Highlights from The Non-Toxic Avenger

Not everyone has the gift of writing about serious topics with humor and wit, but Deanna Duke has quite the knack for it. Deanna, well known for her irreverent environmental blog, Crunchy Chicken, tackles the very personal topic of her family's exposure to environmental toxins with grace and levity in her new book, The Non-Toxic Avenger: What You Don't Know Can Hurt You, published by New Society Publishers.

Throughout the book, Deanna shares more than most people would be willing, about the health of her family as well as her own hypochondriac tendencies and personal struggles. Shortly after starting her blog, her son was diagnosed with Asperger's (a form of autism) and her husband with multiple myeloma, an incurable form of leukemia. Instead of retreating into martyr mode, Deanna dove head first into uncovering the health implications of the day-to-day chemical exposures that might have caused these problems in the first place. Eventually, Deanna undertook what might seem an impossible mission - to drastically reduce the level of chemicals in her environment, and ultimately in her body, by overhauling her life, product by product, using body burden testing as the measure of success.

Part of the draw of the book is to find out what ultimately happened to Deanna and her family (you'll have to read it, I'm not telling!) but the journey is compelling and believe me, you'll want to start applying much of what you learn to your own life, immediately! Here are a few highlights from the book:

• The "No-Poo" Experiment - After learning that most conventional shampoo is filled with parabens, fragrances and other unhealthy ingredients, Deanna decided to try the popular "no-poo" method of washing your hair with baking soda and vinegar. The results were disastrous and "For the rest of the day, my head itched like crazy and smelled like rotten bacon."
• The Off-Gassing Chess Set  - When her son Henry became interested in chess, Deanna's husband immediately ran out and bought a new chess set. Unfortunately, the board was made from PVC and "smelled like someone had unrolled an inflatable raft on the table". Deanna played mean mom and packed up the board to let it off-gas in private, before it was used again.
• The DivaCup - What's the one thing Deanna would bring with her on a deserted island? Her silicone, reusable menstrual DivaCup, of course! It's better than subjecting her body to chlorine and dioxin from conventional menstrual products and Deanna considers it "one of the greatest inventions known to womankind."

While I've never met Deanna in person, we've been blogging buds for years. Her humor keeps us "green moms" from diving too deeply into eco-despair and her pioneering ideas push us to keep trying something new (have you joined the Freeze Your Buns Challenge?) When Deanna asked me to write an endorsement for her book, (which you can find just inside the front cover), I happily obliged.

Bottom line? If you are at all concerned or even mildly curious about the effects of daily chemical exposure on our bodies and what you can do about it, I highly recommend getting yourself a copy of The Non-Toxic Avenger: What You Don't Know Can Hurt You. It's quite an intriguing story but you'll find yourself referring back to it as a reference manual again and again.

Check out more great, green book suggestions from the gals of the Green Moms Carnival, hosted by Best of Mother Earth.

(Full disclosure: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion. There are affiliate links in this post. Any purchase you make helps keep this blog in business. Thank you!)

Comments

[Jennie]

I will have to check this book out. I can understand Deanna's frustration - nothing is worse than that inflatable raft smell. It's almost like you can feel it poisoning your body.

[Micaela]

I agree Jennie - I can smell that icky PVC plastic smell from a mile away. It's shocking how many products are still made with it.

 

[Karen Hanrahan]

noone says it like it is like our deanna! great review !

[Micaela]

Thanks Karen - I agree - Deanna has a great way with words!

[Diane MacEachern]

Micaela, I reviewed Deanna's book, too, but appreciate your particular insights on it. Thanks so much!

[Micaela]

Thanks Diane - I enjoyed your review of the book too. I love how you said - You'll laugh, you'll cry and then hopefully you'll get busy!