News ::

Archive for News

Down and Dirty With Seventh Generation

Recently a report was released by the Organic Consumer Association (OCA) saying that the presence of 1,4 dioxane, a potential carcinogen and definite toxin, was found in two Seventh Generation dishwashing liquids. Although the sampling in the report was rather random in that they compared dishwashing liquids and cleansers with personal care [...]

SC Johnson goes green – or does it?

SC Johnson has come up with a new ‘green’ rating system for their own products. Just days after Clorox rolled out their GreenWorks line, SC Johnson is responding with their “Greenlist.” Some of their products, including Windex, Pledge, Fantastik Orange Action, and Toilet Duck will have the Greenlist label slapped on the front.

Bottled water goes green(er)

Bottled water. Fast Company clued us in last summer as to why it’s just. so. bad. Care for a run-down?

The US is one of the top consumers of bottled water, but it also has one of the cleanest tap water supplies in the world (i.e., we don’t need bottled water here, but other countries do [...]

Green-washing?

TerraChoice, an environmental marketing firm, has keyed us in to a new trend in the marketplace. They call it “Green-washing,” which by their definition is “the act of misleading consumers regarding the environmental practices of a company or the environmental benefits of a product or service.” They deliver to us the 6 sins of green-washing, [...]

Deck the halls with lead-filled lights, . . .

Christmas lights have been found to have somewhat alarming amounts of lead. But with so many toys being pulled off the shelves for the same reason, are we really surprised?
The moral of the story is that parents (and grandparents) should hang the Christmas lights out of reach of children, or leave them off the tree [...]

New word! Locavore

The New Oxford American dictionary has recently announced its new list of words, as well as it’s word of the year for 2007. Drum roll? The new word of the year is locavore, meaning people who eat locally-produced and farmed food. The idea behind it is that locally-produced food supports the economy, is fresher, requires [...]

Infertility caused by chemicals?

Vogue magazine published an article in their August 2007 issue titled “Infertile Ground” that delves into the potential chemical causes for the alarming rise in infertility rates. In fact, the National Infertility Association quotes that one in eight couples are now infertile, with the rates rising annually. Scary stuff. And for the ladies and gents [...]

High chemical levels in kids’ bodies

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 [...]

Household sprays linked to adult asthma

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, [...]

Lead in lipstick?! You’ve got to be kidding

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 [...]