FLINT TOWNSHIP, Michigan -- For Flint Township mom Stacey Kimbrell, it all started with a homemade painkiller for a twisted ankle on a family camping trip.
Dilcia LaRocca of Mundy Township threw out processed meats after an endocrinologist warned her the synthetic hormones could be causing her 6-year-old daughter's premature growth.
Baker College student Dana Hitchcock cured her son's skin allergies by switching to chemical-free soap and deodorant.
Marcie Decker of Flint used a homemade mix of baking soda and powdered sugar to get rid of ants without exposing her toddlers to dangerous pesticides.
They're among a group of local homemakers who are relearning homespun remedies and kicking chemicals out of their homes. But is there a common-sense line between healthy and hype? Not even the experts can say for sure where that line should be. Kimbrell knew nothing about the subject until her youngest son sprained his ankle playing tag during a family camping trip in July 2007. The campground manager rubbed a homemade mix of plant oils on his ankle to relieve the pain.
"Five minutes later this kid got up and ran off down the path to play with the other kids," said Kimbrell. "I couldn't believe it. What was that stuff?"
The woman invited her to a class on natural health and nutrition. Kimbrell was hooked. When she got home, she read the labels on everything in her cupboards and medicine cabinet.
"I couldn't believe the same ingredients in my kids' toothpaste was the stuff they use to treat the water in sewage plants. I went through everything in the house, researching all the chemicals online," she said.
"I was the mom who always came home with the giant packs of Little Debby's cakes from Sam's Club. But after we read the ingredients, even my kids didn't want to eat it. I kept them like a little shrine on the counter."
Now she organizes "nontoxic cleaning parties" at her neighborhood church to make household cleaners from baking soda, lemon, vinegar and essential oils from plants.
Full Story: http://www.mlive.com/flintjournal/index.ssf/2008/11/flint
area_households_kicking_t.html
