News Picks:

Water Footprint: Find out how much water some of your favorite products use! Did you know that the “Global Water Footprint” for a single apple is about 18 and a half gallons of water? Reduce *your* Water Footprint with these actions.

Fall is coming, is your garden ready? If you’re a gardening newbie and just planted a garden this summer, here are a couple tips to increase your garden’s longevity. The legendary gardening gurus at Rodale have tips on fall garden cleanup that will have you looking like a pro come spring.

The Happy Planet Index: Nic Marks discuses why we should measure success in terms of happiness in this 16-minute TED Talks video, tracking well-being against the amount of resources we use. Though the U.S. does quite well in terms of well-being, it is one of the countries that also uses the most resources. What country should we emulate? You may be surprised!

Multi-Media Pick:

Cafeteria Man: Chef Tony Geraci is on a mission to make-over Baltimore public schools’ cafeteria food. In this 2.5-minute trailer for the movie “Cafeteria Man,” students complain of “mystery meat” and tons of pizza, pizza, pizza. Geraci plans to swap unhealthy mystery food for local produce.

Get PG points for your healthy food actions!

New and Cool Pick:

DIY mini BBQ for Labor Day Weekend: Recycle a container of Altoids Sours into a mini BBQ. All you need besides the tin are some salvaged computer fan guards and a few nuts and bolts. The kids will marvel at making the little cooker, capable of cooking a full sized hot dog or small hamburger patty. The kids will love to use it for some yummy s’mores too! Don’t forget the organic chocolate.

“I’m a working mom taking a stand against yucky stuff in my food, cosmetics, etc. and gradually turning my family towards more eco-friendly, natural choices. I’m learning, so this is about our journey towards going green. There may be a few stumbles so hopefully you can laugh with me not at me!”

With that, Shannon Hoffman Hinderberger burst into the blogosphere on Working Mom Goes Green. She wrote about Practically Green earlier this month, and subsequently posted on adding “10 points to my Practically Green profile by drinking locally brewed beer.” Of course, we wanted to know her story!

Shannon grew up in Nebraska, where her “mom fed us as best she could….   on corn-fed beef, Kool-aid and Velveeta cheese.” She describes her green journey as a series of steps over several years:

Let’s just say I discovered veggies when I arrived in Bend, Oregon, seven years ago. I started getting Martha’s Stewart’s little magazine Everyday Food. There’s a website [and an iphone app], too. I use that as my bible.

Oregon is green, recycling is a big deal, and they rolled out these comingle bins at the same time we bought a house, four years ago. That was the next step. Then I got pregnant. I started to watch what I was eating. I was trying to eat more organic food. Then my son came. [Huge sigh] I had big aspirations. I wanted to breastfeed, use cloth diapers, make my own baby food. I went back to work and everything fell by the wayside. The day-care woman wouldn’t do cloth diapers. There was only one person in town who would, and she was booked.

Anyhow, I started to look at the labels on household products, food, baby products. One day I picked up my husband’s shaving cream and I read the label. I told him, There’s propane in this! He said, I don’t want to put that on my face any more! I thought, I have to do something: I’m going to blog about this.

Sound bites from a few recent posts:

If you don’t have any idea what to do with a certain veggie, ask your friends. I often use Facebook to poll my friends on what to do. You’ll get some amazing results from folks that have tried the veggies.

Announcing her Summer Hair "No-product, No-blowdry" Challenge

I’m not going to hide it. I like Wal-Mart. And I like Wal-Mart even more now that they’ve partnered with Seventh Generation….

If you could only keep 100 items? What would they be? I think this would be easy to do if children weren’t involved. My son alone has more than 100 pieces to his Thomas the Train set!

Son Ben at age Two

Shannon has joined Practically Green’s Motherboard. We hope you’ve enjoyed meeting her as much as we have!

Find her on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/shanlee?ref=ts

Twitter @shanlee

email her: Shannon@workingmomgoesgreen.com

Subscribe to http://www.workingmomgoesgreen.com/

See all Shannon’s links here: http://flavors.me/shanlee – _

Emily Luchetti is a James Beard Award-winning pastry chef and the executive pastry chef at Waterbar and Farallon Restaurants in San Francisco. She’s the author of, most recently, A Passion for Ice Cream and is working on the forthcoming The Fearless Baker, out in Spring of 2011. Emily is an organic food afficionado — and, she’s my aunt!

During a recent visit, Emily agreed to collaborate on a recipe to suit Practically Green readers: easy, quick, healthy, and appropriate for green living.

I use the freshest, best-quality ingredients available and never mask their basic flavors by adding too much sugar. Chocolate desserts taste like rich bittersweet chocolate; peach desserts taste like ripe, juicy peaches.

My mouth was watering already.

The recipe we finally decided on was Bountiful Berry Compote with vanilla ice cream:

Berry Compote
1 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 tablespoons sugar (we used sugar in the raw, organic works too)
Large pinch of kosher salt
1 pint (2 cups) fresh organic strawberries, hulled and quartered if small, cut into eighths if large
2 ounces (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 pint (1 cup) fresh organic raspberries
1 pint (2 cups) fresh organic blueberries

To make the compote: Put the orange and lemon juices, sugar, and salt in a large sauté pan. You can add sugar to taste, depending on how sour the orange juice is and how sweet the berries are. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until the sugar has dissolved and the liquid reduces slightly, about 2 minutes. Add the strawberries, blueberries and butter, gently stirring until the butter is almost completely melted, about 2 minutes. Add the raspberries and continue to cook just until the raspberries are warm, about 30 seconds. Do not overcook, or the berries will break apart.

Scoop some vanilla ice cream into bowls and spoon the berries and some sauce over the top. Or, separately pass the ice cream and compote in two large bowls. Serve immediately.

Strawberries and domestic blueberries are in the “dirty dozen”, and you can get PG points for knowing and for buying organic.

To further explore the notion that this dessert is healthy, I decided to research which vitamins the berries have and why they’re good for you and your family:

Strawberries:
• One cup contains over 100 mg of Vitamin C, necessary for immune system function and strong connective tissue; Calcium, for strong bones; and Magnesium, good for your heart and may protect against some diseases.
Blueberries:
• One cup of blueberries will also give you Vitamin C, a little less than strawberries, but blueberries have fewer calories. They also contain Lutein, important for healthy vision.
Raspberries:
• Have the least amount of calories of the three, and also contain Lutein.

→ Did you know that the pigments that give berries their gorgeous blue and red colors are also good for you? The phytochemicals and flavonoids in them can potentially help prevent certain forms of cancer, and the ones in blueberries may help prevent bladder infections.

Phytochemicals? Flavonoids? Back to researching….

Phytochemicals are natural chemicals in fruits, veggies, nuts, and legumes that positively affect your health. Flavonoids, found in colorful skins of fruits and veggies may work as antioxidants.

Antioxidants protect the cells in your body from “oxidative” damage. As the body uses oxygen, by-products known as “free-radicals” can cause damage to cells. Antioxidants, like the ones in blueberries, are known to repair these free-radicals.

Phew, I need some ice cream after that.

Emily chimed in on how desserts fit into her healthy, practical lifestyle:

Too many people falsely believe that you have to sacrifice desserts to be healthy and physically fit. But the key is moderation, not abstention. Avoid processed foods and enjoy an occasional dessert. I eat well and exercise to stay healthy but also because I want to be able to eat desserts.

You can visit Emily’s website here, check out her books here, and her blog here.

Buy some organic fruit, organic juice, enjoy with a nice bottle of eco-friendly wine, there are PG points for all of that.

News Picks:

Think Green and Young: Children’s clothing and toy store Area Kids has a fabulous collection of eco-friendly duds for your little ones. The store is in Brooklyn, but offers products online. You shouldn’t have to sacrifice the “style” part of your “green lifestyle.”

Calling all Green Entrepreneurs: YouGoods is a design contest that challenges you to submit a product idea that is “practical, unique, and eco-friendly.” Act quickly, submissions are due on the 19th!

Are Chemicals Speeding up Your Daughter’s Childhood? There has been much talk in the news lately about exposure to chemicals such as BPA disrupting girls’ hormones. Hopefully the Safe Chemicals Act and the Toxic Chemicals Safety Act will help to put a stop on this disturbing trend. Click here to get PG points for your chemical free-cleaning.

Mulit-Media Pick:

Save That Stuff can help your business with its recycling needs by providing cost-effective alternatives to traditional waste disposal. See the video below for astonishing visuals of all the waste they recycle! The video is a little long, but everything worth seeing is in the first three minutes. Get PG points for recycling your stuff. Enjoy!

New and Cool Pick:

No more shoving a sponge into your Klean Kanteen: This cool brush made from recyclable materials will save you some serious time and effort. It’s hard to clean sticky drinks out of your eco-friendly reusable water bottle (my water STILL tasted like apple juice for at least three re-fillings), but this nifty brush makes it a breeze. It cleans both the inside and the outside at the same time.

ThredUP is a kids’ clothing swap site that lets parents exchange boxes of outgrown clothing for ones that fit, all in the convenience of your own home. Public relations and Marketing director Karen Fein opened up to PG about how the ingenious “Netflix for kids’ clothing” idea got started — and, of course, about what steps she takes to live a greener life!

How did you guys come up with this brilliant idea?

Founders James Reinhart and Oliver Lubin realized there wasn’t an efficient way to exchange clothing online. All of the outlets available to exchange clothing, such as Ebay, consignment shopping, and craigslist were just really time-consuming and inefficient. When a child outgrows one shirt, they outgrow their entire wardrobe, and if you think about putting all of that on Ebay, a parent has to list all of the items, take pictures of them, set the biddings, monitor the auctions, etc. Parents just do not have the time to do this every six months. The goal was to create an easy way for parents to exchange outgrown clothing for clothes that fit.

How did ThredUp get started, and what did people think?

The site originally started as a men’s and women’s shirt-swapping site. There were a lot of people that really loved it, but it was more of a hobby than a necessity. We realized we could use this same concept for kids to help families cut down on waste and consumption and we were shocked at the response we got! We found that because nothing like this had existed before, people were really waiting for it. People were really excited to share ThredUP with their friends and family, because it’s such an easy way to save time, money and help the environment.

Speaking of the environment, on your website you discuss teaching kids the importance of green living by creating a “thredbank”, can you explain this a little?

If you have an interest in helping your children learn about the importance of sustainable living, ThredUP can help with that. By telling your kids to set aside clothes when they outgrow them, they soon realize that these clothes can be exchanged for “new gifts,” or clothes that fit them. It reinforces the fact that you don’t always need to buy new things, you don’t always need to throw out old things, and that used clothing has value. We encourage parents to get their kids involved in the process and have them create their own “thredbank” of outgrown clothes. It can feel like Christmas morning to kids to get a box of new clothing completely for them, and they can feel proud that they took part in that exchange.

Ok, we want to ask, how green are you?

Our company is incredibly green. Personally, I take all of those simple green steps that everyone should take, like using a thermos instead of a water bottle, turning your water off when brushing your teeth, recycling always, or making sure to turn the lights out. From a clothing aspect, I take part in swap parties and shop at consignment stores. I use the options that are out there for adults right now, to promote sharing what we already have in order to cut down on waste and consumption, rather than shopping for something new and throwing clothes away. (Which I would never do.)

Now that you’ve told us some of your preferred green actions, we’re always curious to know what your least favorite green action taken you’ve taken is, or something you’re working on?

I haven’t quite made the transition to washing my clothes in cold water.

What more do you want to know about being green?

I think that for most people the main reasons they don’t take certain green steps is because they’re not necessarily convenient. It’s always good to learn about ways to go green that are not only incredibly easy, but can also save time and money. If you have those extra benefits, why not take the green option, and why not cut down on waste?

We couldn’t agree more! One last question, is there any way that you track the things you do everyday to be eco-friendly?

Not me personally, but ThredUP is about to start tracking how much waste we are saving in terms of kid’s clothing. We’re making an assumption that for every box of kid’s clothes, half of that box would normally have been thrown out and ended up in a landfill. 20 billion pounds of clothing and textiles end up in U.S. landfills every year, and every 3-6 months kids outgrow their clothing, making it a large part of that statistic.

Get PG “stuff” points for using ThredUP! Get five points for getting used clothing with this action, and get another five points for giving away/selling used clothing with this action.

You can find out more information and start swapping on ThredUP here.
Follow ThredUP on Twitter @ thredUP_Kids .

Annie Leonard

Can I tell you, I love my Pantene Pro V. Of the dozen or so personal care products I use everyday, it’s the one I can’t live without. Says it gives my dull hair “the ultimate cool shine.”  How does it do that?

I was wondering that, while I was lathering it into my hair one day, so I read the ingredients right here: Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Tetrasodium EDTA, Methyl–iso–thiazo–linone… What is this stuff?

I took this list to some scientists who know how to read it. Turns out my Pantene contains a chemical linked to cancer.  And lots of other products in my bathroom from sunscreen to lipstick and even baby shampoo also contain chemicals linked to cancer or other problems like learning disabilities, asthma and even damaged sperm. Like most parents, I try to keep my family safe but now I find out my bathroom is a minefield of toxins. What are we supposed to do?

So begins Annie Leonard’s newest film, The Story of Cosmetics. Like its viral-hit predecessor, The Story of Stuff, it promises to illuminate a few minds – this time on the subject of the need for regulation of the $50 billion beauty industry.

Last week we caught up with Annie Leonard’s collaborator and Berkeley neighbor, Stacy Malkan. She’s the communications leader for the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics and the author of Not Just a Pretty Face. Stacy told us more about the film, the passion behind it, the potential for improving the nation’s regulations on the stuff we put on our bodies, hair, and faces – and how she became interested in make-up in the first place.

I grew up in Lynn, Massachusetts, half a mile from the biggest incinerator in the state. I was crazy about make-up. We never thought about chemicals in cosmetics. At the same time, when I got to high school some of the kids in my class were developing health issues. Some of them had cancer. Later, others had infertility problems. But we didn’t talk about it in those days.

When I graduated from college I worked for a newspaper and covered pesticides applied to grass near a bike path that was heavily used by kids and pets. I began to realize the negative health effects of chemicals, and the fact that often we use chemicals without thinking of the consequences.

My next job was with Health Care Without Harm, where I learned about phthalates. Weird word, I know. Scientists have known about problems with testosterone and phthalates for years – hundreds of animal studies have shown defects to the male reproductive system, especially in the womb. Turns out most hospitals were using phthalates in the plastic of IV bags and tubing. It leeches right out of the bag and into the patient. Most hospitals have made progress since then.

In 2000 the CDC conducted a large bio-monitoring study of blood and urine and found phthalates in every single person they tested. Women of childbearing age had the highest incidence? Why? Because they were in cosmetics. We tested a bunch of body-care products at a lab and found phthalates in more than 70% of them, but the chemicals weren’t listed on labels. After that, cosmetics started to be tested for dangerous ingredients. At this time, Jane Houlihan initiated Skin Deep at the Environmental Working Group. This is the best source for cosmetic safety reviews in the world, the largest database of chemicals, in 60,000 products, gathered from the fifty leading government and academic databases in the world.

With the launch of the film on July 21, Congress announced the Safe Cosmetics Act legislation [on July 20]. This is a real chance to overhaul completely outdated regulations that affect so many people. Johnson & Johnson recently celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of their famous baby shampoo and they said, ‘We’re using the same chemical formulation we used fifty years ago!’ I saw that and I said, ‘That is not a plus! How many huge scientific discoveries have been made on chemicals in the past half century? Why are we still putting carcinogens into baby shampoo?’

Interested in knowing more? Click here to watch The Story of Cosmetics (free, 7 mins.). Afterwards, you might feel like making a change or two in the personal-care products you and your family use. Practically Green can help you figure it out! You’ll find clear suggestions on what to do and why it’s important, from switching to a safe and effective sunscreen to using all-natural floss – and just about everything in between. We have thirty-three personal-care actions for you to consider – and yes, switching to all-natural baby shampoo is one of them.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a three-minute video might be worth, well, a bazillion. If you’re interested in the dangerous chemicals that might be in your house—and what you can do to get rid of them—we suggest watching this deceptively brief film. Thanks to Healthy Child Healthy World, 3:33 minutes later you‘ll have a better understanding of how and why to protect yourself and your family from toxic ingredients in many seemingly harmless household products.

We mentioned the video when it was released, in February, and we still love it and think it deserves a wider viewership. So we caught up with the Program Director at Healthy Child Healthy World, Mandy Geisler.

We created the video internally, as an intro for one of our fundraisers. People really loved it. It’s a great piece to raise more awareness very quickly, in a creative, touching, and also strong way. So we made a website around it to do a bigger push and launch.
We like to offer solutions. We don’t want to scare people, but we do want to educate them on toxins and teach them about the steps they can take that lead to prevention. We have a “5 Easy Steps” program. Manage pests properly, use non-toxic products, clean up indoor air, eat healthy, be wise with plastics. Even if you just take one of those steps you’re doing something great. You can get comfortable with that one and then move on.
One of our best programs is called Healthy Home parties. This year we’re close to sending out 1,500 party kits! People are having parties at their houses to share information and ideas on safe products.

The Healthy Child Healthy World website is a comprehensive resource for further research; e.g., on diseases and conditions (allergies, asthma, autism, cancer among them), chemical profiles from aspartame to xylenes, and relevant legislation such as the Safe Chemicals Act.

Don’t forget to visit Practically Green.com to take the Green Quiz and decide on healthy actions for yourself and your family! Switch to all-natural dish-soap, stop using treated cotton fem-care, wear pure jammies or any of the dozens of other healthy actions on Practically Green, and you’ll get points when you do!

Lisa Borden is a mom of three who lives in Toronto. She runs a small, full-service marketing and design firm in Toronto with a focus on “Eco-logical Services.” Lisa says she spends 70% of her work day on pro bono stuff, for instance this guide to “Eating on the Go.”

She says, “My life and my work, it’s impossible to separate the two. There’s rampant green washing out there. I drive a minivan, I have three kids. Sometimes I drive five kids to karate after school. I don’t apologize for this. I’ll bike. We grow vegetables in our front yard. I can do certain things.”

We caught up with Lisa recently and she told us the story of how she became eco-aware:

I had my second child, a daughter. She had a problem with her skin. I got advice from my father, who is a physician, and from the pediatrician, and I also went to a dermatologist who gave me some medicine. I tried it, and it worked. I thought, Wait. Here are serious ointments to be putting on this teeny little thing. This can’t be right: I apply toxic ointment and the rash goes away, it all clears up. But when I stop applying it, she breaks out. I began to feel that I was keeping the toxins locked in this little body.

Meanwhile, I was breastfeeding. I made my own organic baby food. It seemed like the intelligent thing to do. I cleaned the kids’ highchairs with Lysol, with these single wipes. I thought this was so smart! Efficient!  But she still wasn’t getting any better.

Lisa describes her a-ha moment:

So now I started to seriously look into what was in these things I was using in the house. I looked at every single product we used. I thought, I’m up for anything for these children, for my family. There was no amount of money, time, or effort I wouldn’t spend. So I took all those chemicals out of my house. My husband thought I was crazy. My father, same thing. But within a week, my daughter’s skin was clearer. I realized that their bathtub was rinsed out with chemicals. Basically I was having them sit in a warm chemical cocktail every night.

It’s amazing, because if I could be making such horrid errors — me, who is an obsessive researcher, whose friends make fun of her for that — then what about everyone else, people who might not have the time or inclination? Here I was freezing breast milk in a bag with BPA in it, and then putting it into a bottle with BPA. If I was making these errors…. So: I stopped everything. I lost a lot of my business and income stream. I was young enough, and on fire enough — on a business level this was not too good, but I couldn’t do things the same way any more. I watched the success of my daughter. My father and the pediatrician said, you can’t argue with success.

I reasoned that there was no down side – I’m saving time, because I can be cleaning the sink and answer the phone without worrying about spilling something dangerous. I’m saving energy. I’m saving my health and my family’s health. Saving our indoor air quality. And I’m saving the planet! This chain of events was so exciting to me!

You can see Lisa’s video bio and follow her on Twitter @lisaborden

We admire our friend Heather’s systematic/bordering-on-ruthless cleaning out of her cosmetics cabinet so much that we wrote about it several weeks ago. Long story short, Heather was struck when her beloved husband casually inquired (from behind his newspaper) whether she’d ever considered the potentially harmful ingredients in her make-up and skin care collection, which is apparently extensive. Look closely at this photo to see the numerical ratings system that she developed:

Not everyone takes such an organized (okay, draconian) approach when they shift to all-natural cosmetics. At Practically Green we totally understand that everyone will want to make changes at their own pace, one tube at a time if they wish, and over a period of years if that suits them — and not because anyone beat them around the head about it.

That said, we appreciate it when a major retail outlet lends a hand. It can be very frustrating to try to evaluate all those ingredients on product labels, in their 4-point-font size. As we say in the Practically Green Personal-Care Actions section, the best advice may be to stay away from anything with a long unpronounceable name, such as methylparaben or sodium laureth sulfate.

When it comes to personal care items like toothpaste and body lotion, claims like “made with organic ingredients” or “authentically organic” can flummox even the greenest consumer. No federal agency polices organic claims for personal care items — at least not yet — so manufacturers have been able to use these customer-pleasing terms loosely and liberally.  (The New York Times)

Whole Foods is part of the solution to this predicament. With stores in 39 states, Canada, and the UK, the Whole Foods “Whole Body” section is the most profitable area of this retail operation. Last month, we were happy to hear that Whole Foods would demand stringent standards for third-party organic verification by June 1, 2011. That sounds like fair notice to us.

And we were deighted to read this story in today’s New York Times, which describes how Whole Foods plans to execute on its promise. Excerpts:

As of June 1, 2011, any products that make organic claims and don’t get the certification will be removed from the shelves of Whole Foods stores. (The company will continue to carry nonorganic products as long as they don’t make organic claims.)

“We’re trying to make it so that our customers don’t have to switch standards and expectations when they cross from grocery into the body care aisle,” said Joe Dickson, the Whole Foods quality standards coordinator.

The policy, announced June 18, is already shaking things up among companies that make — or claim to make — organic beauty items. Many of these companies rely on Whole Foods for the majority of their sales, so the new rule will have broad repercussions.

“People aren’t going to have two labels in the market, one for Whole Foods and one for everyone else,” said David Bronner, president of Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps, a line of products (most of them soaps) sold in Whole Foods and certified as organic by the Agriculture Department. As a result, he said, the Whole Foods policy could become the de facto standard.

“Right now we’re being drowned out by all these cheaters,” Mr. Bronner said. “But this has the potential to be a game changer.”

Dr. Bronner Products

The Times credits blogger OrganicMania for publicizing the issue, in her recent post about her baby’s first real haircut. Organic Mania is one of our favorite blogs. Bravo to OrganicMania and its founder, Lynn Anne Miller, for helping us and everyone else “cut through the hype and figure out when it makes sense to lay out the big bucks for organic and green purchases.”

The dream scenario for organic activists is that the Whole Foods policy will prompt companies to revamp their formulas. But the reality is that, for now at least, many will simply change their labels.

Such is the case at Aubrey Organics, a 45-year-old company that makes everything from deodorant to dog shampoo. While many of its products have already earned organic certification, others have not — and cannot with their current formulation.

“There are just certain things that our raw-materials manufacturers haven’t figured out how to make organic yet,” said Curt Valva, general manager of Aubrey Organics, referring mostly to abrasive soaps and cleansers.

Rather than compromise the strength of its products, the company is instead creating a second brand known simply as Aubrey. “That’s what everyone calls us anyway,” Mr. Valva said. The new brand — without the organic claim — will be available at Whole Foods and alongside Aubrey Organics.

Ms. Miller, the blogger, said that branding changes like this will only sow more confusion. In an ideal world, she said, ‘Mom just needs to look for a trusted seal. If it’s there, it’s organic. If not, it’s not.’

Whole Foods Flagship store in Austin, Texas

We focus on solutions at Practically Green – and not on lousy news — but this week, an astounding alert about lead in fruit juices and packaged fruit simply won’t go away. We share it with a dismal sensation: how could juices labeled organic, and sold at Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, Safeway, and other grocery stores we trust, possibly be harmful?

We don’t know the answer to that question, yet, but we’re glad that the Environmental Law Foundation is on the job. In case you’re not familiar with the ELF, here’s its mission:

The environment is the place where we live, work and play. Given accurate and complete information, and the opportunity to make a choice, people will choose products or actions which improve or do not degrade the environment. However, not everyone in our society has a choice about the quality of his or her environment. Those who most need the Environmental Law Foundation’s resources are those who lack choice and lack access to the political and economic power that ensures choice.

On July 9, the ELF filed a pre-suit complaint against dozens of fruit-juice and packaged-fruit companies:

“Notices of Violation of California Proposition 65 Toxics Right to Know law, alleging the toxic chemical lead was found in a variety of children’s and baby foods.  The specific food categories included apple juice, grape juice, packaged pears and peaches (including baby food), and fruit cocktail.”

Please scroll to the end for the full list of juices and fruits that didn’t make the grade. The ELF website includes the full story, press release and useful links:

California Department of Health, Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Branch,www.cdph.ca.gov/programs/CLPPB/Pages/FAQ-CLPPB.aspx

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Why not change the blood lead level of concern at this time?” (June 1, 2009), http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/lead/policy/changeBLL.htm

Toxicological Profile for Lead, U.S. Department Of Health And Human Services, Public  Health Service, Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, 2007, http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxprofiles/tp13.htm

We thought the answer to this FAQ would be especially helpful to Practically Green blog readers:

Q. Sometimes my child’s lunch has 3 different items that are from your list!  What should I do?

A. The most important step you can take is to become informed.  Find out about the levels of lead in the fruits, juices and other items your child consumes regularly…. Decide for yourself and your family whether there are more protective alternatives you can choose.  Stay informed and support efforts to clean up our food supply.  And remember, the American Academy of Pediatrics has long recommended placing limits on the amount of juice consumed by children.

The list of the good and the not as good: http://www.envirolaw.org/documents/ProductsTestedforLeadFINAL.pdf

If you have further information or perspective on this, please comment. Thank you.

We’re huge fans of Alexandra Zissu and fascinated to be having a conversation with her about conscious green living. Zissu lives in New York City with her family. She is a writer, editor, speaker, a self-described green-proofer and the author of The Conscious Kitchen (2010) and The Complete Organic Pregnancy (2006). She’s expecting “twins” in 2011: two books are due out – one with Jeffrey Hollender, who is the co-founder of Seventh Generation; and the other with her grass-fed and organic butcher. Her “Ask an Organic Mom” column is featured on TheDailyGreen.com.

I go around to talk about The Conscious Kitchen, and sometimes a total newbie will say, ‘I can’t do this, it’s too much.’ My advice is, take a few first steps.

To begin, learn a little bit. That’s what my book is for. It’s small, to fit in your purse, to take with you when you shop. Conscious means being aware.

Then, open your cabinets. What’s in there? Where’s it from? Peru? Argentina? What are the ingredients? Read labels! I find them fascinating. I love going into supermarkets to read labels. I can’t believe some of this stuff is actually food.

Next, look in your fridge to see what you have in there. After all, you brought that there! Would you prefer to have something else? You know, it’s not so easy to switch out your couches and mattresses, but it is really pretty easy to change your food. Make a list of what you want to have in your kitchen. Find out where you can go to get it easily. Obviously we don’t want to make fifteen different shopping trips, we’re all busy. But chances are you have a good market near you. You can decide to change Today! I find food is very empowering. [For Zissu’s current thinking on choosing meat, see her recent post at www.dinneralovestory.com]

From there, as long as you’re in the kitchen, why not look under the kitchen sink?! I mean, really! You can drastically improve your exposure, to toxins, instantly, by using safe and healthy products for cleaning your house. Why not? The green products cost exactly the same, they work just as well! Seventh Generation is great, they even have a disinfectant now. There are many other brands to choose from – or you can make your own! Then your kids can help you clean! My four year-old daughter just loves to clean the glass table top.

On indoor air pollution:

It’s hard to be up in arms about something that’s invisible. The oil spill is so visual, and that’s one reason people are so angry about it. But there are things spilling and gushing out in our houses, too! I know that’s a terrifying thought. It’s a huge, huge problem. But again, nobody put those products there except you! It’s amazing — we are willing to spend our hard-earned dollars on these harmful products, we bring them into our homes, and then they pollute us — and our families. I think it’s a no-brainer: simply replace those products.

Other easy things to do – this one is free. I love things that are free. Take off your shoes! It’s the personal-hygiene equivalent of washing your hands. Simply remove your shoes when you come in the house. If you live in the country, you could be carrying in pesticides and dirt; if you live in the city, you could be bringing pesticides and dirt, and also things like car-exhaust residue. I just read that Brooklyn, New York, has the second-highest pesticide content outdoors of all American cities — second only to LA. It’s because of all the treatment to get rid of roaches and rats. So just do it, it’s free: Take off your shoes.

Visit Practically Green to switch to all-natural cleaning products, choose organic food, or learn more about the “dirty dozen.” You can even get points for taking off your shoes!

And do visit http://www.alexandrazissu.com/, friend Alexandra on Facebook  at http://www.facebook.com/alexandrazissu, and tweet with her @ alexandrazissu

Are you a guinea pig?

Sometimes it feels that way. Sometimes it seems we have to be super vigilant about every single thing we put into our mouths or onto our skin – or onto our lawns, or into our water. Take atrazine, a widely used herbicide. “Low-level exposure to it can turn male frogs into functional females,” according to the Environmental Defense Fund. Sweet.

Frying pans, baby bottles, lightbulbs, stain-resistant sofas, painted windowsills, even tampons – dangerous chemicals lurk in just about every product you can think of.

To the rescue: EDF and a team of like-minded, influential partners have formed the Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families coalition, “a nationwide effort to pass smart federal policies that protect us from toxic chemicals.” The initiative targets a thirty-year-old law, “the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) of 1976, which does not adequately protect Americans from toxic chemicals.”

The Safer Chemicals Healthy Families Health Report details the serious illnesses and conditions now thought to be attributed to chemicals:

Much has changed since TSCA became law more than 30 years ago. Scientists have developed a more refined understanding of how some chemicals can cause and contribute to serious illness, including cancer, reproductive and developmental disorders, neurologic diseases, and asthma.

Chronic disease is on the rise

More than 30 years of environmental health studies have led to a growing consensus that chemicals are playing a role in the incidence and prevalence of many diseases and disorders in our country, including:

Leukemia, brain cancer, and other childhood cancers, which have increased by more than 20% since 1975.[2]

Breast cancer, which went up by 40% between 1973 and 1998.[3] While breast cancer rates have declined since 2003, a woman’s lifetime risk of breast cancer is now one in eight, up from one in ten in 1973.[4]

Asthma, which approximately doubled in prevalence between 1980 and 1995 and has stayed at the elevated rate.[5][6]

Difficulty in conceiving and maintaining a pregnancy affected 40% more women in 2002 than in 1982. The incidence of reported difficulty has almost doubled in younger women, ages 18–25.[7][8][9]

The birth defect resulting in undescended testes, which has increased 200% between 1970 and 1993.[10]

Autism, the diagnosis of which has increased more than 10 times in the last 15 years.[11]

To find out more, please visit: http://notaguineapig.org/

And for dozens of ways to curb exposure to chemicals in your life, visit Practically Green. You’ll sleep a little better.

News Picks:

40 Uses for Baking Soda: Baking soda is cheap and free of toxic chemicals, so put it to use in multiple ways! We’ve always used it in the fridge to neutralize odors: why not use it to make homemade mouthwash!

Best Baby Bike Seats: The first day of summer is Monday, June 21st! Get outside and pedal off with your little one close by you in these stylish and convenient seats….

4 Kid-safe Bug Repellents: Everyone hates getting bitten, but we don’t want to spray ourselves (or our kids!) with harmful chemicals. These options are natural & organic.

Multimedia Pick:
Planet Green’s The Fabulous Beekman Boys: Discovery’s Planet Green aired this hilarious show this week. It had us in tears, it is so funny! Who knew city boys and goats could mix?

The Fabulous Beekman Boys from mike goubeaux on Vimeo.

New and Cool Pick:
Eco-Friendly Candles: Melo candles are made of soy and fragranced with essential oils, and they are hand-poured into unique containers. Our favorite is the Field Grass scent in a vintage glass.

Photo Credit: http://www.etsy.com/listing/49065057/large-vintage-soy-candle-field-grass

I love being outside – all year round: hiking, biking, even just walking around town. During summer, spending late afternoons on the beach and cruising in a convertible are among my favorite activities….

As a result, I take my sunscreen very seriously. All my friends know it. If I’m not encouraging them to hydrate, then I’m reminding them to apply – and reapply! However, now that I have kids, my husband and friends are getting burned more often … I’m so focused on the kids that I’m forgetting to help “protect” all others!!

When choosing sunscreen, my m.o. is to:

– choose a high SPF (30 or higher for optimum protection from skin-burning UVB rays).  Even though experts say there is little incremental difference in sun blockage after SPF 50, I do use higher SPFs (up to 70/80) for my face and chest area … every little bit helps!

– read labels for “broad spectrum” coverage and ingredients that experts/dermatologists say provide the best UVA protection (UVA rays penetrate into the dermis and can cause premature aging, and much worse!).  I look for natural, physical blockers such zinc oxide and titanium dioxide, paired with chemical blockers such as avobenzone and mexoryl.  (Yes, the “very green” may want to avoid the chemical ingredients, but I prefer the look and feel of the “mixed” formulas and hate the blue-white sheen the purely natural blockers can leave behind.

– look for antioxidant ingredients (such as Vitamins C and E, white or green tea).  These are a “bonus” if you can find them, as I have seen studies that show antioxidants can help calm inflammation from the sun and help boost the body’s defenses against oxidative damage.

– In the past, I preferred PABA-free sunscreens, but I think most are PABA-free these days.

I have found reading EWG’s website and sunscreen report to be useful in educating myself about the many inherent category issues, but I do not just take their ratings at face value.  There are so many complexities when it comes to sunscreen science and studies.  I’m always amazed how multiple, seemingly-valid scientific studies can contradict each other! Ugh. It’s hard to know what studies or claims to trust these days. And it is very frustrating that the FDA hasn’t addressed this sooner, at least for the sake of clearing up consumer confusion and driving some consistency in claims and labeling.

My advice to moms:

– stay out of the sun in the height of the day, and use beach umbrellas, etc., to create shade when on the beach.

– cover up (yourself and the kids) with hats and clothes with built-in sun protection.  (My kids wear long sleeve “rash guard” shirts on the beach except when it is stifling hot.)

– when choosing sunscreen for the kids, be super-prudent and stick to the natural/physical blockers such as zinc oxide and titanium dioxide.

– always apply A LOT of product as that helps ensure proper protection, and reapply often (every 2-3 hours), even if the sunscreen says it’s sweat/waterproof.

– even when not on the beach, use a daily moisturizer with UVA/UVB protection, but don’t use it at night, too … no need to load on unnecessary ingredients when there is no sun to be protected from.

At the beach

We think Tracy’s advice is smart and practical. At Practically Green we offer additional info on how to be safe in the sun. Here are some more good resources to help you find the right sunscreen for you and your family:

Conscious Consumer:  12 safe and effective sunscreens

American Academy of Dermatology

Skin Cancer Foundation

Have you found a good all-natural sunscreen?  Let us know!

New Picks:

Milk from Grass-fed Cows Is Better for Your Heart: A report from the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition has found that there are higher levels of unsaturated fats (which are good for your heart) in the milk from pasture-grazing dairy cows than in the milk from grain-fed cows. Wow, more humane for the cows and the people!

12 Healthy BBQ Tips: The Daily Green helps kick-off summer BBQ-ing season with in-depth and relevant tips on how to cook healthier and happier on the grill. We can’t wait for our next cookout!

5 Toxins Found in Most Facial Moisturizers: Before you buy a new face cream, it might be worth it to read the ingredients label. Remember, your skin is your largest organ–treat it well!

Multimedia Link:
Tips from Toxic America: This week, CNN aired a series featuring Dr. Sanjay Gupta, who reported on the many different ways toxins are being exposed to Americans. Here are some great tips from the show that can help you reduce the amount of toxins in your home.

New and Cool Pick:
Envirocycle’s New Mini Composter: We just found Envirocycle’s newly designed compact composter and wish it was on our porches! Perfect for urban composting, this cute composter holds 17 gallons and costs a little less than the bigger alternatives.

News Picks:

5 Natural Summertime First-Aid Solutions: Whether it is sunburn or bee stings, these natural remedies will help sooth your summer ailments without loading on all the toxins. (Lauren here: I have tried the aloe plant remedy and it really works!)

Pesticides Linked to ADHD: A study shows there may be a possible link between pesticide exposure through consumption, inhalation or poor water quality and the occurance of attention-deficit disorder in children. Scary! The “persuasiveness” of a link makes us want to switch to organics for life…

Eco-friendly and Efficient Laundry Tricks: Okay, you may already use the Seventh Generation Natural Laundry Detergent but these tips are easy and cheap, so why not try them?

Multimedia Clip:
We keep hearing great things about the Slow Food Movement which promotes “good, clean and fair food” and this video from the President of Slow Food International (Carlo Petrini) does a great job summing up why it is important. Plus, we love his humor and Italian accent!

New and Cool Pick:
Eco-Friendly Office Supplies: Lexon Design’s new line of eco-office supplies are so cute and still very functional. Maybe a great Father’s Day gift? Or maybe a nice splurge for yourself? We think so…

Photo Credit: http://inhabitat.com/2010/05/17/lexons-renewable-energy-office-products-made-from-bamboo/

Crispy, crunchy, chewy, slightly sugary, wholesome and flavorful…

Last Tuesday, I was in granola heaven. Sarah and I (the official PG Taste-Testers. Jealous, I know…) tried fabulous granola made by Solange Voss, owner of Gappy’s Granola. Gappy’s Granola has two main granola recipes, Original and Dark Chocolate, which are available as loose granola or convenient bars. Sarah and I tried both .

The Original is a hearty recipe of organic rolled oats, almonds, dried cranberries, organic coconut, organic pumpkin seeds, organic golden flax seeds, white sesame seeds, peanut butter, apple cider, brown sugar, vegetable oil, vanilla, cinnamon, and sea salt.

The verdict…
– Sarah: “It is so savory. You can really taste all the unique flavors. The salt is subtle but it complements the almonds and pumpkin seeds. This is my favorite.”

– Me: “Wow, the cranberries really stick out to me in this recipe. They are still juicy and full of flavor. I can taste the vanilla and subtle sweetness of brown sugar and apple cider. It is more of an earthy snack than the chocolate I imagine.”

The Dark Chocolate recipe has the same ingredients as the Original recipe but with a delicious addition of bittersweet chocolate chips (82% cocoa mass, cocoa butter, sugar lethicin, natural vanilla).

The verdict…
– Sarah: “Ohh, this is more of a sweet treat to me. Almost like a dessert snack. I think the cranberries stand out more to me in this recipe. I would put this on ice cream!”

– Me: “O wow, the chocolate is so good. Since the almonds are kept whole for these granola recipes, sometimes I get a bite of a chocolate-covered almond. Soo good, this is my favorite.”


I loved the granola so much that I arranged an interview with Solange to get all the details. I learned that Gappy’s was created out of the necessity to feed her family a healthy snack, breakfast or finger food on-the-go. Solange believes that “necessity is the mother of invention” and that is the creative viewpoint behind her company. Growing up in New Hampshire, Solange’s parents owned their own restaurant that had simple, fresh food and ingredients from their family garden. (I was jealous of this, it is kind of my dream.) This philosophy of eating ‘whole foods’ was important to her when she started her own family and her company.

I asked “Why granola?”: “For me, granola was a hard healthy product to find. When the national financial situation turned the way it did, I still wanted to work but in a field that was valuable to my family. We love granola and we had a family recipe, so I figured why not that? Then things just fell into place; my mother did the logo sketch, my friend printed the labels for me, and it was never about being ‘gourmet’ it was about being real…”

“Who is Gappy?”: “My daughter tried to say ‘Grammy’ when she was learning to speak and it came out ‘Gappy’ and it just stuck.”

“Are you playing around with any other recipes?”: ”Yes, with recipes without honey and brown sugar for people who are affected by diabetes or sugary foods in general. It won’t work for bars because I would be using an apple-cider reduction and the honey is what makes the bars stay in their shape.”


“Have you always been green?”: “I was fortunate to be raised with reverence for the environment. My family was green before it was trendy — living in a rural community, using minimal electricity, no TV. We had animals, we composted, canned, and preserved. Green was second nature to me, and like all green people, I am constantly trying to be more green.”

“What is your favorite of the two main recipes?”: “Oh my gosh, it’s the chocolate! Chocolate is one of nature’s most fabulous gifts and when it is in granola, it’s so good.”

And by the way, Gappy’s Granola can be eaten in more ways than just by the heaping handful. Try the Original over yogurt or cereal or the Dark Chocolate over ice cream. And both would be delicious with just a dash of milk I imagine. To find out where to buy Gappy’s in the MA and NH area, click here… For other parts of the country, order it online here.

Gappy’s doesn’t make a nut-free and sesame-free option that would be safe for people with severe allergies like Susan’s son, but I found a company called Jake Bakes. I haven’t tried any of their products (and it will take a lot to even come close to Gappy’s), but it is nice to know there are options out there.

What are your favorite ways to eat granola? Have you tried Gappy’s? Have you heard of any other nut-free organic options?

On Friday evening, I went to opening of the Down2Earth Sustainable Living Expo at Boston’s Hynes Convention Center. It was a true carnival of green, and because I went to the opening, there was a whole lot of tasty natural & organic food to boot!  If you haven’t tried Boloco’s Buffalo Chicken wrap, I highly recommend it (and they are DineGreen certified).  I also chowed on Taza chocolate, some tasty Chipotle guacamole & chips, and some amazing gnocchi from the Centre Street Cafe in Jamaica Plain.  I do think my favorite part of living green is the food.  It’s just so darn good!

The rest of the exhibitors were all over the spectrum of green—from gardening & landscape purveyors to window/solar/deep energy retrofit providers to diaper services, electric bikes & Zipcars.  It was extremely educational, whether you are just interested in learning a little more about the whole green thing or Super Green.  Here are three things I walked away thinking,  ”GREAT IDEA”.

1.  Seventh Generation’s new partnership with Clean Well for botanical disinfecting sprays & wipes.  We switched to Clean Well for hand sanitizing/flu season as soon as I read about the dangers of Triclosan, a main ingredient in many anti-bacterial products, back in 2007 as well as the concerns about overuse of anti-bacterials causing greater drug resistant bacteria.  Just last week, the FDA has decided to review the safety of the use of triclosan in consumer products. Clean Well uses thyme oil—and now, so do the multi-purpose cleaners for Seventh Generation.

2.  If there is anyone in my family who has been neglected (or escaped scott free) my efforts to “go green”, it’s our dog. That’s why I was very happy to stumble upon Lucky Dog Organics.  Whether it’s a Zogoflex toy made of recycled and completely safe materials or organic treats, they offer lots of options to create an eco-friendly life for your four-legged friends and an online store so anyone, anywhere can go green for their pets.

3.  Diaper Lab.  OK, admittedly, I am still in the target market as our 2 1/2  year old shows absolutely no inclination to leave behind her “g” diapers and start using the toilet.  But I decided at a bare minimum that we were switching to pull ups.  But gDiapers doesn’t make pull ups.  OH NO…now what?!  Well, fortunately, the DiaperLab people have a big selection of training pants/pull ups and— as I was totally undecided at the show–an online store.  Now I am just facing the reality that we caved last week into Dora pull-ups—and there is no Dora on the cloth version.  I can already hear the howls of protest….

So all this seems great, right?  Interestingly, I ran into one vendor that I’m torn on and if anyone has any ideas—let me know.  Canus Goatmilk skincare.  I decided the other day that I’m ditching my bottle of organic bodywash and going back to a bar of soap.  Less plastic, hopefully cheaper, and maybe some interesting new shapes & smells.  But what to get?  I was not anticipating a cute goat to capture my attention, but they were giving away free bars so I took one.  I have used it for 3 days.  I love it.  (Well, mostly.  I definitely need the fragrance free option next time. It is a very, umm, aromatic, fabulous soap).   There is something to that goat and it’s milk—my skin is softer and smoother than it’s been in months. They have a line for kid’s and dogs too.  All products are paraben-free, phosphate-free, and biodegradable and it scores a 9.5/10 in health from the Good Guide.  I thought all was good.  Then I went to write this and checked in this time with the SkinDeep Cosmetic Database.  Uh Oh.  It’s not so great.  A 4/10 or moderate hazard.    I think it’s due to the DMDM Hydantoin, a preservative in the formaldehyde family, that is considered an “ingredient of concern”.  As a result, I think I’m ditching it.  But if anyone knows more than I do, I’m all ears….

And the moral of that part of the review is that even at an expo on green living—you still can’t assume that everything meets your definition of “green”….

Photo Credit:  John Stammers

News Picks:

5 BPA-free, Eco-Friendly Baby Bottles: Protect your baby by using safe and stylish non-toxic bottles.

How To Build a Rain Barrel: Spring is here! Creating a rain barrel to collect those precious rain drops is a smart money/water saving strategy.

Top 7 Eco-Friendly Easter Gifts for Kids: Great gifts ideas ranging from toys to tees from Inhabitots.


Multimedia Link:
Keep your kids busy with fun green activities that allow them to learn AND play (isn’t that great?!).




New and Cool Pick:
Fiskar’s Momentum Reel Mower: Save some energy and fuel by using some good ole’ elbow grease. The smart mower stores energy to provide a little extra “oomph” when you need it.




Photo Credit: http://www2.fiskars.com/Products/Yard-and-Garden/Reel-Mowers/Momentum-Reel-Mower

News Picks:

10 Beauty Products to Ditch When Pregnant: Protect your baby when you are pregnant by avoiding these chemical-ridden products.

Too Much Soap is a Bad Thing For Appliances: Using too much of the sudsy stuff can actually decrease efficiency and shorten the life of your dishwasher and washing machine.

Herbal Essences Decreases Toxins: Proctor & Gamble plans to reduce levels of carcinogens in its well-known hair care line.


Multimedia Link:
Microwaves can get messy but we don’t like the idea of cleaning the inside of the appliance with harsh chemicals or cleaners because we cook our food in it. This video shows you how to clean your microwave in a green and healthy way.

New and Cool Pick:
Dutch entrepreneurs invented Smart Energy Glass windows that allow you to control the amount of light entering the room while collecting solar energy and generating power. (We want these in our office!)

Smart Energy Glass from Peerplus on Vimeo.