However the show's name is glamorized, no one will argue that this industry thrives on human waste and how we deal with it. You can imagine some of the other more humorous and earthy names for the show! 

No matter, something like 4000 businesses from all over come here to buy, sell and get educated about the latest equipment and treatments systems related to keeping sewers, drains and septic systems performing. Despite an outside temperature whose daily high was a single digit, the show was a great opportunity to listen, learn, and meet lots of nice, hard-working entrepreneur-type folks who enjoy making their living taking care of (ahem) "environmental services." Hey, it's recession proof!

The article mentioned is about new research into the human body's relationship with its trillions of resident bacteria and their vital role in maintaining health. To quote from the article..."It turns out that we are only 10 percent human: for every human cell that is intrinsic to our body, there are about 10 resident microbes — including commensals (generally harmless freeloaders) and mutualists (favor traders) and, in only a tiny number of cases, pathogens. To the extent that we are bearers of genetic information, more than 99 percent of it is microbial." You can read the article online here.

The photo is trying to make the point, which I think more and people understand, is that children who spend time outdoors interacting with the natural environment, are more likely to have resistance to disease throughout their life than those who spend too much time indoors, clean and antiseptic though it may be. The dangers of of over-prescibing antiobiotics for every cold or sniffle is also becoming more well-known.

Similarly, the health of our local land and waterways depends on thriving, natural microbial colonies to breakdown and transform waste material back to its components. Decades of the over-use of antibacterial soaps, chlorines, and caustic cleaners have literally thrown out the baby with the bathwater.  At the household or work-are level we suddenly are aware that foul odors are present that can't be covered up by deodorizers. We keep having the plumber over, but drains will just not flow like they once did.

It's time to put those friendly germs to work, and on a regular basis. It's not only the most effective and safe method for getting rid of the clogs and odors, it's the most cost-effective!

Flossing is recommended by virtually every dentist, and if you have kids it's almost a certainty they are "drilled" thoroughly in the daily use of floss when they go for their check-ups. But as I recently discovered while clearing out my own kids' bathroom sink this past weekend, old floss can be aleading cause of bathroom clogs. (I guess the good news is that they are trying to keep their teeth healthy - both of them absolutely denied disposing of floss in the sink.) Because flossing is part of an oral hygiene ritual, it is understandable why a lot this material ends up in sinks and toilets. But floss is one of those substances that will not quickly degrade, and on top of that it is a string that wraps around everything and winds up as a disgusting messy clump, trapping everything else coming down the pipe. 

SOLUTION? 1) No floss down any drains, including the toilet. It needs to be put in the trash, period. 2) Clear out old floss. Short of opening up your u-joint, using an inexpensive, handy tool like the zipit unclogger (see below) should do the job. 3) Apply Bio-Clean or MegaMicrobes to regularly to clean out residual odor-forming waste buildup and help release embedded hair, floss, and other matter.

4) Keep it up! Monitor output into your drains, and apply Bioredex products on a monthly basis to keep clogs and odors at bay and eliminate expensive plumber visits.

I'm always scouting out inexpensive tools to help get physical blockages out out of the drain pipe so that our biological cleaners can do what they do best. If you've talked to me, you know my #1 drain essential is a lightweight sink plunger. Now I can also recommend a little gadget called the Zipit unclogger. It's simply a long strip of white plastic with upward pointing teeth (careful!) that did an excellent job of pulling out disgusting balls of old dental floss and hair. We don't sell it, but you can pick it up in most hardware stores or online for under $5.

For bulk quantities and liquids outside the contiguous US, and international sales on all goods, we do need to factor in additional delivery charges, but we strive to get the best available options by working with Fedex, UPS, USPS and other shippers. Rather than adding a "set" shipping cost to these destinations, we can often obtain very favorable rates based on volume and using specific days of the week for sending product.