Do you wash your dishes by hand, or do you rely on your dishwasher to get the job done?

If your commitment to organic living dissuades you from loading up the dishwasher, you may want to rethink your approach. Today's energy-efficient models use less water and energy than their older counterparts. In fact, modern dishwashers circulate as little as 2.5 to 3 gallons of water -- about the same or less than the amount you'd use when hand-washing.

There are two key dishwashing issues for organic consumers:

• Choosing the right machine
• Buying the right cleanser for nontoxic living

You may have fond memories of trick-or-treating, but there's nothing festive about the nutritionally bankrupt candy corn your children will receive when they knock on neighbors' doors Oct. 31. Those waxy sugar pellets are downright spooky.

Make Halloween a wholesome family affair, with high-quality organic food, tableware, accessories, and holiday books and DVDs. We've made shopping a breeze by showcasing items you can purchase online.

As someone committed to organic living, you appreciate nature's bounty. But ever since biblical times, humans have waged war against mold and mildew-not only cleaning nuisances, but nasty "natural" fungi that are hazardous to your health.

Donna Maria Coles Johnson has always been attracted to great-smelling beauty products. When she purchased her first green apple-scented facial mask as a preteen, "I closed my eyes and fancied myself a world-famous model with a flawless complexion and perfectly conditioned hair," she notes in her book, "Making Aromatherapy Creams & Lotions."

Donna Maria practiced telecommunications law for major corporations, but left the rat race to become an aromatherapist and create natural, handmade beauty treatments.

"I was bored and frustrated with my lack of any creative outlet to speak of in my career," she tells OrganicAuthority.com. "What it ultimately turned into was a desire to set up the kind of lifestyle that I wanted when I had a family."

You eat organic foods, buy organic products and avoid as many toxic substances in effort to pursue the ideal organic and nontoxic lifestyle. In pursuit of organic living, you do what you can to live a nontoxic and ecologically sound lifestyle. Yet, in all likelihood, poisons and toxic substances are still pervading your home.

A veritable arsenal of chemicals and toxic substances probably sits under your kitchen counter or in your utility closet right now defeating your goals of nontoxic, organic living. Glass cleaners, toilet scrubs, oven cleaners and other products marketed to keep your home squeaky clean are detrimental to your family's health.