We’re better consumers now, right?

Check out this old ad. Did consumers believe it? At the bottom it reads:

How soon is too soon?

Not soon enough. Laboratory tests over the last few years have proven that babies who start drinking soda during that early formative period have a much higher chance of gaining acceptance and “fitting in” during those awkward pre-teen and teen years. So, do yourself a favour. Do your child a favour. Start them on a strict regimen of sodas and other sugary carbonated beverages right now, for a lifetime of guaranteed happiness.

I think today’s equivalent ads are the ones that deceptively link themselves with images of being natural and green. Like when I am convinced to lighten my hair with Herbal Essences and my lips tingle and go numb after a treatment.

In 2002, a corporate watchdog, CorpWatch came up with the Academy Awards for Best Greenwash. Would you like to guess who got top nod? It was none other than BP for their “Beyond Petroleum” rebranding campaign.

Message in a bottle

On my recent vacation through the breath-taking Gulf Islands on the West Coast of British Columbia, a novelty gift caught my eye. It was a message in a bottle kit, complete with wax beads to seal the bottle and keep the message within it dry. What a sweet idea for the children on our trip to send a message in a bottle and forever wonder who may have read their letter!

The nostalgic hand-drawn pictures on the kit showed the bottle floating on the waves. Then, it dawned on me. What a terrible idea!  Images of the Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch, a.k.a., the continent of floating garbage came to mind. Even if this bottle didn’t get sucked into the Pacific vortex of trash, who would possibly notice floating debris, let alone holler with joy, ” Look! A floating bottle. Where could it have come from? What can this mean? Let’s go retrieve it!”

The novelty, as they say, has worn off. 

Even Sting tried to send out a message in a bottle, to send an S.O.S to the world:

Walked out this morning, don’t believe what I saw
Hundred billion bottles washed up on the shore
Seems I’m not alone in being alone
Hundred billion castaways, looking for a home

I’ll send an S.O.S. to the world
I’ll send an S.O.S. to the world
I hope that someone gets my
I hope that someone gets my
I hope that someone gets my
Message in a bottle, yeah

Mad as a Hatter

Johnny Depp is truly mad as a hatter in the latest installment of Alice in Wonderland. My children were (mildly) interested to find out that hatters invariably inhaled vapors from mercury – used to cure animal pelts – given off during the hat making process.

 During Lewis Carroll’s life in England from the mid to late 1800’s, hatters were commonly seen to be disturbed and confused, with distorted vision and befuddled speech. Fitting for an author who, though not exposed to mercury poisoning himself, would become known for creating the genre of literary nonsense.

A low-level, long-term write off

Tip #4: Our final tip in our mini series on How to Reduce Toxic Exposure is (surprise!) switching to non-toxic office and school supplies. AusPen eco-friendly dry-erase markers will clear the office or classroom air of harmful toxins. Xylene, a chemical solvent and neurotoxin found in conventional markers, is polluting indoor air and creating the conditions for headaches, asthma, fuzzy thinking, and memory loss. Scientists are increasingly turning their attention to the health effects of low-level, long-term exposure to harmful chemicals such as xylene. This is certainly the case in any indoor space where a whiteboard is being used.

 We began these How to blogs in search for simple ways in our daily lives to limit the ever-present chemicals we are exposed to. On the grounds of the Precautionary Principle – the need to take action in the midst of uncertainty – and for the sake of a cleaner lifestyle, here is a summary of the 4 best ways to control our everyday toxic exposure. 

EcoSmart’s Top Tips At a Glance: Tip #1: Buy organic when buying ‘Dirty Dozen’ produce; eat more of the ‘Clean 15’ produce Tip #2: Avoid commercial cologne and fragrances that interfere with our hormones and pose other health risks Tip #3: Follow homemade recipes for all types of regular cleaning chores Tip #4: Switch to AusPen non-toxic markers in the office or classroom

A non-toxic recipe for success

Tip # 3. Now we move from the bathroom to…all over the house in our tips on How to Reduce Toxic Exposure in our daily lives. A quick glance at the common ingredients in commercial cleaning products versus homemade cleaning solutions makes DIY green cleaning choices a no-brainer.  

Commercial cleaning ingredients	DIY cleaning ingredients
Ammonia	Vinegar
2-butoxyethanol	Cornstarch
Ethoxylated nonyl phenols (NPEs) (aka gender-benders)	Baking soda
Silica	Castile soap
Phosphates	Borax
Petrochemical fragrances	Essential oils

 

For this tip, we’re linking you to a site loaded with easy recipes calling for ingredients you probably already have. You may have to run out and get some less common items like soap flakes, glycerin, essential oils and borax, but once you do, you’ll have a whole eco janitorial closet. The different concoctions deal with toilets, floors, oven, mirrors, and appliances and will replace your chemical-drenched laundry detergent, dishwashing detergent, liquid dish soap, fabric softeners and disinfectant sprays.

 You can clean up your act at: http://www.natural-healthy-home-cleaning-tips.com/natural_home_cleaning_recipes.htm

Raising a stink about smelling good

Tip #2: Our next lifestyle tip on How to Reduce Toxic Exposure moves us from the kitchen to the bathroom. Many of the scents we use to mimic the smells of nature are anything but natural. We now understand that fragranced products we use in our beauty routines (you too, men!) are disrupting our hormones, triggering allergies and posing a risk for a range of health effects from sperm damage, thyroid disruption and cancer. Beauty just got ugly.

 A new study: ‘Not So Sexy, The Health Risks of Secret Chemicals in Fragrance’ released by The Environmental Working Group in May 2010 revealed that many top-selling fragrance products contain:

• secret chemicals not listed on labels,
• chemicals that have not been assessed for safety (the fragrance industry has published safety assessments for only 34% of the unlabeled ingredients), and/or
• multiple chemicals that can trigger allergic reactions or disrupt hormones.

Consider the effect of these endocrine-disrupting chemicals in teenagers whose hormones are already going haywire. Afterall, it is largely the teen demographic that is using popular fragrances (Britney Spears’ Curious, Axe body spray for men, Calvin Klein’s Eternity, Jennifer Lopez’s J. Lo Glow) whose chemicals have troubling hazardous properties or have a propensity to accumulate in human tissues.

 What is really surprising about this study is that it concludes that we really have no way of knowing exactly which of our beauty products may be harmful. Even ‘unscented’ products may use chemicals as fragrance maskers.

 So what to do? Go ‘au natural’? Not necessarily. Most products which list “essential oils” or “botanical essential oils” are a healthy choice. For now, they’re our best bet to help us come up smelling like roses.

How to Reduce Toxic Exposure

Recent studies are linking environmental toxins to learning disabilities. Although it hasn’t been demonstrated with scientific certainty that the ever-increasing amounts of toxic chemicals in our environment have directly resulted in a spike in neurological problems in children, it stands to reason that limiting our exposure to harmful chemicals is our best defence. Taking action in the face of uncertainty is formally called the Precautionary Principle. At EcoSmart Products, we call it a no-brainer.

A little knowledge goes a long way in helping us limit our exposure to the countless toxins and chemical aggregates leaching their way into our bodies. Here’s the first in our series of tips on How to Reduce Toxic Exposure:

Tip #1: Consider going organic when purchasing the “dirty dozen” fruits and vegetables. According to test results by the Environmental Working Group, these produce items are found to be the most contaminated by pesticides: peaches, apples, bell peppers, celery, nectarines, strawberries, cherries, kale, lettuce, imported grapes, carrots and pears.

By incorporating more of the “Clean 15″, produce found to have the least amount of pesticide residue, we’ll have a better chance of steering clear of toxins. These fruits and vegetables are: onions, avocados, sweet corn, pineapples, mangos, asparagus, sweet peas, kiwi, cabbage, eggplant, papaya, watermelon, broccoli, tomatoes and sweet potatoes.

Stay tuned for upcoming blog tips on how to control our exposure to toxic substances.