All right . . . weak joke . . . but this baby bottle is so green that it could’ve grown in my garden!
Pura generously sent me a Pura Kiki stainless steel baby bottle in this beautiful shade of aqua blue to try out on Owen, my new little boy. I cannot comment on its function as a baby bottle, as my little Owen is exclusively breastfed. However, this toxin free, environmentally friendly baby bottle is also able to function as a sippy cup simply by changing the attachment on top. Read more…
Image credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/gyuvallos/71410563/
Summer makes me happy. I love going swimming, watching baseball, and not wearing socks for four months. But if there’s one thing about summer that bugs me, it’s … well, bugs. Not only are mosquito bites itchy and painful, they’re also dangerous. Going outside, especially into a wooded area, with no insect repellent is not an option.
But insect repellents, as you can imagine, are neither eco-friendly nor particularly good for you. Many are made with DEET, which is highly effective in warding off pests but not something you want swimming around in your bloodstream, which is exactly where it ends up after you spray it on your skin. Fortunately, for those who want to protect their health by avoiding both bug bites and chemical-based insect repellents, there are all kinds of do-it-yourself recipes for natural bug sprays. Read more…
Memorial Day is now behind us, which means it’s officially beach season. We’ve all been told over and over again how important it is to wear sunscreen when you’re out in the sun for any length of time, but did you know that instances of skin cancer have gone up since sunscreen was invented? It’s true — because sunscreen is not a free pass for a day of fun in the sun. It’ll keep you from getting burned, but it won’t prevent skin cancer.
However, the sun may not be the only thing to worry about on bright summer days — research shows that sunscreen itself may actually cause skin cancer. Remember, sunscreen is a chemical that you rub directly onto your skin, and about half of the 500 most popular sunscreen products contain vitamin A that directly contributes to malignant cell growth. Read more…
A couple months ago, I was standing in the shower thinking about Greenists post ideas. (Well, more specifically, I was standing in the shower showering, but also thinking of Greenists post ideas, because I am a big fan of multitasking and because we all know lots of good ideas happen in the shower.) And as I lathered up the bar of soap I’d picked up at a recent craft sale, it occurred to me that I should write about what a good idea it is to switch from disposable plastic poufs and bottled shower gel to old school bar soap. I was thinking about how much less packaging bar soap uses and how easy it is to find bar soaps that aren’t full of unpronounceable chemicals and how switching to bar soap is just the kind of simple, good idea The Greenists love to focus on. And then I searched the archives and realized… Allie already wrote about that. Of course she did! OK then.
A good tip is always worth repeating, so I decided to mention it anyway, in my Not-Quite-New Year’s Resolutions post a while back. And I’m mentioning it again now not because I like to beat a dead horse, but because the good people at Anima Soap sent me some samples of their fine products, and they’d probably like me to tell you about them.
Today marks the start of National Public Health Week.
According to the American Public Health Association:
While these are big problems, the Nation Public Health Week campaign does a fantastic job of breaking down taking charge of your health into small solutions, like carpooling, buying locally grown produce, and opting for the stairs instead of the elevator.
Watch the video (warning for people reading at work, the video starts automatically), take a look at the list of things you can do to take charge of your health, and share with friends and family. Check it all out here.
What steps are you taking to lead a healthier life?
All that hysteria over H1N1 seems to have died down the past few months, but we’re still in the midst of cold and flu season. I know this because I managed to catch myself one. A cold, that is. Or possibly bronchitis. Or maybe the pneumonic plague. I’m kidding. I’ve consulted Dr. Google, and I’m pretty sure it’s not the plague, though I may have to wait a few days to be certain. Meanwhile, I’m sipping fluids and bonding with my couch and wishing I had picked up the little bottle of CleanWell hand sanitizer I recently bought a week or so earlier than I did.
Hand sanitizers have gotten a bum rap the past couple years, for partly good reasons. Read more…
It’s the end of the semester. Certain things go by the wayside in the frenzy of grading papers, writing recommendations, and handing out tissues to failing students whose most creative work all semester is a sob story worthy of a Lifetime Movie. I haven’t had time to shave my legs in almost a week. On the bright side, I no longer need to wear long johns to walk to work. I’ve also found that the stubble keeps my socks from falling, thus preventing those nasty blisters you get when the heel of your sock bunches at the back of your shoe and rubs, rubs, rubs all day. I would say that not shaving this week has been a win, but my cat, Not a Dingo, has found another use for my gorilla like leg locks — scratching posts. Sometimes the Dingo household can take the whole recycle/repurpose mantra too darn far! But I digress. What I want to talk about is food.
Read more…
Photo credit: www.npr.org
Big cities have the advantage of not only having a lot of attractions in a relatively small space, but also having mass transit systems. One of the best I’ve experienced is the Metro system in Washington, D.C., which goes pretty much anywhere a tourist could want to go in our nation’s capital. I don’t need to explain the environmental benefits of mass transportation to you — one vehicle moving lots of people at once is obviously greener than each of those people driving individual cars. But in D.C., you can take it one step further and bike your way to wherever you want to go.
I’m going to extend the Vivesana giveaway another day and give you a second chance to enter to win a tube of Vivesana Solar to Polar Ultra or Solar to Polar Baby sunscreen. Check out Dan’s interview – the story of Vivesana is so inspiring! Then Tweet or blog about the Vivesana contest, linking back to this post or last week’s post. Then come back here and leave a link to the post or tweet below for an extra entry in the giveaway.
How did Vivesana get its start?
It’s not easy elbowing into a crowded marketplace with competitors that spend millions in advertising, and so I was determined to find an audience that was informed and active. I looked around and decided the most informed, thorough consumers on Earth were new mothers. It was only half way into the process that I had my own child and came to fully appreciate the need for safer products.
I, along with my partners in crime (another lawyer, a mother, an organic farmer/teacher, and a renewable energy specialist) spent months researching everything we could about ingredients, skin physiology, and formulation in the latest studies and academic journals. We started with sunscreens because we quickly discovered it was an area where mislabeling and questionable ingredients were particularly prevalent.
We went to a house in upstate New York and started cooking. Eventually, we got to a place where we were ready to bring in chemists, labs and manufacturers.
Since we approached the whole thing fresh, weren’t confined or burdened by the traditional approaches and corner cutting. The far more common approach is to hand it off to the professionals right away, or even more common, to simply repackage an existing formulation. We got a lot of grief, and it took an awfully long time to develop, but ultimately we came out with unique products. Starting from scratch is usually more conducive to real innovation! Read more…
Vivesana is giving away a tube of their fabulous sunscreen to two lucky Allie’s Answers readers!
To enter, go to the Vivesana website and read about Vivesana’s products and green practices. Then come back here and leave a comment to tell us what feature of Vivesana’s sunscreens is most important to you.
I’ll draw names using a random number generator on Tuesday, June 2, 2009. Winners can choose Solar to Polar Ultra or Solar to Polar Baby sunscreen. Comments that appear to be spam will not be counted. Only one comment per reader per post will be counted. Stay tuned. I’ll give you a chance for a second entry later this week. US Residents only.
Also, Vivesana is offering 25% off to Allie’s Answers readers. From now through June 20th, when you shop at Vivesana.com and use the code allie&vive25 at checkout, you’ll get 25% off your order.
CONTEST CLOSED
I promise to do a real garden update next week. Well, I don’t promise, but I’ll try to. In the meantime, I will give you a quick idea of what’s going on. Bunnies. Eating. Everything.
“But, Allie,” you say, “don’t you have a big, hulking, wolf-like dog? Doesn’t he scare off the bunnies?”
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