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When Zem Joaquin’s two children suffered from chronic asthma, she took it in her own hands and undertook a major renovation in her home — and her life. “I was frustrated by the fact that both of my children were constantly being hospitalized. I was up so many nights with a nebulizer in hand with crying children,” she painfully remembers. “The pediatricians just kept saying that it was part of childhood, that many children have asthma.” But after they recommended putting her children on long-term steroids, she said, “Enough is enough!”
Shortly after that moment of truth, Zem was cleaning her house and she couldn’t breathe. “It was like this light bulb went off.” From that moment on, Zem committed herself to creating a healthier life for her family, “and that extended out to everyone’s family,” she said during her interview with me.
Today, Zem is the Founder and CEO of Ecofabulous, a publishing and content development company dedicated to sustainability and style. “You should be able to express any aesthetic with consciousness.”
Zem proved that first-hand. After her renovation was complete, both of her children were free from asthma AND her home was gorgeous and toxic-free. See green doesn’t mean drab. That is, when Zem’s at the helm.
About my guest: Zem Joaquin is the Founder and Editor-in-chief of Ecofabulous.com, a top resource for eco-friendly home, fashion, beauty, and lifestyle choices. She is the former eco editor at House and Garden, Domino, and 7×7 magazines and the Eco Lifestyle Expert for eBay. Zem is also the Eco-Luxury Specialist for Planet Green’s Alter Eco and regularly contributes to various other media, such as The Huffington Post. Mentored by William McDonough, Zem is a certified BuildItGreen design and strategy consultant and Cradle-to-Cradle enthusiast who helps companies and individuals create beautiful, smart, sustainable spaces and practices. Much of her penchant for superior design came from her years at Splendora.com and living in Milan, Paris and London, but her love for the earth can be traced back to her early upbringing on a Palo Alto commune.
As the mother of two children, Zem is committed to improving the health, education and access to well-vetted information on sustainable products for all individuals. To that end, Zem is an active board member of Global Green USA, Healthy Child Healthy World, Teens Turning Green, and The Cradle to Cradle Institute.
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