Week One: Lead in Lipstick

Posted on February 8, 2012 by Kristi

Kristi 40s glam

 Home Eco-Momics 101 Week Kicks Off Early

Due to Breaking News about Lead in Lipstick

“The dozen lipsticks next to the box however, well, those were different. Lipstick was my daily-coveted habit; I was not the same without it. If I skipped applying some shade of raspberry on my pallid lips, I risked concerned comments from family. “Are you feeling well? You look kinda pale.” A quick waxy smear in the morning and I was magically transformed into robust health. Lipstick was my one must-have, go-to beauty product. For years, I collected them like shells on the beach, enamored by their many colors and finishes—matte, glossy, indelible. I rolled my lipstick friends around and chuckled at shades I purchased knowing they’d never look good on me. Well, when a product bears an orange clearance sticker, what’s a girl to do? Even ugly colors deserve at least a shot.”      

-Excerpt from Little Changes: Tales of a Reluctant Home Eco-Momics Pioneer, by Kristi Marsh

I woke this morning to Groundhog Day-like headlines decreeing, “Lead in Lipstick- Get the Lead Out!” Selfishly, I muttered, “Still? Do I have to dump my purse and run for the crunchy hills?” Pushing my reactionary thoughts aside, I moved to my Choose-Wiser-power questions:

Just what does a girl need to know?

And, what does she need to do?

Lead in lipstick is an unfolding-right-now-current event. A story that horrifyingly-fascinates me. I’ve been silently watching the storyline unfold since I (reluctantly) started on this path five years ago. I could write an entire beauty-school thesis on the subject, but for today, let me break it down into a Kristi-style timeline. (For the curious I will footnote the data for further learning.)

  • 2007: Campaign for Safe Cosmetics started the swivel in motion when they tested 33 lipsticks and found 61% contained lead, [1] which began our awareness of what we applied to our lips.
  • 2009: Two years later, the FDA quietly announced a follow-up study. Their findings? Lead in all their samples of lipstick – some at levels four times higher than the levels found in the Campaign’s study. No change or action was taken by government regulation or publicly by manufacturers to protect you and me.
  • 2012: Campaign for Safe Cosmetics reveals yet another test by the FDA. The Campaign describes “the problem of lead in lipstick is worse and more widespread than previously reported” as this new study revealed lead in all 400 lipsticks tested by the FDA. Scanning the list, I automatically searched for familiar colors, but when it came down to it, I knew this was a sample. There is no way for me to know if my current color or brand has a higher level of lead or no lead at all.

What do we need to know?

Shall we roll our tubes over to check the ingredients? Unfortunately, lead enters the lipstick as a contaminant within the ingredients used. It is not a separate ingredient. That means if you check the ingredients listed on your favorite product, lead won’t be listed one way or the other.

I have seen statements from the beauty industry ensuring us that there isn’t anything to be worried about, that the growing amounts of lead are “safe enough.” As self-appointed advocate of my own beautiful body, I disagree.* The issue is a bit more open response essay question than a multiple-choice worksheet. I don’t think that what is safe and what is not safe has been determined. In fact, at this point the FDA doesn’t have a maximum level on how much of the contaminate is allowed. The question comes down to this:

Are we worth it?

There is no safe level of lead exposure. Period. We take great lengths to reduce our exposure to it in our household paint.[2] The EPA shares ways to reduce lead in drinking water.[3] Even the Center for Disease Control and Prevention advises to avoid using cosmetics that may contain lead.[4]  Our society found it important enough to reduce lead in gasoline. We already know it’s dangerous for our bodies. Why then, is the beauty industry telling us it’s okay to smear on the outside of our mouths? It’s curious, isn’t it?

What to do:

Today:

  • Tell L’Oreal to get the lead out. Samples of lipstick from L’Oreal USA were the most contaminated in the study, with more than ten times the highest amount of lead found five years ago. (Shaking my head here.) The Campaign made it super-easy for you to click and send an email letter sharing with the multi-time offending company that we have had enough. Send an easy email to L’Oreal!
  • Before you put another notch in your lipstick case…share this information. Don’t know where to start? I don’t blame you, so I whipped up this incredibly inviting, heart-catching-upbeat montage just for you. (If my family comes looking for me wondering what I have been up to, I’ll just tell them I was busy protecting my peeps.)

Summary:

Honestly, this is a tough subject to kick off my Home Eco-Momics 101 Course and I hope I don’t lose a few of you due to this. I pinky swear that I have many topics that will deliver the instant gratification of do-this-not-that. However, this lead in lipstick issue is the topic of the moment. We are in an imperfect world and some of the time, the perfect option isn’t available. Your options? You can skip the lipsticks. Or, you can choose to use less. You can choose to align your purchases with Champion businesses as a place to start, demonstrating that you are one more pocketbook owner who cares and is aware. And awareness is what today is about.

Here is what I do know. When I was playing with my mom’s Avon Rep lipstick samples as a young girl, people were “posting” the old fashion way (petitions and phone calls? yard signs?) talking about getting lead out of gasoline. Once accomplished, the efforts resulted in a 90 percent drop in blood lead levels worldwide, as well as 1.2 million lives saved each year. [5]

I am not equating lipstick to gasoline. It may or may not be the same, but I am not in the position to make that statement. I am demonstrating that change has to start somewhere. But you get that, right? Just in November, Johnson and Johnson stated they would no longer introduce new products with formaldehyde-releasing preservatives after consumer pressure led by the Campaign. Supporting the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics with an email campaign can be very effective place to start – it’s a way to let our voices be heard in numbers – the trick is, we just have to do it.

What will you do today and how will you take your lipstick? For me, I’d like the product I smear on my lips unleaded please. Join me for more lip-smacking conversation over on Facebook!

Enjoy the journey,

Kristi

* The Campaign shares lead is a proven neurotoxin that can cause learning, language and behavioral problems such as lowered IQ, reduced school performance and increased aggression. Pregnant women and young children are particularly vulnerable to lead exposure because lead easily crosses the placenta and may enter the fetal brain, where it interferes with normal development. Lead has also been linked to miscarriage, reduced fertility in bothmen and women, hormonal changes, menstrual irregularities, and delays in the onset of puberty. Lead builds up in the body over time and lead?containing lipstick applied several times a day, every day, combined with lead in water and other sources, could add up to significant exposure levels.

 

 

 

[2] http://www.epa.gov/lead/pubs/titleten.html

[3] http://water.epa.gov/drink/info/lead/lead1.cfm

[4] http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/lead/tips.htm

1 Comment
 Posted in Choose Wiser News |

My Very Scary Mommy Moment

Posted on January 30, 2012 by Kristi

IMG 5026This is Tanner. My bright, curious, kind-hearted, thirteen-year-old whose personality was erased by stroke-like symptoms the Thursday before Christmas. He was dazed. No coordination of his facial muscles. Unable to communicate or write. Lost. The only piece I could sense of my Tanner was a fleeting fear in his eyes as I gripped his hand. After an ambulance ride to Boston’s Children’s Hospital and four hours of urgent care from neurologists, my Tanner returned. Ultimately, he was diagnosed with an odd, complex migraine that presented with stroke-like symptoms. For his first migraine, it was a doozy. Now he can talk, laugh, and joke again, and I have time to contemplate an urgent question that each ER nurse, attending, and neurologist fervently asked me: Had he been exposed to a new household cleaner?

At the time, baffled thoughts bombarded my mind simultaneously:

~Are you kidding me? Don’t you know what I stand for? (Didn’t say this one aloud.)

~NO! Of course not! (I also didn’t say this one aloud, but my mind hyper-played out all the products I had changed.)

Knowing short answers were expected (from Grey’s Anatomy, of course), I replied, “No, not in the home, but I don’t know if he was exposed to something elsewhere.”

A few hours later, in the quiet of our hospital room and to the hum and rhythm of the IV drip machine, I counted my blessings. Among them was relief for the knowledge I have collected and gratefulness for my journey of changing out products in my home, and pride that I share my journey in Little Changes. I mentally thanked the delightful working relationship I have with Women’s Voices for the Earth. A small smile-hmmph escaped as I remembered their report released in December spelling out some of the all-too-familiar products and nasty unneeded chemicals still being used. In the article, Dirty Secrets: What is Hiding in Your Cleaning Products, WVE spells out chemicals of concern found in common products from Clorox, SC Johnson, and Proctor and Gamble. As I reflected, a rare, simmering anger started to bubble inside me:

Cleaning products harm people often enough to condition and train these angels of medical workers to go straight to this topic? Why is this the first go-to question for them? When I spout off about how ingredients can “cause harm,” I didn’t know that my son’s symptoms were an example of what it looked like in real life. Cleaning ingredients can do THIS to a child?

I know why I do what I do, and I know that chemicals cause harm, but a near-real life example still felt like a sucker punch. The cute ambulance driver didn’t question, “Was your son exposed to a disinfectant powerful enough to clean up a crime scene?” The nurse didn’t ask with a calm, matter-of-fact tone, “Did Tanner stumble onto a military base and into any top-secret concoctions?” They point blank asked, “Was he exposed to a new household cleaner?”

My anger stemmed from the fact that WE. HAVE. CHOICES. We can choose wiser products for our family and our children. The problem is, many people don’t know what’s in the products they are using. They don’t know how those silent ingredients are affecting their family’s health. They don’t know they could, and should, make a wiser choice.

As we push through follow up appointments with Tanner, the lessons I learned have ultimately formed my New Year’s Resolution.

I will do everything I can to educate the Everyday-Me’s and make a difference.

I thought 2012 was going to be all about celebrating February’s launch of Little Changes. (And part of it still will be!) But 2012 will also be the year that Choose Wiser becomes a go-to resource for curious women. We will celebrate people making changes, we will break down what you can do now, how to do it, and what to use. It will be a year of Growth, Nurturing, and Celebration. For us, and hopefully, for you too. The time has come!

Now, please take a look at the above mentioned report. Share this with two friends today. Then pause and smile knowing what Very-Scary-Mommy-Moment you may just have prevented.

“As I read the book, I identified with many of the topics you discussed—trying to change, feeling overwhelmed by change….and really understanding how I am making a difference with my own family while taking into account the bigger picture.” ~Comments from a book club focus group during the development of Little Changes

Enjoy your Journey,
Kristi Marsh

P.S. If you have received this from a loving friend, please take a moment to subscribe.

Disclaimer: For legal purposes, let me just say that we don’t know what caused Tanner’s episode; be it migraines or some other underlying cause we haven’t yet uncovered. I am also not claiming that household cleaners do or do not cause migraines. I am simply recording my story and experiences with my son and the medical staff.

Leave A Comment
 Posted in Choose Wiser News | Tagged , , , , , , |

Eggcellent Adventure An Excerpt from Little Changes

Posted on December 1, 2011 by Kristi

With produce and meat checked off, eggs moved their way up my list of items to tackle. I found myself frequently staring at the ovums in the four-by-eight refrigerated section of the grocery store. I had an affection for eggs, though our family did not consume them in large quantities. Their matte colors were serene, calming. Their shape was gorgeous, plump, and voluptuous. Their immensely strong frame cradled origin-of-life mysteries. You might say I had ovary envy, even though my admiration started long before my oophorectomy. Years ago, as an oil painter, I loved to attempt to capture their flawless form onto canvas. Now, amidst a wave of cold air, I stood between frozen cookie dough bricks and artificially colored yogurt trying to decide which specimens to take home.

White, brown, or green. Which color would taste better?

Cage free, free range, or free roaming. Eggs roam?

Omega-three infused or antibiotic free? Promises, promises.

What about this “vegetarian fed” label? Did that mean a vegan farmer was dishing up the chicken’s dinner? How could hens be vegetarian when they scratched in the dirt for bugs and chased white winged moths for dessert? The features listed on carton labels were staggering. What a difficult life hens must have these days!

As I stood undecided and confused about which eggs to choose, my mental reinforcements tried to assist my decision making. A deep-voiced devil jumped onto my right shoulder and instructed with militant demand, “Buckle up soldier. You are the Secretary of Household Expense. Now, while your daughter tries to unbuckle and climb out of the cart, compare the per egg price between the six, twelve, and eighteen package!” (Sure, this voice is a bit bossy, but it’s the get-the-job-done part of me.)

Then, on my left shoulder, a gentler voice full of maternal wisdom whispered in my ear, “You are peaceful, mindful and a stweard of the earth. Look within and you shall find the answer to Stryofoam, plastic or cardboard cartons.”  (I know, this part of me is a bit ethereal, but I like to imagine she’s my sexy side, with a tiny, glittery wand.)

It turns out, the USDA Organic eggs were the best option available in the grocery store. The mama hens of these eggs hadn’t received any antibiotics or growth hormones (in the United States, poultry doesn’t receive additional growth hormones), and they did not eat chemically farmed food. Their boutique, high-end price made them easy to spot. I begrudgingly paid for them. By now, I understood convenience had a price, and at the time it was a place to start.

Now that I had my egg-dar on, I became aware of homemade signs stuck in front yards. Here were families raising small flocks of chickens, selling the extra eggs lemonade-stand style at clearance sale prices. While they weren’t USDA Certified, I could get to know my egg farmer/hobbyist. I could see how the birds lived. It seemed odd to not have a farm, but to have farm animals in the middle of a neighborhood. But it got me thinking. Would chickens make it in our backyard? Wouldn’t they attract coyotes that hunted in our woods? Or the darting red fox? Or the legendary clawed fisher cat who roamed at dawn? No, we certainly couldn’t raise hens. There was a family of falcons that lived just beyond our one-acre lot. Each year they glide above our yard, teaching their teenagers to fly, occasionally returning to their nest with a snake in their talons. Would they use my theoretical free-roaming hens for target practice? No. We certainly couldn’t.

Except… maybe… well, wouldn’t it be fun? Wouldn’t having our own backyard chickens be a memorable experience, you know, for the kids? My husband didn’t think so. It would be odd to own chickens in a neighborhood development. I let the idea simmer with him. Tick tick tick. Sometimes I have to grab the wheel and steer my own ship. Soon enough, the phone rang. “Mrs. Marsh? This is the Easton Postmaster. We have a package here for you. And it’s peeping.” Well, if my husband hadn’t been on board before, now was his chance to jump on the ship. Especially considering it had arrived peeping and I couldn’t send that ship back.

Kaytee and I zipped to the post office where they handed us a small, insulated box with air holes. The chicks had been born the day before, the nutrients from the egg still in their tummies. They had less than twenty-four hours to be shipped safely to our home. Excitedly, we opened the box and peered in. Five, fuzzy balls of feathers cried out: one auburn, one speckled, two soft gray, and one classic yellow. The line of parcel-carrying adults behind us gathered around to welcome Molly, Minnie, Becky, Jennie, and Shelly to Massachusetts.

We created a chicken nursery in our basement using a heat lamp and an old port-a-crib. Our newborns (or new-hatched) endured a constant parade of admiration from my children and visitors. Raising baby chicks infused another level of tenderness into my children. They would gently hold each fluff ball with cupped hands, the chick soon falling asleep from the warmth. Even Daisy, our bird-hunting Labrador, watched over them with the curiosity of Clifford the Big Red Dog, peering into the playpen netting. Kyle created a roosting area out of twigs and spent hours teaching each chick how to perch. I’m sure chicks innately learn to perch, but he was filled with parental pride similar to, “MY kid rode a bike with no training wheels at three-years-old,” and his efforts paid off: our chickies learned to roost at an early age. I always knew they were exceptional little fluffs!

Refusing to let this be an expensive venture, (the last thing my husband needed was economic reasons why chickens weren’t a good idea), I headed outside armed with duct tape, a staple gun, and a butter knife, intent on repurposing a neighbor’s plastic playhouse into a chicken coop. This, of course, inspired my husband to rescue our backyard from looking like a potential dump site under my architectural direction. I’m no idiot. I know if I want something done I need to do it myself or at least look like I’m going to do it myself. And what do you know? My husband offered to help create a loving home for our flock. Armed with a large roll of chicken wire, Ted and Kyle spent a long weekend building the coop. When the chickens turned three-months-old, we moved them into their own apartment with a future rent of thirty blue-green eggs a week.

Neighborhood kids flocked to our yard when we brought the hens out to roam in a small fenced area. The hens aerated our lawn with scratching, ate pesky bugs, and randomly fertilized the grass. We were quickly reminded they were birds after all, and they easily flew over the mobile fence. After escaping their playpen prison, they pecked and waddled around in pure bliss, always staying together in a clique. A chick clique, to be exact.

Raising and owning chickens turned out to be much easier than raising my own kids. After forgetting to put the hens away at night (more than once), we witnessed their nesting nature. At dusk, they would head into their coop, hop up onto the roosting branches, snuggle up together, and go to sleep without a single nag or plead from me. Why couldn’t my children go to bed as easily? Just wander into their rooms at 8:30 p.m. (teeth already brushed), climb into bed, and fall soundly asleep? Why couldn’t my kids be more like my chickens, at least in this area?

As time progressed, I liked my feathered family more and more. We began letting them out mid-morning, and they’d spend their days circling the house, never straying too far from home. On sunny days, I set aside my keyboard and sat on my bench to shift gears, soak in warm rays, and watch my Ladies. They too worshiped the sun. They would lie on their feathered sides in the dirt with one wing fanned and a long scaly leg extended like a 1940s calendar pin-up girl. They were intensely loyal to each other, and if one strayed, the others became ruffled and agitated until all were accounted for. They held private conversations with each other, their throaty “rrrrrr”s sharing secrets I couldn’t understand. They kept little Shelly, who was at the bottom of the pecking order, in line. As the only blonde Easter chick, she received a lot of human attention as a baby and I think the others resented it. 

It really wasn’t too long ago when everyone had chickens, yet, today they are an anomaly, odd and foreign. Many children came to my house wanting to know what kind of birds they were—not “is that a Rhode Island Red or a Barred Rock?”—but “what IS that?” These same kids could teach me about epi- pens, asthma inhalers, or which pretzel brand was allergy-friendly and could be shared at school, but they were a tad unfamiliar with a real, live chicken. Now I could show them how to pet one and search for a warm, fresh egg.

I’m surprised at how many adults don’t understand how chickens lay eggs—don’t the hens need a rooster? Hens are much like women when it comes to eggs. Human women release an egg once a month. If we had, say, a rooster around, it is possible our egg would be fertilized and develop into a baby. Without a rooster around, hens are free to lay their eggs not monthly, but daily. Without fertilization, they do not become chicks, but breakfast. No rooster, no chick, no man, no baby; just eggs all around. Some being better for scrambling, of course.

Looking out the kitchen window one afternoon, I witnessed my three children playing together good-naturedly and cheerfully. It was one of those divine mommy moments, watching my kids sitting criss-cross-applesauce on top of the picnic table, each snuggling a chicken in his or her lap. They were deep in conversation, possibly telling stories or sharing secrets never-to-be-discussed-with-Mom. They referred to this special time together as “chicken conversation.” If I didn’t already love these birds, this mere feat alone would have sealed the deal. Since coming into our lives, these birds provided our breakfast, put themselves to bed each night, and engendered warm feelings between brothers and sister. I have even heard my husband chatting away with the Ladies while he was doing yard work. If five birds could work this kind of magic, I silently wondered what effects seven would have on our family. Or nine?

Oh yes, their eggs were amazing as well! It’s easy to get wrapped up in the social aspects of chicken rearing when you live with them every day, but I originally brought them home to provide my family with nutritious, free-range, happy eggs. (Friendship was an ancillary benefit, but certainly no less important.) People ask me, “Is a free-range farm egg really better than a conventional store-bought one? How much different can an egg taste?” They are looking for me to confirm their suspicions that there is no difference between the two, except price. If you’ve never eaten a freshly laid egg, it is difficult to make verbal comparisons. The taste is meaty, rich, and thick, in a way difficult to describe unless it’s on the end of your fork.

If you are what you eat, then the same goes for a hen and its eggs. Visually speaking, a farm fresh egg has a deep orange yolk, not the pale yellow most people are used to. This is because a free-range chicken egg contains nutrients from many sources: bugs, spiders, leaves, grass, worms, chicken feed, and the occasional treat supplied by owners. The eggs are meatier (say when slicing through one cooked over-medium), and deviled eggs have more flavor. The chicken’s stress-free lifestyle, varied menu, and typically healthier living conditions, all significantly contribute to a healthier-for-you egg.[1]

Free-range farm eggs have more nutritional benefits than conventionally produced ones. Compared to conventional eggs, pastured eggs have:

 

  • ·        1/3 less cholesterol
  • ·        1/4  less saturated fat
  • ·        2/3  more vitamin A
  • ·        Two times more omega-3 fatty acids
  • ·        Three times more vitamin E
  • ·        Seven times more beta-carotene [i]

 

For those who say they can’t taste the difference between the two, I say, one is still better for you, better for the chickens, and better for our planet. Those reasons alone make pastured eggs the choice for my family. Molly, Minnie, Becky, Jennie, and Shelly agree.


If you are entertaining the notion of backyard chickens, research and learn over the winter and you can order or buy the lil’ fluffs come springtime.

 

[1]The grocery store eggs, on the other hand, come from hens that likely lived a life crammed into an 18×20 inch wire cage, sharing this space with five to eleven other hens. PETA describes, “280 million chickens used each year for their eggs, called ‘laying hens’ by the industry, endure a nightmare that lasts for two years. Even in the best-case scenario, each hen will spend the rest of her life crowded in a space about the size of a file drawer with four other hens, unable to lift even a single wing.” 

Leave A Comment
 Posted in Choose Wiser News | Tagged , , |

Make It Fun!

Posted on May 25, 2011 by Kristi

A rumbling buzz descends upon our family when Pam Young flies into town. I find myself casually dropping her name into conversations, “Pam? Oh, Pam is the author of Sidetracked Home Executives: From Pigpen to Paradise, or I will boast about Pam’s appearances on the Today Show, Live with Regis, and Oprah to my Toastmasters Club. My children just laugh at me and simply share with their buddies, “Ila is coming to visit!” Pam, or “Ila” as the grandkids call her, is my dad’s wife. In addition to being a creative author and a master conversationalist, she has a way of turning every task into a delight. During her annual two-week visit, our normally rushed dinnertimes morph into an enchanted story hour. Afternoon homework turns to deep conversations, and every evening closes with an original song or poem. In addition to bewitching my children, she happens to be a gourmet cook, while my Dad is a wicked efficient dishwasher. They are the ultimate houseguests and are welcome to visit me whenever they like.

As a stay at home mother of three in the 70’s, Pam was a self-professed slob and wrote about becoming organized. Housework became manageable as she infused her mantra, “Make it fun and it will get done.” This is now the heart of her Inner Kiddies website (www.innerkiddies.com) where she encourages us to find our inner child (Pam’s is Nelly) to gain control over habits, finance, weight, health, or organization skills.

“Make it fun and it will get done” was easy to integrate when I surrounded myself with toddlers. I used her mantra to turn what potentially could leave me in tears (i.e. cleaning the playroom) into a party. Eventually most tasks would end in laughter and shrieks to the ensuing vacuum monster. This mantra helped me during my own new-motherhood years, when the tasks were mundane and I needed little kid buy-in.

Now that my children are older and the topics and tasks have grown in scope and magnitude, I find myself wondering if this mantra could still work for us. Perhaps (dare I even ask), could I use it when teaching about gloomy environmental toxins? Is it right to try and intertwine a light-hearted mantra into teaching about such a serious subject? Could it be done? Should it be done? It felt sacrilegious. Would making light of carcinogens in our food supply or the impact of endocrine disrupters on teen-age girls be disrespectful? This is a serious, academic subject, isn’t it? My heart finally answered: we need fun in the darkest of situations if only to work through our emotions. While pushing through my breast cancer I made endless jokes about “new racks,” and ta-ta’s, but it was a much needed outlet for me. Humor makes the uncomfortable approachable—and if we can approach it, we can address it. I’m all about addressing things.

More recently was my attempt to shift how my family ate. I exchanged processed, canned, and fast food for fresh, seasonal fruit, veggies, and grains. While my instinct was to just take over, I had to have my family on board and feel involved. It had to be fun or it wasn’t going to happen at all. Otherwise, I envisioned them packing their most sacred possessions into rolling suitcases and heading down the cul-de-sac on a pilgrimage for freedom to eat what they pleased. With my husband leading the way.

This new food path hasn’t been without its bumps, but I have to say that overall it’s been really successful. As meat portions diminished and farm veggie choices flourished, my most used parenting toolbox strategy was taste testing. We all grabbed chunky crayons and rated foods using a color-coded system. Purple meant the new veggie was fine. Red indicated it was tasty, while green celebrated “more please!” (Notice the strategically missing option for ‘yuck’?) Flattered and excited to have their thoughts count, my children colored their way through farm stand food from May to October.

We had just as much fun with an assortment of organic popcorn – ten varieties of kernels that ranged from burnt umber, black, and baby white, and mini honey jars collected from various locations, both gifts from my brother. We’d sample and compare the subtle differences in each honey, and hypothesized if the color of the popcorn affected the flavor once popped.

It became a ‘treat’ to let the kids choose one item at the farm stand without any conditions from mom. Evidently freedom of choice goes a long way when you are less than four feet tall, and my kids were more likely to enjoy the veggie than if ol’ Mom had picked it out for them.

We oohed and ahhed at farm stand heirloom vegetables, with their odd shapes and variety of colors not found in the grocery store. Welcoming their uniqueness, we modified names of some of the new-to-us-foods—christening the dangling edamame peapods “whose-your-mommy beans.”

By infusing Pam’s mantra “Make it fun and it will get done,” into my attempt to change our families eating habits, we shared the responsibility and we grew together. My son and I constructed a compost bin out of chicken wire and stakes. We dabbled in vermiculture, which consisted of herding red worms in a Rubbermaid bin in the garage. (This part was more about togetherness than taste testing!) Now when winter rolls in, we fondly reminisce about the taste of warm berries in our hand. And of course we mock my annual failing attempt at starting my own garden. Farm fresh foods are now images of summer to my kids—just as much as the neighbor’s swimming pool.

Turns out, younger generations are empowered little humans. Born into the green revolution, they reduce, reuse, recycle, and celebrate Earth Day with understanding. They embrace these ideas unabashedly. One of my children talks of becoming a rancher; another, a baker; and another an owner of genuine food restaurant. Their dreams may shift, but I am sure one day when they leave their dorm room on a Saturday afternoon, sporting tousled hair and flip flops, they will peruse a local farmer’s market as a way to stock up on the groceries, having a little fun along the way.

And I couldn’t be more proud.

“Ila” aka, Pam Young is bringing her Happiness is a Habit Retreat to Boston in July and I am honored to be a guest speaker. Pam best describes the event for Choose Wiser:

Join me Saturday, July 23, 2011 at the Dedham Hilton, outside Boston, for my third Happiness Retreat! (My first two retreats in Washington sold out and many who attended have reported noticeable increases in their happiness levels.) Happiness is a habit and it just takes a little practice to get really good at it. This retreat is already ¾ sold out and I have women coming from eight states so far. Join us for a day of fun, motivation, inspiration, and food.

At this retreat you’ll get the tools for building happiness awareness. You’ll have fun getting organized for the holidays; yes in July! We’ll play together and you’ll be amazed at how that “playtime” will create more free time for you when you get home. You’ll meet other like-minded women as we learn more about the child that resides within and how to love that part of you for the good of all concerned.

Kristi, I just wanted to let you know that I’m offering any of your Choose Wiser friends the same deal my Inner Kiddies get on the Happiness is a Habit Retreat. By using this code: pyr072011 when they register, they will get $50 off for the day-long event. To register now go to www.innerkiddies.com/events. (The sooner you register, the longer time you’ll have to look forward to it.)

All the best,

Pam

Leave A Comment
 Posted in Choose Wiser News |

The Passion of the Butcher and the Homemaker

Posted on April 6, 2011 by Kristi
Seeking Evening Companionship

Can you satisfy my yearning for crock-pot rendezvous, spicy tacos, and steaming hot spaghetti sauces on cold winter nights? I am searching for a long-term relationship with grass-fed organic beef to provide endless happy dinners for five.   

I am fed-up with bringing home deceptive groceries hiding unwanted antibiotics, pesticides, and hormones. Can I rekindle my love, trust, and simple enjoyment with quality, happy meat? Is it possible you are out there, not overpriced? Do you exist?     -I am a Believer    

A little over a year ago, I placed this want ad in a Be Choosy! newsletter. I had a few responders and found some acceptable-for-now alternatives, but overall my quest remained unfulfilled. But this February I rounded the grocery aisle between dairy and seafood and gasped at what I saw in the meat section. With giddy excitement I thought perhaps I may have found my soul meat.     

To be fair, I’m a little dreamy when shopping at Whole Foods. The first national chain store to blend the natural foods industry into a mainstream supermarket format makes me tingle. My experience shopping there is a blend of back to school anticipation, four-year-old Disneyland euphoria, and maybe a couple fluttering jazz hands rolled into eighty-seven minutes and one overflowing cart. You see, for me, it’s the only place tucked up here in the Northeast corner of our country that offers a selection of foods free from artificial preservatives, colors, flavors, sweeteners and hydrogenated fats all in one location. While I can (and do) go searching hither and yon for healthy food options for my family, I’m as busy as the next mom. One stop shopping is always a bonus.    

The week before Valentine’s Day, as I grapevined around the corner towards the meat case, something looked….different. It was visual bars of orange, yellow, and green lining the cases of meat and bins of broiler chickens. It was the roll out of Whole Foods 5-Step Animal Welfare Rating Program beckoning me to come hither and investigate.      

 Oooh, I thought. Who are YOU? I had just spent a year fine-tuning my meat selection (to the best of my domestic ability) to a razor sharp standard. I was done barbequing anything doused with antibiotics or plumped with growth hormones. While conventional meat-raising methods tail dock and beak chop because it’s easier to crowd animals into confined spaces, I now required my burger meat and grilled chicken to have lived with all its body parts. If we were going to marinate animal flesh of any kind,  that flesh should have lived a life roaming, pasturing, or wallowing and without breathing heavy ammonia levels, tied to a stall, or raised in a crate. And I don’t want my ruminant cattle to be finished off with corn. (A cow’s stomach is designed to eat grass, not grain.) And just because we know chickens eat continuously when there is light, doesn’t mean we should deprive them of nightfall to fatten our drumsticks. My drumsticks would be well-rested and roosted. The bottom line of the Choose Wiser Genuine Food philosophy, a.k.a Happy Meat, is to know where my food comes from, what it was fed, and how it was raised.     

I don’t ask for much.   

Over the past year I had found certain qualities of meat labeled Certified Humane or USDA National Organic Program, along with my local farmer’s selections to be attractive and commendable. But now there was a new program in town. I needed to find out more about this new 5-Step rating system and what it meant for my like-minded friends and me. What’s a busy, question-seeking mom to do when faced with a new program? You got it. I boarded my private Choose Wiser leer jet and flew to Austin, Texas. Okay, so it maybe it was really coach-class on Continental, but my quest to learn more at the Whole Foods flagship store and headquarters was a thrilling ride. The tour and informational interview left me with a few answers, and (as always) a few more questions.     

 5-Step Program     

The Global Animal Partnership, a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the lives of farm animals, initiated the 5-Step Animal Welfare Rating Program. Any group can use this rating system, and Whole Foods has adopted this rating system for their meats. GAP uses third party certifiers to evaluate animal health, well-being, handling, living conditions and transportation. The clearly coded visual colors make for easy identification and quick selection for the end consumer, ie: me.      

While there are over a hundred determining factors, the five levels are summarized into these shopper friendly phrases touting the positives:     

Step 1: Orange = No Cages, No Crowding     

Step 2: Orange Plus = Enriched Environment     

Step 3: Yellow = Enhanced Outdoor Access     

Step 4: Green = Pasture Centered     

Step 5:  Green = Animal Centered, Bred for Outdoors     

And, a bonus Step 5: Green Plus = Animal Centered, Entire Life on Same Farm     

Selecting a green over orange, could be the difference between your Coq Au Vin having a place to perch and outdoor shade, versus living indoors. Or the difference between your beef taking up to a twenty-five hour versus eight hour ride from the farm to slaughter. In a glance, it allows the consumer a chance to make a more informed decision. An opportunity to choose wiser.      

While chatting with the meat cutter in Austin I asked, “Why even offer a Step 1 when it is the Step 5 that I want?” With beaming pride, he answered because a Whole Foods Step 1 is far beyond what other grocery stores sell. After sharing a few gut wrenching stories regarding the treatment of traditional meat, I was almost convinced. But being satisfied with its-better-than-traditional-meat is like telling my fourth grader that “good enough” is when he ranks higher than his peers. I could care less about his peers. I want his personal best. And I want the very best from farmers and suppliers. This is what I am putting into my children’s bodies. I want for nothing less than the very best quality meat. Whole Foods offering a Step 1 may be a step up from Grocer Bob, but if a Step 5 can exist, then that is what I expect.     

I’ve seen this dilemma play out on this side of the meat counter in the weeks since my meeting with Whole Foods headquarters. Fellow consumers approach the counter, ask what the program is about, take a deep sigh, and settle for a Step 1 or 2 because it’s cheaper than Step 4. I understand being on a budget. I also understand that everyone is in a different place on his or her journey to choose wiser. Understanding doesn’t erase the deep nagging inside. If everyone continues to choose Step 1 or 2, how will we create demand? How do we vote with our pocketbooks? Does it send a message to farmers that the lower steps are “good enough?” Will they ever strive to the Step 4 and 5 options?     

Miyun Park, Executive Director of the Global Animal Partnership, assured me that, “Farmers are incredibly innovative and driven and we’ve already seen a number of producers choose to move up the welfare ladder.” And I want to believe that. The practical side of me however, observes consumers pumping up the Step 1. I’m worried that the ranchers will receive mixed message on the real demand.     

So how do we make our voice heard? How do consumers “tell” the ranchers we want more Step 4 meat options? When in Austin, they suggested I go directly to the Whole Foods I shop at and talk to my own meat department. After talking with my home store meat cutters, they politely send me to the front end. The front end of the store suggested I join the Whole Foods Facebook page and make my voice heard there. Fine. I’ll play their game and talk to cyber-air-space if that’s my only option for now. But this conversation is soo not over.       

The 5-STEP Animal Welfare program consumer brochure captured my experience best:     

“It is Your Way of Knowing How Our Meat Animals are Raised.”     

 Over the past year I served meat less frequently, in smaller portions, and what I thought had been genuinely happy animals. Now, I have a way of Knowing. With color-coding, I learned my regional stores rarely offer beef or chicken above an Orange. Since a Step 5+ standard includes animals to be slaughtered on farm – yet here, animals have to be brought to slaughter houses – a Green 5 isn’t a viable option. In a twist of events, I discovered local Step 4 pork that I am happy to serve to my family, but never purchased before because I don’t like the smell of pork. Needless to say, we had pulled pork sandwiches last Sunday.     

I Believe      

I will continue to visit Whole Foods for therapy, to fill my cart with produce when my CSA is not open, and to safari through personal care products looking for great new products. I’ll continue to use the Whole Foods experience to initiate conversations with my children on everything from recycling stations to why organic cookies are still junk food.     

I will continue to stop by the meat counter every time I visit. To ask questions like, “What is this program?” “Do you have Step Five poultry?” I am aware of customers passing by, eavesdropping; they pick up a bit of information and observe me walk away with empty hands.     

Until my local Whole Foods can offer me poultry raised outdoors with the bird-given right to perch, or  cattle a living a grass-only life, then I will continue to purchase my meat from my local farmer where I know what the animals were fed and how they were raised.     

I applaud Whole Foods for branching out, adopting the program, and using their visibility to bring awareness. It’s five steps in the right direction, but we aren’t at the finish line yet. I remain hopeful that this fledgling program will create the demand for humanely raised meat. If there ever was a for-profit company with the potential to take us out of the scourges of factory farming, I believe Whole Foods is it. I also believe in consumers. I believe in my friends who want to do the right thing. I know there will come a day where purchasing Step 4 and 5 meats will be the standard and the norm.      

Choose Wiser is my philosophy and I will gladly share, but it is just as important to me that everyone, EVERYONE, know which Step they identify with and why, whether you have a Whole Foods in driving distance or not.  Print out the pamphlet. Challenge your butcher. Ask them the questions. If they don’t know the answers to your questions…. That’s your first sign to look elsewhere.     

It’s your purchase. It’s your food. It’s your body.     

Choose Wiser.     

By Kristi Marsh     

With Rachel Vidoni     

To continue to sharpen your philosophy, please also explore these websites:       

http://www.certifiedhumane.com  

www.themeatrix.com     

www.eatwild.com     

  

Leave A Comment
 Posted in Choose Wiser News | Tagged , , , , , , , |

Gotcha!

Posted on February 9, 2011 by Kristi

 

A few months ago I arrived in Boston to celebrate the premiere of the Story of Cosmetics. I came early to peruse the vendor tables before the movie, searching for new products lines. When I’m looking at companies or considering buying products, I play a self entertaining mind game, pretending to hunt companies with lion-like prowess.

My ultimate catch for a day would be companies that use healthy ingredients, and have pride, confidence, wit, and transparency. Likewise, I tend to pounce on those who do not, batting them between my paws. I lure my prey with innocent questioning. What was in their product? Why? Why did they choose organic ingredients? Why didn’t they?  Why did they add fragrance? Why were they in business? These questions comprise my standard line of questioning, and I tend to ask them a lot.

At the grocery store, farmer’s markets, or of individual sales people. I am digging for what they know, to teach me something new. Of the variety of household goods I purchase, butchers surprisingly, seem to fail my line of questioning abysmally. With the exception of Whole Foods, rarely can my local store meat counters explain the difference between the store meat, the “natural” line, and USDA Organic. Bottom line—a lost sale on their part.  Most of the time I hunt alone but occasionally I engage in bantering with my three cubs in tow, so they too can push the standards one day. (Fortunately my preteen is curious, not horrified, of my behavior. Not yet.)    

The previous vendor I had spoken to was unable to answer my point blank inquiry as to why DMDM hydantoin was in their product. DMDM hydantion, a synthetic preservative, isn’t going put me into a coma upon touch, but as a formaldehyde-releaser ingredient (and a glaring RED on the Skin Deep Database), I’d prefer to avoid it altogether and am pleased I have alternatives. I quickly became bored when she couldn’t explain the lingo on her product and moved on to the inviting soap display at the next table. 

Enchanting, award winning artwork caught my attention. A swirling maroon octopus with wise, unblinking fish eyes floated in a cerulean ocean, tangled among words. It was masculine and mesmerizing. While packaging does not a product make, it did stop me mid-prowl to take a closer look. Besides, I knew my sons would love this box from LEAP Organics. But would I love the soap?

Was I skeptical? Absolutely. I had trusted companies too many times, only to be disappointed in their standards and practices. But like a dreamy Disney princess, I continue to believe that beautiful, transparent companies can exist.  I hoped LEAP Organics would be one of them.

Reading the package labeling, LEAP’s ingredients passed my scrutiny. Honest to goodness simple soap.  So what was this company hiding? I scanned a pamphlet lying on the table. Badges adorned the literature like an over achieving Girl Scout sash. The emblems of honor were impressive, but it was the one reading “Proud Signer of The Compact for Safe Cosmetics” that earned my salute of respect. I knew from my relationship with Compact Signer Karen Roche, founder of Be Green Bath and Body, this wasn’t an easy feat.

Profiling the rep, I guessed he was the sweet boyfriend of an eco-diva, volunteering to man the table for her why she rubbed elbows with the people from the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics.  Or maybe not. Was he a recent Harvard Business grad, intent on integrating strategies into the green movement in hopes of selling to Proctor and Gamble in five years? I listened to his soft spoken voice. He was patient, with a playful, youthful downturned grin. Something about his vowels made me note he wasn’t a Boston native. I was intrigued. Who was this guy selling personal care products? All right soap man. Talk to me.

 “This is one of our bar soaps.” He explained as I stood there. “We only use ingredients from nature, with an ultimate goal of using all certified organic ingredients.  No synthetics, no parabens, no petroleum, no sulfates, no GMOs, no chemicals of any kind.”

He was describing the bar of soap I held—yet I didn’t feel like he was throwing me a sales pitch. I rotated the 50% post-consumer recycled cardboard box in my hand and curiously watched him out of the corner of my eye. The product intrigued me, but I tried to remain cool, casual, like a stalker lioness. I didn’t want to give away how much I knew of personal care products. Not quite yet. Turns out, Luke was the founder of LEAP Organics and knew his stuff. He wasn’t pretentious or smarmy. Just a straight shooter, tellin’ it like it is. Originally from Connecticut, Luke started his journey focusing on sustainable, organic foods, and the empowering decisions spilled over to other areas of his life. It made sense Luke explained, “If you know what you eat, it should make sense to be aware of the ingredients you put on your skin.”

 I respectfully, pleasingly, had been shown up. It’s about damned time.

Luke and I have crossed paths several times in the communities of Boston since that evening. I have seen his products proudly displayed on endcaps at Whole Foods, and have watched the birth of his skin care line packaged beneath seahorses, parrots and butterflies. There is an enchanting twinkle in his eye when he talks about his quest for a truly sustainable company, giving back to the community, and his passion for transparency.

In addition to his safe-for-me products, what I appreciate most is the way he treats his clients: as if they are intelligent and keen. As if they matter.  

With respect.

It is simply refreshing. 

You can learn more about Luke Penney and LEAP at www.leaporganics.com.

By Kristi Marsh

with Rachel Vidoni

3 Comments
 Posted in Choose Wiser News, Personal Care Products | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

When Is a Pink Ribbon Really a Red Flag?

Posted on October 18, 2010 by Kristi

 As temperatures drop in New England, bursts and flecks of vibrant fall color adorn my routine. Along with russet and pumpkin hues, seas of pink curvaceous breast cancer ribbons are omnipresent. Bits of coral flickers from baseball hats and sweatshirts logos. Professional football players suit up in pastel pink jerseys and hot pink shoelaces. The smattering of color doesn’t adorn just people. Grocery stores are full of costumed packaging: salsa cans with temporary disco pink metallic lids and cereal boxes with swooping embellishments. Our corner donut store has a freestanding five- foot ribbon in their drive through, swaying in the gusty wind. Even my quaint community paper delivered an entirely dusty pink edition to my mailbox. Pink ribbons, initially used to express support for those diagnosed with breast cancer in 1991, have grown to global recognition, turning October into a festive cancer-aware carnival.

I recall my bewilderment as my compassion was preyed upon when a company persuaded me to buy a product by brandishing a ribbon. The strategically placed ribbon on the paper towel packaging caught my eye. Feeing benevolent, I deviated from my routine and spent seventy-five cents extra to support the cause. It dawned on me as I was loading my car that I had zero idea how the company supported breast cancer awareness, or what their intent was by using the logo.

 I had been pinkwashed. 
 

Much has changed since that moment four years ago. Not only do I view paper towels as waste of money, but also I have become weary, instead of aware. Now, before empathetically reaching for a product I want to know more. “What does a percentage of your profits mean? Was it a meager donation? Or a significant five figure donation to the Breast Cancer Fund in the name of prevention?” I am searching for companies who raise their pink flag specific proudly. “What do you mean by awareness? Early detection? Research? Treatment? Prevention?”  With one in eight of my girlfriends at risk and stories of mammograms gone badly, I am all ready gut wrenching ‘aware’.

The most jaw-dropping example of pink-hypocrisy is claiming to support breast cancer awareness and then including chemicals that contribute to cancer. Unbelievable? Yes, but horrifically real. Twenty first century companies use ingredients that are mammary carcinogens, or carcinogenic contaminants. They use ingredients that act as endocrine disrupting compounds, flooding our bodies with additional hormones, increasing our estrogen exposure and the risk for breast cancer. I am personally utterly grateful that awareness spread worldwide over the last two decades, but ribbon or no ribbon, pink or polka dot, I will not support any company who unnecessarily exposes my body with toxic ingredients.

It has been twenty years since cultural awareness evolved from that tiny pink ribbons birth and much has changed. Just this month, the Breast Cancer Fund’s State of the Evidence: The Connection between Breast Cancer and the Environment examined compelling data linking various chemicals in our environment to the current high rates of breast cancer. In spring of 2010, the President’s Cancer Panel Annual Report focused solely on reducing environmental cancer risk, the first time in the history of its reports. The term awareness is manifesting itself into an entirely different meaning – awareness of the interaction of environmental toxins and our bodies.

If you would like to sharpen your pink-smarts this October, start discussions with your friends and shout upward to companies. Start here by joining the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics call to action, asking Estee Lauder to stop buying carcinogens and hormone disruptors from chemical companies.

Kristi Marsh is the founder of Choose Wiser, empowering women to impact their personal environmental health. Join Choose Wiser Facebook discussions. Subscribe to Be Choosy! Newsletter. Watch educational videos at www.choosewiser.com.

Kristi travels to women’s business networks, moms club, ladies night out, or any organization looking for a fresh current event speaker for their event. 

 

6 Comments
 Posted in Choose Wiser News | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , |

How to Reduce Toxic Stew? Turn up the Heat to Simmer

Posted on October 5, 2010 by Kristi

 

My mission: To find out if my Congressman Stephen Lynch of Massachusetts was going to support the Safe Cosmetics Act of 2010 (HR 5786) and the Toxic Chemicals Safety Act (HR 8820).White House

Simple enough. Except for one thing.  I don’t feel very competent in the area of legislation. Regretfully, I was busy passing notes in high school government instead of learn how bills are passed. Yet I like the feel of adrenalin when I push myself, so I accepted the challenge. After three weeks phone calls, networking and emails, I secured a fifteen-minute appointment.

The meeting consisted of Mia Davis the National Grassroots Coordinator for Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, Congressman Lynch’s District Director, the District Representative and myself. Within ten minutes of discussing the Safe Cosmetics Act, the air was charged with energy. We fed off each other’s individual specialties, learning from each other. I left reveling in the experience an impressive hour and a half later.

Mia and I had created an impact on two more humans. It is the essence of what I love most about Choose Wiser. Taking a humans hand and walking them through how we see the world, and showing them where the hope lies at the same time. Selfishly, I always learn from the interactions as well. These are four lessons that started as insecurities of my own, and left as personal growth. I would like to share them with you, and ask if you identify with any of my insecurities? 

Why would my representatives care what little ole me had to say? Surely, they employ advanced actively listening, use politicians smile, and kindly, escort me right out the door for their next appointment?

Yes, they did care very much, about what we had to say. For many reasons, but one I will never forget: I am a Voter. (A voter that just does not seem to keep quiet!) Who I am and what I have to say does matter to the process.  

At home, I refer my pre-teens questions about government procedures to my husband! It is not my area of expertise. I am sure I will refer to the wrong process or terminology.  

That is ok. THAT IS OK. It my Congressman’s job to know the how-when-what of bills. I loved letting go of this weight!  Our job is to be a caring person who speaks up about a subject and then makes time to vote during elections. (Of course, like any astute intelligent person, like me you can watch the SchoolHouse Rock “I’m Just A Bill” on You Tube as research. )

Surely, they are bombarded daily with emails, phone calls, and people knocking on their door? Come on…the guy is working in DC saving the country…is this the best method of reaching my leader?

I was forthright about this concern and, on behalf of those who follow Choose Wiser, asked, “Is it worth our time to email or call our representatives about issues that are important to us?  Or are those calls and emails just ignored?” I appreciated Mr. Fowkes honesty. Rumblings will gain your Representatives attention. While they are busy with current events, most political representative’s offices have their scanners on – feeling out what is pulsing in their districts.   

Then, as you can imagine, they talk amongst each other just as we do. (Except in suits.) They meet over coffee, have lunch, and chat at events. Sharing and exchanging information. Barney, how are you doing? Can I get you a coffee? Hey, listen have you been hearing about the toxins in personal care products lately? My constituents are very passionate, you are a Co Sponsor on the bill….fill me in…

Really, Kristi, I do not know what the Safe Cosmetics Act specifically says! Or what TSCA stands for!

You know what?

Neither did my Congressman’s office. But they do now!!

This was perfect. They did not want debate, they wanted to learn. You can see me grinning can’t you? Due to our meeting, they are now familiar with the two bills and will be doing some more research.   

You do not have to teach or convince. You don’t need to know which ingredients are carcinogens, or whether or not lead is in this brand or not. That is exactly the point! It should NOT be on your shoulders to decipher. However, your representative can do something about it. It is not that they are against it…it is likely they don’t know about it. Bring it to their attention, and they will seek the information. You just share how you FEEL . 

A small group of thoughtful people could change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.
Margaret Mead

If you find this quote resonates, please put on an apron and come cook with me. We are going to turn up that heat to nice constant medium high until our representatives get a taste of toxic stew. Send the below wording, or personalized version, to your representative.

 

I am inquiring to find out if my representative endorses the Safe Cosmetics Act of 2010 (HR 5786) and the Toxic Chemicals Safety Act (HR 8820).

We need both of these bills to ensure that common consumer products like cosmetics, toys and furniture are safe. The Safe Cosmetics Act would empower the FDA to regulate the $50 billion cosmetics industry, and Toxic Chemicals Safety Act would require that chemicals used in hundreds of different materials be proven safe, before they hit the market.

The 2009 President’s Cancer Panel Report this spring found strong links between environmental exposures to toxins and a variety of cancers, and determined that environmental causation is very under-studied and very under-discussed in policy and mainstream. I support change and am coming to you, my elected official to ask you to represent me.

I look forward to hearing back from you, and disseminating your response to my community.

Now, share with a friend this fall and we will stir the pot…simmering, simmering, bubbling, and bubbling.

5 Comments
 Posted in Choose Wiser News | Tagged , , , , , |

My Brush with the American Cleaning Institute.

Posted on September 14, 2010 by Kristi

As a 70’s baby, I was branded from birth by household names like Clorox (Formula 409®, Pine-Sol®), Procter & Gamble (Tide®, Dawn®), SC Johnson & Son (Windex®, Fantastik®), and Simple Green. Their logos are nostalgic, in the same way the scent of Marlboro cigarettes reminds me of an ex-boyfriend. Familiar, but in the past for the better. Three years ago, I stumbled upon eco-friendly and budget happy cleaning recipes at Women’s Voices for the Earth. Thankfully, the discovery released me from my relationship with products linked to harm, and those requiring open windows simply to inhale comfortably while scrubbing.

Nevertheless, I was curious about the trade association’s (American Cleaning Institute ) website. My mind wanted to understand ACI’s positioning on the use of harmful ingredients used in cleaning products, so I spent quite some time exploring today.

Initially, I was pleasantly impressed with their new look. I am visual and the swirly-delicious arrangement of blues on their website was classy. Simple tabs promoting “Clean Living” and “Sustainability” led me to wonder if we have more interests that are common.

I made note of the mindful page promoting recycling of excessive packaging. Important, yes. Again, my current cleaning method uses simple ingredients, not requiring separate products for each task and resulting in much less to toss.

Then, how cute, a page with whimsical songs encouraging hand washing. (Go ahead, play Look At Me while you read!) I printed one of the poems and taped it onto my kiddo’s bathroom mirror, next to their triclosan-free soap. Thank you ACI!

Pursuing my curiosity I discovered how ACI recently implemented the voluntary 2010 Consumer Product Ingredient Communication Initiative. I applauded the action until reading this paragraph:

Keep in mind that exact proportions, or “recipes,” will not be revealed on the label. Just as your favorite jar of tomato sauce lists “spices” but doesn’t itemize them, neither will such things as exact fragrances and their combinations be listed on the household cleaning product label.

Cosmetic labeling follows the same format, listing “fragrances” as a group term rather than itemizing individual ingredients used to produce the fragrance that gives the product its unique scent.

Creating the voluntary initiative would be a step in the right direction, if it were full disclosure. This amendment voids the entire purpose of the Communication. Consumers don’t want the recipe. Hiding behind this statement, the action morphs into simple green washing, telling us what they think we want to hear.

The ACI’s attempt towards voluntary disclosure does tell me they are listening, but they don’t get it. We should not have to be fanatical label readers to assure ourselves a product is safe, kind, and the wisest choice to use. We should not have to scan the ingredient list looking for the chemicals linked to hormone disruption, breast milk contamination, birth defects.

The simple answer is ACI should take the final step and commit to removing these harmful chemicals from all of their products.

ACI has the power to act responsibly. I believe they will continue listening. I really do. Only if we let our words be heard.  Maybe this fond Dr. Suess memory from childhood explains the situation.

UNLESS someone like you

Cares a whole awful lot,

Nothing is going to get better.

It’s Not.

Please choose one or more of the following simple actions to demand that ACI make cleaning products safe.

Click send this email, or share the Facebook and Twitter ideas below:
Facebook:
Comment on American Cleaning Institute’s post of the day on their profile page

Chemicals linked to breast cancer, fertility problems, and birth defects in my cleaning products? No thanks, American Cleaning Institute.

I should be able to avoid toxic chemicals in cleaners. List ingredients and remove toxins, American Cleaning Institute!

Products I use to clean my home shouldn’t have toxic chemicals–make cleaners safe, American Cleaning Institute!

Then update your profile status with: “I just told the American Cleaning Institute to remove chemicals linked to cancer and hormone disruption from my cleaning products!” (Don’t forget to tag American Cleaning Institute!)

Twitter:
Tweet (picks a message below or come up with your own!)
Chemicals linked to breast cancer, fertility problems, and birth defects in my cleaning products? No thanks, @CleanInstitute #toxiccleaners

I should be able to avoid toxic chemicals in cleaners. List ingredients and remove toxins, @CleanInstitute! #toxiccleaners

Products I use to clean my home shouldn¹t have toxic chemicals–make cleaners safe, @CleanInstitute! #toxiccleaners

Then tweet to your followers to do the same!

8 Comments
 Posted in Choose Wiser News | Tagged , , , , , , , |

Oh, Crap.

Posted on September 13, 2010 by Kristi

I am dang proud of my camper towing skills. With one hand on the steering wheel, glancing between the side and rear-view mirrors, I can back my car, hitch the camper, and drive across New England. I am so proud that I have been known to refer to this unusual skill as sexy. Sexy? My husband questions. Well, yes! I stand taller after I back up that puppy, angling around an ill-placed pine tree and neatly into a numbered site in the pitch dark. Yes, confidence is sexy.

However, life doesn’t always go as planned.  Last fall I took a wrong turn into a inner city narrow alley in Worcester, Massachusetts. Teens up to no good stood on the corner smoking, entertained at my ‘not-so-sexy’ predicament. This not where I want to be I thought.” My kids hear their mother mutter. “Crap!” Remain calm, listen to myself, and use my resources I answered back to myself.

Chunk. I move gears into reverse. Squitch. The tires turn. Errr. Back. Scoot forward. Repeat. A seventeen-point turn along with forced slow breathing puts us on the road towards campfires and good times. Sometimes the road to inner eco-health doesn’t go as planned and evokes the same muttering, followed with backtracking and starting over. Like when I started to analyze our lawn care routine.

De-toxing our lawn loomed on the to-do list all winter. I was regretful, and embarrassed, at the eleven years of spreading four step chemical applications directly into our one-acre ecosystem. We had burnt the health and nutrients right out of the soil, yet we expected to squeeze green lushness on command. Our actions recklessly added excessive nitrogen and phosphorus to the surrounding areas. It was like raising kids on fast food. Sure, it gave the little sprouts a burst of energy and left them craving for more, but it adds very little to their long-term vitality.

Lawn care didn’t fall under my job description. Change would be adopted quicker if I could find a brand name alternative product at a convenient box store. So standing in the outdoor warehouse I stared at pillow shaped bags, rolling them over one by one to decipher the scientific coding. Looks like I had to choose between:  

Bone meal: Hmmm. I was not sure what that was. I think I used to sprinkle a box of that under my roses occasionally. Google on my phone said: “Bone meal is derived from the meat processing industry, cooked and ground.” One emotional critic had lashed out declaring his front yard reeked of rotting pig meat. Okay, that is choice number one. What else?

Poultry compost: Eww was said the mall-girl inside me. I grew up two streets south of a small-scale factory chicken farm. Would this application bring back to hot breezy, pungent summer days of being eleven? Yet this would mimic nature’s cycles. Maybe…maybe….

Corn Gluten: Corn will do the trick? I have never heard of this. But a bit more pricey.

Biosolids: Oooh! A real pretty bag of sky blue, a cute home, and an immaculate lawn. Happiness beckoned me through marketing. I was not sure what biosolids were, but they sound reassuring. I heaved the bag onto my rolling pallet along with the impulsive crocus purchase.

Thud! I dropped the bag onto the garage floor and stared at it. Something did not feel right. I did not know what biosolids were and Not Knowing just doesn’t cut it anymore. I needed to listen to myself and go research.

Turns out biosolids are dried up leftover sewage sludge.

Oh, Crap!  I didn’t know if I was more frustrated at the ingredients or the fact that I was just bamboozled by pretty packaging?I tried to be open minded. Biosolid fertilizers are regulated by the EPA for metals and pathogens. They test for nine pollutants. That’s good. However, they are not regulated for pharmaceuticals (or cleaning product ingredients and persistent chemicals) or the 99% of hazardous materials found in sewage.

My Mommy-instinct had a hissy fit. A sewer treatment plant byproduct??!! This cant be good. Human poo pellets!!

I do not care if it is green. I don’t care if it is the right thing.  I don’t even care if this is EPA regulated. I just couldn’t see summer games of barefoot hide ‘n seek, or play dates running through the sprinklers on freshly defecated lawn.  Not going to happen.

If it is on the shelf…then it must be trustworthy. Right? A recent study monitored plants grown with biosolids and then analyzed for pharmaceuticals – an anti-convulsant, a histamine, an antidepressant, and triclosan and triclocarbin. All of them except the antidepressant accumulated in the plant tissues.

Think of all the pharmaceuticals your extended family may consume over a year – for cholesterol, hormones, thyroid, blood pressure, antibiotics, painkillers, anti depressants, behavior drugs. (Hey, I didn’t say my family…you know, the neighbors.) Over two years I may have shared with the world an entire course of atrocious chemotherapy drugs mixed with anti nausea, anxiety and a few pain pills! I had to sign pages of waivers stating how it may damage my heart, cause future cancers….but you can spread on your lawn and let it trickle over to your tomato plant seedlings.

So where is the black and white in this green grass? What do we know? I am not saying that kids playing with Nerf dart guns on a biosolids fertilized yard will absorb daily doses of drugs through their little piggies. “Chemical contaminants found in wastewater and sewage sludge may accumulate in plants grown in fields receiving applications of biosolids and/or wastewater effluent.” 

My concern is that matter matters. Many chemicals do not just evaporate. They continue to exist and move through our world. Not just into our water system, but up into the plants in your backyard garden, or massive agricultural fields or timber forests, all places biosolids are scattered.

We don’t know enough. Or, just enough for me to return it back to the store with a flippant “Are you kidding me!?” to the hourly cashier. I picked up a bag of corn gluten fertilizer, kissed it, thankful I had options.

I haven’t shared this story with many. I was embarrassed because I should have known better. Choosing wiser is my passion, yet I made a wrong decision, a wrong turn. It looked like the right bag, it really did. The lessons I learned were more impactful. My experience wasn’t as much about which bag o ‘fertilizer to buy as much as the gentle lessons within.

First, listen to myself. Beautiful centuries old instincts and voice have a lot to say. Yet we push them out of our head routinely. Be quiet more and listen to them.

Second, follow through with your questioning. Think. Use my resources.

Third, remember many times the perfect answer doesn’t exist. We are getting there…but for now, we start by choosing wiser.

Tune into next spring 2011 blog when I divulge how my families’ homemade compost pile is fermenting.

(Fertilizer contributed from our hens that is.)

20 Comments
 Posted in Choose Wiser News, Lawncare | Tagged , , , , , , , , , |