I Need...Sunscreen

This past weekend, we headed down to Wilmington for some fun times on one of North Carolina's beautiful beaches. As soon as we got there, we dutifully slathered our boys with sunscreen - I had bought a couple bottles of Nature's Gate Mineral Kidsblock because it was on sale at Whole Foods and scores a 3 with the EWG.

Admittedly, we were on the beach for about four hours and forgot to reapply after two hours, but still...Nature's Gate Mineral Kidsblock is total crap. It's so thick that it's hard to spread and even feels a little crumbly the more you rub it. It doesn't soak into the skin, which might be good since it contains nanoparticles (like all mineral sunscreens) but leaves you looking like a chalky ghost. (Yes, my vanity is at play here, but who wants to look ridiculous when at the beach?) When you get into the water, the sunscreen just rinses right off (yay, $8 washed out into the ocean!). And to top it off, my kids went home with one of those sunburns that doesn't rear it's ugly head until hours after you're out of the sun and then gets progressively worse and worse until it hurts to move.

Back to the sunscreen drawing board...

The Environmental Working Group came out with its 2010 Sunscreen Guide a month or two ago, so I spent an hour last night reading every bit of it. Here's what I learned:

• There are two types of sunscreens: chemical and mineral. The most common ingredient in chemical sunscreens is oxybenzone, which is potentially a hormone disrupter. Mineral sunscreens contain nanoparticles of zinc oxide and titanium dioxide, but the EWG has determined that these are safer than the alternative.
• Some sunscreens contain Vitamin A, and this may be causing tumors and lesions.
• Pale white folk like myself and two of my boys should look for a high SPF and slather it on (which I knew) but an SPF higher than 50 is bogus.
• It's better to use a cream sunscreen than a spray because you could end up inhaling things you don't want to. I know it's easier to apply a spray to an antsy child, but I personally have always preferred creams because I can tell where I'm applying and if I'm putting enough on (though that's moot if I forget to reapply like I did last weekend!).

Even not knowing all of that, I had picked a pretty good sunscreen as far as safety. It's a mineral sunscreen with both zinc and titanium and it's fragrance-free. With an SPF of 20, it's probably not effective enough for the beach, but it's fine for everyday wear. But the other factors (the crumbliness, the chalkiness, the not-at-all waterproof-ness) have me searching for a new sunscreen.

A couple contenders:

• Badger SPF 30 unscented sunscreen
• California Baby Sunscreen SPF 30
• Episencial Sunny Sunscreen SPF 35
• Loving Naturals SPF 30
  

The issue is always price...

The Nature's Gate sunscreen cost me $8 for 4 oz. on sale. Of the options listed above, the cheapest is the Episencial at $15 for a 4 oz., and the prices go way up from there. Considering that we go through an entire bottle of sunscreen every time we go swimming, that's a big deal. I'm wondering if it would be more cost effective to buy all of them sunshirts so we would need to apply less sunscreen. Or maybe just make them wear t-shirts.

Have any of you found a sunscreen you love?

____________________

You have hereby been challenged to go green in a year without going broke! Check out the last challenge, or view the whole list of Challengicious Mondays. Sign up for my RSS feed, follow me on Twitter, and join my "Go Green without Going Broke" group on Facebook!

Read more...

June Extreme Challenge

Another month, another extreme challenge!

Buy Nothing New

Have you all heard of The Compact? They're a group of people who pledge to buy nothing new for a year. Be happy I'm not asking you to go that extreme, but we will be following their rules, which are:

As agreed, The Compact has several aims (more or less prioritized below):

1) to go beyond recycling in trying to counteract the negative global environmental and socioeconomic impacts of U.S. consumer culture, to resist global corporatism, and to support local businesses, farms, etc. -- a step, we hope, inherits the revolutionary impulse of the Mayflower Compact

2) to reduce clutter and waste in our homes (as in trash Compact-er)

3) to simplify our lives (as in Calm-pact)

So, here goes for the rules:

First principle - don't buy new products of any kind (from stores, web sites, etc.)
Second principle - borrow or buy used.

A few exceptions - using the "fair and reasonable person" standard -- i.e., you'll know in your heart when you're rationalizing a violation:

• food, drink, and necessary medicine (no elective treatments like Viagra or Botox)
  
• necessary cleaning products, but not equipment (don't go out and buy the Dyson Animal, for example).
  
• socks and underwear (utilitarian--non-couture or ornamental) pajamas for the children
• Utilitarian services (plumbers, electricians, auto mechanics, veterinarians, dog/house-sitters, fire/paramedics, dry cleaners, house cleaners, etc.) -- Support local and encourage used parts (rebuilt transmission, salvaged headlight unit, etc.)
• Recreational services (massage, etc.) & local artisanal items - Good sources for gifts, but should not be over-indulged in for personal gratification
  
• Charitable contributions(Seva, Heifer, and the like) - an even better source for gifts
• Plants and cut flowers - Whenever possible, cultivate from free cuttings or seeds. Ok in extreme moderation (yo, incoming oxy) when purchased from local businesses (i.e., not the Target Garden Shop)--and again, within reason
• Art supplies - First line of attack: SCRAP. When absolutely necessary (for the professionals and talented amateurs in the group), from local businesses
  
• Magazines, newspapers, Netflix - renewals only, no new subscriptions. Even better to consume online Video rentals and downloadable music files (non-material) -- freely shared and legal, please

My family will be doing our best to buy nothing new this month, even while we take a trip to the beach this weekend and to Tennessee later this month. Can we do it? We're going to try our best!

Will you accept the June Extreme Challenge to buy nothing new for a month? Let me know in the comments what your family will be doing.

____________________

You have hereby been challenged to go green in a year without going broke! Check out the last challenge, or view the whole list of Challengicious Mondays. Sign up for my RSS feed, follow me on Twitter, and join my "Go Green without Going Broke" group on Facebook!

Read more...

I Need...Makeup

Once as a teenager, I camped overnight in a cave with a group of youth from my church. I don't remember much from that trip (beyond a vague memory that sleeping in a cave is really spooky and not very comfortable, as is peeing in a cave) but I do distinctly remember the tour guide commenting that bat poop is used as an ingredient in mascara.

I'm not going to dwell on that disgusting tidbit of information (a quick Google search reveals mixed results about its authenticity), but I will say this...How many of us have a clue about what really is in our mascara? Our lipstick? Our blush?

Most of us apply these products to our skin, mouths, and eyes without a second thought. But considering that the cosmetics industry is one of the least regulated industries - according to the Environmental Working Group, only 11% of the more than 10,000 ingredients used in personal care products have been tested for safety - we shouldn't be surprised that independent researchers are finding that many of the ingredients we use every day are actually not good for us.

Besides the potential health problems, makeup also comes in those pesky little non-recyclable plastic containers. It's like cosmetics companies don't even try.

So what can you do?

BABY STEPS

• Use fewer products. Take a look at your makeup stash. Is there any way you could tone it down? Fewer products equals fewer chemicals applied to your skin.
  
• Follow the guidelines for makeup expiration to avoid bacterial infections like pink eye and skin breakouts. Didn't know that makeup expires? I didn't until EcoYogini mentioned that we should be replacing our mascara every three months to avoid infections. Woops! Here's a list of expiration dates for other cosmetics.
  

JOGGING STRIDE

• Look up your products on the Skin Deep Guide, the Environmental Working Group's cosmetic safety database. They have tested thousands of products for toxicity and rank them on a 0-10 scale, with 0 being the best and 10 being the worst. Even some products labeled as "natural" rank high on the scale, so it's important to check out all products before you buy.
• Avoid the Dirty Dozen. These are the ingredients that have been most commonly linked to health problems.
• Look for products with better packaging. Fake Plastic Fish had a post the other day about a cosmetics company (Organic Essence) that has a few products in recycled paper packaging and is working on more innovative packaging solutions. I know a number of companies are working on this, so keep your eyes peeled for better makeup packaging in the future.
• Switch to mineral makeup, which is made of natural minerals instead of synthetic chemicals, like those listed on the Dirty Dozen.
  
• Set aside one day of the week to be slouchy. Pick a day, pull your hair back into a pony tail, and lay off the make-up. You even have my permission to skip the shower if you want. And I'm over-ruling What Not to Wear's insistence that you shouldn't wear pajama pants to the grocery store. On slouchy day, it all goes.
  
• Wear makeup for special occasions only. Maybe you could save the makeup for work. Or church. Or just for weddings.

MARATHON RUNNER

• Go without. Set the makeup aside for good and show off your inner beauty.

Where I'm At

When it comes to make-up, it's a lot easier to hand out advice than to follow it. Last summer, I left my makeup kit at a relative's house while travelling, and since these were the type of relative who never mails things back to you if you forget something at their house, I realized it was time to begin my quest for eco-friendly make-up.

So I carefully copied down this list from Smart Family Tips of EWG approved and readily available cosmetics and headed to the drugstore. Which did not carry a single item on my list. I don't know if it was just that particular drugstore or if those products are actually discontinued, but it does seem like the cosmetics industry is constantly thinking up new products that we must. buy. now.

But rather than going to another drugstore, I decided to head to Whole Foods because although they sometimes carry products that don't meet my standards, most of the time I can trust them. I think.

"Oh my freakin' crap!" (That was my exact thought as I stared at the price tags at the makeup counter at Whole Foods).

So I decided to look online. Once again: Oh my freakin' crap! People actually pay these prices for make-up?! (Not me. If I'm going to have to replace my mascara every three months, I'm going to buy the cheapest kind possible.) And besides that, I didn't really want to buy makeup online because who knows what colors I'd end up with.

So back to the drugstore I went, and I stared and I stared, and I thought and I thought, and I read every single stinkin' label. And I went home with foundation, a bronzer/blush duo, two shades of eyeshadow, and mascara from the Physician's Formula Organic Wear line. It doesn't rate too badly on Skin Deep (though not too great either), the blush and eyeshadow come in paper packaging, and it's affordable. But I'm not 100% satisfied with it.

The search continues...

Have you tried finding eco-friendly makeup? What do you use?

Read more...

I Need...Shoes

First off, let me say that on the spectrum of Things That Make a Big Difference to Saving the Planet, shoes are pretty far down there. But if you, like me, are trying to live as sustainably as possible, shoes do matter. Because we all own a pair (or two or three or four).


So why should you be conscious about your shoes?

1) Because of what shoes are made of...

Tanning leather uses many toxic chemicals such as mineral salts, formaldehyde, coal-tar derivatives, and various oils and dyes, some of them cyanide-based. Also, the leather usually comes from animals raised in factory farm settings.

On the other hand, fake leather shoes are made of plastic - generally PVC, the evil king of all plastics.

2) Because of how shoes are made...

Most shoes are produced in countries with poor environmental and labor standards (or with less enforcement of those standards). Workers labor under harsh conditions for little pay (in many places, well below a liveable wage) and are often exposed to toxic substances.

3) Because there are so many shoes on the planet...

According to Simple Shoes, 12 billion pairs of shoes were produced worldwide in 2004 with a projected production of 20 billion shoes in 2010. In 2005, Americans purchased 1.4 billion pairs of shoes - approximately four and a half pairs of shoes per person. That's a whole lot of shoes!


Okay, now here's what you can do:

BABY STEPS

• Donate your oldie-but-goodie shoes to a thrift store.
  
• Recycle your athletic shoes through Nike's Reuse a Shoe program. Says Nike: "Since we started the Reuse-A-Shoe program in 1990, we've collected more than 24 million pairs – in other words, enough to create a chain of athletic shoes that goes all the way around the world more than five times. That’s a lot of kicks kept out of the landfill." And that's just the number of shoes collected, a minuscule amount of the number of shoes that are bought (and tossed) every year.

JOGGING STRIDE

• Purchase fewer shoes. I have to admit, I've never been the type of girl to go ga-ga over shoes, so I really don't get the shoe hoarding habits of so many women. I'm not going to judge you if you're that type of girl - I have my own questionable habits (Diet Coke) - but maybe you could cut out one or two pairs?
  
• Buy quality. Investing in good shoes is not only eco-friendly (because you'll be shopping for shoes less often) - it's also a money saver. It might seem counter-intuitive, but in general, spending more for a quality product will save you money in the long run. Think of your shoes as an investment for your feet.
• Repair, not replace. Locate a good cobbler and make your quality shoes last.

MARATHON RUNNER

• Look for shoes made from eco-friendly materials. Many conventional shoe companies have started manufacturing a "green" line. Or you can look for a sustainably-commited company like Simple Shoes, which produces shoes with recycled tires, recycled plastics, organic cotton, bamboo, hemp, and other earth friendly materials.
• Buy used.
  

Tips for the Budget Conscious
Quality or eco-friendly shoes can be pricey, so I've got one important tip for you: Shop the sales! A couple months ago, I bought some flip flops from Simple Shoes for $10 (regularly $40). I wish I'd waited to buy my hemp EcoSneaks, which I bought at full price but saw on clearance a couple weeks ago for half price!

The other budget conscious route is of course to buy used. But I've found that finding used shoes can be touch and go. Shoes are an item that people wear until they're falling off their feet, so good shoes don't usually end up at the thrift store. I've found better selection at consignment stores, but they're also more expensive - often the same price as new shoes on sale but not in new condition. I've had much better luck with used shoes for my kids.


Where I'm At
I've been able to get my dress shoes at the thrift store, but my everyday sneakers I bought new from Simple Shoes. I've also got my eye on some TOMS. My kids almost always get used shoes.

Photo by Ella's Dad


Related Posts:

• Spotlight on Raleigh: Thrift Stores
• Spotlight on Raleigh: Children's Consignment Stores
• I Need...A Happy Period
  

Read more...

Milk Dud or Milk Stud?

The following is a guest post by my friend Maren from Dori's Diner. Maren and her family moved in to Maryland about the time that we were deciding to move out, so we didn't get to know each other well until we both started reading each other's blogs. Now, I consider her one of my best blogging buddies, and I'm excited to get to share her thoughts with you today.


Choosing to breastfeed my kids wasn’t much of a choice. After all, I knew the benefits, both physical & financial. For instance, I knew that infant formula was an imperfect substitute for breast milk, especially considering that the exact properties of breast milk aren’t yet even known. I also knew that breast milk plays an important role in the growth of an infant’s immune system and is one of the main sources of germ protection for the vulnerable first 6 months of life.

Monetarily, I knew that formula was pricey with an annual range of $648 to $2800 depending on the brand and type of formula used for the recommended first year of life compared to the negligible amount needed to increase a breastfeeding mother’s diet. And that’s not counting all the bottles, nipples, liners, etc used to deliver the formula.

As I became more environmentally aware, I realized that breastfeeding also fell into the category of being environmentally conscious. I first considered the cost of producing, marketing, and distributing the formula, as well as the cost of tending to the waste after feeding (plastic lids, cans, wrappers, and bottle liners, some of which are recyclable, and some which are not).

I also realized that as with most prepared foods, infant formula was subject to contaminations, sloppy handling techniques, and other biological hazards of the food industry. Considering that 99% of the formula market is produced by only three major brands: Nestle (Good Start), Abbott Labs (Similac), & Mead Johnson (Enfamil), I felt the twinge of fear that anyone feels when in the presence of a large oligopoly that likely does not carry out sustainable initiatives, even if they do give it lip-service.

Armed with all this information, I committed at the end of my first pregnancy to breastfeed my child for at least a year, as well as all future children. Four children later, I realized that simply choosing to breastfeed is not enough to make it happen.

The problems started immediately with a fussy little girl who refused to latch on. Later, anatomical problems were discovered, but at that point, I had resigned myself to formula and shelling out the big bucks for a year. When my second daughter appeared, we seemed to have bypassed some of the earlier issues, but ran into new ones that terminated our otherwise healthy breastfeeding relationship after just a few weeks. (Post-partum depression & poor health.)

Call me stubborn, but when I was pregnant with my third daughter, I was determined to stick it out for at least a few months, even if it meant pumping exclusively. Stubborn I might have been, but nothing compared to the will-power of daughter number three who was born early and small, and had trouble suckling from the breast. I pumped for 5 weeks, trying every few days to latch her on, until one night, when she was tired and hungry, but not frantic, she latched on and never looked back. I breastfed her for 14 months, when I finally weaned her.

What was the turning point? An ugly round of mastitis, a common breast-infection that some women are more prone to than others. Because breastfeeding, as opposed to pumping or formula feeding, is one of the best remedies for mastitis, I found myself even more committed to making it work. And this was despite many people’s insistence that I should quit and move to formula exclusively. Armed with confidence, I pumped with daughter number four for three weeks before she was able to latch on and nurse exclusively.

As I look forward to my fifth child, I realize a few important things:

1. Breastfeeding is best, not just because of cost & physical benefits, and satisfying bond but also because of it’s sustainability within the environment and the marketplace.
2. With adequate education, support, and ability, most women can breastfeed if that is what they desire. Ideally, most women would breastfeed if they were educated in the how-to’s and why’s of breastfeeding exclusively for at least the first 6-months (per WHO’s recommendation).
3. Formula feeding is not ideal for a number of reasons, but is a necessary alternative for hose who cannot (for a number of varying reasons) breastfeed or must supplement. However, more sustainable alternatives need to be developed.

Some solutions that seem ideal include:

• Breastfeeding exclusively for at least the first 6 months of the infant’s life. If necessary, using a pump and bottles to give the mother breaks to sleep, etc.
  

• If this is not possible, or supplementation is needed, consider purchasing an organic formula (and supporting the companies that sell & distribute them) that is not produced by one of the big three companies, such as Earth’s Best or Bright Beginnings. If you’re ambitious, consider making your own formula!

• Wet Nursing or Cross-Nursing: once accepted, these practices of temporarily nursing a friend or family member’s baby (cross-nursing) or hiring someone to nurse your baby long-term (wet nurse) have fallen by the wayside. Fear of disease & a pervasive sexual stigma tend to cause people in the Western world to cringe when thinking about nursing another’s baby. And yet both cross- and wet nursing are making a small comeback as more Western women are becoming aware of the many benefits of breast milk. Currently, the La Leche League discourages wet & cross-nursing for a number of reasons (including diminished milk supply in the birth mom, disease, etc), but there are still many women who have had successful shared nursing experiences. On a personal note, I used some of a very close friend’s frozen milk supply when working my third daughter to my breast. Of course, I knew this friend well enough to trust that her milk was clean and suitable for my newborn.
  

• Banks: another suitable alternative to breastfeeding that is often used for infants that require breast milk but cannot get it from their mother. There are only 10 in the United States, mainly because of the social stigma and the enormous cost of collecting, screening, pasteurizing, and delivering the donated human milk.
  

There is no perfect world and certainly no one-size-fits-all solution to the many different lifestyles each mother leads. I also don’t consider myself a breast-feeding radical—I know firsthand how very difficult it can be for so many different reasons, and excess guilt isn’t healthy. However, I believe that an educated woman will find many good reasons to work at a satisfactory breast-feeding relationship, something that is good for mom & baby and the environment as well.

Photo by Daquella manera


Related Posts:

• I Need...Diapers
• Armed against Consumerism
• Book Review: Children's Books

Read more...

I Need...Water (indoors)

I'm working on being more conscious of my water use this month. Water conservation is one of those great ways I can save money so I can shift my savings to my grocery bill, and as we're still adjusting to this house (been here a month), it's a good opportunity to start off right with our water use. And besides, water is really, really important (duh).

(And by the way, am I the only one who was freaked out by the last James Bond movie?)

I've put together this list of all the tips I could find on ways to conserve water, ordered as usual from easy to hard. My focus here is on indoor water use - I'll talk about outdoor use in another post.

BABY STEPS

• Fill up your dishwasher all the way before running it.
• Conserve water when washing dishes by filling up both sides of the sink - one with hot water to wash in and one with lukewarm/cool water to rinse.
• Only wash full loads of laundry. Also, fill up the washing machine to the appropriate level depending on the size of your load.
• Keep a pitcher of water in the fridge for cold drinks rather than running the tap until it's cold.
• Wash vegetables, fruits, and herbs in a bowl of water rather than running water. Use the collected water on your garden. You can also use cooled pasta water, potato water, and the water from steaming vegetables.
• Plug the tub as soon as you turn the water on, and then adjust the temperature while the tub is filling.
• Defrost food in the refrigerator rather than under running water.
• Turn off the water while brushing your teeth and shaving.
• Don't rinse your dishes before putting them in the dishwasher. Wipe them off with a dishrag or use the method I describe here.
• Reuse your towels multiple times to avoid creating extra laundry. Also wear your clothes more than once (not underwear).
• Don't use the toilet as a trash can.
• Take baths family style - i.e., Mommy and baby, Mommy and Daddy, small kids together.
  

JOGGING STRIDE

• Take shorter showers. Shorten your shower time by not shaving in the shower or washing your hair every other day. (My husband says this is a Baby Step. See the below section on "Where I'm At" to see why I say it's a Jogging Stride step.)
  
• Use a refillable water bottle to cut down on the amount of glasses that need to be washed each day.
• Monitor your water bill to be on the watch for water leaks.
  
• Compost vegetable scraps instead of using the garbage disposal.
• Replace showerheads with low-flow varieties and install aerators in your faucets.
• Upgrade your toilet to a more efficient model or put a bottle of water in the tank.

MARATHON RUNNER

• Turn off the water in the shower while you lather up. Turn it back on to rinse.
• Keep a bucket in the shower to catch warming-up water. Use it to flush the toilet.
• Check your city codes to find out if you can re-route your plumbing to use grey water in your yard rather than sending it to the sewage plant.
• Shower every other day.
  
• If it's yellow, let it mellow. If it's brown, flush it down.
• Consider a compostable toilet.
• Pee on your garden.

If these tips have only wet your appetite for more, the best resource I found on water use is at Water Use It Wisely.


Tips for the Budget Conscious
All of these water saving tips can also save you money, but several of the Jogging Stride tips involve a small initial investment. Here are my suggestions for those:

• I did a quick search on prices for compost bins, compost tumblers, and vermiculture stations, and they seem to run about $100 and up. I'm putting together a homemade worm bin that shouldn't cost me more than $40 total, including the worms. I'll provide more details soon, but you can easily find instructions for making your own compost bin (with or without worms) on the Internet.
• I've been staring at my showerheads since we moved in wondering how I can tell if they're low-flow or not. Here's a tip from the aforementioned Water Use It Wisely site: "If your shower fills a one-gallon bucket in less than 20 seconds, replace the showerhead with a water-efficient model." Don't waste money replacing a showerhead that's already efficient!
• Unless you already have plans to upgrade your toilets, it's much cheaper just to put a bottle in the tank. Just don't use a brick - it could break the toilet!

Where I'm At
Good on the Baby Steps. Working on the Jogging Stride. Do one of the Marathon Runners (and I'll let you guess which one).

My biggest downfall with water use is long showers. It is one of my eco-sins. The thing is, I don't feel like I'm dawdling in the shower. It really takes me that long! But I do keep my showers far hotter than I should (and I crank up the heat throughout the shower to get that good "frog in a pot of boiling water" effect).

Photo by Snap

This post was included in the Carnival of the Green #193 at EcoChic.

Related Posts:

• Break Your Bottled Water Habit
• The Appeal of Energy Efficiency (aka "Sexy Energy")
• I Need...Warm Winters and Cool Summers

Read more...

I Need...Bug Spray

It's a typical summer evening. You've settled into your usual spot on the porch swing, swaying gently in rhythm to the chirping of the crickets. The kids are laughing as they chase fireflies across the lawn, and a cool breeze carries the charcoal-laced scent of your neighbor's barbecue into your yard. The evening is perfect.

Except - swat! - for those dang - slap! - mosquitoes!!!

At the first sighting of those pesky insects, you probably reached for the bug spray. But if you have children, you might want to pause and reconsider.

The main questionable ingredient in commercial insect repellents is DEET, a pesticide that has been associated with headaches, insomnia, disorientation, and mood swings. As with any toxic chemical, the risk of side effects increases in children and with overuse. Although the American Academy of Pediatrics states that DEET is safe to use in children over two months old, you should still take proper precautions when using bug spray. Plus, there are enough alternative options that you might decide to avoid DEET completely.


BABY STEPS

• Use clothing as a barrier. If you know you're going to be in an area where ticks and other pesky insects are going to be a problem, wear a hat and long pants, and tuck your pants into your socks. There also seems to be some evidence that mosquitoes are more attracted to darker clothing.
  

• Do the daily tick check - especially if you've been playing in a grassy or wooded area or have pets.

• Avoid places and times when bugs are worst. Ticks hang out in grass, trees, and shrubs. Mosquitoes like stagnant water and are most prevalent at dusk. The peak season for blackflies is spring and early summer.

• Avoid applying bug spray to your children's hands since they are very likely to put their hands in their mouths. Also avoid applying DEET around food.
  

JOGGING STRIDE

• Choose a product that contains a lower percentage of DEET. According to Healthy Child, Healthy World, concentrations below 10 percent are best for children.
  

• Avoid applying DEET more than once a day and apply sparingly. Reapplying too frequently can lead to overexposure. Also consider using a lotion instead of a spray to avoid inhaling the repellent.
  

• Try a DEET-free insect repellent. These alternative products generally rely on essential oils to repel pests and can be found at natural foods stores. The downside seems to be that they don't last as long, but persistent reapplication may be worth the trouble if it means avoiding a toxic chemical.

• Light a citronella candle. Citronella, which is the essential oil of lemon balm, has been proven to repel mosquitoes.
  

MARATHON RUNNER

• Make your own insect repellent with this recipe from Care2 using essential oils and vegetable oil. The most common essential oil to repel mosquitoes is citronella (lemon balm). My mom grows lemon balm in her herb garden and has even experimented with rubbing the leaves directly onto her skin. The jury's out on whether or not this works.

• Use a few drops of a repellent essential oil in the rinse water of your laundry.

• Put a drop of a repellent essential oil once a week on your pets' collars. More than that can irritate your pets.

• Chose plants for your yard that have bug repellent properties such as lemon balm and lavendar.
  

Tips for the Budget-Conscious

If you're looking for a more natural insect repellent, making your own is probably the cheapest strategy. If you choose to use a product containing DEET for budget reasons, be sure to use proper precautions: use sparingly, avoid applying on hands, avoid cuts and open wounds, and keep away from food.


Where I'm At

I've been buying a product from Whole Foods called Buzz Away. It works fine (and I like that it comes in a metal container rather than plastic), but it has to be reapplied every two hours or so. I've thought about trying to make my own, but so far, laziness has won the battle with frugality.

Photo by tanakawho


Related Posts:

• I Need...Allergy Relief
• Speaking of Not Disclosing Ingredients
• I Need...Household Cleaners
  

Read more...

I Need...A New Laptop

I'm dreaming about getting a new laptop, but since I've decided to stick it out with our seven-year-old desktop for at least a few months, this is a post with more questions than answers. The environmental impact of our endlessly upgrading technology is a topic I'm just beginning to take a peek at, and the more I learn, the more overwhelmed I feel as a consumer.

Here are just a few problems with laptops:

Short Lifetime

While researching this post, I stumbled upon this "eco-claim" from the XO Laptop by One Laptop Per Child: "The laptop lifetime is 5 years or 2.5 times longer than a typical laptop."

That means that the typical lifetime of a laptop is only two years!

I can attest to that statistic from experience. My defunct laptop was an Asus Eee PC, and I loved that it was compact and highly portable, but it died after a year and a half. Before that, I had a Dell that lasted for a year before becoming a permanent dust-collector in my closet. My husband, a software engineer, says he's never had a laptop last longer than three years.

An average lifetime of only two years seems utterly ridiculous for a product that can carry such a high price tag. Especially considering all of the toxic substances it can contain...

Harmful Substances

Laptops contain a number of harmful substances, including the following:

• lead
  
• mercury
• cadmium
• PVC
• brominated flame retardants
  

Not to mention that laptops contain valuable metals such as copper and gold.

Disposal

With all the hazardous substances that laptops may be harboring, tossing dead laptops into a landfill seems like an obvious no-no. But recycling a laptop may not be much better.

Much of the e-waste in this country is sent to developing nations with lower environmental standards, such as China and India. There, poor workers dismantle computers, laptops, cell phones, and other types of electronic waste without proper equipment or protection, exposing themselves, the land, and the water to highly toxic substances.


My Perfect Laptop

In my dreams, laptops would be designed without all those harmful materials. They would be easily disassembled so the valuable materials they are made of can be recycled. They would be easy to repair and would boast a long lifespan. They would be energy efficient. And it would be awesome if they could come in minimal (but recyclable) packaging.

Turns out, I'm not the only person who has dreamed up that type of laptop. The Green Electronics Council has developed a program called EPEAT that assesses laptops and computers according to their environmental impact and assigns them either a Gold, Silver, or Bronze rating. Consumers can use these ratings to find eco-friendly computers that fit their needs.

However, after browsing through their database, it seems like the laptops that have earned a Gold rating are also the ones that are most expensive. My Asus Eee, for instance, only received a Silver rating, but it also only costs $400. It makes me cringe to think of spending $1500-$2000 on a laptop that will die after two years, Gold rating or not.


Repair or Buy New?

The other option is repairing. I now have two laptops that could be repaired instead of buying a new one, but with each one, the cost to repair feels prohibitive compared to the cost of a new, better product. Most of the time, repairing seems like the perfect environmental choice, but if it means I'll be stuck with an inferior product when I could have upgraded to something better for almost the same price, I have trouble feeling happy about choosing repair over new.

This is a case where my inner tightwad and my inner environmentalist are at war. Luckily, I still have my old desktop to keep me satisfied for a few months while I decide what to do.


What do you think is the best option?

Photo by manbeastextraordinaire


Related Posts:

• Quick Post on Recycling
• Plastics You Might Not Have Known Could Be Recycled
• Clean, Green, and Fair for Everyone

Read more...

I Need...Organic Food

Yesterday, I listed reasons why you should think about adding more organic foods to your grocery cart, and today I'm going to give some suggestions for how to get started. As I've said before, I don't think you can suddenly wake up one morning, snap your fingers, and say, "Voila! I'm green!" Going green is a process, and you can take it slowly if you need to.

Certified Organic Defined

So first of all, what does that organic label mean? The USDA has defined organic crops as those "raised without using most conventional pesticides, petroleum-based fertilizers, or sewage sludge-based fertilizers. The NOP [National Organic Program] regulations prohibit the use of genetic engineering, ionizing radiation, and sewage sludge in organic production and handling."

For animal farms to be certified organic, the animals "must be fed organic feed and given access to the outdoors. They are given no antibiotics or growth hormones."

A couple other things to note:

• Products labeled "100 percent organic" must contain only organically produced ingredients.
  
• Products labeled "organic" must consist of at least 95 percent organically produced ingredients.
  
• Processed products that contain at least 70 percent organic ingredients can use the phrase "made with organic ingredients" and list up to three of the organic ingredients or food groups on the principal display panel.

What Certified Organic Does Not Mean

As I said yesterday, the system for certifying organics is not perfect. The purpose is to protect the consumer, so you know what you're purchasing when you see the "organic" label. But the organics program is mainly concerned with health issues and is less concerned with sustainability or other environmental issues. For instance:

• Certified organic is not the same as grass-fed or pastured. Animals on certified organic farms must be given "access" to the outdoors, but the form or amount of that access is vague.
• Certified organic does not mean small farm. Becoming certified is costly, which means that many small farmers are financially excluded from certification.
  
• Certified organic farmers can only use certified seed, so their options about varieties to grow are limited. People who prefer heirloom varieties are probably not going to find much choice when shopping for certified organics.
• Certified organic restricts the use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers but does not provide specific guidelines for sustainable farming practices.
  

Because of these and other considerations, I think it's less important to look at the label and more important to know your farmer. Ask the farmers at your local farmers market about their methods for pest management and fertilization, and make an informed decision, even if they're not certified.

Another option is to look for the label "Certified Naturally Grown," a certification system created by a non-profit in New York focusing on small organic farmers but following the same standards as the USDA program.


Now that You're Ready to Go Shopping...

BABY STEPS

• Start with the Dirty Dozen. According to the Environmental Working Group, these are the fruits and vegetables that have the highest pesticide residue. They include peaches, apples, sweet bell peppers, celery, nectarines, strawberries, cherries, lettuce, imported grapes, pears, spinach, and potatoes.

• Look for organic baby food. Studies have indicated that young children, and especially babies, are more susceptible to the negative effects of pesticide exposure than adults.
  

JOGGING STRIDE

• Switch your animal products to organic. Levels of chemical toxicity get more concentrated the higher you get up the food chain. Additionally, factory-farm produced meat, poultry, dairy, and eggs are full of extra yuckies like antibiotics and hormones. For more information about dairy and eggs, check out my posts I Need...Dairy and I Need...Eggs.
  

MARATHON RUNNER

• Green your grocery bill. Look for the organic label on all of the foods you eat.
  

Tips for the Budget-Conscious

The steps I listed above are prioritized by pesticide exposure and other health concerns. However, if health is not your primary reason for choosing organics and you are on a limited budget, here are some alternate suggestions and observations:

• Produce: Often, organic fruits and vegetables on sale can rival the cost of conventionally grown produce. If you're on a limited budget, keep your eye out for sales on organics since often they aren't included in the sales flier.
• Beans, Rice, and Oats: Organic beans, rice, and oats from the bulk bins at a health food store or Whole Foods are similar in price to their conventionally grown counterparts elsewhere, and in many cases they are cheaper. So although from a health standpoint, buying the organic versions of these products might be a low priority, you can actually switch to organics very painlessly in these categories.
• Meat, Dairy, and Eggs: Organic meat, dairy, and eggs can be double the cost of their conventional counterparts. This is a larger price gap than I've noticed between any other organic products, and while I think it's important to purchase these products, if your budget is limited, you might want to save the organic switch in this category for last.
  

In a few days, I'll provide some more tips for the Budget Conscious.


Where I'm At

Most of the items on my grocery list now carry the "organic" label. I could do better with produce, but very few of the farmers at my local farmer's market carry organic produce, and I have decided it's more important to me to support my local farmers when I can than to buy organic. If I buy it at the grocery store, it's organic.


Related Posts

• Seven Reasons to Eat Organic
• I Need...Chocolate (don't we all)
• Book Review: In Defense of Food
  

Read more...

I Need...Allergy Relief

I've had seasonal allergies since my family moved to Kentucky when I was a teenager, but since we moved to North Carolina, my allergies have been out of control.

Case in point: One day, I was driving my family through downtown Raleigh when my eye started itching uncontrollably. I was trying to drive with one eye and ended up turning the wrong way down a one way street. Luckily, I realized what I'd done immediately and no cars were coming, so I swung into the first parking lot and demanded that my husband take over the driving.

When your eyes are so itchy and watery and red that it's making you a hazard, it's definitely time to find a solution.

I had tried a few types of over-the-counter allergy meds with no success. They took care of the nose issues, but my eyes still itched like crazy. So I tried eye drops, but frankly, I am no good at putting things in my eyes. I figured I would have to head to the doctor for a prescription.

Or would I?

While catching up on my blog reading one day, I came across this post from Pays to Live Green about an alternative method for dealing with allergies: the neti pot.

A neti pot looks like an oblong tea pot. You fill the pot with a salt water solution, lean your head sideways over a sink, stick the spout of the pot up your nose, and pour. The salt water travels up one nostril and out the other, flushing all the nasties out of your nasal passages.

I was intrigued by the neti pot mainly because of the cost - only $20. A trip to the doctor would cost a co-pay plus the price of prescription drugs and drug refills. A one time cost of $20 sounded much more appealing.

Plus, a product that I could buy once and use over and over would produce less waste than the weekly packages of Claritin I was going through. And solving my allergy problem would mean I could stop using so much toilet paper to blow my nose.

Since I was heading down the path of alternative medicine, I decided to research other non-drug related ways to beat allergies. Here's what I found:


Prevention

• Avoid the trigger. This is pretty obvious, but if you know you're allergic to cats, stay away from cats. If you know you're allergic to grass, don't mow the lawn. Etc.
  
• Keep yourself and your pets clean. Shower daily and bathe your pets often.
  
• Wear glasses or sunglasses outdoors to keep particles that might trigger an allergy attack out of your eyes.
  
• Close your windows, especially on high pollen days.
  
• Opt for bare floors. Dust and other allergens accumulate in carpet. If you have carpet and have no plans to replace it, at least vacuum often with a quality vacuum.
  
• Use a dehumidifier. Allergens love a humid environment.
  
• Avoid heavy house and yard work, but keep your house and linens clean (maybe play the pity card on your roommates or spouse).
  

Treatment

• Try a Neti pot. See above explanation.
  
• Drink herbal tea. Peppermint works well as a decongestant. Nettle tea reduces hay fever symptoms - you can also take nettle in capsule form. Eyebright is another herb I've read good things about, but I haven't been able to find it around here.
  
• Take a shower to wash off any pollen or other allergens that might have settled on your hair and body. The steam from a hot shower can also sooth irritated sinuses.
  
• Eat wasabi. This fiery condiment can make your nose drip and your eyes water, flushing out the sinuses. If you don't have wasabi, try any spicy food.
  

Another great resource for fighting allergies is the article "How to Allergy-Proof Your Home" at HowStuffWorks.


Where I'm At

I've been using a neti pot for a couple weeks now, and it's working great. I don't know if it's because it makes my eyes water a bit or if my eye cavities are connected somehow to my nasal cavities, but running saltwater through my nose has solved my itchy eye problem as long as I do it as soon as my eyes start itching. I've read that you can use the neti pot up to four times a day, though once or twice is probably best.

The only downside is that using the neti pot is disgusting and messy, definitely something you want to do in privacy. So if you're struck by a nasty allergy attack at work, you're still more likely to reach for some drugs than to head to the community bathroom to flush out your nasal passages.

Image by brookenovak


Related Posts:

• Plastics Primer, Part 1: The Problems with Plastic
• I Need...Toilet Paper
• I Need...A Happy Period
  

Read more...

I Need...Chocolate (don't we all...)

This weekend brings two important events: Saturday is World Fair Trade Day and Sunday is, of course, Mother's Day. What a perfect combination! I can't think of a better way to celebrate Mother's Day than with lots of delectable fair trade and organic chocolate.

Chocolate by any other name...

...might taste as sweet, but if it's not USDA certified organic chocolate, you're also ingesting a generous helping of synthetic pesticides and chemical fertilizer. After cotton, conventional cocoa is grown with more pesticides than any other crop.

The story behind chocolate that's not certified fair trade is even less appetizing. Six chocolate manufacturers process 50% of all the cocoa in the world, giving them the ability to dictate cocoa prices. A high demand for cheap chocolate means the cocoa farmers are paid next to nothing; according to Green America, "the average cocoa farmer will generally earn only $30 to $100 a year."

Struggling in extreme poverty, many farmers choose to keep their children out of school to help on the farm, sometimes in hazardous conditions such as spraying pesticides on plants without wearing proper protective gear. Other farmers resort to slavery - child slave labor has been documented in the Ivory Coast, Nigeria, and Cameroon, where most of the world's cocoa is grown.

So show your mother you care by giving her chocolate that's good to the planet and helps farmers support their families, send their children to school, and not use slavery.

Fair Trade or Organic?

Lucky for us, we don't have to make this tough decision. There are plenty of chocolate brands out there that are both fair trade and organic, including Equal Exchange, Theo, Rapunzel, and even Trader Joe's store brand. You can find these at your local food co-op or natural foods store, and I've even seen Endangered Species chocolate (fair trade but not organic) at mainstream grocery stores.

Other Ways to Celebrate World Fair Trade Day

• Besides chocolate, you can find fair trade coffee, tea, herbs, fresh fruit, sugar, rice, and vanilla in the U.S.
• Cadbury's Dairy Milk Bar has gone fair trade!!! But only in Engand. :( Thank Cadbury for this important step forward and let them know we want fair trade Cadbury products here in the United States by adding your name to this letter from Green America.
  
• Find a World Fair Trade Day event near you by visiting www.worldfairtradeday09.org or googling "World Fair Trade Day" and the name of your city.
• If you live in the Triangle area, here are some celebrations around here:

• Ten Thousand Villages
• Location: Raleigh and Chapel Hill stores
  
• Time: 10am - 7pm
• Description: A day long celebration of fair trade! Enjoy free samples of chocolate and other fairly traded foods, register for door prizes. Join coffee drinkers around the U.S. as we try and break the record for the World's Largest Coffee Break at 3:00 p.m. Take our fair trade quiz and earn 20% off your purchases.

• Fair Trade Coffee Break at the Earth Fare Cafe
• Location: Raleigh
• Time: 8am - 10pm
• Description: Larry's Beans, a fair trade organic coffee roaster in Raleigh NC, has partnered with Earth Fare and will be featuring Costa Little Ricky that day for $ .50/cup and one pound bags for $7.99 all week. Sales support farmers in Bolivia, Mexico, and Ethiopia.

• Fair Trade Day Celebration at One World Market
• Location: Durham
• Time: 10am - 6pm
• Description: With delicious Fair Trade food samples, FREE prizes for everyone who participates in the geography game, and live music, featuring Viswas Chitnis and Chris Johnson. Help break the record for the World’s Largest Coffee Break at 3pm. FREE admission.

Photo by miss karen

Read more...

I Need...Lighting (Beyond CFLs)

Compared to heating and cooling, lighting accounts for a small portion of electrical usage, yet it seems to be the aspect of home energy use that gets the most attention.

Watch Saturday morning cartoons and what will you learn about taking care of the planet? Recycle, turn off the water when brushing your teeth, and turn off the lights when you leave the room. Then there's the "Change a light bulb, save the world," campaign. At Raleigh's Earth Day Festival last Saturday, there was even a representative from Progress Energy dressed up like a compact fluorescent light bulb.

You know how Grist has been saying "Screw Earth Day"? Well, I love Earth Day, but I often feel like saying, "Screw CFLs."

I think compact fluorescent light bulbs are great. They're awesome, in fact. Just take a look at the results of my online home energy audit - I seem to be spending about 6% of my electric bill on lighting instead of the average 20%. (And that has to be due to using CFLs because Progress Energy didn't ask me anything about whether or not I turn off the lights when I leave the room.)

If you haven't changed your light bulbs yet, do it now. You have no excuse. By now, we all know better. But don't think that switching to compact fluorescents is going to save the earth.

I think maybe the designers of that campaign were hoping CFLs would be like a starter drug - people would change their light bulbs and then get hooked on saving energy. So as you're changing your light bulbs, think of it as a starting point and ask yourself, "Okay, what can I do now?"

And as you're pondering that question, here are some other ways to green your lighting:

LEDs

WooHoo!

• LED fixtures last more than 20 years.

• The lighting color from an LED is similar to an incandescent bulb, yet it doesn't get hot like an incandescent and uses 85% less energy.

• Unlike compact fluorescents, LEDs do not contain mercury.

Bummer...

• Affordability hasn't caught up with LED technology. LEDs are ex-pen-sive!

• Currently, good affordable LED lights will not screw into a standard light fixture, but you can get recessed LED lighting.

Consider trying...LED Christmas lights


Motion-Sensor Lighting

WooHoo!

• Since these lights only come on when they detect motion, you save energy.

• Motion-sensor lights are perfect for outdoors. Outdoor lighting contributes to light pollution and disrupts nocturnal wildlife. Also, motion-sensor lighting increases home security.

• Motion-sensor lights can also be used in place of nightlights in hallways leading to bathrooms.

Bummer...

• We tried motion-sensor lights in our old house on our front porch and in the stairwell, and it didn't work for us in either spot. Outside, the light worked if someone was approaching our front porch, but turned off as soon as they stepped onto the porch (so we were always fumbling to unlock the door in the dark). And the motion sensors were installed too high on the stairwells to detect our young children. But I consider these more as "lessons learned" than "reasons not to try."

Consider trying...motion sensors outdoors and as nightlights.


Solar Powered Lighting

Woohoo!

• Used to illuminate driveways and walkways, solar powered lights contain built-in photovoltaic cells that store energy from sunlight in rechargeable batteries so they can come on at night.

• They require no wiring and are easy to move around.

Bummer...

• They must have direct sunlight to work.

• As I mentioned above, outdoor lighting contributes to night pollution and disrupts nocturnal wildlife.
  

• I've read that the solar-powered lights don't last as long as conventional outdoor lighting, so they have to replaced more often, which doesn't sound like a good thing.

Consider trying...garden solar lights


Tips for the Budget Conscious
You should absolutely without a doubt switch to compact fluorescent bulbs. They are more expensive at the start, but you will recoup your money from savings on your energy bill within a year, and they should last up to six years. Where practical, you should also consider LEDs, and keep an eye on LED technology. I don't think it will be very long before compact fluorescents will be a thing of the past as we all switch to LEDs.


Where I'm At
Soon after we moved in, we replaced all of the light bulbs in our apartment with CFLs. But a funny thing about our apartment...None of the bedrooms have overhead lighting. They all have outlets that are wired to a light switch so you can plug a lamp into it, but we don't have any lamps so our bedrooms are always dark. That makes it really easy to remember to turn off the lights when we leave the room. :)


Related Posts:

• The Appeal of Energy Efficiency (aka "Sexy Energy")
• How to Afford Making Your Home Energy Efficient
• I Need...Warm Winters and Cool Summers
  

Read more...

A Conscious Shopper Is/Is Not

Since we still haven't sold our house in Maryland, my family has lived for the past eight months with only half of our stuff. The other half is still in Maryland "staging" our house. Thinking of this fact today, I had two thoughts:

1. Our house in Maryland looks really beautiful without all the clutter.
2. Except for missing a few big furniture items, it hasn't been much of an adjustment to cut back to half as much stuff.

Don't get me wrong. I will be ecstatic when our house finally sells and we have all of our belongings in one place again. I miss having a home that actually looks like a home, instead of like we're in transition.

But doing without has made me realize how much of what I own was purchased to fill up space, to make an impression, or to fulfill an impulse rather than being chosen with careful thought.

I know I'm not alone in that. Afterall, recreational shopping is one of America's favorite pastimes. And in general, I don't think there's anything wrong with wanting nice things or wanting to look nice.

But often, we get so caught up in everyday living that we forget to pay attention to the things that matter. We live such fast-paced lives that we don't have time to choose carefully, and we end up with stuff we don't need, stuff we don't use, stuff we don't wear, stuff that doesn't last. And because we bought the wrong stuff in the first place, we end up buying more stuff and more stuff and more stuff.

This cycle of spend, spend, spend is not good for the planet or the pocketbook, but many people are afraid of what will happen if they step off the treadmill and try something new. They fear the hippy stereotype, and they fear criticism from their peers for being "different."

So I'm here right now to set the record straight...

Being a Conscious Shopper means:

• you think before you buy
• you are aware of the effects of your purchases on others and on the planet
• you try to choose the best possible products to meet your needs
• you live within your means

It does not mean you have to radically change your life (although you might do it by accident). It does not mean you have to make huge sacrifices (unless you want to). And it definitely does not mean you have to look ugly or drab (but you might end up caring a little less about how you look and a little bit more about the world around you).

Most importantly, a Conscious Shopper knows that shopping can never replace real living. So in the words of the New American Dream:

More fun, less stuff!

Read more...

I Need...Beautiful Hair

I'm going to admit from the get-go that my vanity was a major factor in this category. I don't have gorgeous commercial-worthy hair, but I still like my hair. A lot. So where I might be willing to make some sacrifices for the environment in other categories, when it came to my hair, I just wasn't willing to compromise. In the end, I found something that worked for me, but boy, it was a long month of ugly hair to get there.

But you have to consider that there is a wide range of hair types. So just because something failed on my hair, doesn't mean it won't work for you. Experiment until you find the right shampoo for your hair type. The bad hair doesn't last forever!

Here are the ingredients to watch out for when shopping for shampoo and conditioner:

• Sodium Lauryl/Laureth Sulfate: These are foaming agents in shampoos and can cause skin and eye irritation and allergic reactions.
• Diethanolamine (DEA), Monoethanolamine (MEA) and Triethanolamine (TEA): These ingredients help your shampoo to lather, but they can react with other ingredients in the shampoo (particularly preservatives) to form carcinogenic substances.
• Phthalates: Phthalates can damage the liver, kidneys, lungs and the developing male reproductive tract.
  
• Parabens: Widely used preservatives, parabens mimic estrogen in the body and may increase the risk for certain types of cancer.

Besides the health concerns, another reason to change your shampoo is the packaging: most shampoos come in a plastic bottle.

The first three Baby Steps here are tips I've picked up over the years from my hairstylist, who is also my sister. She has gorgeous hair. It really is commercial-worthy.


BABY STEPS

• Be stingy with the amount of shampoo and conditioner you use. Average length hair only needs a nickel-sized drop of each product. Plus, salon-style shampoos are generally more concentrated than your run-of-the-mill grocery store shampoo, so you don't need much. The less you use, the longer that bottle of super-expensive shampoo will last.
• When shampooing, focus on the roots. When conditioning, focus on the ends. Using this method, you can get away with using less.
• Don't wash your hair every day. My sister washes her hair every other day, sometimes every third day. And I'm telling you, she has terrific hair.
• Supersize your shampoo. Pick products that you can get in bulk containers. The bigger, the better.
  

JOGGING STRIDE

• Check Skin Deep for less toxic shampoo and conditioners. Beth over at Smart Family tips has created an awesome list of products that rate low on Skin Deep and can be found at most drugstores, Target, or Kroger.
  
• Try a shampoo bar, and bypass the container completely. Look for a local soap maker at your farmer's market - they often carry shampoo bars. Or try the Burt's Bees Rosemary and Mint Shampoo Bar or a Lush product.
  
• Use a concentrated liquid castile soap like Dr. Bronners. You can get Dr. Bronners in giant containers, and since it's concentrated, you only need to use a little bit. Or you can mix it with an herbal water like in this recipe.

MARATHON RUNNER

• Go no 'poo. Despite the weird name, all this really means is that you use baking soda to wash your hair, and you don't wash your hair very often, supposedly letting your hair return to its natural state. But first you have to go through a nasty detox phase, where your hair looks and feels awful. If you're interested, you can find out more information about "no poo" all over the Internets, such as here.
  
• Use apple cider vinegar as a hair rinse instead of conditioner. Commonly paired with "no poo," apple cider vinegar returns hair to its naturally acidic pH. But you have to tolerate smelling like a salad.

Tips for the Budget Conscious
Baking soda and vinegar are super cheap, but if you want something more mainstream, pick a product that you can get concentrated or in a bulk size. And as always, use less.


Where I'm At
A couple years ago, I experimented with some different "all natural" shampoos and was not impressed. They were too watery, which meant I was going through a bottle of shampoo twice as fast as I was used to. And these were not cheap products. For awhile, I used the Whole Foods brand (but it has sodium lauryl sulfate in it), but mostly I used some nice, but definitely not non-toxic, products my sister would get for me from her salon.

At the start of this month, I picked up a bar of the Burt's Bees Rosemary and Mint Shampoo. I liked it the first day - it made my hair slightly filmy, as if I had put some kind of styling product in it. The second day, the filminess was weighing my hair down, and by the third day, my hair was a greasy mess.

Next, I tried the Dr. Bronner's soap mixed with herbal water. Same thing. I think I might have hard water, which would mean the soap is not rinsing out properly.

During both of these weeks (and the week prior with my regular shampoo), I tried using apple cider vinegar as a rinse. It worked fine and the smell went away by the time my hair was dry, but there were a couple times when I started sweating and the vinegary smell would come back. Overall, I just didn't like it.

Desperate not to have ugly hair, I picked up bottles of Burt's Bees Super Shiny Grapefruit and Sugar Beet shampoo and conditioner from Target. It works great and only scores a 2 on Skin Deep, but it comes in a small plastic bottle with a hefty price tag.

Finally, following a tip from JessTrev, I headed to the Lush store. The great thing about going with Lush is that they have a variety of shampoo bars, so logically there would be one to meet every hair type. And they have sales clerks that can help you pick out what you need. The downside is that Lush is very expensive. And smelly. If you have an allergic reaction to fragrances, this is not the shampoo for you. But the shampoo bar I got is working great, and supposedly it will last as long as three bottles of shampoo, so the price tag isn't as scary as it sounds. If you don't have a Lush store in your area, you can order online.

Photo by hansvandenberg

Read more...

I Need...Deodorant

An actual conversation between me and my husband a couple weeks ago:

Me: Did you try that Crystal deodorant today?
Hubby: Yes, did you?
Me: Yes. Is it working for you?
Hubby: I don't know. I haven't smelled myself. Is it working for you?
Me: I haven't smelled myself either. I guess we'll have to smell each other later.

Ah, the joys of testing out new deodorants!

I think we can all admit that deodorants are a very useful product. Not stinking is a pretty nice thing. So why do they put so many bad things in something so good?

Deodorants/antiperspirants contain three toxic chemicals from the Dirty Dozen, as well as a couple other suspicious ingredients:

1. Parabens: Widely used preservatives, parabens mimic estrogen in the body and may increase the risk for certain types of cancer.
2. Talc: This is that ingredient that used to be in baby powder that we're now told at the hospital, "Do not use!" Talc is a known carcinogen.
3. Propylene Glycol: Besides being a neurotoxin and a skin irritant, propylene glycol "alters skin structure, allowing other chemicals to penetrate deep into the skin increasing the amount of chemicals that reach the bloodstream," according to the Dirty Dozen.
4. Aluminum compounds: The ingredient that keeps you from perspiring, aluminun compounds have been linked to Alzheimer's disease, and some scientists have found correlations between anti-perspirant use and breast cancer.
5. Triclosan: Classified as a pesticide by the FDA, this is that "antibacterial" ingredient that they're putting in everything these days.

Using deodorant also generates a lot of non-recyclable plastic waste.

So what's your average sweaty girl (or guy) to do?


BABY STEPS

• Switch from an anti-perspirant to a deodorant. Sweating might not be the most comfortable thing, but is your desire to stay dry worth increasing your risk for Alzheimer's or breast cancer? Logically, it just doesn't sound very safe to plug up our pores with aluminum.
• Prevent sweating the natural way by wearing light-colored clothing that fits loosely, choosing cotton over synthetic fabrics, and drinking lots of cold water.

JOGGING STRIDE

• Check Skin Deep for a less toxic deodorant. Beth over at Smart Family tips has created an awesome list of products that rate low on Skin Deep and can be found at most drugstores, Target, or Kroger.
  
• Look for a solid deodorant bar that is packaged without a container, such as these from Lush.
• Try a deodorant crystal like this. These all natural mineral salt stones neutralize odors, allowing your body to sweat without stinking.
  

MARATHON RUNNER

• Dust your pits with baking soda. This is probably the most popular "all-natural" deodorant. You can either use a cotton ball or powder puff to apply it to your fresh-out-of-the-shower armpits, or mix the baking soda with a little water to make it more like a paste.
• Try out other all-natural deodorant recipes, such as these from Care2.com.

Tips for the Budget Conscious
Using baking soda is probably your best bet, but since I've never used baking soda as a deodorant for longer than a week, I'm not sure how long a box of baking soda lasts in this situation. Any users want to provide some input?

The deodorant crystal is only $7 at Whole Foods and should last a year. If you don't have a Whole Foods near you, deodorant crystals are generally available at health food stores.


Where I'm At
I've been using the deodorant crystal, and it's working great so far. But I'm not a very sweaty person. In fact, I barely sweat at all. So it's hard to make a judgment call until summer when I actually break a sweat. I will say though that I tried baking soda a couple years ago in the summer, and didn't like it at all. It mostly worked fine, but I was so paranoid about whether or not it was working that I never felt comfortable. And there were definitely one or two days that I started to smell a little.

My husband also tested out the crystal, and it worked okay for him. But as I've mentioned, he's a super sweaty man and it's winter. I don't think the crystal will hold up to a North Carolina summer, especially when he's biking to work.

Read more...