Frankly Green

Kids Safe Chemical Act

Below is a note that my friend Greg T. sent to all his friends after attending the presentation by Ken Cook of the Environmental Working Group last night. Thanks Greg, not just for the great write-up, but for taking action!! And thanks to my friend Marie M. for organizing the event and to all the other co-hosts that made the event a huge success (over 300 people attended!)

There is also a great post on More Green Mom's.

Friends -

The Kid Safe Chemicals Act (KSCA), if passed, will overhaul the incredibly weak Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) of 1976.
Please call or write your senator or representative ASAP, and urge them to vote for the KSCA.

I saw a one hour version of this presentation tonight by Ken Cook.   The video is 20 minutes.  It is a must see, for all who care about our children, ourselves and the future of the human race.  Link to Video.

Here is a link to a newspaper article that summarizes the presentation that Ken has been giving all over the country since 2005.

There are now over 80,000 toxic chemicals in products that are strongly implicated in statistics such as:
-        40% increase in childhood brain cancer in the past 20 years
-        62% increase in childhood leukemia in past 20 years
-        Skyrocketing rates of infertility in women under 25
-        1 in 150 children with autism, and NO cases of severe autism in adults, because the chemicals                 causing autism are new
-        3.6% of children with asthma in 1980 and 9.8% of children with asthma in 2000
-        Huge increases in breast cancer, prostate cancer, birth defects, ADHD and on and on

In order to get a new drug approved (through FDA), it takes many years, animal studies, human studies, and many millions of dollars to prove the drug is safe and efficacious.  Even then, all drugs have side effects and some drugs are eventually taken off the market because of hazards that went undetected in 10 years and 10s or 100s of millions of dollars of testing.  In striking contrast, for new chemicals to be sold, there are no health and safety studies required and virtually no disclosures necessary for the chemical to be put on the market.  The entire approval process for a new chemical (through EPA) takes about 3 weeks.  A total of only 5 chemicals of the 80,000 have been severely restricted or banned using the law in the past 33 years.  Amazingly, the law was too weak to get asbestos removed from the market when the first President Bush attempted to do so.

Please call or write your congressional and senate representatives and urge them to pass the Kid Safe Chemicals Act.  And sign the Declaration. We can and must create a tidal wave of support for KSCA, to reverse the horrific wave of human damage caused by unregulated chemicals.

Greg

Bottled Water Quality Investigation: 10 Major Brands, 38 Pollutants

Bottled water contains disinfection byproducts, fertilizer residue, and pain medication

Environmental Working Group - October 2008

Authors: Olga Naidenko, PhD, Senior Scientist; Nneka Leiba, MPH, Researcher; Renee Sharp, MS, Senior Scientist; Jane Houlihan, MSCE, Vice President for Research

I recently attended an excellent presentation by Ken Cook, the co-founder and President of the Environmental Working Group (EWG). I urge you to visit their web site which contains a wealth of information about toxins in our environment. On the site you will find information and product reviews on things like pesticides in produce, the best/safest sun screens, as well as current legislation and how you can help make positive changes. I plan to post additional information from their site but you should definitely take the time to browse it yourself!! 

Link to Article

The bottled water industry promotes an image of purity, but comprehensive testing by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) reveals a surprising array of chemical contaminants in every bottled water brand analyzed, including toxic byproducts of chlorination in Walmart’s Sam’s Choice and Giant Supermarket's Acadia brands, at levels no different than routinely found in tap water. Several Sam's Choice samples purchased in California exceeded legal limits for bottled water contaminants in that state. Cancer-causing contaminants in bottled water purchased in 5 states (North Carolina, California, Virginia, Delaware and Maryland) and the District of Columbia substantially exceeded the voluntary standards established by the bottled water industry.

Squeaky Green: The Method Guide to Detoxing Your Home

A new book by the founders of Method (who hail from the great state of Michigan) on how you can detoxify your home! Learn about the toxic chemicals "hiding" in your home and how you can make your home a healthier (and happier) environment! And the good news - It is really very simple! Also, check out the YouTube clip below!

Squeaky Green: The Method Guide to Detoxing Your Home
When Adam Lowry and Eric Ryan founded Method, the environmentally friendly brand of cleaning products, they used packaging stylish enough to showcase on the countertop and pleasant aromas such as green tea and cucumber to transform household products into must-have lifestyle accessories. And when they coined the phrase "People Against Dirty," they weren't just talking about the stuff you track in on your shoes—they also meant the toxic chemicals that make up many household detergents. Packed with helpful tips and surprising facts, their first book, Squeaky Green, is a totally informative and completely entertaining room-by-room guide to giving dirty the boot. Squeaky Green is rehab for chemically dependent homes.

Nalgene to Phase Out Hard-Plastic Bottles

MSNBC.com
Containers made with bisphenol A chemical linked to health risks
The Associated Press
April. 18, 2008

Link to Article

ROCHESTER, N.Y. - Hard-plastic Nalgene water bottles made with bisphenol A will be pulled from stores over the next few months because of growing consumer concern over whether the chemical poses a health risk.

Nalge Nunc International, a division of Waltham, Mass.-based Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., said Friday it will substitute its Nalgene Outdoor line of polycarbonate plastic containers with BPA-free alternatives.

...

With more than 6 million pounds produced in the United States each year, bisphenol A is found in dental sealants, baby bottles, the liners of food cans, CDs and DVDs, eyeglasses and hundreds of household goods. The chemical has been linked to neurological and behavioral problems in infants and babies, along with certain cancers, diabetes and obesity.

Food Markets Getting Greener, More Sensual

This is a good article on trends you can/will observe at your local grocery store. We have seen a lot of changes over the past few years here in the Bay Area. "And there's no question that it's moving across the country."

Stacy Finz, San Francisco Chronicle

Link to Article

Sunday, January 27, 2008

Consumers are asking the food industry: "What are all these weird ingredients that I can't pronounce doing in my salad dressing? And why is the dressing in a nonrecyclable bottle? And why is grocery shopping such a drag?"

Americans concerned for their health, the environment and where their food comes from are changing the way they eat. And a yearning for more sensory stimulation is changing the way they shop. In response, manufacturers are changing the way they do business.

In 2008, more products designed to appeal to socially conscious buyers will make it onto shelves, according to food-trend analysts. Companies are focusing on promoting green initiatives and making their food labels easier to read, using fewer scary-sounding ingredients and emphasizing additive-free and "good-for-you" products. At the same time, the grocery industry is turning its stores into pleasure palaces complete with mood lighting, piped-in smells and tasting bars.

Innovations That Will Change the Way We Live

Thanks to my friend Michael B. for this interesting piece!

For the second year in a row, IBM researchers and consultants have come up with five innovations that are going to change the way we live in the next five years. And we’re funding and working on technologies in our labs right now that will allow these amazing things to happen.

Imagine, if:

- You were able to tell your utility provider how much carbon output you were willing to live with each month and have them alert you if you were close to going over that amount

- Your car could alert you about a traffic jam, suggest an alternate route with less traffic and direct you the entire way

- You were able to know the exact source and make-up of the food products you purchase

- Your cell phone could allow your friends to shop with you, even if they are across the country or the world

- Your doctor could gain X-ray-like vision to view medical images and super sensitive hearing to find tiniest audio clue in your heartbeat.

1. It will be easy for you to be green and save money doing it

As the global population continues to expand, being personally responsible about how much energy we each use continues to grow increasingly important. Imagine receiving a phone call on your cell or office phone saying “It’s your air conditioner, you left me on and nobody’s home, press 1 to turn me off.” As data begins to run through our electrical wires – dishwashers, air conditioners, house lights and more will be connected directly to a "smart" electric grid, and using a cell phone or any Web browser to turn on or off power will be possible.

Smart grid technologies will make it easier for you to manage your personal carbon footprint. Your utility company will provide you with up-to-date reports of electrical usage, so you can easily monitor how much energy you are using and how much you are spending on your electricity. You will also be able to tell your electrical provider how much carbon output you are willing to live with each month and how much money you are willing to spend, and you will receive a warning when you are approaching those levels.

Intelligent grid technologies will also make it easier for utilities to provide you with the option to use green energy sources like wind and solar, and innovations in wind and solar will bring more cost-efficient, green energy options to a utility near you.

Many utilities around the world are already in the early stages of these innovations. IBM is working with companies like Centerpoint Energy in Texas and Oxxio in the Netherlands, that are providing smart meters to their customers. The ZigBee Alliance has developed devices that look like lamp timers and will enable you to turn appliances on and off via the Internet. And IBM and others are developing technologies to make solar equipment more affordable and efficient for consumers to use in the future.

China's Cancer Village

Red river brings cancer, Chinese villagers say

Story Highlights
River through village darkened by discharges from iron-ore mine
Cancer rate in China is 137 per 100,000 people; higher rate in village
U.S. imported $4.1B worth of seafood, agricultural products from China in 2006
Chinese agency cracked down on polluters in September

Link to Article

The cancer rates in this village are incredibly high. Another fact that hits home is that China exported $4.1 billion of seafood and agricultural products to the U.S. in 2006. The U.S. has banned 5 types of fish and shrimp from China due to inspectors finding cancer-causing chemicals and antibiotics. And only a small fraction of imported Chinese food is inspected!! That, to me, is frightening!

(CNN) -- Liangqiao, a small collection of huts and farms in southern China, is known as a cancer village.

It is where Hu Xiaoping, a husband and father and a farmer, died an agonizing death at age 30 one year after being diagnosed with colon cancer.

His widow, Zhu Chun Yun, blames his death on the brown and rust-colored water from the river, which farmers use to irrigate their crops.

"The doctor in the hospital told us not to live here," she told CNN through an interpreter. "He said don't eat the rice and don't drink the water."

Residents of Liangqiao say their river is polluted because of the iron-ore mine about 35 miles away, which is run by a nationally owned company.

Mining for iron-ore exposes naturally occurring heavy metals like arsenic and cadmium, which are both carcinogens. Without proper water treatment facilities, water contaminated with high levels of these metals is hazardous and can possibly cause cancer...

Twenty-eight people in this village of 400 have died over the last 10 years from cancer -- a rate much higher than the rest of country. The overall mortality rate for 2006 was 137 deaths per 100,000 residents.

Handwashing: Skip the Antibacterial Soap and use Plain 'Ol Soap and Water!

The kids are back in school learning their ABCs and sharing germs. And the cold and flu season is rapidly approaching. One of the best ways to prevent the spread of colds, the flu and germs is regular hand washing! So, here are a few things to keep in mind

My friend Dr. Tony Brayer made a post on her blog Everything Health on the subject:

EverythingHealth: Plain Soap Kills Germs as Well as Antibacterial Soap

Not only does regular soap to the trick, but antibacterial soap has a big downside -

Antibacterials can make you sicker, not healthier
It is viruses that cause most sicknesses like a cold or the flu.  But antibacterial hand soaps are just that, antibacterial.  They don’t kill viruses!  The Washington Toxics coalition says “Triclosan…has little effect against virus-borne illness, so don’t expect your treated hand soap to protect you from colds or the flu….”.  What’s worse, according to the American Medical Association, “increasing data now suggest growing acquired resistance to these commonly used antimicrobial agents”.  The AMA goes on to state: “There is little evidence to support the use of antimicrobials in consumer products”.  So your antibacterial products could be making you sicker.

Echoing these findings, Dr. Richard Heath and Dr. Charles Rock, in research done for St. Jude Children’s Hospital concluded, “The ability of bacteria to acquire genetic resistance to triclosan…illustrates that widespread use of this drug will lead to the appearance of resistant organisms.” 

Drug?!  Is your hand soap addicted to drugs?

Drs. Health and Rock state in the same study “there is no strong rationale for the use of triclosan….”.  Sound familiar?

Solution:  Hand Soap Rehab
Break the addition and get the drugs out of your hand wash.  Good washing habits with good ol’ soap and hot water do the trick.  According to Dr. Stuart Levy of the Tufts University School of Medicine and the founder of the Alliance for the Prudent Use of Antibiotics, “It seems likely that…organisms are removed from the hands by the mechanical abrasive action of rubbing, rinsing, and drying…rather than being killed by a special hand wash preparation.”

Energy Management and Demand-Response Systems

A clean shave
by Dave Wortman - 9.28.07

Link to Article

Thanks to Daniel C. for this article! Click on the link above to read about how companies are reducing their energy consumption and saving loads of money.

Imagine a business meeting where a coworker receives a text message on her cell phone from her home energy system notifying her it’s raised the refrigerator’s temperature to cut back energy use in response to a spike in utility energy prices. Meanwhile, back at her desk, the office window, guided by the building’s energy-management system, grows a shade darker, while external awnings automatically rotate to screen heat from the summer sun, cutting back on air conditioning needs. Her home and office are both responding to save energy — and money — without needing her input.

Such ideas aren’t science fiction, but rather a glimpse into the real future of energy technology in homes, businesses, government buildings and schools thanks to innovations in systems that monitor, manage and respond to daily energy demands. They not only conserve energy but cut energy bills and delay costly investments in new power plants, creating a win-win situation for the companies that make them, the customers and public utilities that use them and, most recently, the investors who fund them.

If there’s any doubt about the rapid advancement of energy-management and demand-response systems, one need only look to the enthusiastic response from investors. As global power grids face straining capacity, a new bull market is emerging across the energy industry.

“Demand response and energy management are a very hot area,” says Rob Day, principal of venture capital group @Ventures. “People have finally figured out that the best, cleanest and cheapest way to make a kilowatt-hour is not to have used one elsewhere in the first place.”

Donation Request: Pantyhose and Tights

This post may be a little off topic for this blog, but it is for a very good cause nonetheless. My friend Whitney is on the board of Fistula Foundation and sent this request:

Dear friends,

I'm on the board of the Fistula Foundation, which supports the Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) Fistula Hospital, an amazing, inspirational place founded by an Australian gynecologist, Dr. Catherine Hamlin, and her late husband to heal women suffering from the terrible childbirth injury, an obstetric fistula.  She has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize and I view her as the Mother Teresa of Africa.

I recently received this email from Sister Ruth Kennedy at the Hospital and hope you can help!

Thanks!

Whitney

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Ruth C. Kennedy [mailto:kennedy.r@hamlinfistula.org]
Sent: Friday, August 24, 2007 8:38 AM
Subject: Tights, panty hoses, stockings whatever you call them!

Dear friends of the fistula patients,

Many of you send us panty hose (USA) and tights (UK), which we truly appreciate! In fact it is more than that we need them and we are running out of them. Dr. Hamlin telephone me and said:

“Ruth we are running out of tights (pantyhose), what shall we do?”

These items are your old tights (pantyhose) with holes or runs in them – no matter… we use them.

The patients still leaking and going home use the top ends for holding pads in place, they have no underwear – yes they are that poor!

The leg parts we also use, in the past we said cut off the legs (of the tights not the ladies!) and post them, now we use the legs too. We braid them into rugs!

So this is a cry for your help – tights, pantyhose, stocking, any color, holes or no holes - whatever kindly post them to us in a small, medium or large parcels by surface mail (cheaper) or airmail (costly) to:

Hamlin Fistula (Tights)
PO Box 3609
Addis Ababa
Ethiopia

We will have plenty of very happy customers!

We thank God for all of you!
Ruth C. Kennedy
On a tight campaign for Hamlin Fistula
Ethiopia