is supposed to be a chemical on them to anesthetize the mouse so that they don’t suffer, but that rarely happens.

So, is there a humane use of mouse glue traps? I know, it sounds like an oxymoron.

Here are two answers after 5 captures in 3 days (before maintanence comes over to seal up any drywall – behind stove and dryer where electrical wires are where they must be coming in.)

First, check your traps often enough that if the mouse is still alive you can do one of the following quickly.

1. If the mouse is caught just slightly in the glue trap and he would be alright if he was not in it, take it outdoors, pour vegetable oil on the trap by his body until it loosens the glue and he can run free.

2. If he’s hurt enough that he wouldn’t live, take the trap to the toilet and yes, dunk the little creature in and drown the little guy for his own good. Then, off to the trash (where, if you don’t finish him off, he’ll be suffering for a long time).

Finally, as soon as I see one in a trap, dead or alive, I add a blessing on them and to them and an apology. I don’t like killing anything, but sometimes . . . .

P.S. My mom (farm girl that she is) says that, “mice coming in now is a sign that colder weather will be sooner this fall/winter, they’re already are coming in to nest inside.” That actually might be valid too as it’s been sporatic weather this week, cooler here already the past few days. I don’t know if that’s true, but it is true that animals and mother nature communicate in awesome ways that we humans have long forgotten.

So, bless you mice, and please stay out of my apartment. Amen.

Longmont United Hospital, our local hospital, is having its annual “pharmaceutical take-back day” tomorrow from 8-2 pm just inside the main entrance, and it’s free.

Don’t flush your medications as they go into your water systems and we ALL get to share in the cocktail of pharma for years to come. YIKES! Think estrogen . . . seen any man-boobs lately? I rest my case!! Read more below.

Check with your local hospitals and see if they can take your unused and unwanted medications to dispose of properly.

TIPS ABOUT MEDICATION DISPOSAL

1. DO NOT Flush Them Down the Toilet or Pour Down the Sink

Why? Experts say it may have potential harmful effects on the environment and to us. Disposal via the toilet takes your drugs into the local sewage system. Modern water treatment plants are not fully designed to deal with medication disposal. The long-term health risks posed by consumption of even minute quantities of these medications in drinking water and the full extent of environmental damage remains unknown. 

Plus, these drugs can leach into the local water table, eventually coming out somewhere, like a nearby lake or stream, or even worse out onto your own property, where pets, livestock or wildlife could be at risk.

2. Don’t Throw Them Into the Trash

Safety experts say “no.” First, kids and pets can find them. Then, your trash will eventually make it to a local landfill, where your medications could still have the potential to leach out (see water above).

DO THIS: Many municipal or local trash services now have local household waste facilities where you can safely drop off your medications for incineration. Call your local trash service for options in your area.

3. Return Them to Your Pharmacy

Pharmacies are not required to take back your unused medications, but some will.

DO THIS: Check with your local pharmacies and drugstore chains as some do sponsor regular “clean out your medicine cabinet” drives where customers can return old, expired or unused medications, supplements and other over-the-counter products. Call your local drugstore or pharmacy for options in your area.

4. Return Them to Your Doctor

Not all physicians or doctor offices will take them. Some may not be fully prepared to safely handle the process.

DO THIS: Call ahead to see if your doctor can offer safer medication disposal methods. Plus, as in the beginning article above, check with your local hospital to find out if they have a “take back” day.

 5. Sell them.

Nooooooo! I’m just kidding! But, I know that crossed your mind, right?!

There are plenty of people who have 18+ gallon tubs of bottles filled with medications that “were just not the right one” before the doctor changed the script one more time. It’s very frustrating, not to mention costly, however clean out your tubs and dispose of properly. Let – it – go! See #’s 1-4 above.

 Where has your purse been today?

Where does your purse, tote or briefcase sit when not on your shoulder?

At work it’s on the floor; at home, it gets tossed on the kitchen counter; at the gym it’s back onto the floor or into a well-used locker, and at restaurants, it’s on the table or bench, chair seat, floor and sometimes lap. At the park it goes in the grass or on the sidewalk or dirt; at the beach in the sand or on rocks; in bathrooms it sits on the wash basin counter or bathroom floor; in the car it’s on the floor and in the bar they end up anywhere.

And, whether you switch purses often or just have a favorite one, toting a well-used handbag or “tote” can be hazardous to your health!

What is common to all these places where our purses and bags sit or lay in lumps is another whole world . . . of invisible germs. Lots and lots of germs.

TESTING: So, let’s swab your purse it to see what kind of germs are on it, shall we?

Upon swabbing the bottom and handles of your purse – samples placed in sterile vials and sent off to a lab for analysis -and after incubation and intense testing what we find is pretty disgusting!

A real study at Nelson Labs in Salt Lake City states:
 - “We had several of them that came back with fecal contamination.”
 - “I don’t think they ever realize what they are transferring onto the plate. That is basically like wiping feces on your plate and eating it,” said Rollins, microbiologist.
 - In one sampling, four of five handbags tested positive for salmonella, and that’s not the worst of it. Microbiologist Amy Karen says nearly all of the handbags tested were not only high in bacteria, but high in harmful kinds of bacteria. Pseudomonas can cause eye infections, staphylococcus aurous can cause serious skin infections and if ingested it can cause serious food illness and sickness, and salmonella and e-coli found on the handbags could make people very sick.

GET YOUR SHOES OFF THE TABLE!
Experts say you should think of your handbag the same way you would a pair of shoes.
If you think about putting a pair of shoes onto your countertops, that’s the same thing you’re doing when you put your handbag on The countertops – your handbag has gone where individuals before you have sneezed, coughed, spat, urinated, emptied bowels, etc!

The scientific word to cover all this would be, “Ew!”

This goes for men and women with briefcases and gym bags of any kind.

SOLUTION
1. Use hooks to hang up your purse where possible, like on bathroom stall doors, etc. and over back of chairs. Here’s a great gadget to help you keep your purse off the floor while sitting at the table. JoeyJunior table hook to hold your purse off the floor and off the table.
2. Never put your purse/briefcase on the table top where food has been (and not cleaned off), floor or other place where feet and feces will naturally have been.
3. Clean, wipe down, launder and clean out your purse regularly. 

The JoeyJunior table hook shown holding purses above keeps your purse off the floor, off the table and safely in your reach! Order here. Comes in 5 beautiful colors.

It’s about that time again parents! School starts soon, is your child safe?

There’s enough to think about at the beginning of the school year without having to think about your child’s safety too. But, you do.

Here are two great sites to check out for all areas of safety for your children, going to, from or in school this year: PreventWorks blog - you’ll find articles and pdf downloads for guidelines, tips and more.

And McGruff! where there are online games for small children and more teaching safety in the simplest of ways.

These are both from the National Crime Prevention Council. 

School is for learning, social skills building, creating a lifetime of good memories and friends and fun. It is much more enjoyable in a safe and secure environment, so do what you can to prevent crime at your school this year.

When left in a sun drenched car, a pet is in torture, so easily avoided. Too many pets are lost to heat stroke each summer, when it can be prevented easily.

Unlike people, your dog’s normal body temperature ranges between 100 and 102.5 degrees F. When body temperature elevates above 106 F, normal cooling mechanisms are overwhelmed and fail, resulting in a serious condition requiring intervention and medical treatment.

Dogs don’t sweat – that’s why they pant. Your dog can suffer a mild to moderate temperature increase called heat stress/prostration (103 to 105 F) to a potentially life threatening condition referred to as heat stroke (106 F and higher). Certain breeds are more prone to heat injury than others.

TIMING IS EVERYTHING
Heat stress can happen quite rapidly, sometimes only in a few minutes, especially in dogs that live primarily indoors. Even pets that live or spend a lot of time outside can succumb to the heat if their cooling mechanisms are exceeded by weather extremes.

PREVENT HEAT STROKE
1. Clip/cut long haired dogs.

2. In the heat of midday, keep your dog indoors in either air conditioning or in a well-ventilated area with circulating fans.

3. If you have a pet that enjoys water, keeping a small pool of water outside provides a fun and cooling environment:  just enough water to play in but not over your dog’s head. No pool? – spray from a hose or a sprinkler will help.

4. Keep clean, cool water for drinking.

5. Limit exercise time. Limit vigorous exercise to early morning and after sunset or eliminate long walks/jogs until the weather cools.

6. Extra note: Remember that dogs can burn the pads of their feet on hot pavement.

7. Don’t forget that any dog left outside in summer weather needs shade, shelter, food and fresh water.

8. Never leave your dog in a car. Your car can reach 120 F in minutes, even on a cool day with the windows open, exceeding your dog’s cooling capacity in no time.

9. Be aware that the outside temperature may actually be warmer than what the thermometer reads. The heat index, a measure of the temperature and relative humidity, makes it more difficult for a body to cool down by perspiration. A temperature of 85 F can actually feel closer to 100 F (or higher) depending on the index.

WHAT TO DO IF YOUR DOG IS OVERHEATED
1. Cool your dog with tepid water; do not use cold water as it can shock their system.

2. A fan will help to cool and circulate air.

3. Call your veterinarian immediately, even if your pet seems to have recovered.

PETS CAN SUNBURN TOO!
Why do pigs wallow in the mud? Because they are light pink and white skinned and would otherwise sunburn without coating of mud.  Pigs know how to take care of themselves! White and lightly colored pets can suffer sunburn too, but won’t look for mud to coat themselves in, and you wouldn’t want them too.

Long-term sun exposure can lead to skin damage and in some cases skin cancers just like in humans. If any type of discoloration or sore appears, consult your veterinarian for a check-up. Areas that are commonly affected are the ears, eyelids and nose.

BOTTOM LINE
If you really love your pets, pay attention and take mindful care of them – you are their master!

Thank you The Pet Place for the input.

This Friday is Memorial Day Weekend Friday.

There have been emails floating around re: wearing blue or red shirts/clothes to show attention to and honoring our soldiers this and every Friday.

You can check out this site re: Red Shirt Fridays: http://www.redshirtfridays.org/

Whatever we can do anytime to remember our soldiers is a good thing.

Do what works for you. Keep them all in your best thoughts and prayers.

Thank you all soldiers and troops who keep our land and lives safe and free.