Archive for April 2nd, 2007

April 2, 2007 | Reviews, Being Green, Shopping

Check this out! It’s biodegradable, earthy-friendly, plant based lipstick. The packaging is plant-based and biodegradable too. And what’s best? Plant the box it came in, and it’ll sprout flowers! Plant Love lipstick by CARGO is available exclusively at Sephora. Reviewers say the lipstick feels great on, so I can’t wait to buy mine. And try it. And plant it!

Now that’s clever.

Cleaning tips, News

A BBC report this morning tells us what us parents of toddlers have always known - some time in the sandbox put smiles on faces. Well, actually the study is a little more in depth and scientific than that… Lung cancer patients experienced improvements in their quality of life and mice produced more of the ‘happy’ brain chemical serotonin after exposure to soil.

Lack of serotonin is linked to depression in people, and it seems that we can boost our serotonin levels through exposure to dirt. So maybe we should all have adult-sized sandboxes in the backyard… That could be the new spa experience! Well, maybe taking up gardening would be a more sensible solution…

Doctors have long known that homes that are vacuumed too frequently tend to bring on greater problems with allergies, which seems to indicate that we need some exposure to dirt. Also, doctors recommend only using anti-bacterial soaps when you’re fighting illness, or to significantly limit the use of anti-bacterial soaps, as they also kill good bacteria that keeps you healthy. But, try finding non-anti-bacterial soaps at your grocery store.

So it seems there is such a thing as ‘too clean.’ The moral of the story, go ahead - dig your fingers into the mud. Let it squish through your fingers. And then eat some mudpies. Okay, maybe not.

Organics

Cotton accounts for less than 3% of farmed land globally but consumes about a quarter of the pesticides. Isn’t that mind-boggling? That statistic won’t change until we let cotton farmers know, through our purchasing habits, that we object. Think about it.