Showing posts with label green. Show all posts
Showing posts with label green. Show all posts

avoiding toxic chemicals - a few quick tips and why ralphie was right about those bunny pj's

ralphie 1 - aunt clara 0
Bill Moyers had a great show recently discussing toxic 'disinformation'. I believe you can see the entire 30 minute program HERE

Working to eliminate chemicals in our environment (and money in our political system) are probably two of the most important things, outside of raising our own vibration (In Course of Miracles speak there is only really one of us here, so raising our vibration, ie letting more light in through clean eating, meditation, positivity and doing what we love, raises everyone else's vibration, too), we can be doing right now.

1. LEAD - We crafty mamas love our old windows - but think twice before bringing them indoors. I am also seeing a lot of gorgeous old shutters made into headboards and things on Pinterest. Anything painted pre-1970's is going to be painted with lead paint and minuscule amounts can cause neurological damage in children (I once read a study that said people in prison have the highest blood lead levels in the country, huge spikes in levels mostly thanks to childhood exposure, maybe we are fixated on the wrong kind of lead when it comes to crime prevention).

Also soil testing, especially for urban gardens is very important. Lead was in gasoline until the 80's and between that and the paint there has been a lot of soil exposure everywhere.

2. FLAME RETARDANTS - Studies have linked one group of flame retardants, polybrominated diphenyl ethers, or PBDEs, to lower IQs, behavioral problems, early puberty and fertility issues. Flame retardants are in everything from couch cushions to television sets.

This is where changing the money in our political system (ie changing Citizens United) is needed.

The California Furniture Flammability Standard essentially requires that cushioned furniture, children’s car seats, diaper-changing tables and other products containing polyurethane foam are dipped in toxic chemicals. Most furniture sold in the United States is made to this standard. We need to change this.

When buying new stuff look for products made with wool, cotton or polyester filling instead of polyurethane foam - if you are stuck with the old stuff - dust, vacuum and wash hands regularly.

Ditch the fleece pajamas - I know those footed fleece pjs are comfortable but they are probably treated with a chemical called Proban which has been linked to genetic abnormalities and cancer. Kid's fleece pj's that do not contain chemicals are required to be labeled "for child’s safety, garment should fit snugly” - look for this label!

3. BPA - Use plastics that are labeled BPA free, avoid containers labeled with the recycling codes 3 and 7, avoid canned foods - Eden Organics are about the only BPA free cans, Staples offers a paper-less receipt program (I get my receipts emailed to me) - it's easy to sign up and one less receipt for the cashier (the thermal paper includes BPA), and me, to touch.

our kids are not science experiments - what we can do about GMOs in our food supply


The Non-GMO Project is a great resource for all of us concerned with what is happening with the food we are eating and feeding our children (much of the information below is taken from their site). They now have an iPhone app shopping guide that's a huge help when grocery shopping.

(since I only have a stupid-phone I have been copying and pasting from their site onto my grocery delivery service - yes, I've been having my groceries delivered - it's winter, I'm cold and lazy, but eating less GMOs these days)

GMOs, or “genetically modified organisms,” are plants or animals created through the gene splicing techniques of biotechnology (also called genetic engineering which sound scary because it is). This experimental technology merges DNA from different species, creating unstable combinations of plant, animal, bacterial and viral genes that cannot occur in nature or in traditional crossbreeding.

If you are wondering why Monsanto is the scariest word in the English language this is why (well this plus agent orange, DDT, polystyrene - ranked 5th in total hazardous waste production with this one product alone, Round Up, PCBs, 300,000 dead Indian farmers and millions of dead everybody elses)

The most common GMOs are soy, cotton, canola, corn, sugar beets, Hawaiian papaya, alfalfa, and squash (zucchini  and yellow). Many of these items appear as added ingredients in a large amount of the foods we eat. For instance, your family may not eat tofu or drink soy milk, but soy is most likely present in a large percentage of the foods in your pantry.

GMOs may be hidden in common processed food ingredients such as: Amino Acids, Aspartame, Ascorbic Acid, Sodium Ascorbate, Vitamin C, Citric Acid, Sodium Citrate, Flavorings (“natural” and “artificial”), High Fructose Corn Syrup, Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein, Lactic Acid, Maltodextrins, Molasses, Monosodium Glutamate, Sucrose, Textured Vegetable Protein (TVP), Xanthan Gum, Vitamins, Yeast Products.

(the oil that little box of raisins is packed in that parents pack in their kids lunch as a "healthy" snack is a very high GMO risk- we need labeling!)

There is a great link HERE to GMO myths and truths and is a great wake-up call if this is an issue that is not on your radar. GMO foods are highly regulated and even banned in Australia, Japan, all the countries of the European Union and 50 other nations. In the U.S. we let the chemical companies tell us they are safe - they're not.

Cereals, snack bars, snack boxes, cookies, processed lunch meats, and crackers all contain large amounts of high risk food ingredients. In the U.S., over 80% of our food contains GMOs. Studies around the word have linked GMOs to cancer and infertility and we are ingesting them and feeding them to our children everyday.

(makes me furious - and that's a good things - mad moms can change things - just ask the alcohol industry)

We can't let this overwhelm us into passivity - we need it to stir all of us into action. There is a lot we can do - there is a great list HERE.

To make our voices heard by congressman, Obama, etc HERE

we have the right to know if our food has been genetically engineered

Why the hell can't we get this? ->

The European Union, China, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and Russia (plus 30 other countries) know what's in their food - why can't Americans get the same labeling.

(of course, anyone who is even half paying attention knows the answer to this one already)

Unbelievably last week, the “Consumers Right to Know About Genetically Engineered Food Act” was defeated in the Senate even though it was supported by over 90% of Americans.

Another bill is headed to the House of Representatives -

labeled the “Farmer Assurance Provision,” though special interests are the only ones it is designed to assure, this proposed policy rider would:

1. Eliminate fundamental and constitutional safeguards of our judicial review system
2. Undermine the USDA’s oversight and approval process and weaken consumer protections
3. Allow powerful chemical companies to dodge reasonable restrictions on potentially hazardous GE crops

There's a link to find your rep and let them know you want this rider defeated HERE 
Find out more about this issue and contact the FDA HERE
You can also see how your senator voted HERE and contact them

the giant sequoias need our help ...

The giant sequoia trees are among the largest and oldest living things on the planet and

the Giant Sequoia National Monument is home to half of all the giant sequoia trees living in the world today.

The Department of Agriculture is considering several plans that would allow logging within Giant Sequoia National Monument (while they are not considering logging the sequoias logging the trees near them will make the Sequoias much more vulnerable). Logging makes a forest drier, more flammable and less able to adapt to changing climate.

The Sierra Club, which was founded 120 years ago to protect this area is asking for a protocal to justify why they’d cut a tree. It is too important to be an arbitrary decision. This should be a no-brainer.

The petition to Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack is HERE if anyone else is interested.

* redwood trees print by immortal pomegranate

some facts about the Canadian tar sands ...


Tar Sands Action's sit-ins in Washington DC are succeeding in informing people about the Canadian tar sands and the extreme price we pay for gathering oil from them.

The protest revolves around the proposed Keystone XL pipeline project, which would speed the flow of crude oil from the tar sands to US refineries.

Approx. 20% of US oil comes from Canada and 40% of Canada's oil production is from tar sands.

So what are tar sands and why should we care? Tar sands, or oil sands are a mix of clay, sand, water and oil and particularly bitumen, which is a heavy, viscous material. Unlike drilled oil, tar sands have to be mined to get at the bitumen and refine it into oil.

Bitumen is highly carcinogenic and requires extensive processing to make it thin enough to flow through pipes. Four tons of sand and soil are removed and dumped for every one barrel of oil gained from tar sands

(Al Gore wrote a great book about the devastation from soil removal- not his book An Inconvenient Truth, but an older book, I believe from before he was Vice President, the title is slipping my mind - like alot of things these days- but if you google it, it is a great read)

and three barrels of water to extract just one barrel of oil. More than 400 million gallons of water per day ends up dumped in toxic tailing pools which leak 3 million gallons of contaminated water daily.

Tar sands oil production emits 3 times more carbon dioxide per barrel than traditional oil production and the tar sands of Alberta, Canada are located under Canada's Boreal forest which is one of the largest intact ecosystems remaining on the planet. Removing the carbon-storing forest ecosystem to get at the tar sands will be more and more detrimental.

By 2020 the Tar Sands will release twice as many greenhouse gases than currently produced by all the cars and trucks in Canada!

Local production negatively impacts birds and caribou and moose and the indigenous people ... and all of us.

If the U.S. government approves the pipeline, renowned climatologist James Hansen says it will be "game over" for the global climate.

There is a petition to Obama to stop this pipeline HERE
and to focus on developing clean, safe energy.

BTW if you haven't seen Bill Nye tackle this brain-dead climate skeptic at FOX news (again) you will love this

Techie Textie Kids - what's too much?

My local school is lobbying for our kids attention this year by embracing technology in ever increasing ways - homework on the computer, iPads in the classroom, classroom Facebooks.

A few years ago we all thought more technology was a good thing - kids had to know this stuff or they wouldn't be ready for "the real world", right? They had to learn this stuff young.

Now we're not so sure anymore. It feels like kids know too much of this stuff and the other stuff is starting to get lost in the shuffle. I read that the average child and teen spends over 7 hours a day in front of some kind of screen - and this doesn't include texting!

(and that most teenagers sleep with their phones ... or within arms length of their phone - just what kind of middle of the night emergency text requires this kind of diligence I am not certain, but when Jason dumps Amber everyone will know about it before breakfast .. thank goodness)

My teacher friend says kids will do anything to text during class and catches someone daily - pretend searching their backpack while checking their email and sending a fast text - aren't their friends in school, too?

When I am walking Olive around other dog walkers I am usually the only person without a phone to my ear - now this may be due to some degree to my inability to walk and chew gum at the same time (not that I actually chew gum except on airplanes) but I am always thinking who the hell is everyone talking to?

One day last spring I was in line at the post office just as the high school bus dropped off the kids right outside the post office window - every single kid getting off that bus immediately flipped open their phones .. every single one. None of the kids talked to each other (and I live in a very small town so they all absolutely knew each other).

Wrists flipped in unison like the Rockettes at Christmas.

(it was sort of amazing in a scary Stepford, robotic, the world is clearly ending so shoot me now, kind of way)

I've seen toddlers routinely given mommy's iPhone when they need to be quieted down; promoting fixation on techie devices at younger and younger ages.

(of course, I will admit to giving my daughter my car keys to play with ... ie chew on ... at such times ... and she hasn't developed a car key fixation, but I still think this iPhone thing could be trouble later as most quick fixes turn out to be ... )

School is about to start up again folks, maybe it has already where you live, and it is up parents where all of this is heading. We need to pull the plug whenever possible. Family dinners help.

Research has shown that the dinner table is one of the key places that young people learn how to engage in real conversation.

(and argue and have civilized and uncivilized debates and learn to come together after things fall apart)

Maybe family dinners can save us.

(just have 'em drop their cellphones at the dining room door)

*shut down computer print by bitso truth

How Big is that Pig - stopping human antibiotic use in animals

Last week the NRDC filed suit (along with some other groups including the Union of Concerned Scientists) to force the FDA to do its job.

(which according to its website is to :

protect the public health by assuring that foods are safe, wholesome, sanitary and properly labeled; human and veterinary drugs, and vaccines and other biological products and medical devices intended for human use are safe and effective
)

Even though the FDA has known for decades that giving human antibiotics to healthy animals can create monster bacteria that threaten human health they have done nothing.

(nada)

Antibiotics are obviously a good thing and have saved us from diseases that were once death sentence. But now, multi-drug resistant infections are on the rise at the same time the development of new antibiotics, due to cost constraints, are at an all-time low.

70% of all antibiotics in the U.S. are being wasted on healthy cows, pigs and chickens for things like growth promotion (!) creating drug-resistant superbugs that put everyone at risk.

We all know by now not to take and not to give our children unnecessary antibiotics and our doctors carefully weigh their options before prescribing them to us, but The National Academy of Sciences has stated:

"a decrease in the inappropriate use of antimicrobials in human medicine alone is not enough. Substantial efforts must be made to decrease inappropriate overuse of antimicrobials in animals and agriculture as well."

All 27 member states of the European Union have banned the use of important human antibiotics for growth promotion in animals. Hundreds of the world's leading consumer and public health agencies have demanded this practice come to an end.

Here is the petition we can sign to ask FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg to ban the use of antibiotics in healthy animals. I can't believe after so many years we are still talking about this issue and nothing has been done- hopefully this lawsuit will have some real teeth in it.

Saving the Planet by Trusting Ourselves and creating a wish garden that may get you uninvited to the annual block party

Some days the news is so bleak I can't watch it.

My hubby was getting nosebleeds during the early weeks of the Japan nuclear crisis and we reached a point where we turned it all off.

I felt guilty over this because I do not want to be one of those people who turn from things I do not want to look at - the kind of person who steps over the homeless, avoids looking at the scarred and pushes her own stuff down so deeply that neither years of therapy or a two ton John Deere can unearth it.

(we were thinking - "I just can't go there. It is too hard to look at this stuff. It is too hard to feel this stuff." We put the brakes on.)

These are challenging times (and I am talking about things other than Japan here and many of us are feeling it) - times maybe we will be telling our grandkids about if we are lucky enough to have any. I think we are all here for a purpose, meant to be right where we are, right now.

None of us know what is going to happen. We believe things will get better, but suspect that maybe things will get worse first.

So maybe the greatest, most powerful thing we can do is to simply say, "What the hell, I will go there. I will look. I will feel what I need to feel. I sur­render."

Maybe we don't have to worry about being centered while we are in this place at this time.

If we intend to always be in control we are out of luck. Control is like a box that will never allow us the range of movement that is needed to knock down boundaries and belief systems anyway. Control has always been highly overrated.

My Hindu guru artist friend says to me, "Is the world really collapsing around us? Or is it lift­ing itself around us while everything that stays the same just feels like it is falling?"

Maybe we will know exactly what we need to do, exactly when we need to do it. Maybe we just need to not be afraid to look. Maybe we just need to not be afraid to feel. Maybe we just need to trust ourselves.

I am writing this post on Earth Day after a neighbor asked me what I am doing about my 'dandelion problem' - I told him I'm not sure and he said to me, "well, I thought knowing you, you were probably growing them on purpose"

*sigh*

I do know we are not about to pour toxic chemicals all over the tiny little piece of the planet's skin that we are the caregivers of right now.

I will never understand how a dandelion is any less beautiful than a daffodil.

Maybe there is some organic remedy I could look into or maybe I should wait until they turn into little puffballs and then erect a little fence around my dandelion patch with a sign that reads - blow me.

:)

*never trust a blonde print by franticmeerkat
*dandelion print by briole

Earth Day Countdown - Getting a Little Greener in 2011 - Spring Cleaning

As Earth Day 2011 approaches there may be some ways we can tweak our lives and live a little bit greener.

Spring Cleaning for Greenies -

1. Reduce - this one is all about buying less stuff with less packaging and cutting the clutter in our lives.

(clutter gets in the way of everything - it is hard to even set an intention for what we want in life when we have filled our lives with too much stuff)

2. Reuse - after you create that pile of stuff you want to get rid off - take another look at the pile - can anything there be reused in a better way - not to hang onto it just to hang onto it - but don't toss the books when you can glue them together and make an amazing side table!

3. Recycle - I know you are already doing this so maybe the next step is a compost pile - composting is super easy

my post with some tips is HERE and a great post on the EcoEtsy blog is HERE.

I recently bought some wonderful worm compost tea to add to my garden from Maryellen of MaryZoom - she has volunteered to help me when I launch my very own kitchen worm bin with red wrigglers, which she promises do not smell and are easy to maintain.

4. Donate - 80% of what we own we never use - maybe someone else can! There is a great list of what to do with our stuff on Martha HERE

5. Make our own cleaning supplies HERE

6. Make it a no-trash cleaning day - ditch the paper towels, the throwaway mop-head thingies and those sticky pads that you have to toss - there are better alternatives to all of these things - if Grandma didn't clean it that way, we probably shouldn't either.

7. Break up with our mailman - get off the junkmail lists with greendimes.com or 41 pounds , go paperless with your statements when possible

At EcoEtsy we are having our 2nd annual Earth Day Auction - this year we are raising money for Habitat for Humanity in Japan - check it out HERE - there are several packages of handmade goodies you can bid on and get yourself some amazing loot while supporting a wonderful cause.


*Jane Austen quote dishtowel at Brookish

CruelTEA Over at Lipton - the year of the rabbit is off to a good start

With the threat of PETA's ad campaign set to launch next week, Unilever - owner of Lipton Tea has pledged to immediately halt all animal testing with their products.

(and before we go thinking I wish someone would test some tea on me- these animals are given diseases and then fed tea as a "cure" and even autopsied while still alive)


I am not always a fan of PETA

(not sure that turning half the population into objects is necessary toward getting people to treat animals ethnically)

but I am happy they convinced Lipton to join the growing number of cruelty-free companies.

Probably not all animal testing in medical research can be ended but as for the necessity of animals in cancer research (for example), Dr. Richard Klausner, former director of the National Cancer Institute, stated that -

"The history of cancer research has been a history of curing cancer ... in the mouse.

We have cured mice of cancer for decades - and it simply didn't work in humans."


That - added to the fact that only 3 medical schools in the U.S. (out of 150 plus) still use animals to teach surgery because there are better teaching methods available now says alot to me about the modern alternatives that can be used to alleviate much of this testing (about 200 animals are killed every minute in U.S. labs).

So, maybe have a nice cup of tea this weekend to celebrate the Year of the Rabbit knowing less rabbits are being tortured in the name of research - but maybe make it a Stash Tea, Luzianne Tea, Twinings or Honest - they have all been cruelty free without the threat of a PETA ad campaign.

xo

To see if a company you are giving your money to is cruelty-free, check PETA's database here

One Gift Into Two - doing more with less through charitable donations for the holidays

If you are still looking for a last minute gift- charitable donations in someone's name are an amazing way to turn 1 gift into 2!

For as little as $5.00 you can give a gift that helps a child grow out of gangs in Honduras.

For $12.00 you can provide 20 pounds of multi-purpose soap through oxfam.

$20.00 provides art and music supplies and instructions to an impoverished child through worldvision.

$25.00 lets you sponsor a No Mo Chemo party at St. Jude's!

$50.00 gets you 50 trees planted in Brazil's Atlantic Forest through the Nature Conservancy.

200 dictionaries for students in Africa can be donated for $75.00 through Books for Africa.

$100.00 gets a family's new home a kitchen sink through Habitat for Humanity.

Justgive gives you the opportunity to make your donation locally.

Charitychoice allows the recipient to choose the charity.

Lots of great charitable ideas instead of buying Uncle Elmer another tie for his tie drawer this year!

Cell Phone Safety or listen more, talk less

Now, I am a person who doesn't use a cell phone very much, because

1. I forget to charge it and
2. no one calls me

but hubby and I are in the process of renewing our phone contract which has expired and it got me thinking about the latest information on the safety of these things.

I found a great article on The Daily Green on just this subject and thought I would share it here.

1. Use a headset or a speaker

Now speakers I get- keep that phone away from my head sounds smart- but headsets??

It turns out headsets emit much less radiation than phones. Experts are split on whether wired or wireless headsets are safer. Some wireless headsets emit continuous low-level radiation, so take yours off when you're not on a call. Using your phone in speaker mode also reduces radiation to the head.

EWG guide to headsets here.

2. Talk less, listen more (sounds like a life lesson here)

Your phone emits radiation when you talk or text but not when you're receiving messages.

3. Text

Phones use less power (which means less radiation) to send text instead of voice. And texting keeps the phone away from your head.

4. Hold phone at arm's length

(this is actually kind of empowering, I felt rather exotic swinging my phone out and about as I chatted yesterday, plus people were staring at my wrist which helped publicize the Polarity locket bracelet I was wearing)


Hold the phone away from your torso not against your ear, in a pocket, or on your belt, where soft body tissues absorb radiation.

5. Buy a low radiation phone

Some phones are better than others. Look up your phone on EWG's buyer's guide (your phone's model number may be printed under your battery).

Be sure to recycle your old phone.

6. Stay off the phone when there is a weak signal

Fewer signal bars mean the phone has to step up its emissions to contact the tower - not good for us.

7. Skip the radiation shield

Radiation shields such as antenna caps or keypad covers reduce the connection quality and force the phone to transmit at a higher power with higher radiation.

8. Limit children's cell phone use to emergencies only

Young children's brains absorb twice as much cell phone radiation as adults. We need to teach our kids cell phone safety.

I hope someone else finds this info and these links helpful. No need to panic and ditch your phone, but if you are a cell phone addict you may want to rethink some of your actions for your long term health - in case some agency finally gets the balls to announce that cell phone radiation is dangerous.

Happy 4th of July! plus some green-grilling tips from Treehugger


HCAs form in meats and fish cooked at high temperatures when amino acids and creatine (a chemical in muscle) react. Another nasty culprit, PAHs (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) form when fat drips off the meat into the flame or heating element. PAHs rise in the smoke and deposit on the food.

Yeah, lots of delicious stuff is bad for us.

Here's some steps to greener grilling with lower or no carcinogenic risk:

1. Flip meat frequently when cooking to prevent HCAs from forming.
2. Raise grilling surface from the heat source to reduce the temperature and black char.
3. Cook at lower temperatures.
4. Marinate meats to decrease HCA formation up to 96 percent.
5. Pre-cook meats to limit exposure on the grill.
6. Trim fat off meat and grill leaner cuts that drip less to reduce exposure to PAHs.
7. Spread foil on or under the grill to reduce dripping fat that causes PAHs. 
8. Grill veggie burgers, vegetables and fruits (HCAs only forms on muscle meats). Note: organ meat (liver), eggs, and tofu have little to no HCA content.

Have a wonderful holiday everyone!

photo by gerald l. campbell- stars and stripes forever

What Your Food Labels are Not Telling You and the real cookie monster makes her escape

There was a great post recently on Daily Green on 9 food label lies and I thought it was important enough to repeat a few here in case anyone missed it.

Wisdom is power people.

1. Made With Whole Grains

I had been craving some tuna melts last week and was in the grocers searching for the english muffins and seeing the package labeled whole grains I grabbed that one not checking to see that unbleached wheat flour is the main ingredient; whole wheat flour is the third flour on the list indicating very little whole grains are in these muffins, I mean, how many types of flour does Thomas's need for these things anyway?

Daily Green say that some products that trumpet their whole grain credentials (like Keebler's Zesta saltine crackers) use caramel to mimic the brown color of whole grains. Ugh!

2. Ingredient Lists - now the first ingredient (the main ingredient you would think) on the cake mix box is flour, but since the last 4 ingredients are different types of sugar- sugar is actually the main ingredient and 1/3 of the box contents- this is a real disappointment!

3. Serving Size - the 20 oz. bottle of soda is 100 calories per serving - this is the size bottle that fits in your car cup holder - but if you look closely the bottle contains 2.5 servings - so drinking the entire bottle is 250 calories!

4. Made With Real Fruit - If the label says real fruit it must be good for us and our kids, right? Betty Crocker's Strawberry Splash Fruit Gushers say they're made with real fruit, but the only thing approximating fruit is pear concentrate (sugar) with Red No. 40 for "strawberry" color. Overall, the gushers are half sugar (which means they are candy).

5. 0 Trans Fats - While some companies reformulated their products to reduce the use of risky fats, many just replaced trans fats with saturated fats. They are just as bad, but get to wear the label "0 trans fats!"

6. Free Range Eggs - This is not something the FDA monitors. There are free range chicken labels for poultry which means they get at least 5 minutes of sun a day - yes, 5 minutes - lucky chickens - but no such monitoring for eggs. So free range or cage free on your eggs is unregulated and pretty much worthless.

And, even though I know we can't believe anything almost anything we read these days this car was in front of me on the way to Pennsylvania last weekend.

At first I thought it was Kathie Lee Gifford ...

but, as we got closer I saw that the plastic license plate holder read - I'm a Girl Scout Leader.

Suddenly, I realized I had stumbled upon the leader of the troop that secretly makes the gazillions of cookies all the other girl scouts are out selling!

I started hollering at her out my window that I knew who she was, that she wasn't fooling me with her cookie labels - that those girls had better get at least 5 minutes of sunshine a day!

I tried to keep up with her and follow her back to the cookie factory, but she lost me by making some high speed scout-type maneuvers.

(plus I didn't want to spill my coffee and hubby and I were distractedly arguing about how to work the camera phone- yes, we are one of those couples)

I don't have anymore girl scout cookies in the house, but if you still have any - check the labels - and don't believe any of that free-range, cage-free crap they are trying to sell you! The truth lies in Pennsylvania.

FRIDAY FINDS - It's a GREEN World - Let's Keep it that Way - Have an Amazing Weekend!

Photobucket
1. jerry kott recycled wine vases
2. tumbleweed tiny house company
3. 1% for the planet
4. loyalloot log bowls
5. rodrigo alonso's shoes
6. bristol & bath drum sink
7. recycled cassette tape necktie
8. gas can luggage
9. love the ladies and ideas of junk market style
10. kotik design beer cap necklace
11. patagonia ditch the car t-shirt
12. upcycled terry cloth pig- made from towels from 50's and 60's
13. guitar case book shelf
14. big belly solar recycling cans

Another amazing stack by the incredible photog and stacker of all things stackable; Kella Macphee - check out her amazing pics from a NYC benefit she shot this week on her blog!

Earth Day Turns 40 Today - and TeamEcoEtsy is Having an Auction!

In celebration of Earth Day's 40th birthday, TeamEcoEtsy has some amazing goodie bags filled with all kinds of eco-goodies to be auctioned off for the World Widlife Fund!

The bags include Green Jewelry (both my lines are included here), Green Home, Green Baby, Green Paper Goods, Green Fashion and Green Health & Beauty.

Lots of amazing handmade, eco goodies and a wonderful cause!

Happy Earth Day everyone- enjoy our auction!







The World Wildlife Fund is an amazing organization supporting global preservation efforts - check out their website - there is oodles of great information there.

Saving Second Base - things you can do everyday


The Daily Green asked Janet Gray, a professor at Vassar College and a board member of the Breast Cancer Fund for some simple tips that can help reduce your breast cancer risk factors. I thought it was important enough to repeat here.

Research shows that many risk factors play a role, including our genetic makeup and whether or not we've had kids or breast-fed. But, a substantial body of scientific evidence indicates that exposures to common chemicals and radiation, alone and in combination, may contribute to the high incidence of breast cancer.

1. Drink clean water. This means clean (filtered, if you don't like the taste) tap water and not bottled water.

Commercial water bottles often are made from plastics that leach chemicals like Bisphenol A (BPA), which is known to mimic hormones, and which has been linked to an increased risk for breast cancer. Leaching of chemicals from plastic bottles is particularly common when the plastic bottles are warm, as can happen when bottles sit in the sun. If you are using a plastic bottle and the water or other fluid inside it smells "plasticy", don’t drink it!

2. Use microwave safe containers. Despite the label on many plastic containers claiming that they are "microwave-safe"; use either glass or ceramic bowls for heating foods in a microwave oven. Even so-called "microwave safe" containers have been shown to leach Bisphenol A (BPA) when heated.

Laboratory studies with rats indicate that exposures to BPA, especially during prenatal through early adolescence, predispose an individual to increased risk for developing breast cancer.

3. Eat soy (but not too much). Most studies suggest that a regular intake of soy, especially during adolescence, as a well-integrated component of a regular diet (as opposed to a dietary supplement like a pill), may be protective against breast cancer. On the other hand, some studies examining the effects of ingesting high levels of soy supplements (e.g., genistein pills or isoflavone protein extracts) suggest that this may lead to changes that increase the risk of breast cancer.

4. Use natural cleaners. Many household cleaning products (including chlorine bleach) contain chemicals like alkylphenols (example: 4-nonylphenol) that are endocrine disruptors (chemicals that mimic hormones and have been implicated in increased risk for breast cancer) as well as toxins that affect both our brains and our reproductive systems.

5. Tune up your car. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are products of incineration found in air pollution, vehicle exhaust (especially diesel), tobacco, smoke and grilled foods. Exposures to PAHs, especially from vehicle exhaust and gasoline fumes, have been linked with increased incidence of breast cancer.

Exposure to high levels of PAHs either at the time of their first menstrual period or at the time they first gave birth, were associated with an increased risk of post-menopausal breast cancer in women decades later.

6. Eat clean fish. Foods that may contain high levels of PCBs and dioxins should be limited, especially for pregnant women and children. Both are known carcinogens that have been linked with increased risk for breast cancer. Although PCBs have been banned from production and use in the US since the 1970s, they remain in our environment, including our rivers and lakes.

Eat smaller varieties such as bluegill, pumpkinseed, stream trout, smelt, and yellow perch. Limit consumption of fish that are fattier (and more likely to accumulate PCBs) like lake trout, or fish that are bottom dwellers like catfish.

In general, careful preparation and cooking can reduce the amount of PCBs consumed. Fillet fish by removing as much fat as possible. Also cook using methods such as baking or broiling in a pan with a rack, rather than frying – frying may actually seal some of the toxic chemicals within the remaining fat of the fish.

7. Avoid (most) canned food. In addition to being found in many plastic bottles, BPA is also found in the epoxy resin liner of most canned foods. The BPA from this lining has been shown to leach into the vegetables in the can.

Eden Organic makes beans in cans that are BPA free, so why can't the other manufacturers do it, too?

8. Avoid dry cleaning chemicals. PERC is the most common chemical used at dry cleaning shops. It accumulates in our body fat and may therefore remain in our bodies for long periods of time

Don't buy clothes that need dry cleaning, check if your dry cleaner uses perc, if you get your clothes dry cleaned with perc or other organic substances, be sure to remove the plastic packaging from your clothes and air them out, preferably outside of your home. Also, many fabrics that say "dry clean only" don't really need it.

9. Use stainless steel or cast iron cookware. Aluminum is a metal that mimics estrogen. Labs have shown that aluminum can cause direct damage to DNA in several biological systems. Although studies have not shown a direct causal link between aluminum and breast cancer risk (little work has been done in this area), breast tissue has been shown to concentrate aluminum and it is found in highest levels in the quadrant of the breast near the underarm region, the same area where the highest proportion of breast cancers are originally diagnosed.

These tips seem very do-able to me and you may already be doing many of them. I didn't know about the aluminum cookware, but have been using mostly cast iron for other reasons for awhile now. Hoping this list gets us all thinking!