Mint Green Parenting

NO to Swine Flu Vaccine (H1N1)

2009-10-03T05:33:00.000-04:00

From a Pediatrician:

Many of you are contacting me regarding the swine flu vaccine and whether you should give it to your children. The Collier County Health Department, the Collier County Medical Society, the Collier County School System and a handful of pediatricians are sending a letter to the parents of every Collier County Public School student advising them to allow their child to be vaccinated by the H1N1 (swine) flu vaccine. Please read the following before you agree to this institutional request so you are fully informed. The last time the government approved the H1N1 (swine) flu vaccine was in the late 1970s and this vaccine was pulled off the market for causing Gullian-Barre Syndrome, an ascending partial-to-total paralysis that may result in death. http://www.cdc.gov/vaccinesafety/emergency/swineflu.htm. As you will read, the safety and efficacy of this new H1N1 vaccine has not yet been demonstrated and is based entirely on a different vaccine.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced on September 15, 2009 that it has approved four vaccines against the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus. This affirmation means the “FDA has approved the manufacturing oversight, product quality testing and lot release procedures of the H1N1 vaccine.” This does not mean that the vaccine has been shown to be safe and effective in various groups, i.e. pediatric population, pregnant women, nursing mothers, people with asthma, the elderly and healthy adults. Per the CDC and the FDA, the safety and efficacy of the vaccine is being researched and results will be available in the “near future.” http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm182399.htm.

So when is the “near future?” The National Institute of Health website detailing the government’s research trials shows that all the H1N1 vaccine safety trials are only in Phase II out of four phases. The estimated date of completion to show whether or not the H1N1 vaccine is safe is June 2010. http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/results?term=h1n1. This means that the recommendation by the CDC and FDA is more of a political one than a scientific one. If you and/or your child decide to receive this vaccine at this time then technically you and your family are informally enrolling in an open clinical trial. The CDC is working closely with local health officials to monitor safety issues associated with the vaccine since it has not yet been adequately studied. http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/vaccination/safety_planning.htm.

Regardless of the lack of scientific evidence of the vaccine’s safety, the CDC recommends that the H1N1 (swine) vaccine should be initially administered to persons in the following five target groups (order of target groups does not indicate priority):

· pregnant women,

· persons who live with or provide care for infants aged <6>

· health-care and emergency medical services personnel,

· persons aged 6 months--24 years, and

· persons aged 25--64 years who have medical conditions that put them at higher risk for influenza-related complications. http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/rr58e0821a1.htm.

The CDC is making this statement since the regular influenza vaccine is preferentially given to these groups first. Additionally, the safety of the regular seasonal influenza vaccine is not studied each year but rather the government relies on past research of the same vaccine to support the safety and efficacy of the current year’s vaccine. For instance, the research supporting the safety for the 2009 Fluzone vaccine for young children is based on the 2003-2004 formulation of Fluzone vaccine. http://www.fda.gov/downloads/BiologicsBloodVaccines/Vaccines/ApprovedProducts/UCM123704.pdf. The government is using the same thought process for the H1N1 vaccine but the difference is that the H1N1 vaccine specifically has not been studied, this is a new biological product and the last time it was used it caused widespread Gullian-Barre Syndrome. Sanofi Pasteur, the manufacturer of the H1N1 vaccine for children 6 months and older, states in their package insert that the immune response and safety of the H1N1 vaccine in the pediatric population ages 6 months and older is based on the 2003-2004 Fluzone vaccine study of only 31 children and not on the new H1N1 vaccine. This is troublesome since the CDC and FDA is allowing Sanofi Pasteur to state that one vaccine safety level is interchangeable with another and that a study of 31 children with a completely different vaccine is enough evidence to extrapolate the safety of the H1N1 vaccine. http://www.fda.gov/downloads/BiologicsBloodVaccines/Vaccines/ApprovedProducts/UCM182404.pdf.

These recommendations are safe for the regular seasonal flu vaccine yet worrisome for the H1N1 vaccine. Further complicating this issue is the fact the Influenza A (H1N1) 2009 Monovalent Vaccine Package Insert states this vaccine is Category C for pregnant women and nursing mothers. http://www.fda.gov/downloads/BiologicsBloodVaccines/Vaccines/ApprovedProducts/UCM182404.pdf. The FDA definition of Category C is: Animal reproduction studies have shown an adverse effect on the fetus and there are no adequate and well-controlled studies in humans, but potential benefits may warrant use of the drug in pregnant women despite potential risks. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pregnancy_category. Please know that doctors routinely use Category C medications in nursing and pregnant women when the immediate circumstances warrant the risk. For example, if you had intractable vomiting and are pregnant, it would be reasonable to give you phenergan to help stop the vomiting even though the drug is Category C. The difference with the vaccine is the immediate circumstances do not warrant the risk, especially if you are otherwise healthy and given the mild nature of the H1N1 influenza virus.

The H1N1 flu has been in town for several weeks and I have diagnosed plenty of cases. Many of us pediatricians have commented to each other how mild this illness has been. Everyone in my practice has recovered without incident except for one little girl with bad asthma who had to be hospitalized. Unfortunately the National Institute of Health has not started to recruit participants to study the safety and efficacy of an H1N1 influenza vaccine in people with asthma. http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00978120?term=h1n1&rank=1. This needs to be studied since safety research demonstrated one of the approved seasonal flu vaccines is contraindicated in children under 5 years old who have asthma. Until thorough research is completed no one knows the potential side effects of a new vaccine.

The health department, the school system and the medical society are trying their best to help protect you and your children. Hopefully you can see that the request to vaccinate you and/or children against the H1N1 virus is poorly planned at best. The time to administer a vaccine is only after it has been adequately tested unless there are compelling and urgent reasons to do otherwise. My job as a pediatrician is to be a spokesman for the disenfranchised. This role includes calling out any agency for attempting to make what is scientifically uncertain re-categorized as scientific certainty.

I hope this vaccine is safe since it is being administered to so many people without adequate safety studies as a result of much media hype. I just want to make sure that you are fully informed before putting yourself or your family in potential jeopardy. But then again – it may save your life.

Please pass this email on to everyone you know so they may be informed as well.

Thanks,

Dr. T

Get Informed, Gardasil Kills.

2009-09-02T05:58:00.003-04:00

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2007/05/hpv_vaccine_gar/

http://www.brockovichblog.com/2009/03/two_girls_and_spain_takes_down.html

http://www.judicialwatch.org/gardasil

http://vaccineawakening.blogspot.com/2009/02/gardasil-death-brain-damage-national.html

http://naturalhealthnews.blogspot.com/2009/03/gardasil-death-and-danger-update.html

Back to School Blues, I mean GREENS

2009-08-05T03:26:00.000-04:00

Environotes Recycled
Index cards

"I'm Organic"
Lunch Bag

Banana Leaf Paper
Notebook

E-Color-gy Recycled
Content Markers

Eco-Friendly Planners

No Swaddeling in Polyester

2009-07-17T10:08:00.002-04:00

Polyester IS plastic. EEEWWWWIE.

It is my firm belief that we should not have polyester filled pillows, comforters, blankets, pj's or any type of bedding. It is very hard to find 100% all natural filled products for the home. Couches are definitely not eco-friendly or health friendly
Why is it that so many things are filled w/ anti-healthy polyester? Cost. Cost is the answer. It always comes down to the mighty dollar. Who cares about customer's health when there is $$ to be saved?
Well, I for one am sick of the textile industry and it's overuse of un-natural fillers. But what is a consumer to do? We are pretty much pigeon holed into buying only polyester filled items. Natural filled items are few and far between.

As a consumer, when I find a real 100% natural product, I write the company and thank them. If we as consumers write more and more companies to thank them for their 1 or 2 natural products, maybe this would spark them to add more and more natural options and reduce their use of poly fill.

My firm belief is that recycled plastic and poly fill should only be used on items that we are not wearing or snuggling into 12 hours of the day. Recycled plastic should be left to items like outdoor furniture, reusable shopping bags, "wood" planks for decking, etc. Not clothes, Not filler for bedding or pillows, Not for the inner lining of my winter jacket.

See where I'm going with this?

Stop surrounding yourself w/ endocrine disrupting poly fill.

Reflect

2009-07-14T07:08:00.002-04:00

The Environmental Working Group’s investigation of nearly 1,000 brand-name sunscreen products finds that 4 out of 5 don’t provide protection and/or contain chemicals that may pose health hazards. Some of the worst offenders are leading brands like Coppertone, Banana Boat and Neutrogena.
Many millions of cases of skin cancer are diagnosed worldwide each year. Yet due to huge legislative gaps, companies in many countries are free to claim - but not provide - broad spectrum protection.
Stay safe and keep your children safe by switching to the risk-free, organic alternative: Reflect Outdoor Balm.
You may need to apply it a little more frequently. But what’s that small inconvenience for the reassurance of knowing that you’re protecting precious young skin from damaging rays in a safe, non-intrusive way?

Is 1% safe?

2009-07-09T07:47:00.002-04:00

My question is this: Is 1% (or less than) safe? A lot of companies will say they use a synthetic (often toxic) ingredient and then back it up with a statement similar to "It's only in a small small amount, less than 1%".
I asked several leading professionals in the skin care, nutrition and medical industries what their opinions were, and they unanimously said that even "less than 1%" is not safe. The reasons

Accumulative effect
Multiple products x Multiple uses per day = more than 1%

It breaks down like this. A lot of toxic chemicals do not break down in our bodies or take a very long time to do so, thus they accumulate, so that less than 1% adds up over a short period of time to be more than 1%. Take for example parabens which our bodies can not figure out what to do with and they end up trapped in our fat cells, most alarmingly in breast tissue.
Next but not least is our #2 concern, multiple uses. Take a moment to tally up how many products that absorb into your skin each day and then multiple by how many times you apply/use them during the day. Your list may be shorter or longer, but here's some examples.

Soap
Shampoo
Conditioner
Face Soap
Face Toner/Astringent
Face Cream (maybe 2 types)
Sunblock
Hair Gel/Spray
Body Lotion
Hand cream
Perfume
Shave Gel
After Shave
Cologne
etc...

How many products do you use? Now take that # x's it by how many times you use each product per day. Now x's that by .50 (we'll be lenient) and I bet you get a number larger than 1.
Do the math and you will see that less than 1% really does not add up to -1%. Heck it doesn't even add up to 1 or 2 %. It far exceeds that original little # the companies are trying to make you think you are getting & keep this info in your mind the next time a company tells you their small amount of toxic ingredients are safe.

High Fructose Corn Syrup = ICKY

2009-07-07T07:48:00.001-04:00

Yeah, It's Icky.

According to a 2009 study, over 50% of the HFCS tested was contaminated with Mercury. HFCS often ranks #2 or 3 from top in a list of ingredients...that's a lot of mercury creeping into our diets.
Out of the six studies on the Corn Refiners Association's Web site that "Confirm High Fructose Corn Syrup is No Different From Sugar," three were sponsored by groups that stand to profit from research that promotes HFCS; two were never published, so their funding sources are unclear. And lastly, one was sponsored by a Dutch foundation that represents the interests of the sugar industry. Something smells fishy.
Those commercials claiming HFCS is toally safe are run by the Corn Refiners Association (CRA), the people who would lose everything if HFCS was boycotted.
According to a food technology expert, two of the enzymes used to make HFCS, alpha-amylase and glucose-isomerase, are genetically modified to make them more stable. Enzymes are actually very large proteins and through genetic modification specific amino acids in the enzymes are changed or replaced so the enzyme's "backbone" won't break down or unfold. This allows the industry to get the enzymes to higher temperatures before they become unstable. Consumers trying to avoid genetically modified foods should avoid HFCS.
Non-Organic corn is one of the leading GMO crops. This is yet another link to GMO that HFCS shares. Calling HFCS natural, is using the term too loosely for my taste.
Although HFCS is used in many products aimed at children, it is not used in baby formula, even though it would probably save the manufactueres a few pennies for each can. Do the formula makers know something they aren't telling us?
Our bodies treat HFCS the same as sugar. And nutritionally speaking they are almost identical in our bodies. This means, all the bad things sugar does to us, HFCS does too. Think weight gain, blood sugar spikes...
USDA Organic certified foods will not have HFCS as an ingredient.

Pregnant In America ~ A Nation's Miscarriage

2009-06-06T22:10:00.004-04:00

Pregnant in America is a motivational, and inspirational documentary made by film maker Steve Buonagurio about the birth of his daughter Bella. Shocked by the greed of U.S. hospitals, insurance companies and medical organizations, Steve and his wife Mandy set out to create a natural home birth in a world where everything is anything but natural. The film is as much educational as it is entertaining and prepares excepting parent for their uncertain journey of being pregnant and having their baby. "It's time for women to take back their power and make truly informed choices about their birth, Pregnant In America is an eye opener to the majority of Americans, and is a must see for anyone contemplating a pregnancy. The scary reality and safe alternatives are presented in a truthful manner emerced in a healthy dose of humor and clever visuals."
- Allison Walsh - President -Lamaze International

Learn More

How to Stop using chlorine in your pool~ DIY

2009-05-15T02:18:00.002-04:00

Excerpt taken from Here

The two most common pool and spa chemicals are chlorine and bromine.

These are two exorbitantly deadly toxins. Known Chlorine Dangers:

Chlorine combines with natural organic matter decaying vegetation to form potent cancer causing trihalomethanes (THM’s)
Collectively include such carcinogens as chloroforms, bromoforms carbon tectachloride, bischlorothane and other cancer causing agents
The level of chlorine in swimming pools is over 1,000% the level deemed minimally safe by the EPA in water
Causes atherosclerosis, stroke and heart attack
Causes skin to prematurely age
Damages the human eye
Causes bladder, breast, testicular, bladder, colon, or rectal and bowel cancer as well as malignant melanoma
Damages lung tissue
Causes acne, psoriasis, seborrhea and eczema
Converts to dioxins - the most dangers of cancer causing chemicals and which build up permanently within a person's body
causes infertility and birth defects
Damages the nervous system permanently

"Chlorine is so dangerous" according to PhD biologist/chemist Dr. Herbert Schwartz," that it should be banned. Putting chlorine in water is like starting a time bomb. Cancer, heart trouble, premature senility, both mental and physical are conditions attributable to chlorine treated water supplies. It is making us grow old before our time by producing symptoms of ageing such as hardening of the arteries." Dr. Stephen Askin wrote: "The real issue is not just how toxic chlorine itself is but how the unintended by-products of chlorine (organochlorines and dioxins) remain in the environment. They are persistent in the environment; they do not break down readily and therefore bio-accumulate. This can create a very serious health problem; the dioxins and other toxic chemicals accumulate in the fatty tissues. These contaminants are also hormone disrupters because they mimic estrogen. The EPA has observed and documented hormonal imbalance, suppressed immune systems, reproductive infertility and alterations in fetal development of animals. In viewing the big picture, these factors are perhaps the most frightening results from the widespread use of chlorine." In Super Nutrition for Healthy Hearts Dr Richard Passwater shows how "the origin of heart disease is akin to the origin of cancer" Chlorination could very well be a key factor linking these two major diseases. Chlorine creates THM's and haloforms. These potent chemical pollutants can trigger the production of excess free radicals in our bodies. Free radicals cause cell damage. Excess free radicals can cause normal smooth muscle cells in the arterial wall to go haywire, to mutate. The fibrous plaque consequently formed is essentially a benign tumor. Unfortunately, this tumor is linked with the origin of heart disease."

Is Bromine a safe alternative? Known Bromine Dangers: * If spilled on the skin, it produces painful sores * Has strong unpleasant odor * Is Toxic * Converts to dichlorobromomethane, bromoform and bromate* The Metropolitan Emergency Response Network defines dichlorobromomethan as particularly dangerous and harmful (see below)
Vapor will attack the eyes and lungs

* Causes cancer* Damages skin

* Damages the liver * Causes depression and brain damage

* Damages the nervous system and muscles

* Bromine vapors are known to reduce male sperm count, causes malformed sperm resulting in birth defects and causes male infertility

* Maximum safety precautions should be used when handling it

The Metropolitan Emergency Response Network advises: "Dichlorobromomethane should be handled as a CARCINOGEN--WITH EXTREME CAUTION. * Exposure can irritate the eyes, nose and throat. Higher levels can irritate the lungs and may cause you to become dizzy, light-headed and to pass out. Could cause death. * Repeated exposures affects the liver. * Contact can irritate the skin." EVEN WORSE, some pool and spa suppliers urge using both chlorine and bromine together - which doubles their sales. Combining chlorine and bromine is the second most powerful cancer-causing liquid mixture only surpassed by drinking highly radioactive liquids. When combined, chlorine and bromine make 97 carcinogens, 82 mutagens, 28 acute and chronic toxic contaminants and 23 tumor promoters. Many of these complex chemicals resulting from the conversion of chlorine and bromine to other chemicals permanently accumulate in a person's body fat. Each time exposed, the level of carcinogens, mutagens, toxins and tumor promoters increases. With each increase, the risk of cancer increases to a point of it no longer is a question of if the person will develop cancer.

Many people add hydrogen peroxide to their bath and foot bath water for health reasons. H2O2 oxygenates the skin and helps to clean skin (skin is porous and builds upon waste excretion). Hydrogen peroxide also kills fungus and other micro-organisms that live on and just below skin surface. There is no harmful side effects possible as H2O2 is non-toxic.

No one pours typical chlorine and bromine pool chemicals into their bath water believing it healthy.

HOW HYDROGEN PEROXIDE WORKS AGAINST ORGANIC SUBSTANCESHydrogen peroxide has been called a "kamikaze" or "depth charge" chemical against organic substances. H2O2 is simply water (H2O) with an extra oxygen molecule loosely attached (H2O2). When H2O2 contacts any organic molecule, the contact knocks off the extra oxygen molecule. The result is two fold. First, energy is released. Though certainly not noticeable at the atomic/molecular level, the power in "decomposing" H2O2 is so great that hydrogen peroxide has been used to power rockets into space, powered the X-15 first subsonic jet and the U.S.S.R. supersonic attack torpedoes. When the atom breaks free, the kinetic energy holding that atom is released, resulting in a flash of steam heat. The first "killing" ability of the H2O2 is to blow up the organic molecule. The free oxygen atom then impacts the organic molecule, resulting in burning the molecule. Organic substances in contact with pure oxygen "burn" (or more precisely oxidize. The combined result is that the organic molecule is blown up and burned. What remains, then, of the hydrogen peroxide atom? It is now only pure water (H2O2) and pure oxygen (o). It destroys the organic substance and then converts itself to pure water and pure oxygen in the process. There are no toxins in hydrogen peroxide and it is the pure bio-degrading chemical that can not build up in your pool or spa. It not only destroys organic contamination, but also destroys itself in the process to the two purest and most beneficial chemicals: pure water and pure oxygen. There are no other elements in hydrogen peroxide.

NO TOXINS IN HYDROGEN PEROXIDE: H2O2 in pool treatment is not only neither toxic nor harmful, it actually is good for your skin by oxygenating skin (rather than bleaching and poisoning it). As the elements of H2O2 are only pure water and pure oxygen, it will naturally decompose in its usage cycle for 100% decomposition into pure and safe atoms of water and oxygen only. Thus, there is no chemical build up nor conversion to other chemical compositions.

Spa Usage and Costs

The cost difference makes hydrogen peroxide highly attractive if all actual costs are figured. While H2O2 can cost more than other pool chemicals, if you add the numerous support chemicals, testing, and frequency of draining the pool to total comparison makes H2O2 less costly. If you try H2O2 in your spa, you will fall in love with your spa again and never go back to chlorine, bromine or secret ingredient pool chemicals. The H2O2 will eliminate the bad smells that come from untreated spa water, but also has none of the chemical smell of spa treatment chemicals.

Pond Maintenance: Hydrogen peroxide also can be used in ponds with plants to reduce algae and micro-organism growth.

The finest commercial aquariums now use H2O2 to treat their tanks, which contain sea life inventories valued into the tens and hundreds of thousands of dollars. Draining and cleaning tanks is extremely costly, dangerous to sea life that has to be removed and particularly harmful to plant life that can not be removed. However, they can not use the toxic chemicals used for water treatment.

What they found is that H2O2 "attacks" the lowest life forms first - meaning the micro organisms such as fungus and bacteria that harms their sea life. Next, the H2O2 will attack algae and lowest plant life forms. They cease H2O2 treatment level at that point to avoid harm to the higher plant, fish and other aquatic life. The H2O2 that remains in the water will quickly decompose to merely pure water and gaseous oxygen by its interaction with the organic matter in the tank and U.V. from the display lights or sunlight if outdoors. We DO NOT recommend amateur usage of H2O2 in ponds or aquariums with fish. This requires fairly exact testing of concentration levels and supervision that is best left to the professionals in marine life. However, H2O2 treatment is an outstanding way to minimize algae, fungus and other infestations growth turning a beautiful pond into a smelly, cloudy mini swamp.

Safety Issues of 35% hydrogen peroxide: Hydrogen peroxide for water treatment has been extremely popular and preferred across Europe for decades and in greater numbers in the U.S.A. each month. It not only poised economic challenge to the suppliers of pool chemicals (that require more pool chemicals, refreshing pool chemicals, and then pump-it-all-out and start again with chemicals - but also the manufacturers of complex pool systems for usage of such chemicals. There is little legitimate criticism to make of hydrogen peroxide because in diluted form it is good for your health. Yet the chlorine and bromine merchants must find reason. As a result, we have read some very alarmist warnings of the dangers of hydrogen peroxide. The most common is to read "Imagine the terrible thing that could happen in a serious auto accident in which the hydrogen peroxide bottle is broken!" That is a curious one, given that vehicle also contains many gallons of explosive gasoline and an impact would have to be massive to bust a plastic bottle being driven home. The solution is to transport hydrogen peroxide (and all other chemicals) in the trunk or back of your truck. There is a danger factor to 35% hydrogen peroxide concerning handling that applies to all chemicals in general. It is highly concentrated and if undiluted will sting a person's skin. If you spill 35% hydrogen peroxide on you, in a few seconds your skin will start to sting and to turn white where contact was made. The "treatment" is to quickly wash the area off with water or any safe liquid (soda pop or any other non harmful water based liquid.) Your skin will continue to sting for a few minutes and will turn light yellow or white where there was contact. Within half an hour to an hour, skin color will return to normal. There will be no scarring and no toxins entered the body as H2O2 has no toxins. Like all liquid chemicals, concentrated hydrogen peroxide can damage eyes. Unlike other chemicals that are not water based, flushing the eyes with water not only is the treatment, but water also dilutes hydrogen peroxide to a safe concentration level. 35% hydrogen peroxide will not burn or explode. If spilled on the ground where plants grow, spray it with water to reduce the concentration and it will benefit the plants and grass. Gardens and farmers use hydrogen peroxide for house plants, gardens and commercial farming to oxygenate the soil and kill harmful micro-organisms. The only safety issue of highly concentrated hydrogen peroxide is to avoid splashing it on yourself or in your eyes, and to store it away from children or incompetent adults. Carry it in your trunk if moving it.

SAFETY COMPARISON: Once the hydrogen peroxide is diluted in your pool or spa, there are exactly ZERO safety issues. When diluted, all danger vanishes. H2O2 contains no poisons or toxins or any harmful substance. It is water and oxygen. It does not cause cancer. It does not harm or age skin (it refreshes skin). It does not harm the liver, brain, nervous system or brain. Hydrogen peroxide in your pool or spa as the water treatment will not and can not harm you.

SAFE FOR YOUR POOL OR SPA FILTER AND PUMP? Some pool and spa chemical suppliers and Internet retailers warn that hydrogen peroxide will damage the pump and/or filtration system. Is this true? The answer is no, maybe, and no. Hydrogen peroxide in a concentrated form can damage natural rubber and certain metal (silver). Nearly all pools and spas use plastic, steel, synthetic "rubber", fiberglass and stainless steel. Those would not be harmed by any concentration of hydrogen peroxide. The answer is "maybe" if natural rubber is used AND if you have the mindset of the chemical merchants. Their view of water treatment is that you pour powerful chemicals into your pool to remain permanently in the water. As those turn to other chemicals, you then should add more chemical. Finally, when the chemical soup is so out-of-wack and awful, you should pump it all out and start with a new chemical soup and repeat the process. There is no rationality if following that apparent love of chemicals in usage of hydrogen peroxide. Hydrogen peroxide will kill the organics - and convert itself to pure water and pure oxygen in doing so. What hydrogen peroxide remains will also convert to water and oxygen over the next few days by reaction to the U.V. in sunlight. No only does H2O2 purge your pool of organic contamination, it also then purges your pool of itself. There is no increasingly chemical build up with H2O2. Most who use H2O2 for their pool add it at night, turn off the pump and forget about it. Across the night the atoms of H2O2 will destroy micro-organisms. The next day, the sun will reduce the H2O2 concentration further. The pool owner can turn on the pump anytime. Most bleaches, chlorine and pool chemicals also harm rubber - and unlike H2O2 they also build up chemical film and clogging build up. So IF you have natural rubber fittings and IF you pour in lots of H2O2 over and over like other pool chemicals, it could damage your seals, fittings and pump like other pool chemicals ultimately do. So then the final "no", not if you use H2O2 as H2O2, rather than like other pool and spa chemicals - meaning always building up the level of chemicals in your water.

SWIMMING POOLS AND HOT TUBS

The following information on the use of hydrogen peroxide for swimming
pools/hot tubs is considered experimental. Check with your swimming
pool or hot tub manufacturer about the compatibility of hydrogen
peroxide to your system.


Swimming Pools

It has been found for start up that 1 pint of 35% food or technical
grade hydrogen peroxide should be added for each 1000 gallons in the
pool system. Let stand for one day with the circulation pump running
intermittently. (Dr. Donsbach indicates from his experience that an
average size pool takes about eight gallons to begin with and then
one-half to one gallon must be added per week.) The pool should be
maintained at 40 parts per million. This can be determined by peroxide
test strips or by use of a titration kit.

It is extremely important to keep the filters clean. The addition of
an ultra violet light or an ozonator will reduce the amount of
hydrogen peroxide that you will need to add.

Sunlight will dissipate hydrogen peroxide just as it dissipates
chlorine, so regular additions of H202 will have to be made. The
number of people using the pool or frequency of pool use determines
the amount of H202 that must be added.

Most water from municipal water supplies contains chlorine. This is
why the original "shock" of a large amount of hydrogen peroxide is
necessary for start up. Hydrogen peroxide forces chlorine out of the
water in the pool or hot tub.

One incident where H202 did not work in the pool was because of the
mineral content of the water. A diatomaceous filter will require more
attention than a sand filter because a diatomaceous earth system will
filter out smaller particles than a sand filter. If you have a
diatomaceous earth filter, the addition of a paper filter ahead of the
filter will keep it from clogging up as frequently.

Just a note as to what may happen with extreme amounts of hydrogen
peroxide. I swam in a pool with one hundred parts per million and
noted on getting out of the pool the dead skin flakes that floated on
top of the water. It was very refreshing.


Hot Tubs

Check with the hot tub manufacturer to determine the compatibility of
your system with H2O2 The average size hot tub could be started up
with one quart or more of 35% H202 until it tests 40 ppm. Turn the
circulation pump on to distribute it evenly, then intermittently
during the next 24 hours. Add enough hydrogen peroxide from time to
time to maintain it at approximately 40 parts per million.

Earth Day Games

2009-04-24T04:56:00.005-04:00

Play online games to reinforce all you've taught your child about being eco-friendly.

Create fun crafts that utilize one of the "R's" - Reuse

Greening the Diet, Greens the Planet

2009-04-21T06:31:00.002-04:00

How does your diet affect the planet? Simple, teaching children to love their veggies helps eliminate meat from their diets. Ranching is one of the big contributors to global warming. First, we cut down acres of trees, turn it into grazing fields, stick a bunch of flatulating cows on it, then kill the cows and ship them (using fossil fuels) hundreds of miles away to the end product, your dinner table. It sounds simple and short, but it all adds up to be one huge disaster to the planet.

"The United Nations’ 2006 FAO report states: “if every American gave up meat 1 day a week it would save almost 100 megatons of greenhouse emissions, or 90 million plane tickets from New York to Los Angeles.”

Even though these figures are difficult to comprehend, they illustrate the enormity of cattle’s carbon footprint.

Methane gas is a potent greenhouse gas 24 times more potent than carbon dioxide; can you guess which gas a cow gives off when they pass gas, excrete waste and burp? Methane gas. Foodreference.com says 15 - 20% of global methane emissions come from livestock (mainly cows, chickens and pigs). And if that isn’t a large enough cattle carbon footprint for you consider this from the USDA: growing crops to feed farmed animals requires 80% of our agricultural land and half — that’s half — of our water supply."

Get your kids hooked on Greens.

Link 1

Link 2

Link 3

Miessence Organics ~ Buy 1 Get 1 Free

2009-04-09T11:41:00.007-04:00

Buy1 set of baby care products, and get a 2nd set free!

That's 1 of everything plus 1 of everything FREE.

A Great way to try the baby line: Get a friend or a sister who wants to also try, and split the initial cost. What an even better savings!!!

Buy one Mother & Baby range pack and get a second pack free!

Protect your baby with the world’s first complete range of certified organic baby care products.

miessence® mother & baby range. Pure. Safe. Gentle. Totally free from synthetics, allergens, perfumes and essential oils.

Available in this special 2 for the price of 1 offer for the month of April. You must enter the special babypromo code during checkout.

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Natural Easter Eggs

2009-04-07T21:16:00.003-04:00

Coloring Your Easter Eggs Naturally

By Rhiannon Hull
Posted April 7, 2009
Straight to the Source

It's almost time to spend a colorful afternoon with your kids creating beautiful Easter eggs. Did you consider that you could avoid unnatural food coloring and color your eggs by using natural ingredients, such as beets and tea? Some of the materials I will list, such as lemon peels, must be boiled first, and others, such as berry juice, do not. Coloring eggs naturally isn't much harder than using an Easter egg coloring kit, and you can teach your kids the wonders that food can create besides just eating it.

Here is a list of natural dyes organized by color:

Green: Boiled spinach leaves

Blue: Frozen or canned blueberries and red cabbage leaves, both boiled

Purple: Hibiscus tea, grape juice (organic), and skins from boiled red onions

Red: Fresh beets boiled, red wine, raspberries, strawberries, or cranberries boiled, cranberry juice, boiled red onion skins, wine

Yellow: Boiled lemon peels, ground cumin or turmeric boiled, boiled carrots, boiled orange, or lemon peels

Orange: Orange juice, paprika, or boiled yellow onion skins

Brown: Strong coffee, any black tea

Steps to dye your Easter eggs:

For ingredients that need boiling:

1. Place your eggs in a pot of water, and bring to a boil. Turn heat off and cover for 15 minutes.

2. Place eggs in cold water to cool.

3. Place whatever ingredient you are choosing to work with (about two cups) in the saucepan and cover with water by one inch, and bring to a boil.

4. Reduce heat and let simmer until the desired color is reached.

5. Strain the concoction so that you catch the colored water in a bowl, and add three teaspoons of vinegar for each cup of liquid.

6. Dye your eggs just as you would with conventional dyes.

Tonight 8:30pm Your Local Time.

2009-03-28T08:34:00.001-04:00

March 28th~ Earth Hour is upon us... at 8.30pm local time around the world millions of people are turning off their lights for 1 hour.

This is not so much about saving energy. It is more a massive, global and overwhelming signal to our nations' leaders to say that climate change is important. That it matters a great deal. That we care. Now do something about it!

Find out more about Earth Hour

Sign the Declaration!

2009-03-24T11:34:00.004-04:00

"The current law regulating toxic chemicals was passed in 1976. And it hasn't changed since, even though 20,000 new chemicals have come onto the market since then.
Babies are born pre-polluted with 300 industrial chemicals in their bodies when they enter the world.
It's up to us to change that, and together we can do it. Click Here to spread the word. Friend by friend, we'll build a powerful movement."

Click here to watch the video (on top right of screen)

BringSeanHome.org

2009-02-23T21:53:00.003-05:00

39,000 signatures needed! Click the Care2 banner to sign.

Try Miessence Organics for Only $6

2009-02-09T07:52:00.002-05:00

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Don't let the time run out on this special Birthday Blast! opportunity. Let February 2009 be the month that you get serious about building a sustainable financial future for you and your loved ones.

Fakers and Not Fakers List

2009-01-18T08:43:00.002-05:00

Organicgirl's List of Fakies and Not Fakies

If I upset anyone, It's NOT my intention. My only request is that if you don't agree with me, then don't utilize my list. Please no hate email or hateful posts/replies. I wouldn't do it to you, so please don't do it to me. This is not an attack on anyone who works for a company or buys from a company I have put on my Fake Lists. If you work for a company on my fake list and you are mad I put you there, contact your company and yell at them, not me. I did my research thoroughly and read ingredient labels carefully. It took me HOURS & Months to put together this list. I also work in the industry and am VERY familiar with many of these companies. (I've worked in the health and wellness field for over 6 yrs)

I do commend the companies who use organic ingredients, because this is great for the planet! I wish all companies used more organics. However, I do not think combining them with chemical synthetics is good for the planet or for people. Some body care chemicals are toxic to create, while others are toxic to our health. So if a company is using organics and synthetics in the same product, one has to wonder...who's interest do they really have in mind?

I'm only judging products/companies for their personal body care lines (ie. shampoos, lotions, cosmetics, etc)

Body care is not a regulated industry.
The USDA Organic regulations/laws only extend to food items or body care items that are food grade.
Because of lax regulations a body care company can use the word "Natural" any way they want, regardless of if they threw in chemicals and synthetics to the final product.
A company can only use the word Organic on the front of their packaging if the product contains at least 70% organic ingredients
For a company to display a label that reads "Made with Organic ingredients" the product must carry 70% or more organics with no restrictions on the other ingredients.
For a company to display the USDA organic label, it must have 95% or higher organic ingredients with the other 5% being from an approved list.
To carry the new Natural Products Association Label the natural product must only contain pre-approved naturally derived ingredients.

The Eco-Cert label has fallen under scrutiny lately, for allowing synthetics in products (which is against it's own rules) with many interest groups now not trusting the integrity of the EcoCert logo.

THE LIST:

Fake Organics: These companies use synthetics and sometimes very little organics in their finished product. The ingredient names following the brand name are examples of the exact toxic ingredients these companies use, that landed them on my No No list and the USDA Organic regulations do not condone use of. You won't see the USDA Organic logo on any of these brands, yet, they still try to trick the uneducated public into believing they are an "organic" product by calling their brand name " ____ organic".

Alba Botanica - Phenoxyethanol, Dimethicone, Octinoxate , Oxybenzone, Peg-100, Sodium PCA, etc.
Avalon Organics - Cocamidopropyl betaine, Phenoxyethanol, Disodium oleamido succinate, Sodium PCA, Octinoxate, Oxybenzone, etc.
Babywise Organics - Octyl Palmitate (I'm finding this to be another name for Dimethicone..correct me if I'm wrong), Retinyl Palmitate , Phenoxyethanol, Ceteareth-20, Dimethicone, Cocamidopropyl Betaine , Disodium Laureth Sulfosuccinate, etc.
Derma E Organic Expressions - PEG-7, Disodium Laureth Sulfosuccinate, Dimethicone, Peg-175, PEG-200, Phenoxyethanol, Hexylene Glycol, etc.
Giovanni Organics - PVP (which is vinyl), PEG-40, Polysorbate 60, Dimethicone, Cyclomethicone, Octylmethoxycinnamate, Diazolidinyl Urea, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Disodium Cocamphodiacetate, PEG-8, etc,
Head Organics - PEG-7, PVP (which is vinyl), Dimethicone, Phenoxyethanol, Cetrimonium Chloride, etc.
J ason pure natural organic - Cocamide MEA, Polyquaternium-7, Propylene Glycol, Ethylhexylglycerin, Dimethicone,
Juice Beauty - Retinyl palmitate, Phenoxyethanol, Ethylhexyl (octyl) palmitate, Cocamidopropyl betaine. Only 4 of over 30 products actually carry the USDA Organic logo, all other 30+ products do not. To me having only 4 certified products, does not make you an organic company.
Kiss My Face Organics - Phenoxyethanol (funny their adverts claim they are "Obsesivly Organic". HA! Really?)
Lotus Touch organic & natural - PEG-100 Stearate, Dimethicone, Disodium EDTA, Phenoxyethanol, Retinyl Palmitate, Bisabolol,
Mill Creek Organics a.k.a. Amazon Organics - Cocamidopropyl betaine, Octyl dimethyl PABA, Acrylates copolymer,
Natures Gate Organics - Disodium EDTA, Phenoxyethanol, PEG-120, Avobenzone, Octinoxate, Octisalate, Octocrylene, Oxybenzone, PEG-100, Dimethicone, Disodium EDTA, PVP, Dimethiconol,
Organix - Disodium Laureth Sulfosuccinate, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Cocamide DEA, Dimethicone, (Behentrimonium 2 of 4 are toxic, they don't notate which of the 4 types they are using..so this one is iffy), Tetrasodium EDTA, Methylchloroisothiazolinone , Methylisothiazolinone, etc.
Organix South Inc, a.k.a. Thera Neem - Sodium Acrylates Copolymer, Phenoxyethanol, Lauramide DEA, PEG-7, PEG-40,
Pharmacopia Organic - Phenoxyethanol; Chlorphenesin, Cocamidopropyl betaine
Sexy Hair Organics. i can't find even 1 website online, including the company website, that lists the ingredients. next time i'm at the mall i will jot them down, this is where I saw them first and was appalled by the list of toxins.

Fake Naturals: These companies claim they are natural, safe, part of wellness, or pure; but use toxic synthetics in their products. The words Natural, Pure, & Safe have no regulations guiding their use. Any company can make these claims regardless to if the claim is true or not. I have listed some of the exact toxic ingredients they use.

365 by Whole Foods (so confusing to me at to why their body care products contain junk ingredients).
Alba - Phenoxyethanol, Dimethicone, Octinoxate , Oxybenzone, Peg-100, Sodium PCA, etc.
Arbonne - Cocamidopropyl Betaine Coconut , PEG-80, Peg-120, Retinyl Palmitate, Triethanolamine, Phenoxyethanol , Hexylene Glycol , etc. (their baby line is horribly toxic).
Arm & Hammer Essentials Deodorant- propylene glycol, tricolsan, (they test on animals, this alone is enough to boycott them)
Aveda - Many forms of PEG's, Dimethicone, etc. (sorry list not complete. I popped into an Aveda Salon because Aveda does not list online nor will reply to my emails. I did a brief look over of the bottles before it was frowned upon by the salon staff and I left.)
Aveeno - Dimethicone, Petrolatum, Distearyldimonium Chloride, PEG-80, Trisodium EDTA, PEG-150, Iodopropynyl Butylcarbamate
The Body Shop - PEG-100, Parabens (1 product alone had 5 different types of parabens), EDTA, Yellow #5, Red #4, PEG-8, Cocamide DEA, Dimethicone, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Cocamide DEA, Phenoxyethanol, PEG-18, PVP
Derma E - Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Phenoxyethanol, Retinyl Palmitate, Dimethyl MEA , PEG-100, Cocamide DEA
Earth Science - Phenoxyethanol, Retinyl Palmitate, Dimethicone, benzophenone-3
Healthy Times baby line - Parabens
Huggies/Pamper naturals. "Yeah, right." yes that was sarcasim
Jackson Reece Herbal baby wipes - cocamidoproyl betaine, phenoxyethanol
Kiss my Face - Trisodium EDTA, Retinyl Palmitate, Phenoxyethanol, Octinoxate, Oxybenzone, Methylparaben, Propylparaben, Propylene glycol, Triethanolamine.
Korres Natural Products - Propylparaben, Methylparaben, PEG- 8, Aluminium Oxide, PEG-100, Phenoxyethanol, Butylparaben, Ethylparaben, Isobutylparaben, Methylparaben, PEG-60, Phenoxyethanol, Propylene Glycol (one product had 5 parabens & pheno. That's just ludacris)
Lush - Triethanolamine, Methylparaben, Propylparaben, (this company is at least 1/2 honest...when listing their ingredients, they color code the natural & synthetic so it's easy to read, but they call them "safe synthetics", I have to disagree)
Melaleuca - Dimethicone, PEG - 100, Phenoxyethanol, Butylphenyl Methylpropional, Avobenzone, Ostisalate, Octinoxate, Octocyrlene, EDTA, Triethanolamine, PEG-7, PEG-60,
Method - Cocamidopropyl betaine, Methylisothiazolinone, Sodium lauryl sulfate, Methylchloroisothiazolinone, Cocamide DEA, retinyl palmitate, (gets sneaky & shady by not disclosing the name of their preservatives or what type of color they use. it just says "preservative" "color")
Mill Creek Botanicals - Disodium-EDTA, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Cocamide DEA, Imidazolidinyl Urea
Nature's Gate - Phenoxyethanol, PEG-100, Butylene Glycol, Triethanolamine, Cocamide DEA, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Disodium EDTA, Diazolidinyl Urea, Methylparaben, Propylparaben, Octinoxate; Oxybenzone, Dimethicone
Pure and Basic - Cocamidopropyl Betaine, PEG-90, Acrylates Copolymer, Phenoxyethanol, Propylene Glycol, Methylparaben
Shaklee - Phenoxyethanol, Didodium EDTA, Octinoxate, Octisalate, Oxybenzone, PEG-10, Dimethicone, AMMONIUM LAURETH SULFATE, SODIUM LAURYL SULFOACETATE, COCAMIDOPROPYL BETAINE, PEG-12, RETINYL PALMITATE
Tom's of Maine - SLS, Proplyene Glycol
Zia - Phenoxyethanol, Octinoxate, Oxybenzone, Octisalate,

Real Organic: no synthetics; never ever.

Badger Balm
Bottled Earth Company
Dr. Bronners
Earth Mama Angel Baby
Eco-Beauty Organics
Eminence
Essensa
Gratefulbody Organics
iLike (i have no idea how to pronounce this one)
Intelligent Nutrients
Le FP Green body Care
Miessence Organics (food grade, carries USDA label)
Nourish (food grade, carries USDA label)
Oracle Organics
Organic Essence
Pangea Organics
Perfect Organics
Sun Dog
Trillium

Real Natural: though they might not use all organic ingredients, their finished product has NO added synthetics.

Alaffia (* Fair Trade)
Aubrey Organics, (they are not on my organic list because not all products are fully organic, though they never use chemicals or synthetics in finished product)
Bon Vital's natural line
Devita
Dr. Bronners
Earth Mama Angel Baby
Mexitan
Mychelle
Nature's Baby Organics
Rare 2 B
Suki
Weleda
Zum

Hit & Miss/ Murky Companies. These companies have some products that are really clean and other products that are not. Read Labels and know what you are choosing before you spend the $$. be on the look out for: Phenoxyethanol, Dimethicone, Disodium EDTA, PEG's, Parabens, Urea, Propylene Glycol, Cocamidopropyl Betaine...if those are in it, stay away.

Aura Cacia - Very Hit and Miss. Their certified organic line of esseintial oils are the bomb though, VERY high grade and very clean!
Bare Minerals- I found Dimethicone in 1 product out of about 12 that I researched. Seems they have taken out most of their nasty ingredients. I used to have them on my fakers list.
Beeceuticals - some products carry the USDA logo, other products have phenoxyethanol in the ingredients. I have spoken with the owner of the company and they are working on an enzyme based presevative to replace the pheno. so be on the look out for this positive change.
Burt's Bees - the good thing, is each product tells you on the front of the bottle exactly what % it is natural. they are a pretty clean company. there's not much i would shy away from.
Desert Essence - again a truly hit or miss. mostly miss. mostly on my fakers list with the exception of their pure oils and castile face soap, essential oils; those are truly natural and some even organic
Eco-Bella. All of their body care is 100% clean, but their cosmetic line still carries several ingredients of concern, including parabens.
EO - Phenoxyethanol, Retinyl Palmitate, Dimethicone; mostly on my fakers list, though their lip balm is really organic
Honey Bee Gardens
ikove

Please check out www.organicconsumers.org/bodycare for a great petition and more info on the bad companies

Gardening at School

2008-10-15T06:21:00.005-04:00

The National Gardening Association has a wonderful kids program that is being helped by Annie's Home Grown pastas.

"Adopt a School Garden® Program

The Adopt a School Garden® program links schools (K-12) and youth gardens that have voluntarily registered for aid to supporting funds, materials, and technical assistance through corporate and individual donors. The program’s main objectives are to solicit and direct donations to school gardens, provide expert assistance to educators during creation and maintenance of their school garden, and ensure project sustainability. Through this program NGA hopes to attain its goal of achieving A Garden in Every School®. Learn more about the Adopt a School Garden® program.

Starting a Community Garden on School Grounds

What better way to involve community members in your school garden than to make it a community garden? Such partnerships enrich academic learning, nurture relationships, and create a positive neighborhood environment that enhances students' lives outside of school. For inspiration, visit the Teachers' Room. "

HFCS = not so healthy...

2008-09-29T08:36:00.004-04:00

So all the new commercials about how wonderful HFCS really is, irks me. In intsy bitsy writing on the bottom of these commercials you'll see they are funded by the corn refiners association, those are the people who make HFCS. Of course they want to make you feel like HFCS is super safe. I will give them some credit, they do mention that it is okay in moderation. But it's in like 90% of conventional foods and I doubt that the average person who doesn't label read consumes HFCS in moderation, since it's in soooo many types of food.

Here's a random look at foods that carry it. This is not a complete list, but a pretty good one. Most of these items are popular and can probably be found in large quantities in the average home:

Great list of Fast Food Chain's foods w/ HFCS

Sodas, Arizona Teas, & many many many types of "fruit" Juices,

Yoplait yogurts (all varieties)

Most Salad dressings

Special K cereal and many other Kellog's brand cereals.

Stove Top Stuffing

Shake and Bake

Capri Sun

Pepridge Farm and Sara Lee breads

Heinz and Huntz ketchup

The obvious: candy bars and other cheap snacks, including those 100 calorie packs that are sooo popular these days.

Breakfast bars by these companies: Kellogs, Nabisco, Nutrigrain,

Ice creams by: Ben and Jerry's & Dreyers

Crackers, why do crackers need to be sweetened, Nabisco?

Oscar myers lunchables

Shockingly in: Clausen Pickles

Also can be found in most Cough Syrups, along with all types of synthetic colorings. ick

Here's my fav explanation of what is HFCS and Why it's deemed not healthy.

In the Kitchen with Mother Linda

The Murky World of High-Fructose Corn Syrup

By Linda Joyce Forristal, CCP, MTA

Think of sugar and you think of sugar cane or beets. Extraction of sugar from sugar cane spurred the colonization of the New World. Extraction of sugar from beets was developed during the time of Napoleon so that the French could have sugar in spite of the English trading blockade.

Nobody thinks of sugar when they see a field of corn. Most of us would be surprised to learn that the larger percentage of sweeteners used in processed food comes from corn, not sugar cane or beets.

The process for making the sweetener high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) out of corn was developed in the 1970s. Use of HFCS grew rapidly, from less than three million short tons in 1980 to almost 8 million short tons in 1995. During the late 1990s, use of sugar actually declined as it was eclipsed by HFCS. Today Americans consume more HFCS than sugar.

High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is produced by processing corn starch to yield glucose, and then processing the glucose to produce a high percentage of fructose. It all sounds rather simple--white cornstarch is turned into crystal clear syrup. However, the process is actually very complicated. Three different enzymes are needed to break down cornstarch, which is composed of chains of glucose molecules of almost infinite length, into the simple sugars glucose and fructose.

First, cornstarch is treated with alpha-amylase to produce shorter chains of sugars called polysaccharides. Alpha-amylase is industrially produced by a bacterium, usually Bacillus sp. It is purified and then shipped to HFCS manufacturers.

Next, an enzyme called glucoamylase breaks the sugar chains down even further to yield the simple sugar glucose. Unlike alpha-amylase, glucoamylase is produced by Aspergillus, a fungus, in a fermentation vat where one would likely see little balls of Aspergillus floating on the top.

The third enzyme, glucose-isomerase, is very expensive. It converts glucose to a mixture of about 42 percent fructose and 50-52 percent glucose with some other sugars mixed in. While alpha-amylase and glucoamylase are added directly to the slurry, pricey glucose-isomerase is packed into columns and the sugar mixture is then passed over it. Inexpensive alpha-amylase and glucoamylase are used only once, glucose-isomerase is reused until it loses most of its activity.

There are two more steps involved. First is a liquid chromatography step that takes the mixture to 90 percent fructose. Finally, this is back-blended with the original mixture to yield a final concentration of about 55 percent fructose--what the industry calls high fructose corn syrup.

HFCS has the exact same sweetness and taste as an equal amount of sucrose from cane or beet sugar but it is obviously much more complicated to make, involving vats of murky fermenting liquid, fungus and chemical tweaking, all of which take place in one of 16 chemical plants located in the Corn Belt. Yet in spite of all the special enzymes required, HFCS is actually cheaper than sugar. It is also very easy to transport--it's just piped into tanker trucks. This translates into lower costs and higher profits for food producers.

The development of the HFCS process came at an opportune time for corn growers. Refinements of the partial hydrogenation process had made it possible to get better shortenings and margarines out of soybeans than corn. HFCS took up the slack as demand for corn oil margarine declined. Lysine, an amino acid, can be produced from the corn residue after the glucose is removed. This is the modus operandi of the food conglomerates--break down commodities into their basic components and then put them back together again as processed food.

Today HFCS is used to sweeten jams, condiments like ketchup, and soft drinks. It is also a favorite ingredient in many so-called health foods. Four companies control 85 percent of the $2.6 billion business--Archer Daniels Midland, Cargill, Staley Manufacturing Co. and CPC International. In the mid-1990s, ADM was the object of an FBI probe into price fixing of three products--HFCS, citric acid and lysine--and consumers got a glimpse of the murky world of corporate manipulation.

There's a couple of other murky things that consumers should know about HFCS. According to a food technology expert, two of the enzymes used, alpha-amylase and glucose-isomerase, are genetically modified to make them more stable. Enzymes are actually very large proteins and through genetic modification specific amino acids in the enzymes are changed or replaced so the enzyme's "backbone" won't break down or unfold. This allows the industry to get the enzymes to higher temperatures before they become unstable.

Consumers trying to avoid genetically modified foods should avoid HFCS. It is almost certainly made from genetically modified corn and then it is processed with genetically modified enzymes. I've seen some estimates claiming that virtually everything--almost 80 percent--of what we eat today has been genetically modified at some point. Since the use of HFCS is so prevalent in processed foods, those figures may be right.

But there's another reason to avoid HFCS. Consumers may think that because it contains fructose--which they associate with fruit, which is a natural food--that it is healthier than sugar. A team of investigators at the USDA, led by Dr. Meira Field, has discovered that this just ain't so.

Sucrose is composed of glucose and fructose. When sugar is given to rats in high amounts, the rats develop multiple health problems, especially when the rats were deficient in certain nutrients, such as copper. The researchers wanted to know whether it was the fructose or the glucose moiety that was causing the problems. So they repeated their studies with two groups of rats, one given high amounts of glucose and one given high amounts of fructose. The glucose group was unaffected but the fructose group had disastrous results. The male rats did not reach adulthood. They had anemia, high cholesterol and heart hypertrophy--that means that their hearts enlarged until they exploded. They also had delayed testicular development. Dr. Field explains that fructose in combination with copper deficiency in the growing animal interferes with collagen production. (Copper deficiency, by the way, is widespread in America.) In a nutshell, the little bodies of the rats just fell apart. The females were not so affected, but they were unable to produce live young.

"The medical profession thinks fructose is better for diabetics than sugar," says Dr. Field, "but every cell in the body can metabolize glucose. However, all fructose must be metabolized in the liver. The livers of the rats on the high fructose diet looked like the livers of alcoholics, plugged with fat and cirrhotic."

HFCS contains more fructose than sugar and this fructose is more immediately available because it is not bound up in sucrose. Since the effects of fructose are most severe in the growing organism, we need to think carefully about what kind of sweeteners we give to our children. Fruit juicesshould be strictly avoided--they are very high in fructose--but so should anything with HFCS.

Interestingly, although HFCS is used in many products aimed at children, it is not used in baby formula, even though it would probably save the manufactueres a few pennies for each can. Do the formula makers know something they aren't telling us? Pretty murky!

About the author

Linda Forristal, CCP, MTA is the author of Ode to Sucanat (1993) and Bulgarian Rhapsody (1998). Visit her website at www.motherlindas.com.

This article appeared in Wise Traditions in Food, Farming and the Healing Arts,
the quarterly magazine of the Weston A. Price Foundation, Fall 2001

This page was posted on 12/03/03

And another article I found interesting:

Eco Wise

High-Fructose Corn Syrup: Not So Sweet for the Planet

Sunday, March 9, 2008; Page N02

Much ink has been devoted to the dietary hazards of high-fructose corn syrup, the cheap, ubiquitous sweetener found not just in soda and Twinkies but in many foods that aren't even considered sweets, such as bread and ketchup. Though the jury's still out on whether the substance is to blame for rising obesity rates, environmentalists have been trumpeting another reason to avoid it: Doing so is a step toward going green.

High-fructose corn syrup "may be cheap in the supermarket, but in the environment it could not be more expensive," Michael Pollan, author of "In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto" (Penguin Press, 2008), writes in an e-mail.

Most corn is grown as a monoculture, meaning that the land is used solely for corn, not rotated among crops. This maximizes yields, but at a price: It depletes soil nutrients, requiring more pesticides and fertilizer while weakening topsoil.

"The environmental footprint of HFCS is deep and wide," writes Pollan, a prominent critic of industrial agriculture. "Look no farther than the dead zone in the Gulf [of Mexico], an area the size of New Jersey where virtually nothing will live because it has been starved of oxygen by the fertilizer runoff coming down the Mississippi from the Corn Belt. Then there is the atrazine in the water in farm country -- a nasty herbicide that, at concentrations as little as 0.1 part per billion, has been shown to turn male frogs into hermaphrodites."

Milling and chemically altering corn to form high-fructose corn syrup also is energy-intensive. That's not to say that corn is evil and other foods aren't; all crops require energy to grow and transport. What makes corn a target is that federal subsidies -- and tariffs on imported sugar -- keep prices low, paving the way for widespread use of high-fructose corn syrup and, in the process, keeping the American palate accustomed to the sweetness it provides.

Corn is a useful crop with high yields, although it uses more fertilizers and insecticides and causes more soil erosion than other crops, according to David Pimentel, a professor in Cornell University's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. "Organic corn is not a large part of the industry, but it should be," he says. Pimentel published a study in 2005 demonstrating that, over 22 years, growing corn organically produced the same yields as conventional growing and used 33 percent less fuel.

How, then, to satisfy a sweet tooth without bitter repercussions for the planet? You might not buy corn syrup at the grocery store, but you can scale back your consumption of processed foods that contain it. As for tabletop sweeteners, the most Earth-friendly options are locally produced organic honey and real maple syrup from the northeastern United States. Agave nectar is extracted from cacti that grow in the Mexican desert -- not exactly local, but at least it's on this continent -- and it's also popular because of its low glycemic index. (Ironically, many agave farmers have begun torching their crops in response to the ethanol industry's demand for corn.)

Sugar comes in many forms and grows mostly in tropical climates, requiring transportation; the best bet is to go organic and steer clear of the white stuff. Evaporated cane juice is a less refined form of sugar that has made its way into alternative soft drinks.

The bottom line: The more fuel, energy and chemicals that go into processing a food, the less nutritious that food probably is. So steering clear of high-fructose corn syrup can't be bad for your health -- or the planet.

-- Eviana Hartman

Food colorings the same as LEAD

2008-09-12T06:49:00.004-04:00

It seems like the UK and other places in the world like New Zealand and Australia are well ahead of America when it comes to removing harmful additives commonly found in foods. These additives (colors, preservatives, etc) have been scientifically studied and found to be harmful. Linking them to problems such as hyperactivity, obesity, and more seriously ADHD, diabetes, Asthma and so on. Will America catch on? Will there be a movement here, of concerned parents who ban together to fight this? When searching on the web I could only find online groups from the UK, New Zealand and Aussie fighting this fight. If you know of a group here in America, please post it on the comments of this entry. You can remain anonymous if you want.

It is good to know that Certified USDA Organic foods can not contain synthetic chemicals or additives to the ingredients. Yet another great reason to go organic!

"Six artificial colours (102, 104, 110, 122, 124, 129) are being removed from all food in the UK after scientists said their effects were like those of lead on children’s development."

From: http://www.additivealert.com.au/

"It's a sad fact, but food is not just food anymore. Over the past 50 years the use of food additives has skyrocketed to the point where very few of us have any real idea exactly what`s in the food we eat. Alarmingly, the rates of diseases such as cancer, obesity, diabetes, autism, depression, asthma and ADHD have also increased dramatically over this time. Every year, Australians consume over 5kg of food additives each, yet how many of us really know what these chemicals do, which ones are safe and which ones are known to be harmful?

Thankfully, not all food additives are harmful. In fact, of the 300 or so additives approved for use in Australia, most of them are safe, well tested and pose no problem for most people. However, there are at least 60 food additives used in our foods which are at best questionable in terms of safety, or at worse, known to be harmful. "

T minus 30 days

2008-08-30T06:30:00.001-04:00

You have less than 30 days to have your voice heard!

This is my opinion on the matter:
First off the logo chosen is very misleading. It's a very friendly and inviting looking logo. If a consumer doesn't know what the logo stands for, they will think they are buying a healthy or earth friendly product. The logo should be
more of a warning type logo, in red and dangerous looking, since the product is now a hazard, the logo should match. When you walk into a doctors office they have red warning labels for the x-ray area, well, then "x-rayed" food should
have the same type of label. Don't 'greenwash" this logo and make it look friendly and appealing to the consumer as if they were doing something good by purchasing that toxic spinach.

Secondly, consumers don't want more toxins, and less nutrition in their food. We
need all the live nutrients we can get from our foods. Stop killing our
nutritional values. Pesticides, irradiation.. when will it end? Keep Food Alive!

Alert of the Week

FDA OKs Irradiated Lettuce and Spinach

Rather than dealing with the problems inherent in a disease-ridden factory-farmed food system, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced in mid-September it will allow the irradiation of lettuce and spinach. Food irradiation is the controversial practice of bombarding food with high levels of x-rays (ionizing radiation) in order to destroy disease causing pathogens. Unfortunately, in the process of irradiation, other hazards arise, like the creation of toxic free radicals, vitamin and nutrient loss, and the formation of carcinogenic chemicals.

Radura Symbol

A product bearing the Radura symbol has been irradiated.

While irradiated lettuce and spinach must be labeled in supermarkets, there are currently no labeling requirements whatsoever for restaurants, schools, hospitals, or nursing homes serving irradiated produce or other nuked foods such as beef. Over the past decade, OCA and our allies in the organic community have prevented corporate agribusiness and the nuclear industry from contaminating organic standards. Food irradiation is prohibited on any product labeled as "organic." There is currently a 30 day comment period for the FDA's new rule.

Click Here to Tell the FDA to clean-up industrial feedlots instead of irradiating our food

3 of 6 Phalates Banned

2008-08-22T04:31:00.000-04:00

Congress approves phthalate ban

Good news for parents and children everywhere: Congress has agreed to a ban on three dangerous phthalates in products made for children under 12. The decision came in spite of the chemical industry's desperate (and well-funded) attempt to shut the provision down. Exxon-Mobil alone spent a significant portion of its $22 million lobbying budget on the project, according to Lyndsey Layton at The Washington Post.
The provision, which would also require extensive testing of three other types of phthalates before potentially banning them, is a part of a major piece of legislation overhauling the Consumer Products Safety Commission. Although President Bush has said that he disagrees with the phthalate ban (no surprise there), I'm willing to speculate that it would probably be hard for him to veto the entire bill, since its purpose is to protect American consumers.
This is, of course, a major step in the right direction, but is it a harbinger of major change to come? Andy Igrejas of the Pew Charitable Trusts told Layton,
"The debate over this one set of chemicals is a referendum on a broken system. Congress saw just how screwed up the system is in protecting people from chemicals, especially children."

Meanwhile, Layton writes that the ban "signals an important crack in the chemical industry's ability to fend off federal regulation and suggests that the landscape may be shifting to favor consumers." Here's hoping they're right -- we're about due for a landscape shift.
Photo by Nat.

Nutrition Advice

2008-08-08T07:27:00.007-04:00

I'm not trying to play doctor here, but over the years of working in a nutrition dept of a health food store and being on many online forums, I have noticed many moms don't know where to start nutritionally. Hope I can help.

Here's my list of recommendations to talk about w/ your doctor or mid-wife. As we all know, natural is usually best, but it doesn't always mean safe. Some people might be allergic to an ingredient in a product I've suggested, so always read everything before you take it and talk to your doctor/mid-wife before beginning anything, even something natural.

1. A good prenatal vitamin will supply you with the vitamins and mineral you'll need. This does not mean you can eat junk food, you still need to eat a healthy diet. Vitamins used to supplement your daily intake, not replace it. My suggestions are limited because in my experience whole food vitamins are the only ones anyone should be taking. They are safe enough to take on an empty tummy and generally don't cause problems for mom's experiencing high levels of morning sickness.

Many of them are made with certified organic ingredients. Prenatals should be taken when you are trying to conceive (before you get preggers) to insure you have the proper vitamins in your system at the time of conception. Studies show that the need for higher amounts of vitamin b's (found in prenatals) are most necessary in the first 6 weeks of fetal development. Most mamas don't even know they are preggers that early and miss taking a prenatal at important time in the game. So if you are lucky enough to be planning the conception, start the prenatal now!

*Company's who make Prenatals; in order from what I believe are best to good:
New Chapter (true whole food made with organic ingredients)
Pure Essence Labs (Food based)
Nature's Plus SOURCE OF LIFE (whole food concentrate)
Rainbow Light (food based)

2. Another supplement you should start before conception, if possible, are EFA's (essential fatty acids) these are your Omega's, EPA, and DHA. Most commonly found in fish oils (dha & epa) but you can get omega's from flax oil, primrose, borage, pumpkin seed and chia seeds. Omegas are important because they help lubricate joints, good for mood support/brain function, great for hair skin nails, healthful for heart health, and a good hormone balance. DHA is essentialin fetal brain development and for a new born, up to age 2. "DHA (Docosahexaenoic Acid) is a polyunsaturated fatty acid, and is an essential building block of brain and nerve tissue. DHA cannot be synthesized by the body, and therefore must be obtained by a diet high is deep-sea cold water fish.DHA, which constitutes approximately 40% of the brain, supports brain development during the last trimester of pregnancy when the unborn child's demand for neurological growth increases greatly. If added to the mother's diet, it can help prevent the depletion of the mother's store of DHA and support the developing baby's essential fatty acid needs. Currently, the proposed Adequate Intake of DHA for pregnant and lactating women is 300 mg per day. (ISSFAL)*
The omega-3 fatty acids, EPA and DHA, play important structural roles as components of cellular membranes. Ongoing clinical studies support the role of EPA and omega-3 fatty acids in health and disease.Clinical investigations are continually carried out on the importance of DHA and omega-3 fatty acids in health and disease.*International Society for the Study of Fatty Acids and Lipids."

*Companies who make Omega's especially for pregnancy (no particular order this time):
Prenatal DHA by Nordic Naturals
Preg-Natal by Jarrow
Healthy Mom by Barleens (recently discontinued by manufacturer)
Spectrum Prenatal DHA (vegetarian)

3. Pregnancy Tea by Traditional Medicinals or Yogi Tea. These teas support the uterus. Best to use during pregnancy. Using the tea after delivery, helps the uterus contract back to normal and keeps it toned. This is also part of your water intake you'll need. Ugh, I hated all the water I had to drink. Adding some lemon to the tea is tasty, and gives you a little vit c.

4. Protein. You'll be told to eat a lot of it. Remember Protein doesn't have to be from animals. "What is the difference between animal and plant protein?
Animal foods such as meat, dairy, eggs, poultry, and fish are complete proteins because they contain sufficient levels of all essential amino acids.
Plant proteins come from foods such as beans, nuts, peas and soy products. Milk products and eggs are good sources for lacto-ovo vegetarians.
What is a complementary protein?
Plant proteins tend to be limited in one or more essential amino acids. For example, beans are low in the amino acid lysine, while rice is rich in lysine.
When the amino acids from two or more foods together make up a complete protein with sufficient levels of all the essential amino acids, these food pairings are called "complementary proteins".
Examples include grains and legumes or legumes and seeds and nuts.
People following a vegetarian diet must eat protein foods that have complementary proteins so that the essential amino acids missing from one protein food can be supplied by another.
What are some examples of complementary proteins?
Beans and tortillas
Peanut butter sandwich
Macaroni and cheese
Tofu with rice
Hummus with pita bread
Chickpeas and rice

Do people following a vegetarian diet need to eat complementary proteins at every meal?
It was once believed that complementary proteins had to be consumed at every meal. We now know that intentional combining at each meal isn't necessary.
As long as you eat a variety of plant foods, such as brown rice, corn, nuts, seeds, whole grains and wheat within each 24 hour period, your protein needs should easily be met."

5. The dreaded constipation can usually be alleviated by adding extra magnesium to your diet, taken at night.

My favs:
Mama Calm
Ionic Fizz.

6. The Last 6 weeks of your term:Check out Dr. Christopher's Pre-natal. It is used only during the last 6 weeks of pregnancy and it's traditionally used to help prepare the uterus and vagina for delivery. Always consult your doctor or midwife before taking this product.

After Baby is Born:
Stay on that prenatal or switch to the Post Natal by Pure Essence Labs
Stay on those EFA's especially if you are breastfeeding, because that growing brain of baby's still needs all the help it can get. Up to the age of 2 at the least.
Keep up with the water intake. You need it to produce milk.

Other healthful nutrients we need help getting because of lack of healthful diets:

Digestive Enzymes:if you eat a lot of cooked foods then the natural enzymes of those foods are killed during the cooking process. Enzymes are needed to digest foods. There are two ways to get enzymes: Fresh, uncooked food, or if it's been cooked then our body supplies the enzymes. Well, this takes away from our reserve of enzymes needed for energy. Help your body by supplementing w/ Digestive Enzymes.
My favs:
Renew Life
Mega Foods
Enzymatica
Garden of Life
Jarrow

Acidophilous: these are the friendly bacteria found in our gut. They are the platform for proper immune health and digestion. They play a huge role in our bodies. Small amounts can be found in yogurt, but not enough to support our crazy lifestyles.

My fav brands:
Dr. Ohara's
Real Food Organics by Country Life
Renew Life
New Chapter
Mega Foods
Garden of Life.

Back to School Greens

2008-08-02T08:34:00.001-04:00

School shopping CAN be eco-friendly. Here's my list of suggestions to be green this year and the next and the next...

1. Look for items that are durable and can be used next year, and the year after. Stop the insanity of disposables. Ugh.

2. Look for recycled and high %'s of post consumer waste when buying paper goods.

3. Skip the plastic when non-plastic is an option.

4. Many brand names have online coupons

5. Of course buying second hand is more eco-friendly than buying new, and I totally know that most kids think second hand is lame. But teaching them how to shop for great finds will hopefully open their eyes.

6. If it has to be new, at least know the eco-ethics of the company you are purchasing from. A little Google work can do the trick (check out this Google search engine: http://www.ecosearch.org/) Choose companies with high green goals.

7. Encourage your school board to convert their diesel buses to be green.

8. Check out my Green Your Office entry for more mint green suggestions.

Here's some groovy must haves for school (photos are links to sites):

Skip the plastic by buying a reusable water bottle.

"In 2006, Americans drank about 167 bottles of water each, but only recycled an average of 23 percent. That leaves 38 billion water bottles in landfills. Bottled water costs between $1 and $4 per gallon and 90 percent of the cost is in the bottle, lid and label. It takes over 1.5 million barrels of oil to manufacture a year’s supply of bottled water. That’s enough oil to fuel 100,000 cars. "

Recycled Cotton Reusable Lunch Tote

Kicks that rock!

Not so nerdy backpacks

Eco-Fabulous Fashions!

Check out the links for Mint Green Businesses on the righthand tool bar of this blog for more mint green shopping fun!

Miessence Organics releases a Baby Range

2008-07-14T17:42:00.004-04:00

The most amazing thing about this product line is that it's by a company that I just adore. And my fav new product is the Baby Bottom Mist. Spray it on and no gunky mess on your finger tips. Hallelujah.

Green Your Kid's Dinner

2008-07-04T05:18:00.004-04:00

A little Bamboo Fun and some Organic food will do the trick.

There are so many ways you can have meal times be Green. Let's start with the plates and forks/spoons. Bamboo is a great choice and Bambu is a fun company that has wonderful ethics! Why bamboo? Bamboo is a fast growing grass. Some species of bamboo can grow as quickly as 1 foot per day. With such a fast paced growth life, this renewable material doesn't take long to replenish. It's also hardy and doesn't need harsh chemicals in order to be healthy. Bambu company has gone one step further to get their bamboo certified organic. Bamboo, though usually grown organically, isn't normally certified. Bambu is changing that with their certification measures.

Another great way to Green meal time is by starting your own organic garden in the yard and using those veggies. It's been shown that kids are more likely to eat their veggies if they had part in growing and harvesting them. There are even systems you can buy to do potted gardening for appartment/condo dwellers.

If you don't have a green thumb, then buy LOCAL.

Brighter Planet\'s 350 Challenge

2008-07-03T07:13:00.001-04:00

Brighter Planet's 350 Challenge

Posted using ShareThis

Cute Cookies That Feature Cool Eco-Actions

2008-06-24T08:49:00.002-04:00

These are sooo cute. They are cookies in the shape of a Prius car, a Wind Turbine and Sun, plus the Earth. Get your kiddos thinking about being eco when eating an eco cookie!

Love It!

There website is full of fun links too.

www.eco-planet.net

Smelly Jewlry, but in a good way.

2008-06-05T09:50:00.002-04:00

Instead of synthetic perfumes for your fairy princess, why not buy her multi-functional jewlry? I found these gorgeous fairy pendants that you can add some aromatherapy oils to. That way you know you aren't contaminating your precious glitter girl with toxic perfumes. Check out Earth Solutions for more styles.

Reusable bags, not just for groceries...

2008-05-23T08:08:00.006-04:00

Many areas of the country are looking to follow San Francisco's lead by banning the plastic bag. The popularity of taking your own bag to the grocery store has sky rocketed. Now you can buy the store's branded bags right at the register.My favorite place to buy bags is from Reusable Bags. They offer a plethora of choices. For those of you who want to go organic cotton, to those of you who want to recycle used plastic into a re-purposed bag. So many choices and ways to be Green.

The site has a running ticker of how many plastic "toss and use" bags have been wasted each day. It's scary to say the least.
Plastic bags consumed this year:*This was the count at 7:53 am EST : 196,284,920,611

So let your kiddo join in on the green trend with their own reusable bag. They can be trendy too, because the green trend is a good trend. If you had to pick one area in life to go full steam, ultra trendy, this would be a great start!

Some of their most trendy looks.
Even reusables can be Eco-Fabulous Darling!

Mix Match and toys too boot.

2008-05-21T06:59:00.004-04:00

We have bought so much from this company. I just love their cordinating pieces and cuddly toys. Quality and fashion go hand in hand for Under the Nile.

It's beach time and your kiddo will look so cute in this beach hoodie

They even have cute little gift baskets for the next baby shower you attend:

Where R all the Cotton Trainers going??

2008-05-12T09:08:00.004-04:00

I do not believe pull-ups are more helpful or have better results than regular 'ol cotton training underware.

Pull-ups are definitely not mint green. They just clog our landfills. When you are teaching your kiddo to get out of diapers, why put them in a trainer that looks and feels like a diaper?

So what to do? Use cotton trainers! They are great!!!!!!

Gerber has training underpants that are made from cotton and look and feel just like normal underware. They have a few extra layers of cotton where it counts. I have found that Babies-R-Us and K-mart are the only stores that carry all 3 sizes. Target only carries the medium and large and Toys-R-Us doesn't carry any of them. You can find them online, but that's just as difficult.

Under the Nile does make an Organic Cotton trainer but they only come in one size and are a bit pricey. Bummer.

There is also a site devoted just to girls called Potty Patty that carries cotton trainers. And the boys site: Potty Scotty

It's a G thang.

2008-05-09T07:50:00.004-04:00

So here's the low down on the gDiaper. They are Cradle to Cradle certified!

It's a reusable diaper with a plastic free, liner. The liner can be composted, flushed, or tossed in trashbin.

The breathable diaper "consists of a washable, cotton outer pant and a plastic free flushable refill. They are made of breathable material just like sports clothing. So, babies stay dry and happy and are far less likely to get diaper rash."

My thought on these, are two thumbs up! If you or hubby is against cloth diapers because of an ick factor, but you don't want the plastic, landfill destined conventional types, then gDiapers sounds like a great option.

Here's a link to find out more about them and see their styles.

Gaia

2008-04-22T00:01:00.001-04:00

Happy Earth Day.

Meet Me Earth Day Weekend.

2008-04-16T09:58:00.002-04:00

Those of you in S.W. Florida, stop by and see me this weekend. I would love to meet my readers.
I will be at Koreshan State Park for the Earth Day Festival.

SIERRA CLUB CALUSA GROUP’S SEVENTH ANNUAL EARTH DAY FESTIVAL SATURDAY, 19th of APRIL 2008Koreshan State Historic Site Estero, FL

Explore the beautiful Estero River! (FREE kayaking rides) Enjoy art, food, music, and environmental presentations!

OPENING CEREMONY – 10:00 AM – A honoring of Mother Earth Environmental Presentations and FREE Kayak Rides start at 10:30 AM
Kids’ Activities, start at 11:00 AM

LIVE MUSIC ALL DAY ON THE GREEN:
Darrell Bair 10:15-11:15 AM
Roy Schneider 11:30 AM-12:30 PM
Skunk Monkey 1:00-2:00 PM
Deep Roots 2:00-3:30 PM

PLEASE BRING CHAIRS OR BLANKETS TO ENJOY THE MUSIC ON THE GREEN!

FOOD AVAILABLE STARTING AT 11:00 AM Lions Club of Estero, South Fort Myers: hot dogs, pork BBQ, chips, sodas
For Goodness Sake: organic veggie and turkey wraps Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream

Local Artists will be displaying their work Many items will be RAFFLED including a poster donated by Clyde Butcher, renowned Southwest Florida photographer! (Raffle Tickets available at the Sierra Club table on the porch) DRUM CIRCLE open to the public 4:00 - 6:30 PM Bring your drum!

Our Faery Village is growing.

2008-04-08T20:56:00.006-04:00

Here's our latest faery village.
It's just under our huge gardenia bush.

Be an Eco-Fabulous Fashionista

2008-04-04T09:24:00.005-04:00

Simple shoes are simply eco-friendly.

1 Capadee, 1 Gagoogala & a Beeeeezzz

2008-03-28T10:17:00.006-04:00

We went bug hunting yesterday. Morgan found 1 caterpillar, as she calls them "cap-a-dee". We also caught 1 bumble bee. We studied each very carefully by putting it in Morgan's bug box. Then later went inside to get our butterfly book and learn which caterpillar turned into which butterfly. Oh, we also caught a Ga-goo-ga-la, aka lizard.

Green Nursery

2008-03-27T08:44:00.008-04:00

Here's a step by step on how to make a nursery earth & kid friendly.

1. Paint with a milk based, clay based or zero VOC paint. Conventional paints have chemicals that emit odors during the painting process that can be toxic, and also over time they off gas and emit odorless fumes that are toxic. Here are some eco and people friendly choices: Link 1 Link 2 Link 3 Link 4 Link 5

2. If you need new floors, lay eco-friendly cork, or bamboo. Not the laminate type, but real wood. There are also modular carpet tiles, these days. This makes it most convenient for those nasty stains. Instead of replacing all the carpet, just replace the stained piece. Less waste. Link 1 Link 2 Link 3

3. Buy furniture made from sustainable resources. Another option is buying used or vintage pieces. When buying vintage, make sure all layers of paint have been stripped to remove any lead paint. Link 1 Link 2 Link 3

4. Choose an organic mattress. Conventional mattress not only use not so earth friendly materials, but they also off-gas harmful, sometimes odorless, toxins. Since babies sleep a lot, eliminate one of the most dangerous nursery items, the toxic mattress. Link 1 Link 2 Link 3 Link 4 Link 5

5. Choose 100% cotton bedding. Organic is best. Why cotton? Synthetic fabrics are made from not to earth friendly resources and can also off gas, just like the materials in conventional mattresses. Why swaddle your baby in "toxic" luxury? Luckily you have about a zillion choices when it comes to all natural bedding. I've picked my favs here for you. Link 1 Link 2 Link 3 Link 4 Link 5 Link 6

6. Toys! This is probably the easiest way to choose Eco-Friendly. Go Wood, Go Metal, Go Cotton, Go Wool. But don't do plastic. ICK. Link 1 Link 2 Link 3 Link 4 Link 5 Link 6

7. Don't forget all the little odds and ends. You can get Organic in just about everything these days! Also, try to choose eco-friendlier diaper products. Seventh Generation makes a chlorine free diaper. This is good to the environment because the bleaching of cotton and paper is very harmful to our waterways and soil pollution. We don't need stark white diapers, they surely won't be staying that way for long, so why bother. A few last fun links: Bibs Washcloths Boppy Slip Cover Disposable Diapers Re-usable Diapers

2008-03-26T08:07:00.003-04:00

Yes, it is true, there is mercury in some of those spiral looking energy saving light bulbs (as well as those long tube like fluorescent bulbs). Typically the spirally, curly bulbs have about 5 milligrams of mercury. Which is about the size of a ball point pen. And generally speaking the "old" fever thermometers contained much higher amounts. People are worried that the breaking and improper disposal of so many bulbs will release so much unwanted mercury back into our environment. And this is true.

After some major research on my part, the energy saved while using these special bulbs reduces such an amazing amount of electrical energy, the risk is almost worth it. Here me out. First, we must educate people how to properly dispose of them, which is to take them to your local recycler that accepts fluorescent bulbs. Some retailers like Ikea and Ace Hardware will take them for you and dispose of properly. Secondly, we must realize that our conventional production of electricity (coal burning plants) itself releases massive amounts of mercury into our environment each year. We're talking 48 tons or more per year. Third, approxamitaly 95% of the energy that an incandescent bulb uses is given off as heat. If you have several of these bulbs going in one space, you can see where the need to run your a/c may increase, thus using even more engery. As you can see, when we save electricity by using CLF (spirally) bulbs we are in turn reducing the mercury output by our electric companies, and by adding proper disposal of the bulbs, we are doing much less harm. You can also find mercury in some types of fever thermometers & wall thermostats commonly found at home.

However, there are safe(r) options for the spirally types. (I'm still investigating the tube "garage" types and will update). GE is looking into reducing the amounts of mercury in their bulbs to 1 milligram and Phillips at 2 milligrams. There are rumors of companies who make mercury free energy saving bulbs, but I can't find them online yet. If I do, I'll edit this info. Here is another chance to vote with your dollar, choose those with very little or (if you can find them,) zero mercury and let's make the more toxic ones obsolete. And if you hate the color the CFL's give off, try http://greenliteusa.com/ who makes a color corrected spiral bulb and also CFL's that can be on a dimmer. Some companies are coming out with what they call an Eco-Friendly CFL, but don't be fooled. If it has mercury in it, no matter how minute, it's not eco-friendly, it's just eco-friendlier.

Another bulb on the horizon for home use, still a bit pricey though, is the LED light. Here's an interesting graph I found on Earthtech.com

Life Span & Energy Saving Benefits of LED Light Bulbs vs. Incandescent Light Bulbs

Incandescent 60 Watt Light Bulb Earthtech 2 Watt LED Light Bulb

Life Span:

How long will the light bulb last? 1,000 hours 60,000 hours

How many bulbs used over 60,000 hour period 60 bulbs Only 1 bulb

Bulb cost over 60,000 hours $40.20 (60 bulbs at .67 cents each) $39.99 (1 bulb)

Electricity Usage:

kWh of electricity used over 60,000 hours. 3600 kWh 120 kWh

Cost of Electricity:

60,000 hours at 10¢ per kWh $360.00 $12.00

Total Cost After 60,000 hours $400.20 $51.99

Total Savings:
Money saved by installing one Earthtech LED Light Bulb Total Savings
$348.21 per bulb!

Led Light Bulb Benefits (thought still pricey and not 100% "there" yet)

Save money in electricity costs
Instant on/off

Light the color of daylight
Works in cold weather

Use only 2-10 watts of electricity (1/3rd to 1/30th of Incandescent or CFL)
Can sustain moderate power surges

Long lasting - up to 60,000 hour bulb life
Durable bulbs with no fragile filaments to break from shaking and rattling

Cool running (warm to the touch) - little heat compared to standard bulbs
Directional lighting generates less wasted light

Works with sensor activated lights (CFL bulbs are not recomended for sensors)
Works with most dimmer switches (CFL bulbs are not recomended for dimmers)

Here are some ways you can cut your electricity usage, thus decreasing the amount of mercury released into our environment each year.

Switch over to those funny shaped spiral bulbs and dispose of them properly, or use LED lights (especially the LED x-mas lights. look in your town for old light recycling.)

Line dry your laundry.

Switch to a solar water heater.

Support alternative energy (wind, solar, hydro)

Purchase only Energy Star appliances.

Un-plug all major appliances when not in use, including computer and tv. You can go as far as flicking the breaker for plugs you can't reach. Idle appliances use "vampire" electricity when in sleep mode. Even when your t.v. is "off" it's really just sleeping, still sucking some electricity from the outlet.

Faery houses

2008-03-22T10:39:00.014-04:00

Help inspire imagination for the beloved Faery folk and also a love for gardening. As legend has it, faeries often live amongst the mushrooms. And Faeries don't like pesticides, and neither will your kid's immune system. So keep those nasty chemicals away from the garden. Heck, eliminate them all together.

Here's a few sites where you can get the supplies:

Link 1 Link2 Link3

While you're at it, here's another neat gardening "must have". They are bio-degradable planters made from newspaper. You can buy the kit to make your own: Here.

And to top it off, you'll need natural fertilizer for your garden...why not use Terracycle?

Easter with Butterflies

2008-03-20T11:28:00.007-04:00

My parents came to visit the other day. They live 6 hours away. They brought Morgan her Easter gifts. I am very proud of my parents. Though they aren't very eco-minded, they do respect my crazy requests that Morgan's toys be wood. To an extent they follow the "rules". I am extremely grateful that they try.

One of Morgan's favorite gifts was a butterfly net. So we went butterfly hunting. She's used to going to our local botanical gardens which features a butterlfy exhibit that guests can walk through. But you know butterflies...they dart so quickly. She's been able to get about 4 to walk onto her finger from being perched on a flower. And the squeals of delight resonate through the whole exhibit. After looking like a fool trying to catch 1 of 3 monarchs in our yard yesterday, I finally got one. We put it in a big glass jar with some flower clippings and then I let Morgan just watch and point and investigate this amazingly beautiful creature. I wish I could be a butterfly for just one day. That would be wonderful. Later in the day, I went to the Ritz Carlton where I give regular lectures about butterflies to their kids club. I took my captured friend, to later release him into the butterfly garden on the Ritz property. As luck would have it, there was another monarch fluttering around. I hope they met up and became friends.

Photo of Morgan w/ a Monarch on her finger taken at the butterfly pavilion circa Aug 2007

Yum Yums for the Tummy

2008-03-18T15:34:00.004-04:00

Morgan calls food any one of the following: Nummie Tummy, Num Nums, or Yummmiieeeeeeee.

We try to feed her as organic as possible. Of course at home, this is easy; out and about, not so much. I try to pack organic snacks, but sometimes, well you know how a day in the life of toddler can unfold.

So here's some of M's favorite Nummie Tummies (the Num Nums are links too):

Green Toys

2008-03-18T08:54:00.001-04:00

Why pick wooden and organic cotton toys?

Eco-friendly, very little harm done to the planet in the production of wood toys.
Plastics emit toxic "gases" as they age
Plastics are toxic to the environment to produce
Not all plastic toys can be recycled or are for that matter
Most conventional plastic toys are electronic and don't spark imagination.
Wooden toys are less commercialized. This is a good thing... Who needs Barbie anyways?
Have you heard any recalls on wooden toys for lead poisoning? The answer is nope.
Plastics are made from petrol. Do we really need to support drilling for oil with our children's toys?
Polyester is made from plastic.
Most conventional stuffed toys are stuffed with stryofoam and/or polyester. ewww.
Conventional cotton was grown using toxic pesticides and chemicals...not good for the planet.

Here's some good ideas. Each picture is a link.

What is a Mint Green Parent?

2008-03-16T09:25:00.001-04:00

I feel a mint green parent is one that not only lives an eco-friendly lifestyle, but teaches through action to their child.

We have a most amazing 2 1/2 yr old girl. Life couldn't be any better. Each day we teach her to love the world around her. We encourage her to run barefoot in our chemical free yard, and help us garden. "Nothing" is off limits, of course we know to keep her from danger. We let her explore with us as her shadow, not always her guide. Sometimes her curiosity is the best teacher. She has a love for lizards that astounds me. She calls them gagoogala (have no idea where that came from, but we're going with it).

We've already taught her the importance of not wasting water when she washes her hands and brushes her teeth. We thought, it's never to early to start that lesson.

I hope to bring to you, my readers, inspiring stories of our green baby.

Keep on greenin' on.