Environment, Organics, Fair Trade & Recycling at Big Green Purse

What You Don't Know CAN Hurt You, Warns "The Non-Toxic Avenger"

Is there a direct link between cancer, autism and all the toxins in our environment?

Deanna Duke, author of the new must-buy book, The Non-Toxic Avenger: What You Don't Know Can Hurt You, believes there is. And with good reason: In 2007, Deanna's husband Hank, was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, an incurable, extremely life-shortening form of leukemia. That news on its own would have been devastating enough; but it came in the same week that her son Henry was diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome, a mild form of autism.

Though both cancer and autism have genetic links, Deanna, who also blogs at The Crunchy Chicken, couldn't help but wonder whether toxic chemicals she and her family encountered every day could also have contributed to the illnesses. In addition to helping her husband and son come up with treatment plans, Deanna decided to do two things: track down the sources of dangerous chemicals she and they were exposed to, and figure out how to avoid them in the future. This illuminating and inspiring book charts Deanna's quest.

Here is just a short summary of the extent of her research:

* She had her body tested for a wide array of toxins, both those under her control based on products she willingly chose, like cosmetics or food, and those that exist in the environment but that she has little control over, like air and water pollution.

* She tested common houshold projects, like rubber toys and her computer equipment, to see if they contained nasty PVCs (they did).

* She started making her own safe personal care products, like deodorant and hair dye, to avoid parabens, phthalates, and other cancer-causing chemicals.

* She changed her shopping habits to buy more organic food.

* And of course, she wrote this book: part heart-wrenching story about trying to deal with the illnesses of her husband and son, part manifesto on what we all can do to protect ourselves from environmental hazards, especially those we think won't do us any harm.

I hope you'll pick up this book as soon as you can and read it cover to cover. You'll cry. You might laugh at all of Deanna's exploits. And then, hopefully, you'll get busy -- clearing out your cupboards, writing to your elected officials, and telling everyone you know that they MUST read this incredible, courageous, inspiring book, too.

 

 

Jessica Alba Joins Movement to Pass Safe Chemicals Act

The Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families Coalition is working hard to get Congress to pass the Safe Chemicals Act. The legislation would require chemicals to be proven safe before they can be used in toys, clothes, furniture and other products that kids are likely to encounter. Actress Jessica Alba, left, is probably one of the highest-profile supporters of the Coalition and SCA, but tens of thousands of people also endorse this effort to protect people from the toxic chemicals that cause cancer, asthma, birth defects, learning disabilities, and other illnesses.

Like the Campaign on Facebook, then go to the Campaign's website to learn more and take action. It's particularly important for you to send your members of Congress a letter or e-mail urging them to support a strong Safe Chemicals Act.

Here's Why We Need the Safe Chemicals Act:

Beauty...or the Beast? Depends on the Safe Chemicals Act

Putting on Lipstick Shouldn't be so Risky. It Won't Be - If You Support the Safe Chemicals Act

Little Girls Are Worrying About Bras When They Should Still be Playing with Play Dough

 

If you're in the market for...

Looking for Non-Toxic Clothes and Toys for Yourself and Your Kids? Check out our Amazon store.

Your Big Green Muscle is Getting J&J to Make Its Baby Shampoo Safer

Moms, consumer groups, nurses, and other health professionals have succeeded in getting Johnson & Johnson to begin to remove toxic chemicals from its baby shampoo.

Two years ago, the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics reported that J&J's baby shampoo contained quarternium-15, which releases formaldhyde, as well as the chemical product 1,4-dioxane. Both formaldehye and dioxane are known carcinogens - which is why so many citizens rose up to pressure the company to produce a healthier, safer shampoo. This was a product for babies, after all!

In a coordinated effort, the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, the American Nurses Association, Physicians for Social Responsibility, the National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners, and 40 other groups, sent a letter to J&J outlining their concerns. Groups like our own Green Moms Carnival also raised awareness through blogs that reached hundreds of thousands of people.

Earlier this month, Johnson & Johnson announced that they are no longer introducing baby products that contain formaldehyde. They also announced that they have reformulated "approximately 70%" of their products with new formulas that keep trace levels of 1,4-dioxane below detectable levels.

“Clearly there is no need for Johnson & Johnson to expose babies to a known carcinogen when the company is already making safer alternatives. All babies deserve safer products,” said Lisa Archer, director of the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics at the Breast Cancer Fund.

Archer commented, “We’re glad to see that the Johnson & Johnson is taking this seriously. This commitment is a big step in the right direction. We look forward to the day when we can tell consumers the company’s entire product line is free of carcinogens and other chemicals of concern.”

RELATED POSTS

Should Soap Bubble Make Your Baby Sick? Tell J&J No!

Putting on Lipstick Shouldn't be so Risky...

SHOP FOR SAFER BABY PRODUCTS AND COSMETICS IN OUR AMAZON STORE

Green Back-to-School Supplies: Part 1 - Pens, Pencils, Crayons, Markers

Kids eat crayons. They chew on pencils. They sniff markers. And pens? Sure, kids use them for writing - on their skin, not necessarily paper.

In other words, as weird as it may sound, you need to treat the tools kids use to compose or color the same way you'd treat the food they eat: with attention to the ingredients they're made from and the impact they're going to have on your kids' health.

That means looking for supplies free of lead-based pigments, synthetic fragrances, solvents like methyl alcohol and toluene, formaldehyde, and other nasty chemicals you'd never serve as part of a meal or snack. Here are links to responsible supplies that won't make your kids sick when they do take a bite or decide to paint a Picasso on their arm.

Pens - Pens cross the environmental line in two ways. Their ink usually contains chemicals that have no human health benefit; and they're usually made from throwaway plastic. In fact, a pen is one of those school supplies that subliminally teaches kids it's ok to waste, since we're so used to buying them in packs of 10 or 20 and tossing them into the trash even before they're completely used up.

Fortunately, DBA Pens have come to the rescue. The DBA 98 is 98% biodegradable, made in the USA using wind power, and filled with an ink made from water, nontoxic pigments, vegetable-based glycerin, and sodium benzoate, a food-grade preservative.

A decent alternative is a refillable pen, like the ones we sell in our Amazon store. While I can't vouch for the safety of the ink, at least a refillable reduces plastic waste. Plus, it's easy to find refillables at most office supply stores.

Pencils - Fortunately, most pencils kids use today are made of graphite, not the more dangerous "lead" that they're commonly described as. The most eco-friendly pencils are also made from recycled paper, wood, or cardboard. (NOTE: Some pencils are being made from recycled tires, but consumer reviews thus far indicate that they're not easy to sharpen or use.) Given the fact that a pencil can be used almost completely, and can be more easily recycled than plastic in some communities, it generates less waste than a pen or marker. If kids have an option, using a pencil is better than a pen. Using a reusable mechanical pencil, which replaces the "lead" but not the entire pencil, is a good option for older kids; there's no environmental benefit to using a throwaway mechanical pencil.

Crayons - I'm a big fan of crayons made from beeswax or soy, rather than the usual petroleum-based paraffin. The colors and texture are rich, and they pose no health or environmental threats to the kids who use them.

Markers - Look for markers whose low- or no-toxicity has been certified by the Art and Creative Materials Institute (ACMI) or the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM). Even then, give markers the "sniff" test. If you take off the cap and find the odor overwhelming, don't use the marker, and definitely don't give it to your child: chances are, it contains xylene, toluene or other chemicals that cause nausea, headaches and in some cases have been linked to cancer (why they're still allowed in any kind of marker or product is beyond me!). Choose water-soluble, no VOC markers if you can find them, or colored pencils as highlighters.

Paints - When buying kids' paints, look for no- or low-voc, water-based products, preferably certified non-toxic by an independent third party and made in the U.S. Some good choices:

 - Nature-of-Art's certified non-toxic, water-based acrylic paints. Here's an additional link to everything you want to know about nontoxic paints.

-Eco-Kids Natural Plant Dye Fingerpaint, made in the U.S.A

-Clementine Art Natural Paint

 

Are you a do-it-yourselfer? Give this "make your own fingerpaint" recipe a try (and let me know how you like it, ok?).

 

Want More? Shop Our Amazon Store.

We've compiled links to these and other eco-friendly school supplies on our "Back to School" store on Amazon (NOTE: we earn a small commission on purchases here that help pay our research and writing costs.) Have we missed a safe product you love? Let us know.

 

Related Posts:

Check Out Maggie's Organic for Back-to-School Fashions

Taming the Back-to-School Shopping Beast

Students Start Food Fight So They Can Have Reusable Lunch Trays

Going Back to School? Go Green to Save Hundreds of Dollars

Lunch Boxes Should be Safe and Environmentally Friendly

France BANS Fracking. But New York is about to allow it. Huh?

The French Parliament has voted overwhelmingly to ban fracking, a toxic way to extract natural gas from rock thousands of feet below ground and pollutes groundwater and sickens people and animals in the process.

The state of New Jersey is the only  state to ban fracking in the U.S., though the process is underway in 36 states.

Public opposition to fracking is growing as more people become aware of the environmental and human health problems it cause. That's one of many reasons why it doesn't make sense that New York state is set to make it easier to frack there, even though the state currently has some of the safest, cleanest drinking water in America.

Find out what fracking is doing to your state here.

On Capitol Hill, the FRAC Act would force natural gas fracking operations to at least comply with the Safe Drinking Water Act, which they're under no obligation to do now. You can sign a petition here to ask your Senators to support the FRAC Act.

 

Fracking: A Clear and Present Danger

I don't like to exaggerate the impacts of the many environmental issues we face. But  it's impossible to overstate how dangerous fracking is. Fracking stands for "hydraulic fracturing," a highly polluting process for tapping underground pools of natural gas. It involves drilling a hole a mile deep and thousands of feet long, then pumping down millions of gallons of water laced with sand, salt and chemicals to crack rock shale that contains the gas. Wherever it happens, it pollutes drinking water, makes people and animals sick, and ruins property values. This special Green Moms Carnival raises several red flags about fracking. Read them all to understand why fracking matters to you - and why you must help stop it.

Lori of Groovy Green Livin' asks "What the heck is fracking?" You won't like her answer anymore than she did. It's like a "mini-bomb or earthquake exploding underneath the ground" that leaves behind extremely toxic waste water. "The quantities of fracking fluids used in a single well contain so much benzene and other toxic chemicals that they could potentially contaminate more than the amount of water New York State consumes in a day.  Water is so contaminated with methane and other chemicals from fracking that it can become discolored, bubble and could actually catch on fire at the kitchen tap....The chemicals from fracking can cause chronic illness, loss of sense of smell and taste, animals hair to fall out, severe headaches and cancer."

What the Heck is Fracking? And Why Don't You Want It Anywhere Near Your Water?

It sounds like it could be a new dance ("Let's do the frack!"). Or maybe it's a cool way to clean your house ("I really fracked my floor this week; it looks great now!")

But it's not. Fracking is short for "hydraulic fracturing," explains Chris Bolgiano in this Bay Journal article. "It involves drilling a hole a mile down, then thousands of feet horizontally, and pumping down millions of gallons of water laced with sand, salt and chemicals to crack the shale. Gas is forced up, along with roughly 25 percent of the contaminated wastewater, often hot with radioactivity."

Chris adds, "Fracking chemicals include formaldehyde, benzene, and others known to be carcinogenic at a few parts per million. Municipal plants can’t handle fracking wastewater, and it’s stored in open pits until trucked elsewhere. If enough fresh water can’t be sucked from streams on site, trucks haul it in.

Putting on Lipstick Shouldn't be so Risky. It Won't Be - if You Support the Safe Cosmetics Act

If you're anything like me, when you buy lipstick or eye make-up, it's because you want to look better, not feel worse. But many cosmetics contain questionnable ingredients that have been linked to cancer, reproductive problems, and asthma and respiratory disease. I've switched to more eco-friendly, non-toxic personal care products, but shouldn't EVERY cosmetic be eco-friendly and non-toxic?

With your participation and some determined work on Capitol Hill, it will be. Several members of Congress recently introduced the Safe Cosmetics Act, legislation that would phase out toxic ingredients in our make-up and other personal care products that have been linked to cancer, birth defects and developmental harm. The act would also create a health-based safety standard to protect not only us adults, but kids, the elderly, and people who work in salons and the cosmetics industries.

Plus, the legislation would require companies to fully disclose all the ingredients their products contain so we consumers can read the labels and decide what we want to be exposed to. Finally, the new law would boost funding for the Food and Drug Administration's Office of Cosmetics and Colors so it can effectively oversee the cosmetics industry and better protect consumers.

Earth Day Health & Beauty Countdown: Switch Your Liquid Shampoo to a Bar

Earth Day is Friday, April 22. Why not use it to set some new goals that will help you green your health and beauty routine?

Let's start with shampoo. Conventional shampoo contains ingredients that may cause asthma or other human health problems and wreak havoc on water systems when they wash down the drain. Plus, they usually come packaged in plastic bottles that many communities can't recycle.

SHAMPOO BARS

Shampoo that comes as a bar rather than in a bottle treads more lightly on the planet - and reduces the amount of trash you throw away. Why?

* It uses less packaging.

* The packaging is probably paper or cardboard, thus easier to recycle than plastic.(If you do buy shampoo in a plastic bottle, rinse it out and recycle it.)

* Since it's not liquid, it's lighter than bottled shampoos and therefore uses less energy to be shipped from the manufacturing plant to the store where you buy it.

Most shampoos contain various chemicals to ensure they suds up a lot. In fact, you might not feel like your hair is getting clean unless it's had a good lather. These shampoo bars don't lather like liquid shampoo, but they do a great job cleaning your hair. None of them contain parabens, phthalates, or the antibacterial triclosan; they haven't been tested on animals, either.

Burt's Bees Rosemary Mint Shampoo Bar

Seed Grape seed enriched conditioning hair shampoo bar - unscented

Chagrin Valley All Natural Solid Shampoo Bars

Herbaria Herbal Soaps

For more online options, check the Skin Deep Cosmetic Data base. Aim for products that have a hazard rating of between zero and three, which means they contain the fewest questionnable ingredients. 

Do you have a favorite shampoo bar? Please share!

Related Posts

Antibacterial Soap...Could Harm Fetus and Infants

Green Shampoos and Lotions for Guys

Should Soap Bubbles Make Your Baby Sick? Tell J&J No! 

 Beauty or the Beast? The Safe Chemicals Act

How to Shop for Eco-Friendly Clothes - Part 2: Try TENCEL or Lyocell

If we were to separate clothing into categories, somewhere in between natural fibers like cotton or hemp and man-made petroleum fibers like polyester, we'd find Lyocell, "a natural cellulose" product. Lyocell  is made by processing wood pulp into fiber so it can be woven into fabric and sewn into socks, underwear, pants, and blouses, among many other fashion options.

Lyocell, which is also sold under the trade name TENCEL® or Lenzing Lyocell, offers several advantages over conventional cotton and even rayon, another fiber made from cellulose. The trees Lyocell is made from are grown without pesticides, often in sustainably managed forests on land that's not suitable for other crops. Though harsh chemicals are needed to soften the wood pulp so it can be converted into fiber, the chemicals are captured in a "closed loop" processing system so they can be reused rather than discharged into local water supplies. (NOTE: The Organic Clothing blog cautions people who are highly chemically sensitive to be alert to possible allergic reactions to TENCEL.)

Lyocell also offers advantages over cotton when it comes to water. According to this excellent analysis by the Natural Resources Defense Council, unless the cotton is only grown using rain water, Lyocell can end up using far less water to produce than either conventional or organic cotton. Sustainable textiles expert Coral Rose notes, "I strongly believe Lenzing’s products are a key component to any sustainable fiber strategy, when considering all the environmental impacts associated with fiber growing and production." 

New Innovations in TENCEL® are giving way to several variations of the fabric. TENCEL® MICRO is a very smooth silky fiber, while TENCEL® with Multitouch can be used to make heavier fabrics like denim.
 
Shopping for TENCEL®

TENCEL® products are widely available, some at very reasonable prices. Forever 21, for example, offers a severl TENCEL-based garments like this blazer.

You can also find a huge selection of TENCEL® clothing at Tianello.

To try out a TENCEL® sheet set, check out Downlite  or even your local Bed Bath and Beyond Store.

 

Use Your Purse!

The U.S. has an extremely high average fiber consumption per capita, approximately 41.8 kg per year compared to the international average of 10.5 kg per year. Clearly, how we choose to spend our money on clothing directly affects the environment. The next time you are faced with a choice between TENCEL® and cotton, choose the most eco-friendly option: TENCEL®.

For More Information...

Don't miss Part 1 of our series, "How to Shop for Eco-Friendly Clothing"

You can learn more about Tencel if you read this interview with Coral Rose, who has been a featured speaker at events such as The ECO-SHOW, All Things Organic (ATO), and Texworld-New York, to name a few. In this article Coral points out how rare it is to find a company that answers the questions “what is the source of our raw materials? [and] Where were the materials harvested, processed, produced?” Her opinion on the environmental impact of fiber growing and production is that Lenzing Modal and Tencel come out on top.

Modal
 Modal, which is also manufactured by Lenzing, is made from beech trees. Modal is highly absorbent and, like Tencel, resists fading.  100% Modal  is most often made into towels or bedding, though it blends very well with cotton and is another great choice for clothing.