Episode 15
In this episode:
Today we are talking toxins with Therese Forton-Barnes and do we cover A LOT! Therese gives us tips and tricks to take control of our health by reducing our toxin exposure in our homes and on our bodies. We cover practical steps we can take to clean up our homes and how truly clean products like Tee’s Organics can make living clean easier for all of us.
Other Resources:
Connect with Therese Forton-Barnes
Watch this interview:
Episode Transcript
Julie Michelson: Welcome back to the inspired living with auto-immunity podcast. I'm your host, Julie Michaelson. And today we're talking toxins with Therese Forton-Barnes. And do we cover a lot! Teres gives us tips and tricks to take control of our health by reducing our toxin exposure in our homes and on our backs. We cover practical steps we can take to clean up our homes and how truly [00:01:00] clean products like teas organics can make living clean easier for all of us.
[00:01:05] Theresa welcome to the podcast. I'm so excited. You're here.
[00:01:10] Therese Forton-Barnes: I am so excited to be here with you, Julie. Thanks for having me.
[00:01:14] Julie Michelson: It is genuinely my pleasure. Anybody who knows me knows this is one of my passion topics. So I want to start with. How finding out, how did you get to be an environmental toxins coach? Because I know what you do is so needed and so valuable, but let's share with the audience a little bit about your story.
[00:01:39] Therese Forton-Barnes: So I grew up in Buffalo, New York. I still live in Buffalo, New York, and I grew up in a very health-minded family. My mother raised us five kids on an all organic, healthy diet. She was. Of Lebanon, Lebanese and Italian descent and not my father because he was Irish and he ate [00:02:00] horribly, but we grew up really eating great food and all organic food and no fast food.
[00:02:07] We learned how to cook and an appreciate real food. And we grew up in the city too. So it wasn't like we grew up on a farm or anything, but we shopped at a little co-op and then. Once I went to college, I D I realized, oh, everybody doesn't eat like this. This is like abnormal. We are abnormal, kind of, we were considered the granola heads, as we all know that terminology.
[00:02:33] And I went to Ithaca college. When I went to college, I decided I wanted to get a major in business and a minor in health. And I wanted to open up a health food store. Suitable for everybody in a large store. And everybody knows that store is whole foods right now. And I have nothing to do with whole foods because I came out of college as a party planner, go, go figure.
[00:02:53] But I am a party planner and I had a party planning event planning and wedding planning business the last 35 [00:03:00] years or so. So, but through the course of all those years, I even in college, all my college friends still tell me to this day that I had so much influence on them and their eating and exercising and what they bought.
[00:03:14] But I did that throughout the course of the last three and a half decades. And I was still helping people. It was just in my nature to help people. I wanted to tell more people. I was constantly posting on any social media. You know, 10 or 15 years when it came out. And even during those years, I was helping some cancer patients that came to me and they wanted to figure out how to, what could be in their house.
[00:03:40] It could have caused their cancer or what carcinogens are in some of the personal care products. So I was doing it all long kind of self-teaching myself to and staying And tuned what, what was happening in this green space? So, and then fast forward to [00:04:00] 2020 prior to the pandemic, even I decided 2020 was going to be my year.
[00:04:05] I'm going to transition into really, I wanted to really go at it almost full time and kind of do the event planning on, on the side. And I had done. Over 700 advents at that point. And if anybody plans an event, they know they're tiring. And I just wanted to really go with what I had in my blood for the longest time.
[00:04:29] And that was to help people detoxer homes get chemicals out of their homes, avoid cancer, and look at all the alternatives that are out there that people just don't know about because they are so I'm so used to buying these products that they were told to do when they were kids or that's what they had, or that smell was something that they could relate to or marketing.
[00:04:53] And they look on TV as you know, these are products that everybody does. So that is where I. [00:05:00] Where I am today. And the pandemic actually helped me kind of in an odd way because I couldn't plan events. So I, all I could do was sit at my computer and educate myself and take courses and see where I wanted to take it, where I wanted to be.
[00:05:17] And that's where I am today.
[00:05:19] Julie Michelson: Well, I'm so grateful that you're doing what you're doing because it is so needed. Right. It's such a vast area. If we think about, you know, clients ask me all the time about product. I couldn't possibly, I mean, nobody probably could name every name of every chemical or pseudo name of every chemical that should be avoided.
[00:05:44] And we're gonna, we're going to get into some of that as well. I know that you, you mentioned even before you were doing this as a business, you were supporting people with cancer. You know, helping prevent relapse from cleaning up their homes and finding the carcinogens. But I also know you [00:06:00] have a connection with auto-immunity.
[00:06:01] So would you be willing to share with the audience about.
[00:06:05] Therese Forton-Barnes: Yes, absolutely. So my sister has a mitochondrial disease and she is, and she grew up, we grew up together, you know, obviously, but chemicals affect her so much that if she even comes in contact with. Even somebody that's using bed, laundry soap or dryer sheets, like somebody behind us does, we cannot sit outside because she will go into her hat.
[00:06:34] She will get a migraine for days. She will get a rash on her body. Her body cannot handle any chemicals. Comes anywhere near her. And this is part of her mitochondrial illness. And so through the course of living, I mean, I, I don't know when she actually developed this, but probably about 20 years ago, she was in and out of the hospital.
[00:06:59] [00:07:00] We couldn't figure anything out. And ultimately the doctors decided, and they, they narrowed it down to the mitochondria and she was very weak. And so. She is a big part of why I am doing what I am doing.
[00:07:15] Julie Michelson: Yeah.
[00:07:16] Therese Forton-Barnes: Yep. And she is actually behind the scenes doing a lot of the things that like I'll send her a product and say, Jamie, tell me about, what do you think about this product?
[00:07:25] She will go through every ingredient, every chemical in there, or. Whatever's in there and say, you know what? I think it's okay. Or you know what, there's five ingredients in there. I wouldn't even dare put on your website. So we worked aside inside and It's not to say she's my Guinea pig, because I don't want to say that.
[00:07:49] But she, as in a sense, because she really, she filters out a lot when I when I'm trying to promote different products or researching different things.[00:08:00]
[00:08:00] Julie Michelson: I understand that. I know. First of all, I know at least even just from my client base and my own personal experience, how many people can relate
[00:08:09] Therese Forton-Barnes: Mm.
[00:08:10] Julie Michelson: it just literally had a conversation with a client yesterday. We were on a coaching call and she was walking. She was taking a walk, which we had decided was a great plan to leave her desk.
[00:08:22] And she was walking past a house that was doing laundry. The house was closed, it was all closed up. And she was like, I cannot, can you imagine what it's like in the house if this is what it's like outside on the street. And so, so many. It's you know, chicken or egg, even, I always there's several potential root causes for auto immunity.
[00:08:49] And that has become one of w people don't even think about so many that are, that are chemically sensitive. Don't realize that they're chemically sensitive. And [00:09:00] so that's become like such a great, you I'll say, how do you do with fragrance or, you know and then I know like, okay, maybe we maybe need to start with detox first or
[00:09:11] Therese Forton-Barnes: right.
[00:09:11] Julie Michelson: so it, it really does.
[00:09:15] It plays such an important role. And I really do believe it is such a huge factor as to why autoimmunity and cancer, why they're ramping. Now, and the numbers are, I mean, you were similarly aged or similarly young,
[00:09:33] Therese Forton-Barnes: Yeah, I like that.
[00:09:35] Julie Michelson: auto immunity and cancer bows were rare when we were kids. Like those we'll know what that was like.
[00:09:41] Oh, wow. You know, now it's, you know, you can't know somebody who doesn't know somebody it's, it's amazing. So let's talk about, you mentioned products and we're going to talk about all sorts of products, but. Share with us, [00:10:00] why it's so important to know what you're putting on your skin. I always say in on and around you, but you know, when I'm working with people and, and again, I do a much broader strokes, but I always start with what literally what's, what are you using is touching your body.
[00:10:16] It just seems like the obvious place to start, but why is that important and why should.
[00:10:23] Therese Forton-Barnes: So, first of all, we have choices and then we don't have choices. So we all walk outside our doors and we don't have a choice as to what chemicals we are going to come in contact with. Whether it's from somebody that's a car whatever's in the air right outside, but there's choices that we can make that will.
[00:10:45] To decrease your toxic overload. And we do know that these chemicals, many of these chemicals and there's over 80,000 chemicals out there that we do know, and scientists have proven that they do Harm your immune [00:11:00] system. So you're, and if we're talking about auto-immune illnesses, you know, we all want to, no matter if you have an autoimmune illness or you don't, we all, especially this day in age, we all hear about it, you know, boosting your immune system.
[00:11:15] So we always want to boost our immune system. And one way to do that is to avoid. Chemicals and get them. So your immune system has a much better chance to fight off everything else, as opposed to things that you're putting on your body in your body you're showering with. So there's, there's products that and you have options and there are plenty of options out there these days.
[00:11:41] Thankfully, because years ago you'd have to really search for some of
[00:11:46] Julie Michelson: To make your own, you
[00:11:48] Therese Forton-Barnes: basically. Yeah. And you, and that's a good thing too now, because you can make some of your own, you can that's that's the beauty of the internet too right now, because [00:12:00] like just let's say coconut oil. I use coconut oil on my skin.
[00:12:04] I'll sometimes use it on my face at night. I oil pull with it if you're familiar with oil point, but I mean, you can't get anything cheaper than coconut oil. Organic, of course. To use, and it's also great for if you've got burned. It's great for that. I mean, there's just, there's some products that you can use.
[00:12:23] All the time in your house, you don't need 20 different products that they tell you that you need that have these preservatives in them and have these whitening agents that are cancer causing chemicals. So really, I'm sorry, I'm all over the place with this, but what, what it really comes down to is what you are putting on your body.
[00:12:45] Okay. In your mouth and what you were breathing in. So all of these elements add up if you're putting in different chemicals and the other, the other thing I always tell people is you don't know if they say, well, they say, you know, [00:13:00] X, Y, and Z is at safe levels. Well, you don't, we don't know. Nobody knows.
[00:13:05] This product and this product and those chemicals, once they get in your body, what could they be doing to your system? You just, you just really have to, you have to be conscious of anything. You're like, anytime I use anything. So I was away this past week with friends in Florida, my high school reunion.
[00:13:26] And I had, I look at every label, I will not put, I mean, some of the Springs they were using, I was, I w I was cringing. I brought down all this great sunscreen for them to use, and it was just, I fight my battles. I tell them what I know, you know, but those are some of the things that you just have to pay attention.
[00:13:47] I know. People, you know, you really have to read labels, just like if you're going to eat something, same thing. If you're going to put it on your body, turn it around and read that label because it's as important as [00:14:00] putting it in your mouth as supposed to putting on your skin or washing your hair with it or make up anything.
[00:14:05] So.
[00:14:07] Julie Michelson: Absolutely. I want to circle back to, you mentioned you threw out a really big number, right over 80,000 chemicals. And I think still many people. Trust right. But if there's a product that's made to go in my mouth, like a toothpaste or on my skin that, well, it's safe and we've got this big government and it's making sure we're safe and people really need to hear that.
[00:14:37] You know, they're considered safe until proven not it's the opposite of what we would think, you know, that we're protected. And, and so I just wanted to circle like really 80,000, over 80,000. And now we, we don't until really, really, really bad stuff happens to enough [00:15:00] people. We just, you know, we have no idea and those are just the ones that are listed.
[00:15:06] You know, the stuff that there's not a high enough percentage to even be required to be on the label as though it's a whole nother category. So you can scan up what we're putting on our skin. I mean, it's our biggest organ. We kind of forget it's an Oregon. And so we are absorbing good, bad and ugly on our skin.
[00:15:25] So where do people start? I know you mentioned coconut oil. That might be a big jump. The people that are using, you know, commercial, typical the products they grew up with. But do you have, when you walk people through kind of, where do you have them start?
[00:15:42] Therese Forton-Barnes: Okay. So when I am, first of all, I'm those 80,000 chemicals. I like people to understand. And I'll get into your question, understand that in the United States and you brought this up, but I want to compare it to the UK and in the United States. And we can all make a [00:16:00] product and you do not have to prove it's safe until it's guilty.
[00:16:05] Whereas in the United Kingdom or UAE, I'm sorry. You, sorry. You.
[00:16:13] Julie Michelson: If you don't use it in Europe, you don't want to use it here. That's all I can say.
[00:16:18] Therese Forton-Barnes: Well, they, and that they have a policy that their products there, they have to prove they're safe before they allow them on the market. So it's two totally different. It is logical, but United States go figure. I mean, so we all have to be our own advocates. We all have to pay attention to anything that we are using because our EPA, as, as much as they may be protecting our environment, they're not protecting.
[00:16:48] The the citizens, because there's, there's way too many products out there there's way too many chemicals and all of those laws are so backwards. So on that note, we have to be our own [00:17:00] advocates and we have to pay attention. We can't, we can't say, you know, this product is on the market and it is okay.
[00:17:07] So going back to your original question, but I'd like people to understand that because here comes my dog.
[00:17:13] Julie Michelson: I see the zoom
[00:17:15] Therese Forton-Barnes: Did he zoom,
[00:17:16] Julie Michelson: for that. Liz one audio, there was a puppy flying by
[00:17:20] Therese Forton-Barnes: puppy flying by it. He just went for a walk and he comes right to me when he's like, I'm back. So the question, your question was how
[00:17:29] Julie Michelson: starting point. You know,
[00:17:31] Therese Forton-Barnes: starting point?
[00:17:31] Julie Michelson: we've mentioned, I usually start in the bathroom, but what do you, where do you have people start?
[00:17:37] Therese Forton-Barnes: Okay. That's a, it's a good question. And I always try not to get, let people get overwhelmed because it can be overwhelming.
[00:17:45] Julie Michelson: Yeah. And here's the, the sorry to jump in, but it can be overwhelming, but, but I want to encourage people to focus on what you said about we're. We're going to build resilience. Like that's the [00:18:00] aim is to build resilience and you weren't being doom and gloom. When you said you can't control what you're exposed to.
[00:18:06] When you step out your door. The point is, and the positive is we can control what we're using in our homes, on our bodies, in our bodies and create that resilience so that what's going on outside, isn't affecting us, or at least not to the level of where it's making us sick. So I just wanted to focus because it can be a overwhelming and B once people really understand, they can be like, oh my gosh, well, why bother?
[00:18:35] But because we can make an impact.
[00:18:38] Therese Forton-Barnes: And you can make an impact and you can start reducing these chemicals that are in your system. Sometimes when I go through people's homes, I have indoor air quality monitors, and it'll show me what levels of chemicals are in each room. And that is It's fun for me to do that. And it's fun for me to show them that [00:19:00] once they start making changes, these, these numbers start coming down and not in danger ranges anymore.
[00:19:08] So the, my, my number one space I go to first is the laundry room. If they do laundry laundry at home laundry and cleaning supplies, that's my biggest. Area that is always showing the, the amount of toxic chemicals that are not only in your air and you're breathing them in, but they're on your clothes.
[00:19:30] They're on your countertop and they're on your floor and they're on. It depends on what you're cleaning with. Of course.
[00:19:37] Julie Michelson: Yeah.
[00:19:37] Therese Forton-Barnes: But with laundry detergent, a simple switch and, but a hard one for some people, because if you have, yeah, it's a very hard one. And if you, if you're used to that smell that you think is an outdoor smell or a fresh smell or a fresh laundry smell, and you grew up with it, unfortunately, those are hard.[00:20:00]
[00:20:00] Chemicals. Most of them are cancer causing chemicals. Oh, not most of them, a lot of them are in there. And even if you use the free and clear, they, they are still using, you have to really look at those, those brands that are saying that there's no. That they're they're fragrance free,
[00:20:20] Julie Michelson: or unscented.
[00:20:21] Therese Forton-Barnes: unscented, those are keywords like or natural, you know, those are, those are warning signs to say that's all about the marketing because they're jumping on the bandwagon of this green movement and it's called greenwashing.
[00:20:36] So you really have to, again, you have to look at the label and you never, you never, the back, you never want to be. Anything with the word fragrance on it. I don't care what it is because that is an old from the 1940s. It was a law that the perfume industry came out and said, well, we want to [00:21:00] have a trades, we need trade secrets on our ingredients.
[00:21:03] And so they said, okay, if it's labeled fragrance, then you don't have to tell anybody what's in it. So that has we're in 2021. We're almost a hundred years later.
[00:21:12] Julie Michelson: We'll update it. It's insane. Yeah.
[00:21:14] Therese Forton-Barnes: insane. So that's, I mean, most of these bad laundry detergents have these fragrances fragrances in them and
[00:21:24] Julie Michelson: so, yeah, I totally can see where laundry would make such a huge impact, because think about you're sleeping on your pillowcase, drying off with your towel just on, on, on, but when it comes to the fragrance that catch all word. For those with chemical sensitivity, I mean, that's a huge fragrance can knock people down for days and that's just the symptom.
[00:21:48] That's not really even what it's what it's doing. But I just wanted to add, so I wanted to kind of hit that one home because it's in your laundry detergent, it's in your personal care products, it's [00:22:00] in your cleaning products, it's in your septic candles. It's, you know, it's. I had to get out of a, Nuber a friend, a friend of mine, and I were at the biohacking conference and a few years ago, and we were going out to dinner and we literally both she's looking at me.
[00:22:17] I mean, we were like, windows were down. We were trying. And then I was like, do I want to get a migraine for three days? No, I really don't. Neither did she. And we both know. We, we were like, you know what? Nevermind what was out. And that's, so that's anybody connected with Uber that's listening. That should be an option for one of the cars would be fragrance-free because it's really, it's really hard to get away from.
[00:22:42] Once you start to make them aware,
[00:22:45] Therese Forton-Barnes: Yeah.
[00:22:46] Julie Michelson: it's an everything.
[00:22:47] Therese Forton-Barnes: I'm so glad you brought up that Uber, because I have, I wrote them and told them that I don't know if I'm getting anywhere, but just we'll see. I took one. I took one of those home and put it in front of my [00:23:00] air indoor air quality monitor.
[00:23:02] And it went crazy with the VOC that were being out guest by that. So I agree with you on that. And so, and I have an Airbnb and I promote that it's a green Airbnb. I use no toxic. I was, you know, cleaning supplies here.
[00:23:17] I wish.
[00:23:18] Julie Michelson: I would totally say there,
[00:23:20] Therese Forton-Barnes: Yes, you would. I get a lot of people for
[00:23:22] Julie Michelson: My partner has to go in ahead of me when we travel and he makes sure there's nothing overtly. That's going to get me and ruin the trip with
[00:23:32] Therese Forton-Barnes: Yeah, I agree. I do that for my sister. It's horrible.
[00:23:37] Julie Michelson: Yeah, you mentioned. So it's, it's interesting. Cause I say, make your home your hands. And then I follow it with what you just mentioned, which is one thing I think so many people don't realize is that often their indoor air quality in their home is worse than outdoor, even if they live maybe in a city.
[00:23:58] So let's [00:24:00] explore that a little bit because you. For those of you listening on audio, you don't know this, but I've got plants behind me. You have plants behind you. And so I feel like we were destined to discuss indoor air con.
[00:24:13] Therese Forton-Barnes: Absolutely. And plants are great. Plants are great at cleaning the air out and increasing the oxygen level and they they're so, and it's even if you have, you don't have a green thumb. There's plants out there that are so easy to take care of peace lilies. You don't want them until they wilt.
[00:24:35] That's simple, right? They don't need that much sun. The snake plant it barely after water it another great one to put in your bedroom and to clean the air in your bedroom. So yes, I'm all about plants as you can. You know, if you're on the video, you can see I'm, I've got a big green room behind me and playing.
[00:24:53] As many as we can put in the house. So.
[00:24:56] Julie Michelson: I love it. And share with us a little bit about, you [00:25:00] touched on it. You know, why, well, why is it so I'm, I'm, I've cleaned up the products in my home. Why do I still need to be even thinking about my indoor air quality these days? And I can tell you, well, I'll let me hear your answer.
[00:25:16] Therese Forton-Barnes: Yeah. So it depends on where you live. So if you live in a condo and there's very little or you're near thruway, or you're near, it depends on what's coming in your home too as well, or what is what control you have over. Air quality of your home. So I always, I always go through a list of things to make sure you have the best air quality in your home.
[00:25:42] So if you have ceiling fans, you might have make sure you're always cleaning those ceiling fans. I am crazy about single-family ceiling fans. I will travel. And if I, I am always up there going. This with my finger, because I will never put a ceiling fan on because in the dust could be so many, it's not just dust.
[00:25:59] There could be [00:26:00] chemicals up there from outgassing from any, anything that has flame retardants on it, which is a whole nother subject too. But flame retardants are net nasty chemicals that they spray on so many different products. So same thing, not only cleaning your fans, but also. Don't forget to clean your filters in your air conditioners or your, your, your furnace or your, whatever you have to bring in when you're bringing in heat or cool air.
[00:26:30] Those are really important that you are cleaning those out. So you're not blowing in dust to your house all the time. The opening, your windows. Is a huge factor. Of course it depends on where you live, you know, and I mean, if you have like windows open, but generally the outdoor air is a lot cleaner than the indoor air.
[00:26:50] And that's what the EPA even says that and a lot of houses especially if they're new houses that you are everything's airtight.
[00:26:59] Julie Michelson: A [00:27:00] pressure test? The,
[00:27:01] the, To make sure that your house is sealed? I, I remember before we knew what I now know. You know, I used to think I, one of my challenges was mold toxicity. So. Well, moving into new homes always made me feel really good about the fact that I was moving into a new home until.
[00:27:19] Learned about outgassing and VOC is and flooring and furniture and paint and hermetically sealed houses. And and, and that's why that's what I wanted to touch on. You know, it's you walk into my home and it seems great. Also it is loaded with plants and I'm careful, and I, you know, but if you're not being conscientious, pretty much everything in your home at some point is, you know, Offgassing you know, the VOC is, are in the furniture, as you mentioned, the flame retardants, and we just need to be conscientious about what's in there.
[00:27:57] And, and I was definitely [00:28:00] one of those people who felt like, you know, I always, in my little bubble, I was breathing cleaner air until I land.
[00:28:06] Therese Forton-Barnes: Yeah, right. I mean, how would we know? You don't know, you think that it's all okay. But you know, even when you buy a new pair of sneakers, let's just say, and you open up that box and you smell that smell. That's outgassing. So whenever I buy new sneakers, although I'm trying to find more sustainable ones now, but I, I, I let them out guess outside drag.
[00:28:27] Your dry cleaning, unless you're using a green dry cleaner, but you still have some chemicals that they're using. I know there there's some. Better dry cleaning services. These days you bring, if you're driving home with it it's out guessing in your car. They say to leave it outside, if you have an opportunity, but outside, take it out of the bag outside, let it out.
[00:28:48] Guess outside before you bring it into your home. And these are just simple little things that you can do to reduce your toxic exposure in your house. So,
[00:28:58] Julie Michelson: And that's where we have the [00:29:00] control.
[00:29:00] Therese Forton-Barnes: yeah, exactly.
[00:29:02] Julie Michelson: every small step really does make a big difference. Speaking of steps, we touched on products and that. We'll have to make our own anymore, which is fantastic. You have an amazing product align, tease organics. Tell us a little bit about it.
[00:29:22] Therese Forton-Barnes: So I started teaser organics. I started I started getting into essential oils and my sister, Jamie, who has the autoimmune illness she loves essential oils. She actually, they help her. And so we started. Exploring diff she said, what about a cleaning product? That's in glass bottles, not these ones that are in plastic bottles.
[00:29:44] If you shouldn't put essential oils in plastic bottles. Cause they don't last as long and they're not as, as potent. So I started experimenting with it and I took. Some of the things I loved in the feeds, which a young living produces. I took some of the [00:30:00] things that doTERRA does and they're on guard that I like in there.
[00:30:03] I took some other things and we came up with this fabulous, a recipe all made in the United States and a blue, wonderful recycle bowl glass jar. And they're produced here where I live in Buffalo, New York, a manufacturer here does that for us, for us. But. Really wanted something really healthy for you and your home is, are saying, and when you it's, it's an all-purpose cleaner right now we have, and then we have three rooms sprays that we're slowly going to add some more products and we have a subscription we're going to be adding.
[00:30:37] So then you just have to add it to the bottle. And so you don't have to buy a whole nother big bottle. So. It was all about finding something made in the USA, not in plastic, not using any chemicals and something that supported our immune system as opposed to hurting our immune system.
[00:30:59] Julie Michelson: I [00:31:00] love that. And where can people find you?
[00:31:02] Therese Forton-Barnes: So on our website, which is the green living gurus.com. There's a tab that says shop and it's right there. And we just started shipping out. So we're, we're gearing up. We have plenty of plenty of product
[00:31:18] Julie Michelson: Probably not for long.
[00:31:20] Therese Forton-Barnes: I hope so because then, well, we'll have plenty. We'll just keep making it as long as possible.
[00:31:25] I have a great crew that is putting it all together and it ships out. The everybody keeps telling me, like it's shipped out in a day or two. I'm like, awesome. I love it. So, yeah. So it's
[00:31:35] Julie Michelson: be in the show notes as well, and real easy for, for listeners to find that
[00:31:40] Therese Forton-Barnes: And we have a Facebook page to it. I don't know if I told you that either Julie, but there's a T T's organic Facebook. And by the way, my nickname is T for anybody that doesn't know that everybody calls me T so.
[00:31:51] Julie Michelson: Wonderful. So we, we covered a lot of there. There's I don't even know at least a dozen things. If somebody [00:32:00] wants to play this a bunch of times that they can steps that they can take. But what is one step, if you were going to say, you know, just one thing. If somebody was going to start today, one step they can take to start to improve their health or protect them.
[00:32:16] Therese Forton-Barnes: So one step the really starting to know ingredients. I know I say read the labels, but you really just have to start knowing some of these ingredients that they're putting in it. And products and starting to pay attention. We all know how to read and. You can, you can turn labels over and make sure that things that are in these products are not.
[00:32:43] Chemicals that are going to really hurt your immune system and anybody with an autoimmune illness. Your and I know that I've seen it happen to my sister is effected by these chemicals. And so we really, as citizens have [00:33:00] to pay attention and be each other's advocates and speak up and. Let other people know because it's really gonna take a grassroots effort.
[00:33:12] And luckily, thankfully, it's moving the whole everything shifting, but again, we, I even have to pay attention because. Everybody has to pay attention, but I know ingredients, and sometimes they'll slip that. They'll take one ingredient out and they'll put another one in and you just have to be attentive.
[00:33:31] Candles. Candles could be the worst thing for anybody's
[00:33:35] immune system.
[00:33:36] Julie Michelson: I used to love them before
[00:33:38] Therese Forton-Barnes: I
[00:33:38] Julie Michelson: knew what you were doing to me then, and now I can't even.
[00:33:42] Therese Forton-Barnes: there's some good ones out there. So one thing that you can do is there's an, you've probably talked about this before Julie, but there there's some good resources. Environmental working group has a, has a nice app called think dirty.
[00:33:55] Now, is it the best?
[00:33:57] Julie Michelson: Those are two different ones that there's
[00:33:59] Therese Forton-Barnes: I'm [00:34:00] sorry. Think dirty. Yes. Think dirty and
[00:34:02] Julie Michelson: and environmental working group.
[00:34:04] Therese Forton-Barnes: Yeah. And there's so there's, there's, there's clear area, which is a whole, a new one that is on Amazon that tells you how toxic ingredients are, but you have to sign up for that. My favorite one organization that I support that my sister, she knows that if she buys anything they advocate for or support or certify is made safe, that is my all time.
[00:34:29] Favorite. Non-profit that certifies products that, that are as least toxic as possible. And if they're stringent with their certification products, someday T's organics will be certified by made prob made made safe because I just love what they do. They're amazing.
[00:34:50] Julie Michelson: a great resource and so many but I, I'm not familiar with made safe, so I'm really excited to dig in and learn. And I know we'll be, [00:35:00] we'll be seeing two's organics on there before too long.
[00:35:03] Therese Forton-Barnes: I hope so.
[00:35:05] Julie Michelson: Absolutely. So you mentioned you have the Facebook page and your website, is that the best place for listeners to find you.
[00:35:15] Therese Forton-Barnes: Yeah. That's best. I'm on Instagram as well. Trying to grow. Yep. Instagram is
[00:35:20] Julie Michelson: has like their favorite place. Those that's why I was checking which one are. And they, they, the links to all of them will be in the show notes as well. And I cannot thank you enough for being with us today and sharing. I know we talked about it before I even hit record. You know, we could probably talk for an hour and a half and not even scratch the surface of all the different things I want to talk to you
[00:35:45] Therese Forton-Barnes: I know.
[00:35:47] Julie Michelson: so much gold.
[00:35:48] I just pick one thing guys, and you know, I, it's funny with it's toxins, it's food, read the labels, learn to turn stuff around and read those labels.
[00:35:59] Therese Forton-Barnes: [00:36:00] absolutely. And especially as women, we are just inundated with products
[00:36:04] that it's sad. It's just, and they know that we all like to buy these products and they just keep giving us toxic ones. So pay attention.
[00:36:14] Julie Michelson: and thank you for being part of that.
[00:36:17] Therese Forton-Barnes: Yeah. And the good news is once you stop using these products, your body is so wonderful that it can get rid of these toxins.
[00:36:24] Julie Michelson: It will heal.
[00:36:25] Therese Forton-Barnes: It will heal. So that's a good thing, and it will reduce the, the stress you're putting on your immune system. So.
[00:36:35] Julie Michelson: Absolutely. Well, Theresa, thank you so, so much.
[00:36:38] Therese Forton-Barnes: and thank you for everything you're doing Julie . I'd love to support you too as well. You're you're helping other people, many people out there. So keep, keep going and you know, we'll stay connected.
[00:36:49] Julie Michelson: Thank you. Yes, we will team up. And for everyone listening, remember, you can get the show notes and transcripts by visiting inspired living.show. I hope you had a great [00:37:00] time and enjoyed this episode as much as I did. I will see you next week.
[00:01:05] Theresa welcome to the podcast. I'm so excited. You're here.
[00:01:10] Therese Forton-Barnes: I am so excited to be here with you, Julie. Thanks for having me.
[00:01:14] Julie Michelson: It is genuinely my pleasure. Anybody who knows me knows this is one of my passion topics. So I want to start with. How finding out, how did you get to be an environmental toxins coach? Because I know what you do is so needed and so valuable, but let's share with the audience a little bit about your story.
[00:01:39] Therese Forton-Barnes: So I grew up in Buffalo, New York. I still live in Buffalo, New York, and I grew up in a very health-minded family. My mother raised us five kids on an all organic, healthy diet. She was. Of Lebanon, Lebanese and Italian descent and not my father because he was Irish and he ate [00:02:00] horribly, but we grew up really eating great food and all organic food and no fast food.
[00:02:07] We learned how to cook and an appreciate real food. And we grew up in the city too. So it wasn't like we grew up on a farm or anything, but we shopped at a little co-op and then. Once I went to college, I D I realized, oh, everybody doesn't eat like this. This is like abnormal. We are abnormal, kind of, we were considered the granola heads, as we all know that terminology.
[00:02:33] And I went to Ithaca college. When I went to college, I decided I wanted to get a major in business and a minor in health. And I wanted to open up a health food store. Suitable for everybody in a large store. And everybody knows that store is whole foods right now. And I have nothing to do with whole foods because I came out of college as a party planner, go, go figure.
[00:02:53] But I am a party planner and I had a party planning event planning and wedding planning business the last 35 [00:03:00] years or so. So, but through the course of all those years, I even in college, all my college friends still tell me to this day that I had so much influence on them and their eating and exercising and what they bought.
[00:03:14] But I did that throughout the course of the last three and a half decades. And I was still helping people. It was just in my nature to help people. I wanted to tell more people. I was constantly posting on any social media. You know, 10 or 15 years when it came out. And even during those years, I was helping some cancer patients that came to me and they wanted to figure out how to, what could be in their house.
[00:03:40] It could have caused their cancer or what carcinogens are in some of the personal care products. So I was doing it all long kind of self-teaching myself to and staying And tuned what, what was happening in this green space? So, and then fast forward to [00:04:00] 2020 prior to the pandemic, even I decided 2020 was going to be my year.
[00:04:05] I'm going to transition into really, I wanted to really go at it almost full time and kind of do the event planning on, on the side. And I had done. Over 700 advents at that point. And if anybody plans an event, they know they're tiring. And I just wanted to really go with what I had in my blood for the longest time.
[00:04:29] And that was to help people detoxer homes get chemicals out of their homes, avoid cancer, and look at all the alternatives that are out there that people just don't know about because they are so I'm so used to buying these products that they were told to do when they were kids or that's what they had, or that smell was something that they could relate to or marketing.
[00:04:53] And they look on TV as you know, these are products that everybody does. So that is where I. [00:05:00] Where I am today. And the pandemic actually helped me kind of in an odd way because I couldn't plan events. So I, all I could do was sit at my computer and educate myself and take courses and see where I wanted to take it, where I wanted to be.
[00:05:17] And that's where I am today.
[00:05:19] Julie Michelson: Well, I'm so grateful that you're doing what you're doing because it is so needed. Right. It's such a vast area. If we think about, you know, clients ask me all the time about product. I couldn't possibly, I mean, nobody probably could name every name of every chemical or pseudo name of every chemical that should be avoided.
[00:05:44] And we're gonna, we're going to get into some of that as well. I know that you, you mentioned even before you were doing this as a business, you were supporting people with cancer. You know, helping prevent relapse from cleaning up their homes and finding the carcinogens. But I also know you [00:06:00] have a connection with auto-immunity.
[00:06:01] So would you be willing to share with the audience about.
[00:06:05] Therese Forton-Barnes: Yes, absolutely. So my sister has a mitochondrial disease and she is, and she grew up, we grew up together, you know, obviously, but chemicals affect her so much that if she even comes in contact with. Even somebody that's using bed, laundry soap or dryer sheets, like somebody behind us does, we cannot sit outside because she will go into her hat.
[00:06:34] She will get a migraine for days. She will get a rash on her body. Her body cannot handle any chemicals. Comes anywhere near her. And this is part of her mitochondrial illness. And so through the course of living, I mean, I, I don't know when she actually developed this, but probably about 20 years ago, she was in and out of the hospital.
[00:06:59] [00:07:00] We couldn't figure anything out. And ultimately the doctors decided, and they, they narrowed it down to the mitochondria and she was very weak. And so. She is a big part of why I am doing what I am doing.
[00:07:15] Julie Michelson: Yeah.
[00:07:16] Therese Forton-Barnes: Yep. And she is actually behind the scenes doing a lot of the things that like I'll send her a product and say, Jamie, tell me about, what do you think about this product?
[00:07:25] She will go through every ingredient, every chemical in there, or. Whatever's in there and say, you know what? I think it's okay. Or you know what, there's five ingredients in there. I wouldn't even dare put on your website. So we worked aside inside and It's not to say she's my Guinea pig, because I don't want to say that.
[00:07:49] But she, as in a sense, because she really, she filters out a lot when I when I'm trying to promote different products or researching different things.[00:08:00]
[00:08:00] Julie Michelson: I understand that. I know. First of all, I know at least even just from my client base and my own personal experience, how many people can relate
[00:08:09] Therese Forton-Barnes: Mm.
[00:08:10] Julie Michelson: it just literally had a conversation with a client yesterday. We were on a coaching call and she was walking. She was taking a walk, which we had decided was a great plan to leave her desk.
[00:08:22] And she was walking past a house that was doing laundry. The house was closed, it was all closed up. And she was like, I cannot, can you imagine what it's like in the house if this is what it's like outside on the street. And so, so many. It's you know, chicken or egg, even, I always there's several potential root causes for auto immunity.
[00:08:49] And that has become one of w people don't even think about so many that are, that are chemically sensitive. Don't realize that they're chemically sensitive. And [00:09:00] so that's become like such a great, you I'll say, how do you do with fragrance or, you know and then I know like, okay, maybe we maybe need to start with detox first or
[00:09:11] Therese Forton-Barnes: right.
[00:09:11] Julie Michelson: so it, it really does.
[00:09:15] It plays such an important role. And I really do believe it is such a huge factor as to why autoimmunity and cancer, why they're ramping. Now, and the numbers are, I mean, you were similarly aged or similarly young,
[00:09:33] Therese Forton-Barnes: Yeah, I like that.
[00:09:35] Julie Michelson: auto immunity and cancer bows were rare when we were kids. Like those we'll know what that was like.
[00:09:41] Oh, wow. You know, now it's, you know, you can't know somebody who doesn't know somebody it's, it's amazing. So let's talk about, you mentioned products and we're going to talk about all sorts of products, but. Share with us, [00:10:00] why it's so important to know what you're putting on your skin. I always say in on and around you, but you know, when I'm working with people and, and again, I do a much broader strokes, but I always start with what literally what's, what are you using is touching your body.
[00:10:16] It just seems like the obvious place to start, but why is that important and why should.
[00:10:23] Therese Forton-Barnes: So, first of all, we have choices and then we don't have choices. So we all walk outside our doors and we don't have a choice as to what chemicals we are going to come in contact with. Whether it's from somebody that's a car whatever's in the air right outside, but there's choices that we can make that will.
[00:10:45] To decrease your toxic overload. And we do know that these chemicals, many of these chemicals and there's over 80,000 chemicals out there that we do know, and scientists have proven that they do Harm your immune [00:11:00] system. So you're, and if we're talking about auto-immune illnesses, you know, we all want to, no matter if you have an autoimmune illness or you don't, we all, especially this day in age, we all hear about it, you know, boosting your immune system.
[00:11:15] So we always want to boost our immune system. And one way to do that is to avoid. Chemicals and get them. So your immune system has a much better chance to fight off everything else, as opposed to things that you're putting on your body in your body you're showering with. So there's, there's products that and you have options and there are plenty of options out there these days.
[00:11:41] Thankfully, because years ago you'd have to really search for some of
[00:11:46] Julie Michelson: To make your own, you
[00:11:48] Therese Forton-Barnes: basically. Yeah. And you, and that's a good thing too now, because you can make some of your own, you can that's that's the beauty of the internet too right now, because [00:12:00] like just let's say coconut oil. I use coconut oil on my skin.
[00:12:04] I'll sometimes use it on my face at night. I oil pull with it if you're familiar with oil point, but I mean, you can't get anything cheaper than coconut oil. Organic, of course. To use, and it's also great for if you've got burned. It's great for that. I mean, there's just, there's some products that you can use.
[00:12:23] All the time in your house, you don't need 20 different products that they tell you that you need that have these preservatives in them and have these whitening agents that are cancer causing chemicals. So really, I'm sorry, I'm all over the place with this, but what, what it really comes down to is what you are putting on your body.
[00:12:45] Okay. In your mouth and what you were breathing in. So all of these elements add up if you're putting in different chemicals and the other, the other thing I always tell people is you don't know if they say, well, they say, you know, [00:13:00] X, Y, and Z is at safe levels. Well, you don't, we don't know. Nobody knows.
[00:13:05] This product and this product and those chemicals, once they get in your body, what could they be doing to your system? You just, you just really have to, you have to be conscious of anything. You're like, anytime I use anything. So I was away this past week with friends in Florida, my high school reunion.
[00:13:26] And I had, I look at every label, I will not put, I mean, some of the Springs they were using, I was, I w I was cringing. I brought down all this great sunscreen for them to use, and it was just, I fight my battles. I tell them what I know, you know, but those are some of the things that you just have to pay attention.
[00:13:47] I know. People, you know, you really have to read labels, just like if you're going to eat something, same thing. If you're going to put it on your body, turn it around and read that label because it's as important as [00:14:00] putting it in your mouth as supposed to putting on your skin or washing your hair with it or make up anything.
[00:14:05] So.
[00:14:07] Julie Michelson: Absolutely. I want to circle back to, you mentioned you threw out a really big number, right over 80,000 chemicals. And I think still many people. Trust right. But if there's a product that's made to go in my mouth, like a toothpaste or on my skin that, well, it's safe and we've got this big government and it's making sure we're safe and people really need to hear that.
[00:14:37] You know, they're considered safe until proven not it's the opposite of what we would think, you know, that we're protected. And, and so I just wanted to circle like really 80,000, over 80,000. And now we, we don't until really, really, really bad stuff happens to enough [00:15:00] people. We just, you know, we have no idea and those are just the ones that are listed.
[00:15:06] You know, the stuff that there's not a high enough percentage to even be required to be on the label as though it's a whole nother category. So you can scan up what we're putting on our skin. I mean, it's our biggest organ. We kind of forget it's an Oregon. And so we are absorbing good, bad and ugly on our skin.
[00:15:25] So where do people start? I know you mentioned coconut oil. That might be a big jump. The people that are using, you know, commercial, typical the products they grew up with. But do you have, when you walk people through kind of, where do you have them start?
[00:15:42] Therese Forton-Barnes: Okay. So when I am, first of all, I'm those 80,000 chemicals. I like people to understand. And I'll get into your question, understand that in the United States and you brought this up, but I want to compare it to the UK and in the United States. And we can all make a [00:16:00] product and you do not have to prove it's safe until it's guilty.
[00:16:05] Whereas in the United Kingdom or UAE, I'm sorry. You, sorry. You.
[00:16:13] Julie Michelson: If you don't use it in Europe, you don't want to use it here. That's all I can say.
[00:16:18] Therese Forton-Barnes: Well, they, and that they have a policy that their products there, they have to prove they're safe before they allow them on the market. So it's two totally different. It is logical, but United States go figure. I mean, so we all have to be our own advocates. We all have to pay attention to anything that we are using because our EPA, as, as much as they may be protecting our environment, they're not protecting.
[00:16:48] The the citizens, because there's, there's way too many products out there there's way too many chemicals and all of those laws are so backwards. So on that note, we have to be our own [00:17:00] advocates and we have to pay attention. We can't, we can't say, you know, this product is on the market and it is okay.
[00:17:07] So going back to your original question, but I'd like people to understand that because here comes my dog.
[00:17:13] Julie Michelson: I see the zoom
[00:17:15] Therese Forton-Barnes: Did he zoom,
[00:17:16] Julie Michelson: for that. Liz one audio, there was a puppy flying by
[00:17:20] Therese Forton-Barnes: puppy flying by it. He just went for a walk and he comes right to me when he's like, I'm back. So the question, your question was how
[00:17:29] Julie Michelson: starting point. You know,
[00:17:31] Therese Forton-Barnes: starting point?
[00:17:31] Julie Michelson: we've mentioned, I usually start in the bathroom, but what do you, where do you have people start?
[00:17:37] Therese Forton-Barnes: Okay. That's a, it's a good question. And I always try not to get, let people get overwhelmed because it can be overwhelming.
[00:17:45] Julie Michelson: Yeah. And here's the, the sorry to jump in, but it can be overwhelming, but, but I want to encourage people to focus on what you said about we're. We're going to build resilience. Like that's the [00:18:00] aim is to build resilience and you weren't being doom and gloom. When you said you can't control what you're exposed to.
[00:18:06] When you step out your door. The point is, and the positive is we can control what we're using in our homes, on our bodies, in our bodies and create that resilience so that what's going on outside, isn't affecting us, or at least not to the level of where it's making us sick. So I just wanted to focus because it can be a overwhelming and B once people really understand, they can be like, oh my gosh, well, why bother?
[00:18:35] But because we can make an impact.
[00:18:38] Therese Forton-Barnes: And you can make an impact and you can start reducing these chemicals that are in your system. Sometimes when I go through people's homes, I have indoor air quality monitors, and it'll show me what levels of chemicals are in each room. And that is It's fun for me to do that. And it's fun for me to show them that [00:19:00] once they start making changes, these, these numbers start coming down and not in danger ranges anymore.
[00:19:08] So the, my, my number one space I go to first is the laundry room. If they do laundry laundry at home laundry and cleaning supplies, that's my biggest. Area that is always showing the, the amount of toxic chemicals that are not only in your air and you're breathing them in, but they're on your clothes.
[00:19:30] They're on your countertop and they're on your floor and they're on. It depends on what you're cleaning with. Of course.
[00:19:37] Julie Michelson: Yeah.
[00:19:37] Therese Forton-Barnes: But with laundry detergent, a simple switch and, but a hard one for some people, because if you have, yeah, it's a very hard one. And if you, if you're used to that smell that you think is an outdoor smell or a fresh smell or a fresh laundry smell, and you grew up with it, unfortunately, those are hard.[00:20:00]
[00:20:00] Chemicals. Most of them are cancer causing chemicals. Oh, not most of them, a lot of them are in there. And even if you use the free and clear, they, they are still using, you have to really look at those, those brands that are saying that there's no. That they're they're fragrance free,
[00:20:20] Julie Michelson: or unscented.
[00:20:21] Therese Forton-Barnes: unscented, those are keywords like or natural, you know, those are, those are warning signs to say that's all about the marketing because they're jumping on the bandwagon of this green movement and it's called greenwashing.
[00:20:36] So you really have to, again, you have to look at the label and you never, you never, the back, you never want to be. Anything with the word fragrance on it. I don't care what it is because that is an old from the 1940s. It was a law that the perfume industry came out and said, well, we want to [00:21:00] have a trades, we need trade secrets on our ingredients.
[00:21:03] And so they said, okay, if it's labeled fragrance, then you don't have to tell anybody what's in it. So that has we're in 2021. We're almost a hundred years later.
[00:21:12] Julie Michelson: We'll update it. It's insane. Yeah.
[00:21:14] Therese Forton-Barnes: insane. So that's, I mean, most of these bad laundry detergents have these fragrances fragrances in them and
[00:21:24] Julie Michelson: so, yeah, I totally can see where laundry would make such a huge impact, because think about you're sleeping on your pillowcase, drying off with your towel just on, on, on, but when it comes to the fragrance that catch all word. For those with chemical sensitivity, I mean, that's a huge fragrance can knock people down for days and that's just the symptom.
[00:21:48] That's not really even what it's what it's doing. But I just wanted to add, so I wanted to kind of hit that one home because it's in your laundry detergent, it's in your personal care products, it's [00:22:00] in your cleaning products, it's in your septic candles. It's, you know, it's. I had to get out of a, Nuber a friend, a friend of mine, and I were at the biohacking conference and a few years ago, and we were going out to dinner and we literally both she's looking at me.
[00:22:17] I mean, we were like, windows were down. We were trying. And then I was like, do I want to get a migraine for three days? No, I really don't. Neither did she. And we both know. We, we were like, you know what? Nevermind what was out. And that's, so that's anybody connected with Uber that's listening. That should be an option for one of the cars would be fragrance-free because it's really, it's really hard to get away from.
[00:22:42] Once you start to make them aware,
[00:22:45] Therese Forton-Barnes: Yeah.
[00:22:46] Julie Michelson: it's an everything.
[00:22:47] Therese Forton-Barnes: I'm so glad you brought up that Uber, because I have, I wrote them and told them that I don't know if I'm getting anywhere, but just we'll see. I took one. I took one of those home and put it in front of my [00:23:00] air indoor air quality monitor.
[00:23:02] And it went crazy with the VOC that were being out guest by that. So I agree with you on that. And so, and I have an Airbnb and I promote that it's a green Airbnb. I use no toxic. I was, you know, cleaning supplies here.
[00:23:17] I wish.
[00:23:18] Julie Michelson: I would totally say there,
[00:23:20] Therese Forton-Barnes: Yes, you would. I get a lot of people for
[00:23:22] Julie Michelson: My partner has to go in ahead of me when we travel and he makes sure there's nothing overtly. That's going to get me and ruin the trip with
[00:23:32] Therese Forton-Barnes: Yeah, I agree. I do that for my sister. It's horrible.
[00:23:37] Julie Michelson: Yeah, you mentioned. So it's, it's interesting. Cause I say, make your home your hands. And then I follow it with what you just mentioned, which is one thing I think so many people don't realize is that often their indoor air quality in their home is worse than outdoor, even if they live maybe in a city.
[00:23:58] So let's [00:24:00] explore that a little bit because you. For those of you listening on audio, you don't know this, but I've got plants behind me. You have plants behind you. And so I feel like we were destined to discuss indoor air con.
[00:24:13] Therese Forton-Barnes: Absolutely. And plants are great. Plants are great at cleaning the air out and increasing the oxygen level and they they're so, and it's even if you have, you don't have a green thumb. There's plants out there that are so easy to take care of peace lilies. You don't want them until they wilt.
[00:24:35] That's simple, right? They don't need that much sun. The snake plant it barely after water it another great one to put in your bedroom and to clean the air in your bedroom. So yes, I'm all about plants as you can. You know, if you're on the video, you can see I'm, I've got a big green room behind me and playing.
[00:24:53] As many as we can put in the house. So.
[00:24:56] Julie Michelson: I love it. And share with us a little bit about, you [00:25:00] touched on it. You know, why, well, why is it so I'm, I'm, I've cleaned up the products in my home. Why do I still need to be even thinking about my indoor air quality these days? And I can tell you, well, I'll let me hear your answer.
[00:25:16] Therese Forton-Barnes: Yeah. So it depends on where you live. So if you live in a condo and there's very little or you're near thruway, or you're near, it depends on what's coming in your home too as well, or what is what control you have over. Air quality of your home. So I always, I always go through a list of things to make sure you have the best air quality in your home.
[00:25:42] So if you have ceiling fans, you might have make sure you're always cleaning those ceiling fans. I am crazy about single-family ceiling fans. I will travel. And if I, I am always up there going. This with my finger, because I will never put a ceiling fan on because in the dust could be so many, it's not just dust.
[00:25:59] There could be [00:26:00] chemicals up there from outgassing from any, anything that has flame retardants on it, which is a whole nother subject too. But flame retardants are net nasty chemicals that they spray on so many different products. So same thing, not only cleaning your fans, but also. Don't forget to clean your filters in your air conditioners or your, your, your furnace or your, whatever you have to bring in when you're bringing in heat or cool air.
[00:26:30] Those are really important that you are cleaning those out. So you're not blowing in dust to your house all the time. The opening, your windows. Is a huge factor. Of course it depends on where you live, you know, and I mean, if you have like windows open, but generally the outdoor air is a lot cleaner than the indoor air.
[00:26:50] And that's what the EPA even says that and a lot of houses especially if they're new houses that you are everything's airtight.
[00:26:59] Julie Michelson: A [00:27:00] pressure test? The,
[00:27:01] the, To make sure that your house is sealed? I, I remember before we knew what I now know. You know, I used to think I, one of my challenges was mold toxicity. So. Well, moving into new homes always made me feel really good about the fact that I was moving into a new home until.
[00:27:19] Learned about outgassing and VOC is and flooring and furniture and paint and hermetically sealed houses. And and, and that's why that's what I wanted to touch on. You know, it's you walk into my home and it seems great. Also it is loaded with plants and I'm careful, and I, you know, but if you're not being conscientious, pretty much everything in your home at some point is, you know, Offgassing you know, the VOC is, are in the furniture, as you mentioned, the flame retardants, and we just need to be conscientious about what's in there.
[00:27:57] And, and I was definitely [00:28:00] one of those people who felt like, you know, I always, in my little bubble, I was breathing cleaner air until I land.
[00:28:06] Therese Forton-Barnes: Yeah, right. I mean, how would we know? You don't know, you think that it's all okay. But you know, even when you buy a new pair of sneakers, let's just say, and you open up that box and you smell that smell. That's outgassing. So whenever I buy new sneakers, although I'm trying to find more sustainable ones now, but I, I, I let them out guess outside drag.
[00:28:27] Your dry cleaning, unless you're using a green dry cleaner, but you still have some chemicals that they're using. I know there there's some. Better dry cleaning services. These days you bring, if you're driving home with it it's out guessing in your car. They say to leave it outside, if you have an opportunity, but outside, take it out of the bag outside, let it out.
[00:28:48] Guess outside before you bring it into your home. And these are just simple little things that you can do to reduce your toxic exposure in your house. So,
[00:28:58] Julie Michelson: And that's where we have the [00:29:00] control.
[00:29:00] Therese Forton-Barnes: yeah, exactly.
[00:29:02] Julie Michelson: every small step really does make a big difference. Speaking of steps, we touched on products and that. We'll have to make our own anymore, which is fantastic. You have an amazing product align, tease organics. Tell us a little bit about it.
[00:29:22] Therese Forton-Barnes: So I started teaser organics. I started I started getting into essential oils and my sister, Jamie, who has the autoimmune illness she loves essential oils. She actually, they help her. And so we started. Exploring diff she said, what about a cleaning product? That's in glass bottles, not these ones that are in plastic bottles.
[00:29:44] If you shouldn't put essential oils in plastic bottles. Cause they don't last as long and they're not as, as potent. So I started experimenting with it and I took. Some of the things I loved in the feeds, which a young living produces. I took some of the [00:30:00] things that doTERRA does and they're on guard that I like in there.
[00:30:03] I took some other things and we came up with this fabulous, a recipe all made in the United States and a blue, wonderful recycle bowl glass jar. And they're produced here where I live in Buffalo, New York, a manufacturer here does that for us, for us. But. Really wanted something really healthy for you and your home is, are saying, and when you it's, it's an all-purpose cleaner right now we have, and then we have three rooms sprays that we're slowly going to add some more products and we have a subscription we're going to be adding.
[00:30:37] So then you just have to add it to the bottle. And so you don't have to buy a whole nother big bottle. So. It was all about finding something made in the USA, not in plastic, not using any chemicals and something that supported our immune system as opposed to hurting our immune system.
[00:30:59] Julie Michelson: I [00:31:00] love that. And where can people find you?
[00:31:02] Therese Forton-Barnes: So on our website, which is the green living gurus.com. There's a tab that says shop and it's right there. And we just started shipping out. So we're, we're gearing up. We have plenty of plenty of product
[00:31:18] Julie Michelson: Probably not for long.
[00:31:20] Therese Forton-Barnes: I hope so because then, well, we'll have plenty. We'll just keep making it as long as possible.
[00:31:25] I have a great crew that is putting it all together and it ships out. The everybody keeps telling me, like it's shipped out in a day or two. I'm like, awesome. I love it. So, yeah. So it's
[00:31:35] Julie Michelson: be in the show notes as well, and real easy for, for listeners to find that
[00:31:40] Therese Forton-Barnes: And we have a Facebook page to it. I don't know if I told you that either Julie, but there's a T T's organic Facebook. And by the way, my nickname is T for anybody that doesn't know that everybody calls me T so.
[00:31:51] Julie Michelson: Wonderful. So we, we covered a lot of there. There's I don't even know at least a dozen things. If somebody [00:32:00] wants to play this a bunch of times that they can steps that they can take. But what is one step, if you were going to say, you know, just one thing. If somebody was going to start today, one step they can take to start to improve their health or protect them.
[00:32:16] Therese Forton-Barnes: So one step the really starting to know ingredients. I know I say read the labels, but you really just have to start knowing some of these ingredients that they're putting in it. And products and starting to pay attention. We all know how to read and. You can, you can turn labels over and make sure that things that are in these products are not.
[00:32:43] Chemicals that are going to really hurt your immune system and anybody with an autoimmune illness. Your and I know that I've seen it happen to my sister is effected by these chemicals. And so we really, as citizens have [00:33:00] to pay attention and be each other's advocates and speak up and. Let other people know because it's really gonna take a grassroots effort.
[00:33:12] And luckily, thankfully, it's moving the whole everything shifting, but again, we, I even have to pay attention because. Everybody has to pay attention, but I know ingredients, and sometimes they'll slip that. They'll take one ingredient out and they'll put another one in and you just have to be attentive.
[00:33:31] Candles. Candles could be the worst thing for anybody's
[00:33:35] immune system.
[00:33:36] Julie Michelson: I used to love them before
[00:33:38] Therese Forton-Barnes: I
[00:33:38] Julie Michelson: knew what you were doing to me then, and now I can't even.
[00:33:42] Therese Forton-Barnes: there's some good ones out there. So one thing that you can do is there's an, you've probably talked about this before Julie, but there there's some good resources. Environmental working group has a, has a nice app called think dirty.
[00:33:55] Now, is it the best?
[00:33:57] Julie Michelson: Those are two different ones that there's
[00:33:59] Therese Forton-Barnes: I'm [00:34:00] sorry. Think dirty. Yes. Think dirty and
[00:34:02] Julie Michelson: and environmental working group.
[00:34:04] Therese Forton-Barnes: Yeah. And there's so there's, there's, there's clear area, which is a whole, a new one that is on Amazon that tells you how toxic ingredients are, but you have to sign up for that. My favorite one organization that I support that my sister, she knows that if she buys anything they advocate for or support or certify is made safe, that is my all time.
[00:34:29] Favorite. Non-profit that certifies products that, that are as least toxic as possible. And if they're stringent with their certification products, someday T's organics will be certified by made prob made made safe because I just love what they do. They're amazing.
[00:34:50] Julie Michelson: a great resource and so many but I, I'm not familiar with made safe, so I'm really excited to dig in and learn. And I know we'll be, [00:35:00] we'll be seeing two's organics on there before too long.
[00:35:03] Therese Forton-Barnes: I hope so.
[00:35:05] Julie Michelson: Absolutely. So you mentioned you have the Facebook page and your website, is that the best place for listeners to find you.
[00:35:15] Therese Forton-Barnes: Yeah. That's best. I'm on Instagram as well. Trying to grow. Yep. Instagram is
[00:35:20] Julie Michelson: has like their favorite place. Those that's why I was checking which one are. And they, they, the links to all of them will be in the show notes as well. And I cannot thank you enough for being with us today and sharing. I know we talked about it before I even hit record. You know, we could probably talk for an hour and a half and not even scratch the surface of all the different things I want to talk to you
[00:35:45] Therese Forton-Barnes: I know.
[00:35:47] Julie Michelson: so much gold.
[00:35:48] I just pick one thing guys, and you know, I, it's funny with it's toxins, it's food, read the labels, learn to turn stuff around and read those labels.
[00:35:59] Therese Forton-Barnes: [00:36:00] absolutely. And especially as women, we are just inundated with products
[00:36:04] that it's sad. It's just, and they know that we all like to buy these products and they just keep giving us toxic ones. So pay attention.
[00:36:14] Julie Michelson: and thank you for being part of that.
[00:36:17] Therese Forton-Barnes: Yeah. And the good news is once you stop using these products, your body is so wonderful that it can get rid of these toxins.
[00:36:24] Julie Michelson: It will heal.
[00:36:25] Therese Forton-Barnes: It will heal. So that's a good thing, and it will reduce the, the stress you're putting on your immune system. So.
[00:36:35] Julie Michelson: Absolutely. Well, Theresa, thank you so, so much.
[00:36:38] Therese Forton-Barnes: and thank you for everything you're doing Julie . I'd love to support you too as well. You're you're helping other people, many people out there. So keep, keep going and you know, we'll stay connected.
[00:36:49] Julie Michelson: Thank you. Yes, we will team up. And for everyone listening, remember, you can get the show notes and transcripts by visiting inspired living.show. I hope you had a great [00:37:00] time and enjoyed this episode as much as I did. I will see you next week.
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My Guest For This Episode
Connect with Therese Forton-Barnes
Therese Forton-Barnes
Environmental Toxins Health Coach
Therese is an Environmental Toxins Health Coach and the Head Guru at The Green Living Gurus. She is an entrepreneur, activist, and educator. She is spreading the awareness of chemical exposure that could cause cancer and other illnesses!
She helps families and individuals worried about cancer and other illnesses by identifying carcinogens and harmful chemicals in their lives and homes that potentially harm their health. She teaches the Healthy Detox Method, solves chemical confusion, and makes it easier to find safe and healthy products.
She also has a household product line called Tee’s Organics - Healthy for You and Your Home!
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