Archive for the 'News' Category

October 23, 2007 | Health, Lifestyle, News

And this is precisely why we went all-natural. Some tests revealed remarkably high levels of PBDEs (flame retardants) and phthalates (plasticizers - softening agents to make plastic pliable) in a couple children tested with a ‘body burden’ test. It tests the level of industrial chemicals that have permeated the human body.

Tests like those have been done on adults for years, but this is the first report on a body burden test done on children. And the results are frightening. The children’s results were up to seven times the amount of chemicals found in their parents’ bodies.  It makes sense - children breathe more air, drink more water, eat more food than adults do. Their little bodies process it faster.

With rising rates of childhood cancers, asthma, birth defects, and developmental disorders, and no clear reason why,  test results like these are worrisome. PBDEs and phthalates have been linked to neurological and reproductive defects, obesity, and early puberty in lab animals. We’re not entirely clear on what they do to humans. You can read the full article here.

To protect your kids from phthalates, pay close attention to the type of plastics in use in your home.  The PBDEs are a little tougher. They use them all over the place - in fabrics, upholstery, computers and TVs, and all sorts of plastics. You can learn more about them here, but unfortunately they don’t have any clues about how to stay away from them.

October 15, 2007 | Dusting, asthma, Health, Cleaning products, News

A new study links household spray cleaners - especially glass cleaners, furniture polish, and air fresheners - to up to 1 in 7 cases of adult asthma cases. They found that using such sprays, even just once a week, increased incidents by 30 to 50 percent.

Cleaning sprays and air fresheners contain chemicals such as ammonia, chlorine-releasing agents and sodium hydroxide. Researchers suggested that the chemicals being released into the air in spray form significantly increased their exposure to people.

We here at Broom Huggers know that, and it’s why we use exclusively natural products. Chemical free translates to asthma free.  There are lots of natural products at your supermarket - try Method, Seventh Generation, Ecover, or plain old vinegar and water.

October 13, 2007 | Health, News

But apparently, it’s true. I’ve heard about lipstick being made from animal fat of diseased animals, and that’s enough to turn my stomach (which is why I try to stick to plant-based lipsticks like Aveda, Cargo, etc.). But lead?

Ladies, we may not like to think about it, but we ingest lipstick. As the day wears on, the lipstick is gradually pulled into your mouth, and where do you think it goes from there?

A consumer rights groups tested lipsticks and found that over half have measurable amounts of lead. Brands like Cover Girl, L’Oreal, and Christian Dior were the worst offenders. You can read the whole story here, it’s pretty shocking.

In addition to the learning disabilities, language and behavioral problems from lead exposure, it’s also been linked to infertility and miscarriages.

September 29, 2007 | Health, News

The FDA released a new recommendation yesterday that children under 2 not be given decongestants and children under 6 not be given antihistamines. They want to remove the caution on the labels that says “Consult your physician” for ages under x.  Dr. Joshua Sharfstein, Baltimore’s health commissioner says, “It does not make sense, in the absence of information, to say ’consult a physician,’ because they do not have superhuman powers. They cannot make a product safe or effective.”

There are two problems at hand. One is that these medications have not been proven effective for the ages above, and secondly, they have been associated with childhood death in some instances. The specific active ingredients to be concerned about are:

Decongestant (not for use <2)    Antihistamine (not for use <6)

pseudoephedrine                                 diphenhydramine

phenylephrine                                      brompheniramine

ephedrine                                              chlorpheniramine

I just found that the cough and cold medicine I gave my 3-year old daughter this morning has chlorpheniramine in it, and the medication I gave her last night has diphenhydramine in it. We’ll be ditching those until she’s six. You can find the full story at MSNBC or you can search the FDA site for more information.

July 18, 2007 | Broom Hugged, Water, Food & drink, Being Green, Lifestyle, News

Next week will be a big week here at Broom Huggers - thanks to all the negative attention bottled water has been given (see here and here), we’ll be giving away TWO SIGG reusable bottles. As featured on Oprah, Time, Elle, and over a dozen other magazines, these bottles are cool and highly durable.Broom Huggers will be giving away one adult bottle and one child’s sippy-cup SIGG. So don’t forget to come back next week and enter the drawing!

July 12, 2007 | News

Jerry, the creative director over at The Change, was just featured as one of 5 guest writers on the topic of brand strategy over at Treehugger.com. Check out the article!

One of Jerry’s main points (which we love), is that the truth is your best tool - tell people what you’re doing to effect sustainability and levy a positive impact on the world and let that set you apart. Big companies omit information (like toxic runoff, industrial waste and shoddy labor) for a reason. And in general, the typical consumer would rather not know. So if your business’ practices are different, why not share the truth about what sets you apart? Tell your potential consumer base what fair trade means, or why it’s important to seek out organic produce.

If you don’t tell them, who will? Certainly not the traditional companies you’re competing with.

July 10, 2007 | Water, Shopping, News

Inhabitat clued us in that the US Congress plans to go carbon neutral by the end of the current term!

�Gristmill filled us in on the demographics at the Live Earth house parties in Austin this weekend. Looks like us broomhuggers are 30-something-plus. I find that odd when it looked like the concerts were geared toward a younger audience… but maybe I’m just not hip enough to get it…

One of Fast Company’s feature articles this month talks about the ins and outs of bottled water. $15 billion? Craziness. It’s definitely worth your time to read.

And to end with, a good buy over at Trade As One. They feature fair trade items, and our favorite are the recycled bags made by coops in Cambodia.

July 2, 2007 | News

Broom Huggers has a new look! Swank Web Style designed us a great new site, and The Change took care of our awesome logo. We’ve been offline for a while due to problems with our new domain host, but it’s mostly all worked out. Except for the fact that all of our email is lost in cyberspace. I’ll be working on ironing that out today, but until then, if you’ve emailed broomhuggers since Thursday of last week, I apologize, but your email is floating around somewhere in the cyber-equivalent of the land of Oz.

May 23, 2007 | Food & drink, Health, Organics, Pregnancy, News

Joni Mitchell said it best, “…Hey, farmer, farmer, put away that DDT now. Give me spots on my apples, just leave me the birds and the bees, please!…” Now we can add to the birds and the bees line, babies and brains too!

News this week? Babies conceived in the summer months don’t do as well in school as those conceived at other times of the year. Neonatologist Paul Winchester analyzed the scores on standardized tests and found that children who were conceived in June, July, and August were significantly less proficient in language and math. He attributes the effect to high levels of environmental pesticides during the most crucial months of nervous system development. “The pesticides we use to control pests in fields and in our homes and the nitrate we use to fertilize crops and even our lawns are at their highest level in summer,” Winchester says. He suspects that pesticides are causing higher rates of hypothyroidism in pregnant women, a condition known to affect brain development in growing babies. Not only that, pesticides and fertilizers are also blamed for premature and preterm birth.

So, no more makin’ whoopie in the summer time! Well, scratch that. But if you’re pregnant or trying to get pregnant this summer, I’d say it’s high time to start buying organic produce, and limiting the chemicals you use in and around your home. Switch to natural cleaning products (or a natural maid service, like… need I say? Broom Huggers!), see if you can manage your lawn and indoor pest control without pesticides and fertilizers. And most definitely, buy yourself some organic 2% milk (miscarriage rates rise a bit in women who drink skim), and limit your beef intake.

April 23, 2007 | Being Green, Water, Health, Cleaning products, Shopping, News

Oprah had a great show on Friday about making environmentally-friendly choices. The goal of the show was to show viewers small things they can be doing in their every day lives to help the environment. A few highlights -

• Paper or plastic? Neither! Bring your own reusable bags when you shop. The plastic bags take eons to biodegrade, and paper bags use a staggering amount of trees every year. So, BYOB! Bring your own Bag!
• Water - one liter of bottled water takes 5 liters of water to produce. Use tap water - filter it if you feel the need, and buy a reusable aluminum bottle.
• “Fake” Clean: Clean doesn’t smell like pine or lemon. Clean doesn’t smell! The chemicals in regular cleaners aren’t healthy for people, animals, or the earth. Use natural cleaners and a natural cleaning company (need we say, like Broom Huggers!)
• Did you know that appliances and electronics still use 40% of their power when they’re not in use? Your toaster, lamps, tv - they all use 40% of their power as long as they’re plugged in, on “standby.” The solution? Use a Smart Power Strip. Turn of the power strip and it’ll keep those appliances from sucking energy. Also, it groups your electronics in ‘clusters,’ so that when you turn off your TV, it also turns off your DVD player and surround sound too. Clever!

There are some awesome resources at Oprah’s website, along with some video feed. Check it out!