Comments on: http://www.worstedwitch.com/2007/02/28/815/ Crafting the Super-Natural Life Thu, 20 Nov 2008 22:21:09 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.2 By: Jasmin http://www.worstedwitch.com/2007/02/28/815/#comment-11738 Jasmin Thu, 01 Mar 2007 19:40:00 +0000 http://www.worstedwitch.com/2007/02/28/815/#comment-11738 Reposted from e-mail: ==== Hi Kate, You make good points, but people are obsessed with getting rid of bacteria and this is better than the chemical crap, no? --Jasmin Reposted from e-mail:

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Hi Kate,

You make good points, but people are obsessed with getting rid of bacteria and this is better than the chemical crap, no?

–Jasmin

]]> By: kate http://www.worstedwitch.com/2007/02/28/815/#comment-11681 kate Thu, 01 Mar 2007 09:05:03 +0000 http://www.worstedwitch.com/2007/02/28/815/#comment-11681 I'm not so sure about the sustainability of essential oils. They take huge amounts of land to produce a very intense product that is being used fairly indiscriminantly. Lavender essentail oil IS antibacterial, and it looks like it doesn't cause bacteria to develop resistance, but we don't know how safe it is for humans and the rest of the biosphere to have such relatively large quantities of substances (volatile oils) that occur in much smaller quantities in nature. Many people with multiple chemical sensitivities react to essential oils in similar ways as to solvents and petroleum products. And do we want to be killing off bacteria in such a general way anyway? Aren't we also killing the good ones? Vinegar, or lavender infused vinegar, is an alternative for cleaning chopping boards (if soap and hot water aren't enough ;-) I’m not so sure about the sustainability of essential oils. They take huge amounts of land to produce a very intense product that is being used fairly indiscriminantly.

Lavender essentail oil IS antibacterial, and it looks like it doesn’t cause bacteria to develop resistance, but we don’t know how safe it is for humans and the rest of the biosphere to have such relatively large quantities of substances (volatile oils) that occur in much smaller quantities in nature.

Many people with multiple chemical sensitivities react to essential oils in similar ways as to solvents and petroleum products.

And do we want to be killing off bacteria in such a general way anyway? Aren’t we also killing the good ones?

Vinegar, or lavender infused vinegar, is an alternative for cleaning chopping boards (if soap and hot water aren’t enough ;-)

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