There is great coupon from Earthbound Farms for $0.75 off any Earthbound Farms product. It says it is off Blueberries, but actually prints as ANY Earthbound Product. YAY!
FREE subscription to Organic Gardening magazine with any 2 Annie’s Products!
Purchase any two Annie’s products by May 31, 2012, and fill out this form and mail it in along with two UPCs or your receipt to qualify for a FREE subscription to Organic Gardening magazine.
Since you only need the UPCs to qualify for this offer, if you’ve already purchased two Annie’s products and have them in your cupboard, you can still do this deal.
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Oh Baby!
“It’s not the usual thing you’d expect to find in a kitchen – but these orphaned baby owls seemed right at home as they nestled in two cups. The feathered pair were clearly having a hoot after moving into the home of their wildlife park keeper, Jimmy Robinson. The six-week-old burrowing owlets, nicknamed Linford and Christie, were hatched in an incubator, and are now being hand-reared by Jimmy – who works at Longleat Safari Park in Wiltshire – and are given 24-hour care.”
See the whole article in the Daily Mail.
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FDA’s Lead & Lipstick Study Q&A
As we all know, a couple of months ago the FDA released a study about lead in lipstick. They analyzed over 400 lipsticks and found lead in them all.
While this study really only confirmed what smaller studies before it had already proven, I recently read the question and answer section of the study and was… well, offended by the answers:
Q: What is FDA’s legal authority over cosmetic safety?
A: FDA regulates cosmetic safety under the authority of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act) BUT cosmetics are not subject to pre-market approval by FDA (so basically anything can be sold as a cosmetic without really being looked at first).
Q: Has FDA set limits for lead in cosmetics?
A: No, FDA has not set limits for lead in cosmetics.
Q: Has FDA been aware of concerns about lead in lipstick?
A: Yes, reports about lead in lipstick are not new.
Q: What did FDA’s expanded survey reveal about lipsticks on the market?
A: The average lead concentration in the 400 lipsticks tested was 1.11 ppm
Q: Is there a safety concern about the lead levels FDA found in lipsticks?
A: No.
Why was I so offended? Because the FDA is not doing its job as mandated by the FD&C Act!
Let’s take a closer look at lead, and what a 1.11 ppm daily exposure could mean for our health. For as far as we know, lead fulfills no essential function in the human body and can only cause harm. Lead can cause several unwanted effects:
- Disruption of the biosynthesis of haemoglobin and anaemia
- A rise in blood pressure
- Kidney damage
- Miscarriage
- Disruption of nervous systems
- Brain damage
- Declined fertility of men through sperm damage
- Diminished learning abilities of children
- Behavioural disruptions of children, such as aggression, impulsive behavior and hyperactivity
Yikes, quite the list. Even more alarming, lead can enter a fetus through the mother’s placenta. This exposure can cause serious damage to the nervous system and the brain of developing fetus. Lead also bioaccumulates. That is, it is stored in the body and accumulates over time.
Therefore, while 1.11 ppm may seem rather insignificant at first glace, it is extremely worrisome once bioacculuation is considered, or if pregnant women are exposed.
We clearly must be our own protectors and advocates so please remember to be a smart consumer! Know what you are buying and what that purchase means for your health, as well as the health of those around you and the environment. Think twice before applying that next layer of lipstick. Consider making the switch to an all-natural alternative for lead-laden lipstick (see our top picks and check out Skin Deep database). And please, do not allow your children to wear lipstick or wear lipstick while pregnant (you are already glowing!).
Posted in Articles, Toxins in Personal Products
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Upcycle: Cereal Box Organizers!
Kids go through cereal fast. Make use of all the empty boxes by turning them into handy holders for their desks. Large boxes work well for books, small ones for supplies. Cut box with a utility knife at desired angle and height. Wrap decorative or contact paper around box to see how much you’ll need; unwrap; cut. Secure paper with double-sided tape; trim excess.
source: marthastewart.com
CLICK HERE and head over to Katydid & Kid for a step-by-step tutorial of the cereal box organizer below.
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Melamine Dinnerware: Unbreakable but worth the risk?
Have you ever seen those Corelle commercials where the models are carrying plates on a greased walkway, all the models fall but the plates do not break? Well chances are you have reenacted this commercial in your own home with melamine dishware.
Most parents know melamine dinnerware as well as its convenience well: melamine dinnerware is extremely sturdy, hence the reason that it is so often used for children’s dinnerware.
Melamine is an “organic,” nitrogen-rich industrial compound, created from one of three materials: urea, dicyandiamide or hydrogen cyanide. Hard melamine resin (used in melamine dinnerware) is created by combining melamine with urea and formaldehyde, and is fire and heat resistant.
A few years ago, it came to light that melamine was used in certain brands of pet foods and infant formula as a cheap filler. This followed reports of illness and deaths from renal failure in the animals and babies that had consumed these products. Shortly thereafter, questions were raised about the safety of melamine dinnerware.
While melamine resin is fixed and unchanging, excessive heat can make the plastic unstable and allow the resin to decompose back into its original elements, several of which are highly toxic. For this reason, you should never put your melamine dishes in your oven or microwave.
While the levels of melamine in dinnerware are considered safe by the FDA, you should be wary of melamine dinnerware with any scratches or those accidentally subjected to extreme heat. Also, history and recent events (lead in lipstick, anyone?) tell us that what the FDA deems “safe” may not actually be so, particularly when bioaccumulation is considered. For this reason, we will choose to avoid melamine dinnerware, particularly for children, since there are other, safer options available. While these other options may break, to me this risk outweighs that posed by melamine.
Source: Eat+Be+Live
Posted in Articles, Food and Drink, Toxic Home
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Upcycle: RECYCLED SODA BOTTLE SPRINKLER
What a great Upcycling project!
Materials:
1 Empty 24oz soda bottle
1 Plastic coat hanger with or without hook
2 Large rubber bands
1 Hose end replacement kit 5/8″($1.67 at Lowes)
1 Rubber washer for swivel hose end
Mighty Putty
Tools:
Drill & bits
Head on over to stufftocraft.com for detailed instructions.
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DIY: Painted Stone Garden Markers
It’s just about time to start sowing those seeds! This is a wonderful craft project to work on with your children! Simply gather a few flat rocks (or buy some from your local hardware store or gardening center) and paint them for each plant in your garden.Put them next to the plants to mark which are where and help you keep track!
This is sure to also make your children more excited about gardening, getting their hands a little dirty and being in the great outdoors (little green-thumbs in the making!).
To see more, check out the article in Lu Bird Baby.
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Oh Baby!
Oh Baby! In honor of National Puppy Day (Friday) this “Oh Baby” goes out to our favorite pup, Boo!!
Source: Boo’s Facebook Page
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Toxins in costume jewelery may have you rethinking “dress-up”
"Best"? "Toxic" may be more like it...
Most little girls (OK, OK and us older girls, too) love playing dress up and wearing jewelery. For this reason, they are often donning at least one piece of costume jewelery at a time and are given costume jewelery as gifts for birthdays and holidays. However, we may want to start keeping costume jewelery away from children: a recent study conducted by The Ecology Center and released on Healthy Stuff.org found that costume jewelry is dangerous to children had can have life long negative health impacts.
The study assessed 99 pieces of costume jewelry from 14 different retailers (Ming 99 City, Burlington Coat Factory, Target, Big Lots, Claire’s, Glitter, Forever 21, Walmart, H&M, Meijers, Kohl’s, Justice, Icing and Hot Topic) collected from 6 different states (Ohio, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New York and Vermont).
The researchers tested for chemicals that have been linked to acute allergies and long-term health impacts such as birth defects, impaired learning, liver toxicity, and cancer. These chemicals include lead, cadmium, arsenic, mercury, bromine and chlorine (PVC).
The results? Well, not good news exactly.
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OVERALL: 59% (58) of products tested were rated with a HIGH level of concern due the presence of one or more hazardous chemical detected at high levels.
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LEAD: 27 of 99 (27%) of jewelry contained greater than 300 ppm lead in one or more components. 300 ppm is the CPSC limit of lead in children’s products.
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CADMIUM: 10 of 99 (10%) of jewelry contained greater than100 ppm cadmium in one or more components.
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CHROMIUM: 92 of 95 (93%) of jewelry contained greater than 100 ppm chromium. NICKEL: 30 of 95 (30%) of jewelry contained greater than 100 ppm nickel.
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BROMINATED FLAME RETARDANTS: 7 of 95 (7%) of jewelry contained brominated flame retardants (greater than 1,000 ppm bromine).
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CHLORINE: One-third, 11 of 95 (12%) of jewelry contained PVC (greater than 25,000 ppm chlorine).
“There is no excuse for jewelry, especially children’s jewelry, to be made with some of the most well studied and dangerous substances on the planet,” said Jeff Gearhart, Research Director at the Ecology Center and founder of HealthyStuff.org. “We urge manufacturers to start replacing these chemicals with non-toxic substances immediately… Toxic jewelry is just one symptom of the complete failure of our federal chemicals regulatory system,” said Gearhart. “Our children will never be safe until we reform our laws to ensure products are safe before they arrive on store shelves.”
Interestingly, the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), an independent agency of the US government created in through the Consumer Product Safety Act to protect “against unreasonable risks of injuries associated with consumer products, has urged parents and caregivers should not allow young children to be given, or to play with, cheap metal jewelry. Did you know this? I did not. In fact, the CPSC states that: “Swallowing, sucking on or chewing a metal charm or necklace could result in exposure to lead, cadmium or other heavy metals, which are known to be toxic at certain levels of exposure.” However, in 2010, the CPSC declined to regulate cadmium in children’s products. and instead has supported an industry developed voluntary standard.
Visit HealthyStuff.org to learn more about the study and search by brand, jewelry type and chemical detected. Over the past five years, researchers at the Ecology Center have performed over 20,000 tests on 7,000 consumer products, including pet products, vehicles, women’s handbags, jewelry, back-to-school products, children’s toys, building products and children’s car seats. Check out this research, available at HealthyStuff.org.
Source: Non-Toxic Kids.
