Mom Goes Green

Okay… BPA in plastics … we’ve been through this so, sooo much but I have to give you the latest…

Remember that independent study that the FDA was waiting for?… well, the results are in, and drumroll please… an independent panel of scientists is criticizing the FDA for “under-estimating the dangers of BPA in plastics”!  (*well, no look of surprise on my face here!)  The panel goes on to say that the margin of safety established by the FDA is “inadequate”.

Why do I feel like we’ve all known this all along?!?! So, let’s just boil it down and here are some facts:

• Avoid recycle #7. Most are full of BPA.  If you’re buying a product and see it on the bottom, PUT IT BACK!
• Avoid recycle #3 also – it indicates Phthalates (linked to reproduction problems, early puberty, obesity and diabetes).
• Recycle numbers 1, 2, 4 and 5 are best… safe and recyclable.
• Simply buy reusable bottles that are BPA and Phthalate-free!

Also, remember that dishwashers and microwaves breakdown the chemicals in these products further (the reason for the concern about baby bottles, coupled with the knowledge that young ones are most at risk).  If they’ve turned hazy, they are especially dangerous because they have already broken down.

What more do they need to know? These chemicals are simply used as hardeners and stabilizers of plastics (to increase durability) and we know plastics can be made WITHOUT them!

What’s it going to take before they recognize that human safety and well-being is so much more important than the gain and well-being of the big manufacturers that create these toxic plastics and the companies who use them??? They said they were awaiting the results of this independent study so…

Now… FDA?  What’cha gonna do?

(P.S. Don’t you just love how recycle #7 is coded as “Other”… ironic, no?)

Oh, plastic bags, plastics bags.  Will they ever go away?  It seems to be a slow movement, but there is more good news to report.

IKEA has stepped up to the plate and eliminated all plastic and paper bags in their US retail stores.  No more enormous, crinkling bags to lug home the loot we buy.  Bring your own bag or buy one of theirs, or your only other option will be to grow more arms!  This move eliminates 70 MILLION bags per year.

Target also started a great program that will hopefully encourage everyone who has counted on those bull’s eye bags to consider an alternative too.  I learned about this in People magazine because you turn the inside cover into a mailing envelope.  Put five Target plastic bags inside, mail it and they’ll send you a certificate for a reusable bag made from the plastic you just mailed in.  And you don’t need the magazine cover to participate… just click here to find out how.

It’s funny how I feel an instant kinship with other shoppers who are armed with their own reusable bags.  We often compliment each other and share a proud, little smile at being environmentally conscious together…

… Come’on!  Join our “click”!

Recently our family had lunch at a restaurant and at the end of the meal… lo and behold, leftovers!

There was no need to waste food and leave it behind, but the question loomed: “what am I going to have to carry this home in?”  When the server asked me if I wanted a to-go container, I decided to ask.

Me:  “Is the container Styrofoam?”
Server:  “Yes, it is.  But would you like me to use aluminum foil instead?”
Me:  “Why YES! (*big smile) I would!  I’m “very green” and I detest Styrofoam.”
Server:  “No problem, ma’am.”

No problem!  Imagine that.  We DO have a choice.  I know aluminum foil won’t do for some things, but I now realize there is a choice, and if asked, we’ll probably be given an alternative, greener option.  I was happy not to waste food, but I was just as happy not to accept Styrofoam that will live in a landfill for hundreds of years and release toxins into the ground.

I’ve even recently learned about new containers and tableware (thanks to reader, Beth!) that are made from corn, sugarcane and paper.  They’re biodegradable and compostable and include cups, plates, utensils and napkins… all kinds of good stuff appropriate for your next gathering, available in quantities for home use.  The holidays are around the corner, and who doesn’t love a great party, but add Mother Earth to the guest list by not serving her toxic trash.

So, after I ate the leftovers, the aluminum foil got a quick wash and went to the recycling can. But next time, I want it in the shape of a swan!

Who doesn’t enjoy the spirit(s!) of Halloween? Ghosts, goblins, jack-o-lanterns, crazy costumes and of course, those wonderful treats!

I’ve always loved being a gift-giver and our kids are no different. They always love giving gifts and especially treats to their classmates at Halloween. In past years, we’ve always filled little cellophane bags with candy, pencils and other goodies. But this year, I decided that I wasn’t going that route… at least, not so much the normal route.

This year I bought our son’s preschool friends a sweet little Halloween book (because it’s a very small class and the books were a buck each from Scholastic) and we’ll top it off with some treats. My daughter insists on some treats for her friends too but, this time, I made a wiser choice than un-recyclable cellophane bags.

I found these adorable uncoated (recyclable!) paper bags that will carry the loot. They were the same price as the cellophane bags, but they don’t carry any of the guilt of plastic trash. They came from a dollar store – 25 for $1! A deal, I’d say, and available just about anywhere.

So, if you haven’t already made your loot bag purchase, give it some consideration. Or better yet, that’s what receipts are for… return them for an environmental choice.

Halloween treats go better with paper… hold the nasty cellophane trick.

So, last week I was whining because our daughter’s school was holding an event for students that focused on proper nutrition and making healthy food choices. I was all for the project but miffed that they were serving bottled water.

Well, I’m happy to say that I spoke up and this is the result of my whining!

Behold, my beautiful recycling can filled with plastic bottles to be recycled!

The principal agreed with my concern and the event organizer welcomed my help.  Our custodian helped me put together a receptacle just for the bottles, I made signs and everyone cooperated!  Yippee!

After school I not only brought home my most precious cargo (our daughter, of course) but also an enormous bag of plastic bottles to be recycled.

I’m slowly learning that when given options, and someone who will take the bull by the horns (or even the other end of the bull!), people will often agree to make the right choices.

Now, if I could just get the BPA issues out of my head and the recent study about bottled water, I would be happier, but this was the best outcome I could manage, under the circumstances.

See, sometimes being a cry-baby does pay off!

Okay, this has nothing whatsoever to do with being green … and hold the cheers, because yes, it’s my birthday, but it’s one of those crappy milestones that I choose not to acknowledge in my own head!

And you want to know what I got?  An email from AARP!!! What? … What the HELL, actually!

Okay, I admit that I’m not ‘green’ from lack of years and experience, and I’m only green from a choice of environmental consciousness and healthy living, but come on!!!  AARP!?!  I still have decades of years ahead of me before I’m a candidate!  I think someone got a digit in my birth year wrong!!! I know it can start at 50, but not in THIS decade!  Sheesh!

Want to know what I got after that?  An email for an anti-aging, anti-wrinkle cream… are they serious?  Is this really happening?

Augh! Forget the green. Now, I feel blue… and especially wrinkly too.  Fabulous.

The scenario:  Sunday morning.  Breakfast table.  Family eating.  Kids giggling.  Coffee drinking.  Newspaper reading.  (cute little picture, huh?)

Then, a small snippet in the newspaper gives me a bigger jolt than my coffee.  The Canadian government has banned BPA in baby bottles because it is deemed toxic.  Well, round of applause for Canada, but what in the heck are they looking at that the US refuses to see?

I’ve mentioned my fear of BPA (bisphenol A) so many times, but it continues to rattle me.  The FDA needs a vigorous shaking to wake up and ‘taste’ the danger. Of course, the chemical industry maintains that bottles contain little BPA and are safe for use – sure they want us to believe that… what else would we expect them to say.

But Canada based this decision on 150 (150!!!) worldwide studies.  How much more evidence do we need?  Well, would you believe the FDA says they are awaiting word from yet another scientific panel expected to deliver an independent risk assessment later this month.

Wow.  So do you really think they’ll change their tune after assessment 151…!?!  Don’t count on it.

(*Don’t wait for “studies”. If you are looking for BPA-free baby bottles, check here.  It’s a great list!)

Ooooo… Starbucks.  Shame on you.  You’re busted.

I just read on Environmental Leader (as reported by BusinessGreen) that Starbucks has a standard practice of continually running a water tap, non-stop, in ALL of their stores. Really?  And I constantly yell at my husband and kids to turn off the water!

They claim the dipper well for utensils requires a constant stream of running water because it “keeps the utensils clean, prevents bacterial growth and stops allergen cross-contamination”.  Again, oh please.  It’s wasteful and shameful.  Get a dishwasher! Maybe they don’t think it’s important that this practice wastes 23.4 MILLION liters of water each day!

We may not have the power to conserve like they do, but here are some simple things we CAN do, in our homes, to conserve water in our daily lives:

- run only full loads of laundry or dishes
- turn off the water when you brush your teeth or shave
- take showers, not baths – turn on music and limit yourself to two songs
- fill and tightly secure two plastic bottles with sand or pebbles and submerge them in your toilet tank
- don’t defrost food with running water
- capture water while you wait for the temperature you need and use it to water plants
- replace your shower head with a low-flow version
- keep a cold water container in your fridge instead of running your faucet until it gets “cold enough”
- check for leaks in your plumbing and toilets
- if you hand-wash dishes, use your double basin – wash, transfer to a rack on the other side and then rinse everything in a second phase

This list could go on and on, and it doesn’t even consider conservation for outdoors (watering lawns and gardens, washing the car, etc.). I just want us to consider the fact that just because the water runs every time we turn on the faucet doesn’t mean we should let it! One day, maybe that won’t be the case.

Save water.  Don’t be a Starbucks.

(And by the way, after extensive testing, Environmental Working Group just reported that bottled water is no better for us than tap water.  All 10 major brands tested contained chemical contaminates – and let’s not forget that wonderful BPA!  Read it here.)

I’ve never really been a girly-girl (in fact, in my college days, my husband referred to me as “goth lite”), but I always wear make-up, lipstick, all that “presentation jazz!”

Because I’m a daily lipstick wearer I find that, at the end of the day, I need to put something on my lips or they just feel dried out and naked.  My husband uses lip balm (am I allowed to disclose that?) and our kids are always grabbing our stuff and putting it on too!

Now that winter is around the corner (ugh!) I’ve been thinking more and more about what we put on our lips and the need to keep our mouths healthy.  Our daughter is notorious for licking her lips and they get super chapped… and this is where my concern comes in.

Too many products on the market are made of the stuff we really don’t want to ingest or have absorbed into our bodies.  I read the label on a bunch of our products – ingredients #1 thru 3: petroleum and waxes.  They don’t even protect your lips and I’ve seen research calling some ingredients potentially carcinogenic… Oh, that’s not good.

So, I found a great line of lip balm products that will accommodate our entire family – Eco Lips!  Their ingredients are organic, natural, nutrient rich, cruelty-free and even made in a solar powered plant!  They have a tinted version for me (made with natural mineral pigments), a scented version for the kids (they’re 100% edible, though not encouraged!) and a sport version (that can be waved about by Mr. Man!).  And they really work!  Plus, they donate a percent of profits to environmental initiatives.  Bravo!

It may seem really simple, but when you consider that our lips are the most absorbent part of our bodies (and all of the synthetic ingredients contained in the more common products) it’s really quite a big deal that you keep your lips protected, healthy and NON-toxic.

See, I got you thinking.  Now you, too, will reconsider what you put on your precious little pucker!

One of my greatest frustrations is when I feel like I’m fighting the green battle against people I feel a bond with.  Whether it’s family, friends or groups I associate with, it can be really difficult to be the wave maker… well, I’m about to battle… enter: waves!

Our daughter brought home a letter from school that announced a special school program focusing on proper nutrition and making healthy food choices.  Sounded like a great program to me!  They’re setting aside a day where students can sample healthy foods and snacks. Still, a big thumbs up!

Then, I got to the part that asked for parent participation.  They asked for volunteers to send in apples (okay!), granola bars (can do!) or bottled water (no!  Say it isn’t so!)

So, while we’re teaching 400 kids about eating properly, we can give them a chaser of BPA laced water and bottles that will go into the school’s trash cans and create our very own space in a landfill.  Augh, I think I’m going to scream.

Now (since I am the Recycling/Environmental Programs Chair)  I get to contact all those in charge and ask “why” and “what can we do?”  I hate these confrontations, but I have to do it.  I’m expecting that “convenience” is the reason, so I will probably have to be content with the idea of pushing for a special bottle receptacle.  Sadly, we don’t have a plastics recycling program in the school.  It’s something I’m working for, but we aren’t there yet.  (You wouldn’t believe what it takes to get something so simple in place).

So, as I sit here, I’m preparing my approach to people that are trying to teach the right nutritional choices, but using bad environmental choices.  I have no idea how this is going to end up, but I don’t like where it’s starting!

I can see it now… Wednesday recycling pick-up is going to be crazy at my house after I lug 400 plastic bottles home and they later come flying out of my recycling can… and my neighbor’s…and the neighbor’s next to them….