I love the smell of microwave popcorn. I love how it lingers in the house until morning, tempting me to have another bag before lunch. It turns out that that fresh butter smell is completely simulated. A chemical called Diacetyl, which smells like real butter and can be very dangerous. Diacetyl can cause a serious lung disease, previously known to effect popcorn factory workers, but now believed to threaten consumers as well. What's the alternative? Eating less popcorn? I don't think so.

Lighterfootstep.com suggests dumping this store-bought poison in favor of a homemade version. I didn't know that you could make your own microwave popcorn, but they explain it quite simply. All you need are some organic kernels, a paper lunch bag, and staples or tape. You'll have to test things a bit to see the ideal cooking time for your microwave, but once you get the hang of it, this could be just as easy as the real (or not so real) thing.