KV Organics

seeking restoration of sustainable life... personally, professionally, & spiritually

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Baby Wipes

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Last week, we hit the store with three different school supply lists for the elder three kiddos, and it was a really strange feeling buying all the disposable paper goods.  It’s been a while.  The hardest one for me was the baby wipes.  I haven’t found a disposable wipe yet that I really like, which I guess is why we use cloth wipes as much as possible.

And before we go any further, this post isn’t just for people with babies.  Lots of people use baby wipes for all sorts of purposes.  But is there a really good disposable wipe out there that takes best possible care of people and planet?

A few months ago, at the request of a friend, I dug a little deeper into baby wipes, only to be left more compelled toward cloth than ever.  I had already known about many of the questionable ingredients in the solutions in which commercial wipes are soaked, but I had never realized that the wipe material itself is often made out of non-biodegradable polypropylene.  While this type of plastic can often be recycled in container forms, it can’t be recycled in its used wipe form – especially not if it’s smeared with baby poop.

Goodguide.com ranks Natracare and Seventh Generation as the top two options.  But I was surprised to see ‘parfum’ and some of the other synthetics in Natracare’s solution ingredients – it appears to be the cotton wipe that’s organic, not the solution.  The 7th generation wipe has a better solution, but the wipe is plastic.  Poking around online some more, Walmart has an organic cotton wipe, but the solution has propylene glycol, PEGs, formaldehyde-donating ingredients, etc.

Cloth wipes are SUPER easy.  We found the easiest option was to cut up a flannel receiving blanket (the kind you swaddle newborns in) into small squares.  And most of the time, we just use water to wet the wipes.  We only use a ‘potion’ when there is a touch of irritation (the Miessence baby bottom cleansing gel works really, really well.  Clears up irritations quickly and lasts a long time since a little goes a long way and we use it sparingly anyway).

We’ve gotten pretty used to taking our cloth wipes out with us on the go, but there are times when disposable wipes come in handy.  Has anyone out there found a disposable wipe that is both organic cotton / biodegradable and free of all the synthetic chemicals – either for personal use or to send in as an alternative for filling the school supply lists?

Replacing Parabens

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Parabens have pretty much been black-listed in the public’s mind at this point.  But what are companies doing to get rid of them?  What alternatives have they chosen?  Have you noticed?  What do you see on your labels?

Some companies insist that paraben concerns are unproven, hype-based fears, and they continue to use this family of synthetic preservatives in their formulations.  Methyl, ethyl, propyl, and butyl paraben.

Some companies are removing parabens not for the sake of human health, but rather brand health.  The mounting evidence against these ingredients hasn’t convinced them – they just want their products to keep selling, and they know that parabens are a pox on their products that will lead to declining sales and brand death if not addressed.

Still other companies have carefully considered the growing research (see Breast Cancer Fund for a brief summary) and have responsibly chosen to remove parabens from their formulations.

But what are they doing differently instead of using parabens?  Are they finding ways to create quality, shelf-stable products without the use of synthetic preservatives?

Sadly, in most cases, the answer is no.  The vast majority of companies who have removed parabens from their formulations, and now proudly display “paraben free” in their marketing, have simply chosen to replace them with other synthetic preservatives.

Read your labels.  The most popular paraben replacement that I am seeing on labels these days is phenoxyethanol.  But check out the MSDS on this synthetic chemical preservative.

 

Do you see that?  Extremely hazardous to the eyes.  Very hazardous to the skin, lungs (when inhaled), and digestive system (when ingested).  Toxic to kidneys, nervous system, and liver.  And note the words “not available” next to carcinogenic, mutagenic, teratogenic, and developmental effects.  Do you know what that means?  It means that this data is not available.  The studies haven’t been done.  Like 89% of the 10,000+ synthetic chemicals used in the personal care industry, phenoxyethanol has not been fully evaluated for safety yet.  (For the full MSDS, click here).

To be fair, the MSDS is typically for the folks working with a chemical in large batches at a lab.  However, is not daily use, often multiple times a day, also “repeated and prolonged exposure” to an ingredient?  As they do with most synthetic chemicals, many formulators will claim that because phenoxyethanol is used in such small amounts in their products, it must be safe.  But that’s what they said for decades about parabens, too.  Is history going to repeat itself on this issue?

Nowadays we know better.  We know that chemicals can have cumulative effects in the body from minute daily exposures over time.  We also know that chemicals act on the body in different ways when combined with other chemicals.  Even if phenoxyethanol were proven completely safe in isolated studies, research would still need to be done on its combined effects with the other chemical ingredients in the products you use daily.  But a quick glance at the current MSDS already shows us that it’s a hazardous material.

I used to believe that synthetic preservatives were necessary for product stability.  And for years, it was a trade off I was willing to accept as a customer because naturally occurring molds and rancidity are certainly not safe for my family either.  Most truly natural options I had seen, including DIY (do it yourself), were prone to going funky halfway through the jar or bottle.  And if it were still the case today that there was really no way to have a shelf-stable, quality product without synthetic chemical preservatives, I’d probably say to myself, “Well, OK, if this is the best option, I guess I’m not going to obsess and worry about it.”

But the truth is, thanks to advances in ‘green’ chemistry, today there are options out there that are completely free of synthetic preservatives and still have a great shelf-life.  And there have been for years now, it is just taking time for this information to get out there and combat the chemical fairy we’ve been listening to and trusting for decades.  The educational and product development efforts of Miessence first opened my eyes to this fact, and a relative handful of other companies are now following their lead to move in this totally different direction, swimming upstream against the masses who are simply looking for a more socially-acceptable (because we don’t yet recognize the ingredient names), quick-fix, synthetic ingredient swap.

Instead of choosing products that have merely swapped one hazardous, synthetic ingredient for another, look for the brands that have gone above and beyond the use of synthetic chemical ingredients.  If other effective, truly natural choices now exist, the precautionary principle would ask, “Why risk it?”

 

Good Guide

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Taking a little break from my e-fast reflections…

Have been meaning to do a post on Good Guide for some time now.  What a helpful resource!  It’s also part of the reason I fell in love with Miessence.  Check out this article on Good Guide.  It begins:

“One sunny morning in 2004, Dara O’Rourke was putting sunscreen on his 2-year-old daughter’s face when he had a disturbing thought. As a professor of environmental policy at the University of California, Berkeley, he’d spent years studying the global supply chains for products like electronics and shoes. But he had no idea exactly what he was smearing on his daughter.

The thought spurred O’Rourke—who’d made headlines in 1997 for exposing problems with Nike’s labor practices—to action. Back in his lab at Berkeley, he found that the sunscreen—a top-selling brand—included a hormone-disrupting chemical, a suspected carcinogen activated by sunlight, and several skin irritants. “I’m a total nerd—I not only read ingredient lists but study factories in China, Vietnam, El Salvador,” he says. “Yet I still didn’t know what I was bringing into my house every day.”

Continue reading here.

Have you used Good Guide yet?  What have you found most helpful about it?
















Healthy Homes

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So sad to be missing the “Healthy Homes in Toxic Times” event tonight at the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philly…  Had registered hoping to go, but knew fully well that it would be a last minute decision to really go or not…  As the day progressed, it became apparent that it would just be too much to try and schlep myself and a ravenous four-week-old nursling into Philly on a cold winter night.  However, I have instead spent a little time surfing the websites of the groups presenting at the forum.

Here is a summary of the event from the ANS website:  “In a large city like Philadelphia, pests, air pollution, and other sources of detrimental environmental exposures impact the quality of our daily lives. The methods we choose to control pests, the cleaning and personal care products we purchase and use, and how we care for our immediate home environment can have consequences on our health. As we navigate our weekly routines, we can all find ways to reduce harmful exposures and enhance the health of our home environments.”

If anyone doubts the toxic effects of everyday products and pollutants on our health, here are more voices calling out and asking you to consider the issue again – for the sake of your own health, the health of the planet on which we’re all dependent, and the health of future generations.  Your everyday choices really do make a difference.

Women’s Health & Environmental Network (WHEN)
Pennsylvania Integrated Pest Management
National Center for Healthy Housing

And an article on personal care products, quoting WHEN founder and Temple University professor, Julie Becker.




Energy Choice

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We first ran into this topic in August 2009 when a door-to-door salesman for an alternate gas supplier came by.  We decided to give it a shot, signed up, and then forgot about it.

In August of this year, we started getting various offers from alternate electricity suppliers also.  This prompted us to go back and check our bills from the previous year of alternate gas supply, which left us quite skeptical because it turned out to have cost us an extra $129 over the year.  However, since we had also been learning more about energy conservation and green energy, that skepticism drove us to research the topic more thoroughly instead of just tossing our hands up and staying with the utility out of fear of the unknown.

One of the questions a friend (who owns a very successful energy consulting firm in Philly) told us to ask was whether a company was a licensed supplier or a broker.  As I understand it, broker companies are not necessarily bad, but they generally drive the price up because they’re an extra link in the chain getting a cut of the profits.  Turns out the alternate gas company we had said yes to was a broker company…  Ah-ha!  Check – look for a licensed supplier (and verify it with a third-party resource, such as a list of alternate suppliers found on your local utility’s website).

In early November, while still researching energy choice options, we came across Viridian and were really impressed.  Although I have seen some hype and accidental misinformation out there from their independent sales force (which is a risk of using the otherwise solid direct sales model), the company itself is straightforward in its message and mission, and they resonated with us as potential customers because of their green energy focus at a savings.

We decided to become Viridian customers ourselves, and since 1- energy conservation and renewable energy is something we’re also passionate about, 2- it ties in on some level to the work I already do in organics, and 3- I had researched it a great deal and felt I could help answer people’s questions about energy choice in general and the company specifically, I decided to do a little consulting work for them on the side.  My purpose in this is to add a realistic, no-hype voice into some of the confusion & misinformation out there in the popular buzz about both Viridian and energy choice companies in general, and to help people figure out if Viridian specifically would be a good fit for them or not.

So, if you’re looking into alternative energy suppliers, here are a few other things I’ve learned to ask in general, in addition to the licensed supplier vs broker question…

1- Is it a fixed or variable rate plan?  You might be surprised to learn that variable is often better than fixed, though it can depend on your preferences.

2- Are there sign-up fees, lengthy contracts, early termination fees, hidden fees? Can you cancel at any time?  We loved that Viridian was “cancel at any time with no penalties.”

3- If you also care about long-term sustainability and air quality issues (which tie closely into stewardship, pollution, and health issues), ask about a company’s “energy content,” or percentage mix, of “dirty/brown” energy vs “clean/green” energy sources.  For example, our local utility currently uses only about 7-8% renewable sources.  And many of the 3rd party suppliers who are not necessarily “green-focused” in their company vision statements offer about the same.

4- If you want to buy/support greener energy, find out the percentage vs cost. For example, we found that Viridian offers the highest percentages of greener energy at lower prices compared to other green options we’ve seen so far.  Their basic option is 20% renewable energy generally below your cost from the utility (who almost certainly has a much lower percentage of renewable content).  So, their “everyday green” option supports a higher percentage of green power while saving you money at the same time.  And their 100% renewable energy option costs only slightly more than the utility rate, instead of a higher ‘premium price’ for 100% renewable content that other green suppliers are offering.  For example, one company we looked at would have cost us, on average, $24 more per month for 100% renewable energy, whereas with Viridian, we could do their 100% “pure green” option for an average of just $5 more per month.

5- If anyone is showing you an example bill, or when you begin looking at your own bill to compare prices, please make sure you know what you’re comparing.  Supply portion only.  I have seen a handful of reps for Viridian accidentally comparing the wrong two parts of the bill, which made the savings look bigger than it is.  They were very nice people, not being intentionally deceptive at all – they just misunderstood.  The savings is still there, just not as amazing as it may look if you’re not comparing the right things… and it will also depend on whether you’re a low or high usage household.  If you’d like someone to go over your bill with you to help you understand what to compare, get a realistic idea of your potential savings, and figure out if an alternate supplier would actually make sense for your situation or not, I can help you with that since I’ve gone through it myself.

If you want more details on any of the above, feel free to contact me.  There is also a good list of FAQs under the “Energy Service” section of their website.  While obviously Viridian-specific in the answers, these FAQs are good to ask any company you may be considering.

If you decide to you’d like to become a Viridian customer, as we did in our home, would you please consider calling them at 866-663-2508 to sign up (instead of signing up online) and giving them my referring ID#11636?  Disclosure statement – I am not actively growing a business with Viridian, but yes, I will get a small commission for referring you.  Thanks!  🙂

 

 

Patented Life

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All I can really say is… wow.  And that’s not a good ‘wow.’

I had a general awareness of the issues surrounding the genetic engineering of food, but this film gives an excellent and in-depth overview of both the scientific and ethical concerns stemming from this technology.  I can’t even begin to comment yet on all the points that hit me; I’m still processing it all to be able to communicate the ideas in my own words, and I need to watch it again.  But one thing I can say for sure: this film certainly reinforced my commitment to organics.  Whether we’re talking about food, personal care, or textiles, organic = no genetic modification (among other important distinctions).

The whole film is up online for viewing at the link below.  I would love to hear your thoughts and reactions after you’ve watched it.

http://www.thefutureoffood.com/onlinevideo.html

Fake Organics

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I stopped at Wegmans tonight on my way home from the day’s activities, just to grab something quickly. On my way toward the back of the store, I walked through the personal care/cosmetics aisle and, as I often do, took a quick glance at some of the ‘natural’ and ‘organic’ claims on the products.

One in particular jumped out at me this time. It was called ‘Organic Wear.’ When I turned it over it said that the ingredients were 100% natural and 16% organic. That’s right, just 16%. And they call it ‘Organic Wear’?

With food products, there is a required minimum of 70% organic ingredients in order to use even the phrase ‘made with organic ingredients’ on the product. To claim the product is ‘organic’ actually requires at least 95% organic ingredients. And this is what most people expect when they see ‘organic’ on any label. Not so with personal care and cosmetic products – they can and do get away with misleading labels all the time.

And the fact that the remaining 84% is ‘natural’ means very little when you consider the chemical processes that personal care and cosmetic companies can put their ‘natural’ ingredients through during formulation and still call them ‘natural.’  (see Part 2 of the 5-part report below).

The particular product I saw tonight was certified by Eco-Cert, which I have recently learned is the lowest and most permissive of the organic certification standards out there.  (see article below and Part 2 of my report for a general discussion on sub-par organic standards and ‘natural’ marketing terminology in general).

Free 5-part report on evaluating ‘natural’ personal care products.
Various ‘organic’ standards for personal care products.

Pinkwashing

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This post was inspired by a recent discussion with some other green-minded people about greenwashing and pinkwashing in the personal care industry.  Of course, both problems are found in virtually every industry these days, not just the personal care industry.

Many people have heard the term ‘greenwashing’ already.  It’s when a company markets its product or service as greener than it really is in order to capitalize on the growing interest in green living, rather than make clear and honest marketing claims motivated by a genuine desire to contribute to the overall health of people and the planet above their desire for profit.

However, not as many have considered the problem of ‘pinkwashing’ yet.  So, in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, I’d like to introduce you to the term.  The best definition I’ve found is this: “pinkwashing: a term used to describe the activities of companies and groups that position themselves as leaders in the struggle to eradicate breast cancer while engaging in practices that may be contributing to rising rates of the disease.”

A desire for profit is not necessarily the problem here; everyone needs to make a living through profits of some sort.  The problem lies in the ethical decisions and heart motivations behind the profit-making.  And these issues can only be unearthed by asking questions.  So, before you reach into your wallet to buy that next pink-packaged product to support the fight against breast cancer, you might want to do a little digging.  The simplest place to start if it is a personal care item: look at its ingredient list.

Where I found the definition above: http://www.pinkwashing.org
For info on personal care ingredients, see Part 3 of my free report.