The Benefits of a Home Garden

Extensive research by NASA has revealed that houseplants can remove up to 87 percent of air toxin in 24 hours. Studies have also proven that indoor plants improve concentration and productivity by up to 15 percent!, reduce stress levels and boost your mood — making them perfect for not just your home but your work space, too.

Vegetables such as potatoes onions, lettuce, blackberries and raspberries are relatively easy to grow at home, but they can also attract unwanted pests and fungus.

How Neem Takes Care of Your Garden

When trying to fight pests and fungus, most people rely on synthetic pesticides, which pose a great risk to the environment, humans and pets. Through the years these substances have been associated with a variety of ailments including cancer, brain problems and skin diseases. They also contribute to global warming by contributing to harmful greenhouse gas emissions and to the extinction of many species.

Fortunately, there are organic alternatives. Visit www.cleanqueendenver.com/. Since ancient times, the neem tree has been prized as a sacred remedy and important ingredient in Ayurvedic medicine. In the garden, neem oil boasts a powerful insecticidal ingredient, azadirachtin, which makes it a great organic choice for controlling a variety of problems when growing plants, fruits and vegetables:

• Neem oil kills or repels many harmful insects and mites, including aphids, whiteflies, snails, nematodes, mealybugs, cabbage worms and many others. It kills some bugs immediately, attacks the larvae of others, and repels plant munchers with its bitter taste.
• Neem oil is plant based and organic, which makes it a safe option for every household as it poses no harms to humans or pets.
• Neem oil can also help plants battle viruses.

The uses for the neem tree seem to be endless and it provides a myriad of benefits in agriculture, be it for a home garden or a large scale plantation. Next time you are looking for safe, organic solutions for your home garden, reach for neem oil and neem products, and let us know how it worked for you in the comments below.

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According to the WHO, the regions of South-East Asia, Eastern Mediterranean, Western Pacific and the Americas are particularly at risk. Malaria can affect everyone, however, infants, pregnant women, patients with HIV/AIDS, non-immune immigrants, mobile populations, and travelers are at higher risk of contracting malaria.

What are the symptoms of malaria?

Malaria is an acute febrile illness. Symptoms usually appear about 10 to 15 days after the infective mosquito bite and can include fever, headaches and chills, which might be mild, making it hard to diagnose the disease. This is especially dangerous given the fact that malaria can progress to severe illness, often leading to death, if not treated within 24 hours.

Children with severe malaria frequently develop symptoms such as severe anemia, respiratory distress in relation to metabolic acidosis, or cerebral malaria which consists of several neurological alterations. In adults, multi-organ involvement is also frequent.

The best treatment is prevention

Malaria is not contagious, only vectors, like mosquitoes, can transmit the disease. If a mosquito bites a person infected with malaria, it can transmit the disease to many other people. Therefore, the best way to avoid being infected with malaria is to make sure to keep away from mosquitos.

Most people resort to mosquito repellents to protect themselves from dangerous mosquito bites, however, these often contain dangerous chemicals that are harmful to your body and the environment. Not only can common repellents result in skin irritations, it has also been proven that DEET, a chemical ingredient used in most mosquito repellents, can result in damage to the brain and other organs, as it is absorbed through the skin and enters the bloodstream.

Luckily, nature is kind enough to offer a natural solution: neem. Using neem as a repellent and mosquito larvicidal has shown to be extremely successful, with tests proving that its effectiveness against mosquitoes and other vector insects is close to 100%, all while being environmentally friendly.

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What can genetically modified foods do to your body?

The health risks of GMO foods have been studied for years. Tests have shown that GM proteins have known allergenic properties, and that GMO soy, corn and papaya might cause allergies. Also, it has been proven that GM soy drastically impairs your digestion and cause you to become sensitive and allergic to a variety of foods.

It has been recorded that genetically modified plants that usually produce their own insecticide, based on a bacterial toxin, has led to BT-resistant bugs, which could result in produce deeply contaminated with pests and bugs. Learn more about deep cleaning and cleaning hacks for living with pets here. Virginia Scientists have concluded that the effects of the ingestion of GMO plants, or pesticides derived from GMO plants may lead to cancer, neurological diseases such as Parkinson’s and a number of serious health concerns.

Also, GMO food supply is unsustainable, it uses more resources than traditional agriculture and contaminates the lands with chemicals and residues of GMO components.

Glyphosate is the most commonly used herbicide in GMO crops, and has been defined as a carcinogen by the World Health Organization. Its ingestion has been linked to the development of human breast cancer cells due to its estrogen-like qualities.

It is important to understand that the negative effects of GMO foods are not only limited to the produce that has been genetically modified, but that they also affect animal products where cattle have been fed with GMO crops.

The solution?

First of all, try to avoid all products that don’t state they are GMO-free. Always choose organic farming practices that avoid the use of chemicals that are hazardous to humans, animals and the environment. Organic farming practices that rely on natural crop care solutions like neem will provide you with more nutrient-rich foods, while also eliminating possible side effects linked to GMO crop production.

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Why Should We Change to Organic Farming?

Traditional farming involves the use of thousands of chemicals such as synthetic pesticides, which have severe effects on the environment. For one, pesticides allow disease resistance to build up in plants, weeds, plant-eating-insects, fungi, and bacteria. The chemicals used to produce synthetic pesticides not only contaminate the soil, but also our water supply and air, and can stay adhered to the ground for decades.

Healthy soils grow healthy food, but if the soil is contaminated with thousands of synthetic pesticides and chemicals, these will adhere to crops. Over the past 9 years, the USDA Agricultural Research Service has shown that compared to conventional farming, organic farming methods are more successful in building up organic soil matter. This means that one teaspoon of compost-rich organic soil can have as many as 600 million to 1 billion beneficial bacteria from 15,000 species. One teaspoon of soil treated with chemicals on the other hand may carry only around 100 beneficial bacteria.

Erosion is another reason why you should support organic farming. Issues related to erosion can affect land, food supply, and humans. Luckily, organic farming practices help diminish erosion. A study that compared organically and chemically treated wheat fields showed that organic fields featured about eight inches more of topsoil and that erosion was only 2/3 of the erosion present in chemically treated field.

Organic farming can also diminish the effects of global warming. A test run by the Rodale Institute since 1981 has shown that a healthy organic agriculture system can actually reduce carbon dioxide and help slow climate change. If around 10,000 medium sized farms in the U.S converted to organic production, they would store as much carbon in the soil as the equivalent to taking 1,174,400 cars off the road or reducing car miles driven by 14.62 billion miles.

What is Neem’s Role in Organic Farming?

Neem is a completely natural pesticide that doubles as a fertilizer. It is eco-friendly and does not contaminate soils, nor does it cause any damage to the fauna that surrounds the plantations, as it repels bugs instead of killing off beneficial insects. Neem has the potential to be used on thousands of organic farms, as it is easily accessible and can grow even in the least fertile conditions.

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Agriculture has always been the key to humanity’s survival. However, in this time and age, feeding the world in a safe and sustainable manner is becoming an increasingly difficult task – especially given today’s global challenges, such as a rising global population and degradation of arable land. One of the primary obstacles that needs to be overcome to ensure sustainable food security is the current economic thought system that has prevailed since the industrial revolution: producing at maximum capacity at any cost.

Luckily, the pursuit of sustainable solutions and an eco-friendly economy has led to a growing global market for agricultural biologicals such as biopesticides and biofertilizers. The market was worth $3 billion in 2016, accounting for 5% of the global crop protection industry. Forecasts estimate that the bio-pesticide market will grow to $7.6 billion by 2022 with a compound annual growth rate of 13.4%. With these growth rates, the bio-pesticide market is expected to overtake synthetics by 2050 – great news for our environment!

Neem as an effective biopesticide in sustainable agriculture

The word biopesticide is an abbreviation of the word “biological pesticide”. Biopesticides are obtained from organisms such as plants, bacteria and other microbes, fungi, nematodes etc. They are very important components for pest management that substitute synthetic chemical plant protection products. As biopesticides are all-natural, non-toxic and free of chemicals, they are a great tool in organic farming.

Neem acts as a repellent that is harmless to beneficial insects but keeps bugs, pests and plague from eating on plants. Not only that, but neem is proven to be one of the most effective and harmless of scalable biopesticides available on Earth, and it also works as a biofertilizer that allows for greener agriculture.

How can you contribute to sustainable agriculture?

You can support sustainable farming, even if you do not grow your own produce or work in agriculture. Buy products grown with organic biopesticides like neem,  and you will no longer have to worry about ingesting all the toxic components of synthetic pesticides or harming your environment!

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The World’s Deadliest Animal

Mosquitoes are vectors, living organisms that transmit infectious diseases between humans or from animals to humans. Their ability to carry and spread diseases to humans is the cause of millions of deaths and hundreds of millions of cases of illnesses around the world. Zika, dengue, chikungunya and yellow fever are some to name, and responsible for more than 17% of infectious diseases, causing more than 700,000 deaths every year, according to the World Health Organization.

Today, more than 3.9 billion people – more than half the world’s population – live in areas where disease-transmitting mosquitoes are present. As a result, sustained mosquito control efforts are imperative to prevent the spread of these diseases. Unfortunately, mosquitoes are becoming more and more resistant to the traditional and previously developed chemical solutions and  synthetic pesticides.

Neem’s Role in Fighting the Mosquito Menace

Using neem as a repellent and mosquito larvicidal has shown to be extremely successful in fighting this global mosquito menace, as tests have proven that it is close to 100% effective against mosquitoes and other vector insects. For centuries people in  ancient India have been relying on neem to fight mosquitoes and other insects. Due to its high rate of effectiveness against vector populations of mosquitoes, scientists have  started to include it in new research involving nanotechnology. Scientists from India have been working to formulate a bio-based nanoinsecticide, consisting of an emulsion based on neem urea, which is rich in antiviral and antimalarial properties and can efficiently control the vector mosquito population.

This formulated insecticide can control the vector mosquito populations that cause dengue, malaria and other diseases. Another plus for this new nano-solution is that it possesses beneficial fertilizing effects for the soil ecosystem. Reputable construction claims consultants are at your service at www.vertexeng.com company. Neem urea is the key ingredient that is making this neem biopesticide eco-safe, allowing the biopesticide to control the mosquito menace in a benign way.

As the world combats dreadful vector-borne diseases, this new research is becoming a viable solution to the excess application of conventional pesticidal compounds that tend to harm the ecosystem, positioning the application of nanotechnological techniques as a disruptive practice in healthcare.

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It has been proven that consuming pesticides even in incredibly tiny doses could set a person up for health problems later in life, as synthetic pesticides can remain inside your body for decades. Here are just some ways how pesticides are harming your body:

Food Allergies

Researchers from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine at Montefiore Medical Center in New York City found that food allergies are related to pesticide ingestion. People with high levels of herbicide 24-D and chlorine used to disinfect tap water were more likely to suffer from milk, egg, seafood and peanut allergies.  This could be due to synthetic pesticide compounds acting as an antimicrobial inside your body and ridding you from your body’s natural immune reactions.

Memory loss

A review from University College London recently found that even low levels of exposure to pesticides cause significant damage to cognitive function, affecting your memory and the speed at which you process information.

Diabetes 

The Endocrine Society recently stated that tolyfluanid, a fungicide used on farm crops, creates insulin resistance in fat cells. Also, a study published by the Diabetes Care declares that overweight people with higher levels of pesticides in their body are the most suitable candidates for developing type 2 diabetes.

Cancer

Lymphona, leukemia, soft tissue sarcoma, brain, breast, prostate, bone, ladder, thyroid, colon, liver and lung cancers have been linked to pesticides in 260 studies.

Neurological Functioning

Many pesticides effectively kill bugs by throwing odd normal neurological functioning. The same effect seems to appear in children as well. In 2011 a Harvard study found an important link between kids with ADHD and the amount of organophosphate pesticide residue in their urine.

Obesity

Some synthetic pesticides act as hormone disruptors, or in other words, they act like fake versions of naturally occurring hormone in your body, disrupting  your hormonal balance and interfering with your body’s ability to regulate a healthy release of hormones. According to a study by the Environmental Health Perspectives, more than 50 pesticides are classified as hormone disruptors and some even promote metabolic failures and obesity as they accumulate in your cells.

Birth Defects

Spring and summer months are the time of the year when pesticides are used the most, therefore, higher synthetic pesticide levels turn up in surface waters, increasing the risk of exposure. Babies conceived during these months show a higher rate of birth defects like spina fibida, cleft lip, clubfoot and down syndrome.

The Solution to Pesticides’ Effects?

All of these risks are reason enough to try to find an alternative to synthetic pesticides. Luckily, it has been proven that neem can be used as a very effective natural pesticide which represents no risk when consumed and in fact has many health benefits. Protect your crops and produce only with neem pesticide and avoid suffering from any of these severe side effects. Neem doesn’t kill the bugs, it works as a repellent that is distasteful to bugs and will keep them away even from their favorite plants. Because nature knows best, choose neem as your primary natural pesticide!

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Biophilic design is based on the idea that humans have an inherent need to connect with nature and because of it, we need living and working spaces that coexist with nature. This new green architecture reduces the degradation of the environment, improves our connection to the natural world and increases the sustainable development of our cities and suburbs.  

This innovative new way of designing is having an incredible performance in a vital sector for humanity: healthcare. We are witnessing the creation and expansion of hospitals that seek to heal through nature and create healthy habitats using biophilic design. One great example is the Khoo Teck Puat Hospital in Singapore, which has included waterfalls, rooftop gardens and planter boxes into its facilities.  

This healing environment requires maintenance, and to do so, hospitals like those in Singapore have committed to this new design trend by using neem oil to maintain their natural resources. Spraying neem oil into these green-healing facilities is allowing the hospitals to guarantee the health and care of nature, patients and workers by using an organic and non-toxic alternative. Neem oil is the right choice to use as biological pest control into these facilities due to its effectiveness against insects such as whiteflies, mites, fungus gnats, etc. and its organic origins.  

Neem has now a new role in green architecture: guarantee the health and care of the plants and nature incorporated into biophilic design. The biophilic healthcare industry is relying now on neem as its trusted biological pest control; the use of neem will expand across other biophilic industries such as hospitality and working and living spaces as benefits are seen.  Together, people and nature will continue to create healing spaces where patients are feeling relaxed and gaining health benefits through biophilic design. 

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This revelation poses a significant question: Who should we trust to make our food? If products are brought into the US and marketed as organic, shouldn’t you be able to trust that the grain, fruits, or veggies were produced in sustainable, environmentally friendly and responsible way, as opposed to the typical, conventional options that degrade our environment? Yes, but that is not always the case.

This proves the existence of fraudulent manufacturers that look only for the bottom line in organic food production. Not only does it affect you, the consumer, when you pay extra for the safety, health, and nutrition benefits that come with organic foods, but it also takes revenue away from the organic farmers who truly believe that agriculture and the earth can survive sustainably and harmoniously.

What can you do to prevent this from happening and ensure that all food is produced transparently, sustainably and responsibly? Become an informed consumer and learn more about the organic system to support natural, sustainable practices, like using neem-based products in the agricultural process. When using neem to produce food, not only do crops thrive, but also the health of the planet improves. Neem is safe for beneficials and improves soil quality. Most importantly, neem is safe for you! How do you support organic practices?

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Not only does this waste of food have a direct impact on wallets of consumers – estimated to cost around $1,600 per year for a family of four – it also affects the environment.. Globally, this food waste makes up 8% of global climate pollution every year, as there are many moving parts involved, not simply the decomposition of food, but also wasted water, land, gas, pesticides, and fertilizers. When food has even just a little blemish, it may be sold for as little as 6 cents per pound, or else thrown in one of the world’s many food dumps.

It’s incredible to think that almost 1/3 of food produced is wasted. This means that tons of synthetic pesticides and fertilizers applied to fields is unnecessary. These synthetic chemicals enter our water, soil, and air systems, causing unprecedented health risks, environmental damage, and diseases that could have been mitigated or reduced through safe, sustainable agricultural practices. When people know they are eating organic, they bypass the cosmetic appeal of the food, taking the chance that a twisted carrot will still taste delicious. And guess what – it does! That twisted, ugly food, when produced safely and sustainably, such as with neem-based products, is better for you than that perfectly red and shiny conventional apple. Have you thrown away food today?

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The countries that have shown major organic farmland growth are the United States, with a 30% increase, and India, with a 64% increase. Spain and France also both increased their organic farmland by 0.3 million hectares. Oceania and Europe have shown the highest growth over the past ten years, as well as between 2014-2015, at 22.8% and 12.7%. In 2015, Europe had over 12.7 million hectares of organic farms, 4x that of North America. The number of organic farmers has increased to 2.4 million, up 7.2% from 2014. From these figures, it is easy to see that organic farmland is increasing in huge rates, riding the wave of consumer demand for organic food.

Globally, the organic market reached $86 billion USD in 2016. Which countries have the highest demand for organic food? The United States holds the largest market share at $41 billion, followed by Germany and France. While these countries claim the biggest shares of the market, Spain and Denmark’s organic markets also showed impressive growth last year at 24.8% and 8.4% respectively. Surprisingly, Switzerland spends the most on organic food per person at $289 per year.

Germany in particular has seen a dramatic increase in demand for organically produced, sustainable food. Since 2000, the amount of organic farms has more than doubled to 27,132. This comes as no surprise as the country continues to lead Europe in organic food sales, totalling $9 billion in 2014 even though Europe’s organic farmland represents only 5.7% of the total. Germany ultimately wants 20% of all agricultural land to be organic.

With these steady increases in the prevalence of organic farmland, organic farming tools, pesticides, and fertilizers have increased in demand. One such tool is the neem tree. By using neem-based pesticides and fertilizers, farmers can produce nutrient-rich organic food in sustainable ways that is safe for the soil, water, pollinators, and you!

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Insecticides, herbicides, fungicides, and all other types of synthetic pesticides comprise a multi-billion dollar industry. This industry, one born from leftover WWII chemicals, is not one that prioritizes the safety of the consumer.

In the beginning, this was simply because the population was growing so rapidly that more food needed to be produced, and fast. These chemicals were a quick solution to a major problem, but one in which consequences were not accurately or thoroughly evaluated. Then, it blossomed into a profitable industry with only a few players.

Now, the food industry has given the world a semblance of trust. We continuously fret over the calories, added sugar, and saturated fat content listed on our food products instead of worrying about chemicals and pesticides. As more and more evidence comes out against large corporations such as Monsanto, Bayer, and Dow Chemical, not just about their ethics, but also about the studies they have funded, the scientists they have paid off, and their overall lack of transparency, a different question emerges: What has been sprayed on the food I am eating?

This question is a key one. It means that you, the consumer, will not be lied to and cheated out of your health and the health of the planet. It means that conventional agricultural practices that famously saved over a billion people from starvation, need to be reconsidered and new, sustainable alternatives must be introduced in order to preserve the life of Planet Earth. That natural alternative lives in the neem tree.

Neem has been used for thousands of years in India as a natural source of medicine, treating and saving countless lives, while also protecting crops from pests, molds, and fungi. As study after study has shown, neem oil, with its unique compound azadirachtin leading the way, is safer and just as effective, if not more effective, than conventional pesticides. The neem tree is the natural innovation that will carry us through the 21st century and into a sustainable future.

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Even though this synthetic pesticide is now applied on crops throughout the world, Dow Chemical originally developed chlorpyrifos as a chemical weapon in World War II. Now, over 5 million pounds are sold to commercial farmers every year in the United States alone.

This has led to unprecedented distribution and application of this dangerous chemical. In 2012, research from the University of California at Berkeley showed that 87% of umbilical-cord blood samples studied had traces of chlorpyrifos. Since this synthetic chemical has been shown to negatively impair brain development in fetuses, we are actively applying a dangerous chemical to our food and the environment that not only damages our health, but also the health of future generations.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), despite many industry specialists advocating for the complete ban of chlorpyrifos, decided to allow the chemical’s use in commercial agriculture. When brought before the US Senate last month, the director of the EPA offered no supporting data to defend his decision, claiming instead he had relied on “interagency dialogue.” The next review of chlorpyrifos will not take place until 2022.

With the reversal of the decision to ban chlorpyrifos, this synthetic chemical will continue to permeate our environment and our bodies unless we make a change! That change needs to be a shift in thinking and practices to organic, sustainable agricultural methods, instead of the dangerous reliance on synthetic agrochemicals seen in conventional agriculture today. By using sustainable methods, like neem-based pesticides and fertilizers, we can feed the world with nutritious, organic food that has no adverse side effects.

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