Why Ditch & Switch?
Is it really that big a deal?
 
Did you know that many Bath & Body works products are actually not recommended to use while pregnant? Once upon a time I didn’t know it either, until I started digging and reading their safety data sheets. Straight from their safety data sheet it reads and I quote, “suspected of damaging fertility or the unborn child” and, “may cause damage to organs through prolonged or repeated exposure.” The products that have been US glorified FOR YEARS because “they smell good” or, “they have the best candles” have a warning label that using could harm an unborn child, a woman’s hormones AND their organs.

There are multiple ingredients you should be looking for when determining whether a product should be on your shelf at home or not.

• Butelyne Glycol
• Tetrasodium EDTA
• BHT
• Disodium EDTA
• Diazolidinyl Urea
• Methylparaben & Propylparaben Ceterareth-20
• “Fragrance”  (This is where they can hide the worst offenders)

Here’s their safety data sheet for their “Winter Candy Apple Home Fragrance” ~ see for yourself.  Seriously…. Read it!   Bath Body Works Safety Data Sheet.pdf 
You need to become your own family’s expert. Please stop trusting the EWG for their ratings because as it turns out, companies can PAY for good ratings.



What is Ditch & Switch?


You may not realize how much "aging" happens to us because of harsh chemical ingredients in our home - cleaning products, personal care products (including shampoos, conditioners, lotions, makeup, etc.)  What we call Ditch and Switch is all about learning to read labels, recognize when products that might even seem like they are "green" or "safe" are actually not, and ditch them and switch to better choices!  

As an example, there are over 80,000 chemicals used in the U.S. and over 11,000 of them have been banned in Europe and other countries!   Among those 80,000 chemicals, over 1,300 of them are considered to be endocrine disruptors, which means they mess with your hormones!   And we wonder why kids these days are having so many hormonal issues and why there is so much hormone driven cancer!  

So, the concept of ditching and switching is all about become aware of what we are allowing into our homes that is affecting our health in negative ways and causing signs of aging, and then making better choices (the "switching" part)!  

As an example:  I used to use lots of "fragrance" products - scented candles, scented lotions, colognes, etc. until I discovered that they are full of endocrine disruptors - now they are ALL gone from my home!  Unfortunately, I subjected myself to them for years and years before learning about the dangers - and now I wonder if there was a connection between those endocrine disrupting products and my hormone driven cancer diagnosis.

Anyway - they're gone!  

Here's a challenge for you:  Go throughout your home and read the labels on everything - if you see any of these on the label - ditch it! 

  • Bisphenol A, or BPA 
  • Dioxins 
  • Atrazine 
  • Phthalates 
  • Perchlorate 
  • Flame retardants 
  • Arsenic 
  • Mercury 
  • Perfluorinated chemicals, or PFCs 
  • Organophosphate pesticides 
  • Glycol Ethers 
  • Fragrance
In the following Sway presentation you can see more information about these dangerous ingredients and how to avoid them!  This is just the tip of the iceberg, so don't stop here..... keep reading labels and doing your own research!