We have two garden beds in our backyard, Caleigh and Cadence designed one and the other is full of organic vegetables for us to eat. The girls decided to plant sunflowers, watermellon and cucumbers in their garden… the giant mutant sunflowers refused to allow the watermellon and cucumbers to grow and finally after growing to an enormous height, they decided to bloom. Can’t wait to roast the gigantic seeds!
Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadow. It’s what sunflowers do. ~Helen Keller
GREEN TIP: Pack a zero waste lunch. You’ll save money and help the environment. The best way to reduce garbage is not to create it in the first place.
We’ve talked before about using reusable products, Green Tip – Think Reusable NOT Disposable, let’s take it a step further and make our packed lunches both nutritious and environmentally friendly.
A zero waste lunch means that you have no packaging to throw away when you’re done – nothing other than apple cores, banana and orange peels, peach or cherry pits. The best way to reduce garbage is to not create it.
FOOD WASTE: A 2004 University of Arizona study reported that Americans throw away almost 50 percent of all the food we produce for domestic sale and consumption. In round numbers that’s $43 billion annually on wasted food.
FOOD WASTE: Researchers at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) concluded in a 2009 study that each year a quarter of U.S. water consumption and over 300 million barrels of oil (four percent of U.S. oil consumption) go into producing and distributing food that ultimately ends up in landfills.
ALUMINUM FOIL: More than 20 million Hershey’s kisses are wrapped with 133 square miles of foil every day.
ALUMINUM AND TIN CANS: In the time it takes you to read this sentence, more than 50,000 12-oz. aluminum cans were made.
FOOD WASTE: Food debris in a landfill decomposes only 25% in the first 15 years (try composting!).
JUICE BOXES: Most inorganic trash retains its weight, volume, and form for at least four decades.
PAPER BAGS AND NAPKINS: It is estimated that 17 trees are cut down for every ton of non-recycled paper.
PLASTIC BOTTLES, FORKS, WRAP: U.S. citizens discard 2-1/2 million plastic bottles EVERY HOUR.
STYROFOAM: U.S. citizens throw away 25 billion styrofoam cups EVERY YEAR.
We must shift our way of thinking, from what is the most “convenient” way to do something to how can we do something more sustainably. If we don’t, we are leaving a mess for our children and their children to clean up. Let’s leave our world better than we found it!
My Green Side’s web pick of the week:
My Zero Waste My Zero Waste is dedicated to making the world a cleaner place. The overall purpose of the site is to help households reduce the amount of rubbish sent to the landfill. We show on a daily basis HOW we are reducing our own landfill waste by highlighting the pitfalls and sharing their mistakes and successes.
Editor’s Note: Each Wednesday My Green Side brings Simple Tips for Green Living to The Christopher Gabriel Program. We also highlight a favorite green site each week. You can stream the segment at approximately 1020am (CDT) every Wednesday at WDAY.com.
Instead of putting Caleigh back in a traditional school environment, we made the decision to homeschool her this school year. First Grade commenced at the Gabriel household on Monday.
I never teach my pupils. I only attempt to provide the conditions in which they can learn. ~ Albert Einstein
GREEN TIP: Avoid ingesting bisphenol A (BPA) – especially pregnant women, infants and children. ~Linda Birnbaum, director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the National Toxicology Program, quoted in an exclusive interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
What is bisphenol A (BPA)?
BPA is a plastics chemical invented nearly 120 years ago and currently used in enormous amounts to manufacture hard plastic water bottles and to make epoxy linings of metal food cans, like those for canned infant formula. Although its long-time use in consumer products has come with assurances of its safety from industry, studies conducted over the past 20 years now show it to be not only a ubiquitous pollutant in the human body – it contaminates nearly 93% of the population – but also a potent developmental toxin at very low doses.
Why avoid BPA?
Health concerns include heart disease, breast and prostate cancer, infertility, diabetes, liver problems and attention deficit disorder.
How to avoid BPA:
Do not do not use plastic containers when reheating or storing leftovers. Use glass or ceramic containers. This is especially important because, according to University of Missouri-Columbia scientist, Frederick Vom Saal, plastics made with BPA break down easily when heated, microwaved, washed with strong detergents or wrapped around acidic foods like tomatoes.
Do not used products that are packaged in cans (soups, tomatoes, sodas, vegetables, fruits, meats and so on). BPA is in the resin that lines a lot of canned goods. Use fresh or frozen ingredients over canned whenever possible. Drink tap or filtered water and drinks packaged in glass bottles.
Do not use liquid baby formulas. All U.S. manufacturers use BPA-based lining on the metal portions of the formula containers. Tests of liquid formulas by FDA and EWG show that BPA leaches into the formula from all brands tested. Enfamil formula appears to have the highest concentrations of the 20 tests. EWG is concerned about BPA exposures for babies fed liquid formula. Choose powdered formula which may not have BPA in packaging and which is more diluted with water. If your baby needs liquid formula look for types sold in plastic or glass containers.
Do not use #7 plastics, especially for children’s food. Plastics with the recycling labels #1, #2 and #4 on the bottom are safer choices and do not contain BPA. Find baby bottles in glass versions, or those made from the safer plastics including polyamine, polypropylene and polyethylene. Soft or cloudy-colored plastic does not contain BPA. Bottles used to pump and store expressed breast milk by the brand Medela are also labeled BPA-free.
Do not use metal water bottles that are lined with a plastic coating that contains BPA. Look for stainless steel bottles that do not have a plastic liner.
In Canada and throughout Europe, a chemical must be proven safe before it’s allowed to be used in commerce.
In the United States, chemicals are allowed on the market and removed only if they have been found to cause harm.
It seems clearer every day that plastic is bad for our health and bad for our environment. I encourage everyone to educate yourselves on current news regarding plastics and before you buy another plastic item ask yourself if there is a better alternative.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has done a fabulous series on chemicals and their impact on our health:
Warning: Chemicals in the packaging, surfaces or contents of many products may cause long-term health effects, including cancers of the breast, brain and testicles; lowered sperm counts, early puberty and other reproductive system defects; diabetes; attention deficit disorder, asthma and autism. A decade ago, the government promised to test these chemicals. It still hasn’t.
My Green Side’s web pick of the week:
Eco Chic Boutique Eco Chic Boutique is a green boutique for baby, mom and home (and so much more).
They opened their doors in June 2010. They are hosting a Grand Opening celebration August 23rd through August 28th in conjunction with Core Health Chiro & Life Energy Chiropractic. Festivities include games, activities, Penny & Pals, face painting, ice cream, Farmers market stand and more.
Parking Lot Party:Tuesday, August 24th
Games to Go
Penny & Pals Shows at 5 and 6pm
Culver’s Custard Cart
Jimmy Johns
Face Painting
Balloon Animals
Obstacle Course Sydney’s Market Stand
Location: 4955 17th Ave. S., Suite 106, Fargo
Hours: 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday; 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. Opens June 5.
Editor’s Note: Each Wednesday My Green Side brings Simple Tips for Green Living to The Christopher Gabriel Program. We also highlight a different favorite green site each week. You can stream the segment at approximately 1020am (Central) every Wednesday at WDAY.com.
GREEN TIP: When buying sleepwear, avoid pajamas containing flame retardants, synthetic materials and pesticide laden materials. Look instead for pajamas that are snug fitting and made with natural, organic fibers.
Flame Retardants
In the United States, children’s sleepwear sized 9 months to 14 years must meet certain flammability requirements. The requirement is intended to protect children from burns.
Chemicals used on pajamas or pajama fabrics include chlorinated and brominated flame retardants, inorganic flame retardants such as antimony oxides, and phosphate-based compounds. Chlorinated and brominated flame retardants are contaminating the environment and accumulating in the human body. For example, polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) have been linked to doing damage to the nervous and reproductive systems and impairing thyroid function. North Americans have the highest body burden of PBDEs in the world.
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), there have been unintended consequences linked to using these chemicals. There is growing evidence that PBDEs persist in the environment and accumulate in living organisms, as well as toxicological testing that indicates these chemicals may cause liver toxicity, thyroid toxicity, and neurodevelopmental toxicity.
According to Erin Royer, owner of Snug Organics, PBDEs have been linked to damage of the thyroid, immune system, reproductive system, and liver. They disturb brain development, learning abilities, hormone function and can cause cancer, hyperactivity (ADD & ADHD), obesity, diabetes and permanent behavioral changes. These are all the same conditions that are increasing in our children today, who are the most highly exposed.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) requires that children’s sleepwear contain flame-retardants or be snug fitting. Erin suggests that parents choose “snug fitting” due to the dangers of flame-retardants, which are added to materials during the manufacturing process in order to reduce the likelihood of a garment catching fire. Flowing nightgowns and baggy tops and bottoms have a higher chance of coming into contact with an open flame than a snug fitting pair of pajamas.
If you don’t want flame retardants, then always look for the specific key phrases “must be snug fitting” and “not flame resistant.”
Synthetics
Most children’s sleepwear is made of polyester (fleece), nylon acetate, and rayon. These fabrics begin their lives as a vat of chemicals, including petroleum. They have a prolonged landfill life, create more dependence on oil and take 40% more energy to produce than cotton. They are not breathable and block out air sometimes causing the body to overheat. These synthetics can also emit toxic gasses and are allergenic, causing respiratory disease in some cases. Polyester is plastic and will melt when heated. Synthetics must also contain flame retardants.
Pesticides
Conventional cotton is one of the most pesticide-saturated crop in the world and one of the most environmentally destructive. 90% of production involves the use of synthetic chemicals. It takes one-third of a pound of pesticides and fertilizers to make one cotton t-shirt. 70% of conventional cotton farmers use GMO seeds and treat them with fungicides and insecticides. Synthetic fertilizers and herbicides are added to the soil to kill weeds, five of which are probable carcinogens. Aerial spraying of these chemicals drift onto farm workers, neighboring wildlife and communities. They runoff into our water, cannot be eliminated by water treatment centers, and end up in our city water systems. Residues of these chemicals have been found in human amniotic fluid, breast milk and fatty tissues. The biggest problem with non-organic cotton fabric is the finishes. Softeners and brighteners like bleach, formaldehyde, heavy metals, and ammonia are used in the finishing process of conventional cotton and a scientific link has been proven between these toxic chemicals and cancer, endocrine disruption and even reproductive disorders. Permanent press finish releases formaldehyde and no amount of washing removes permanent press.
buying clothing, bedding and furniture made of natural fibers, such as cotton and wool, which do not melt near heat and as such do not need to contain flame-retardants.
To avoid any chemicals in sleepwear and reduce the risk of igniting sleepwear, we suggest you choose natural fibers that are inherently fire resistant and snug-fitting.
My Green Side’s web pick of the week:
Organic Authority
Organic Authority seeks to change the way Americans think about the word organic, washing away the grungy hippy image of the past. Our goal is to disseminate information while educating the public about the benefits of buying and choosing organic produce, meats, and products, while promoting sustainable living and an organic lifestyle. We believe that implementing small fundamental changes in the choices we make everyday will have a large impact on the future of healthy families around the world and protect Mother Earth for generations to come.
Editor’s Note: Each Wednesday My Green Side brings Simple Tips for Green Living to The Christopher Gabriel Program. We also highlight a favorite green site each week. You can stream the segment at approximately 1020am (CDT) every Wednesday at WDAY.com.
My parents have an organic farm in the St. Croix Valley region of western Wisconsin. It’s a place where I feel like I can truly breathe. Everything in my life suddenly falls into the proper perspective the minute I drive up the long, winding driveway. Worry and stress melt away as I’m greeted by the natural beauty of the land.
Laugh as much as you breathe and love as long as you live. ~Anonymous
GREEN TIP: When back-to-school shopping, avoid buying school supplies containing polyvinyl chloride (PVC or vinyl) or other toxic plastics.
According to the Center for Health, Environment & Justice(CHEJ), PVC plastic is one of the most hazardous consumer products ever created. PVC is dangerous to human health and the environment throughout its entire life cycle, at the factory, in our homes, and in the trash. Our bodies are contaminated with poisonous chemicals released during the PVC lifecycle, such as mercury, dioxins, and phthalates, which may pose irreversible life-long health threats. When produced or burned, PVC plastic releases dioxins, a group of the most potent synthetic chemicals ever tested, which can cause cancer and harm the immune and reproductive systems.
Children are at risk from even small exposures to these toxic chemicals. That’s why it’s important to purchase PVC-free school supplies.
CHEJ recently released this years Back-to-School Guide to PVC-Free School Supplies to empower all of us to make smarter, healthier shopping choices for a toxic-free future. The guide lists the most common back-to-school supplies made out of PVC plastic and suggests safer PVC-free alternatives.
You can also download the wallet-sized version of the guide here: http://bit.ly/ds4bs1
WHAT TO AVOID:
Products that are labeled with the words “vinyl” on the packaging.
The number “3” inside the universal recycling symbol.
The letters “V” or “PVC” underneath the universal recycling symbol.
Other toxic plastics to avoid: polycarbonate (PC), polystyrene (PS) and acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) plastics.
If there isn’t any labeling indicating what the product is made of, call the manufacturer’s question/comment line (usually a toll-free 800 number) listed on the package to find out.
Rather than recycling or tossing PVC items, like old vinyl curtains and floor tiles, in the trash, Mike Schade, CHEJ’s PVC campaign coordinator, recommends disposing of them in hazardous waste landfill sites. Call your sanitation department or state environmental agency to see where you might dispose of hazardous material.
CHEJ also suggests returning PVC products and packaging to retailers and manufacturers. “We recommend consumers contact manufacturers and let them know that PVC is an unacceptably toxic material and that it should not be used in production,” says Anne Rabe with CHEJ. “As consumers, they can also send that message by not purchasing products packaged or made from PVC.” Look for the number 3 in the recycling symbol or the letter “V.”
This is becoming an easier task already. Rabe points out that there are a number of PVC alternatives already on the market. For example, Ikea now sells non-PVC shower curtains exclusively.
Some manufacturers have already heard the calls for a halt to PVC use in production. CHEJ has successfully worked with Victoria’s Secret and Microsoft to eliminate PVC from their packaging and is currently in talks with Target, Sears and Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart has already committed to eliminating PVC in its private-label-product packaging in two years.
The Center for Health, Environment & Justice (CHEJ)
CHEJ’s overarching goal has consistently been to prevent harm—particularly among vulnerable populations such as children. If a safer process, material or product exists it should be used. They believe that everyone, regardless of income, race, religion, or occupation, has a right to live, work, learn, play and pray in a healthy community.
Editor’s Note: Each Wednesday My Green Side brings Simple Tips for Green Living to The Christopher Gabriel Program. We also highlight a favorite green site each week. You can stream the segment at approximately 1020am (CDT) every Wednesday at WDAY.com.
Image my surprise (and delight) when Sue Reed, author and landscape architect, contacted me about her new book, Energy-Wise Landscape Design: A New Approach for your Home and Garden. My approach in landscape design has always been to work with what I had, don’t add toxic chemicals and do add native plants whenever and wherever I could. After reading Energy-Wise Landscape Design, I was taken to a whole new level and have a new appreciation for how important our landscape design can be.
This book should be required reading for anyone who has a hand in planning a landscape design: homeowners, builders, city planners and so on.
Some of my favorites:
Chapter 8: Reducing (or Eliminating) Lawn This chapter describes the evolution of the North American lawn and how we can replace some lawn with other things or design a lawn-free landscape. I sincerely wish that we could all shift the way we view a “perfect” lawn.
In the ultimate irony, to keep grass free of weeds, we blithely spread bags full of chemicals that harm the health of ourselves and our children, our pets and our friends, not to mention a whole world of wild creatures we never see or consider.
Chapter 9: Using Water Efficiently This chapter explains how to design our landscapes so they need and consume less water including a section on collecting rainwater.
There is so much information packed into this book along with amazing photos and detailed drawings. Sue gives us an education in landscape design while opening our eyes to the possibilities of our individual landscapes. Her voice is full of common sense and charm. I highly recommend this book.
And, not only is the book fabulous, Sue’s publisher New Society Publishers has been Deep Green for over 30 years. They have produced the book on recycled paper made with 100% post consumer waste, processed chlorine free and old growth free. It’s a book you can feel good about buying for all the right reasons.
It’s time for us to imagine a new kind of landscape, one in which beauty is not just a social convention or a glossy magazine image, but also an expression of our social values. Now in the 21st century, we can design, build and care for our landscapes so that in addition to looking attractive they will also work for our own good and the good of the larger world.
GREEN TIP: Empty your bathroom cabinets and take a look at the labels on your personal care products. Are you are using the safest ingredients for you and your family?
There are so many choices out there for shampoo, conditioners, make-up, deodorants, baby care products… the list is endless and, unfortunately, the majority of them are made from chemicals that are toxic to our bodies. And even more bothersome, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) currently has no authority to require companies to assess ingredients or products for safety. FDA does not review or approve the vast majority of cosmetic products or ingredients before they go on the market. The agency conducts pre-market reviews only for certain color additives and active ingredients in cosmetics classified as over-the-counter drugs.
I discovered the Environmental Working Group’s (EWG) Skin Deep: Cosmetic Safety Reviews database when we had our second child. I was looking up a trusted baby lotion that we were going to use on our little baby. I was horrified to find that it was loaded with toxic chemicals.
I know. Toxins in baby products?
Dozens of children’s bath products analyzed at an independent laboratory in 2009 were found to contain formaldehyde and 1,4 dioxane, two chemicals that cause cancer in lab animals and are classified as probable human carcinogens. Popular brands containing these chemicals include Johnson’s Baby Shampoo, Sesame Street Bubble Bath and Huggies Naturally Refreshing Cucumber & Green Tea Baby Wash. The companies argue that each product contains just low levels of these toxins – but there shouldn’t be any carcinogens in baby shampoo at all. Period. The good news is, many companies have already figured out how to make excellent products without the toxic chemicals. Source: The Story of Cosmetics: Frequently Asked Questions
I recently viewed Annie Leonard’s newest, The Story of Cosmetics. She has an excellent way of getting to the heart of an issue in a really disarming manner. Take a look:
Myth: Cosmetic ingredients are applied to the skin and rarely get into the body. When they do, levels are too low to matter.
Fact:People are exposed by breathing in sprays and powders, swallowing chemicals on the lips or hands or absorbing them through the skin. Studies find evidence of health risks. Biomonitoring studies have found cosmetics ingredients – like phthalate plasticizers, paraben preservatives, the pesticide triclosan, synthetic musks, and sunscreens – inside the bodily fluids of men, women, children and even the cord blood of newborn babies. Many of these chemicals are potential hormone disruptors that may increase cancer risk. Products commonly contain penetration enhancers to drive ingredients deeper into the skin. Studies find health problems in people exposed to common fragrance and sunscreen ingredients, including elevated risk for sperm damage, feminization of the male reproductive system, and low birth weight in girls.
Myth: Products made for children or bearing claims like “hypoallergenic” are safer choices.
Fact: Most cosmetic marketing claims are unregulated, and companies are rarely if ever required to back them up, even for children’s products. A company can use a claim like “hypoallergenic” or “natural” “to mean anything or nothing at all,” and while “[m]ost of the terms have considerable market value in promoting cosmetic products to consumers,… dermatologists say they have very little medical meaning.” An investigation of more than 1,700 children’s body care products found that 81 percent of those marked “gentle” or “hypoallergenic” contained allergens or skin and eye irritants.
Myth: FDA would promptly recall any product that injures people.
Fact: FDA has no authority to require recalls of harmful cosmetics. Furthermore, manufacturers are not required to report cosmetics-related injuries to the agency. FDA relies on companies to report injuries voluntarily.
Myth: Consumers can read ingredient labels and avoid products with hazardous chemicals.
Fact:Federal law allows companies to leave many chemicals off labels, including nanomaterials, contaminants, and components of fragrance. Fragrance may include any of 3,163 different chemicals, none of which are required to be listed on labels. Fragrance tests reveal an average of 14 hidden compounds per formulation, including potential hormone disruptors and diethyl phthalate, a compound linked to sperm damage.
Myth: Cosmetics safety is a concern for women only.
Fact:Surveys show that on average, women use 12 products containing 168 ingredients every day, men use 6 products with 85 ingredients, and children are exposed to an average of 61 ingredients daily. The large majority of these chemicals have not been assessed for safety by the industry-funded Cosmetics Ingredients Review (CIR) safety panel.
The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics is a coalition effort launched in 2004 to protect the health of consumers and workers by securing the corporate, regulatory and legislative reforms necessary to eliminate dangerous chemicals from cosmetics and personal care products.
Editor’s Note: Each Wednesday My Green Side brings Simple Tips for Green Living to The Christopher Gabriel Program. We also highlight a favorite green site each week. You can stream the segment at approximately 1020am (CDT) every Wednesday at WDAY.com.
GREEN TIP: Make smart shopping decisions when buying paper products, look for high recycled content and clean manufacturing processes or, even better, buy reusable products in place of the paper products.
Each day we have the opportunity to make smarter shopping decisions. Buying the right paper products is especially important because forests are being destroyed to make toilet paper, facial tissues, paper towels and other disposable paper products. And, during the chlorine bleaching process, harmful dioxins are formed causing serious health implications.
If every household in the United States replaced just one box of virgin fiber facial tissues (175 sheets) with 100% recycled ones, we could save 163,000 trees. SEE THE LIST
If every household in the United States replaced just one roll of virgin fiber toilet paper (500 sheets) with 100% recycled ones, we could save 423,900 trees. SEE THE LIST
If every household in the United States replaced just one roll of virgin fiber paper towels (70 sheets) with 100% recycled ones, we could save 544,000 trees. SEE THE LIST
If every household in the United States replaced just one package of virgin fiber napkins (250 count) with 100% recycled ones, we could save 1 million trees. SEE THE LIST
Three Things You Can Do
1. Buy paper products with recycled content — especially post-consumer fibers.
Look for products that have a high recycled content, including high post-consumer content. Post-consumer fibers are recovered from paper that was previously used by consumers and would otherwise have been dumped into a landfill or an incinerator.
2. Buy paper products made with clean, safe processes.
Paper products are bleached to make them whiter and brighter, but chlorine used in many bleaching processes contributes to the formation of harmful chemicals that wind up in our air and water and are highly toxic to people and fish.
According to the Environmental Working Group (EWG), chlorinated dioxins form as an unintended byproduct of waste incineration and a variety of industrial processes, including smelting, chlorine paper bleaching and pesticide manufacturing. Burning household waste and even forest fires can also produce dioxins. Sometimes described as the most toxic contaminant ever found, dioxin has been linked to multiple outbreaks of disease and cancer triggered by high-level exposures at least as far back as 1949.
Look for products labeled totally chlorine-free (TCF) or processed chlorine-free (PCF). In some cases, elemental chlorine-free (ECF) may be acceptable.
3. Tell tissue manufacturers to stop using virgin wood for throwaway products.
If a brand you buy for your home doesn’t have any recycled content, contact the manufacturer (click here to send a message to paper giant Kimberly-Clark). Tell the company to use more recycled fibers, to avoid sourcing from ecologically valuable forests such as those in the Cumberland Plateau and Canadian boreal, and to ensure any virgin fibers used are certified by the Forest Stewardship Council. Saving forests also helps reduce global warming pollution.
Center for Health, Environment & Justice (CHEJ): BE SAFE Precautionary Campaign
The precautionary approach looks at how we can prevent harm from environmental hazards. It is a “better safe than sorry” practice motivated by caution and prevention. Why ask “what level of harm is acceptable?” when we can prevent pollution and environmental destruction before it happens. The Center for Health, Environment & Justice’s BE SAFE campaign is a nationwide initiative to build support for the precautionary approach.
Editor’s Note: Each Wednesday My Green Side brings Simple Tips for Green Living to The Christopher Gabriel Program. We also highlight a favorite green site each week. You can stream the segment at approximately 1020am (CDT) every Wednesday at WDAY.com.
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