Lately I've been obsessing about being cleaner, greener, and safer.
It started with Maura's post about the dangers of plastic and sunscreen. Then the Buffalo News picked up an article. Mrs. Q showed me this database and then told me not to look at it. She's right; it is overwhelming.
Take the databases' report on Neutrogena Sensitive Skin Sunscreen. It ranks the overall safety as 2 out of 10 -- sounds pretty good right? But upon closer inspection it contains triethanolamine, which gets a 7 out of 10 and might cause cancer and immunotoxicity, among other things.
What does that mean? I don't know, you don't know, but the next thing we know fish are being born with six eyes.
Then this morning I heard a re-broadcast of WBFO's Meet the Author with Donna Jackson Nakazawa, talking about how environmental toxicity may explain the rise in autoimmune disorders. I really wanted to listen to the whole thing but it was making my throat close up.
I felt compelled to buy organic cold cuts this week. I keep thinking about all of the hot dogs Lucy eats, and rather than being motivated to sort through the facts I just feel panicked.
Buying this adorable set of shopping bags and switching to Sigg water bottles is cold comfort when it's hard to separate facts from marketing.
*Lyrics courtesy of Jenny Lewis.
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5 comments:
I met this woman at a DC-area blogger meetup. (Okay, fine, it really was a cocktail party at GoonSquadSarah's.) She was a lot of fun to talk to, but my point is that her blog often has ideas for going green that you might find helpful.
I really don't know what to tell you about the enviro-angst, because I too am snowed by it all.
But I am TOTALLY buying those cool shopping bags!
DO what you can & don't research it too much...you grew up on hot dogs & your okay and that won't be the only thing Luci eats forever, give yourself a break,it's tough enough to be a mom without making yourself crazy (but you have resources to fix that ;) )
I made myself crazy with it too! I am trying to remember to breathe and not freak out too much about it, esp. since the food coop that I belong to *just* had an article in their paper about nanoparticles in sunscreen, and of course I'd picked the sunscreen we use because that Skin Deep website said that nanoparticles were better than oxybenzone. Too much!
And my kid prefers the non-organic chicken nuggets to the organic kind, so we often buy them.
We've had our daughter primarily on organic foods ever since she started eating solid food. We buy Dylan uncured hot dogs from Whole Foods, which took her a few tries to get past the tougher skin, but if they're in her Annie's Mac & Cheese, it doesn't matter much. If we're at a more traditional market, Hebrew National low-fat dogs. We do happen to live in a mountain town where natural foods, eco-friendly products and recycling are more the norm than the exception, which makes it all so much easier. Our new uniform shirts for our summer concert series are even made out of bamboo. ;-)
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