We encourage all of you to make conscientious consumer decisions in accordance with your values and your budget. Visit our online store to purchase affordable, non-toxic cleaning products. It doesn't have to be "all or nothing" to have impact. Below is a list of things you can do to tread lightly and live in harmony with the environment. Visit our links page for more information.

Tread lightly

Buy organic food

We applaud farmers who say "no" to pesticides, chemical fertilizers and other harmful substances that can harm us and the earth. And we take our hats off to those who raise organic, free-range animals. They all deserve our support! 

Buy organic cleaning products
They are made without harsh and harmful chemicals and do just as good a job. 

Support recycling
Most communities already have recycling programs (and if yours doesn't we encourage you to contact local officials and start one!). Make an effort to purchase used or recycled products too. Many are available on the internet, or talk to your local shopkeepers and see if they will stock more of them.

Drive less
Cars contribute significantly to greenhouse gas emissions that lead to global warming. When you can, share a ride, walk, bike or take public transportation.

Improve indoor air quality

Americans spend more than 90 percent of their time indoors, yet we often worry more about outdoor air quality than what we’re breathing at home and in the office. And there’s reason for concern. Common household products contain a wide range of harmful chemicals that attach to dust particles that we inhale, including air fresheners, draperies, shampoos, furniture and electronics, such as televisions and computers. Here’s what you can do to keep your indoor air clean and healthy:

• Open the windows regularly;

• Vacuum at least weekly;

• Use an air filter on your furnace;

• Maintain central ventilation systems;

• Run exhaust fans in the kitchen and bathroom;

• Turn televisions and computers off when not in use;

• Buy no or low-VOC paint;

• Purchase solid wood furniture.

Reduce your carbon footprint

By now you’re all familiar with greenhouse gas—excess carbon dioxide that’s released in the air when we engage in regular, everyday activities, including driving and washing our clothes. This gas is raising the Earth’s temperature and, according to expert scientists, putting our future at grave risk. Below are some tips to reduce your carbon footprint. They’re simple and easy and we hope you’ll give them a try!

• Wash clothes in cold water. Running your washing machine on hot water produces more than 500 pounds of CO2 a year. Your clothes will be just as clean if you wash in cold water and may even last longer.

• Air dry your clothes. Clothes dryers produce almost 1,500 pounds of CO2/year, plus the high heat damages fabric. So put up a clothesline or buy an indoor drying rack to air dry at least some of your clothes. It’ll save money on your electric bill too.

• Insulate and seal your home. Don’t lose the air you’re paying for—whether it’s cool in the summer or warm in the winter. Making sure doors, windows and other cracks are sealed will prevent 225 pounds of CO2 from being released each year.

• Cool your water heater. Lowering the temperature of your water heater from 140 degrees to 120 will save 480 pounds of CO2 annually.

DDT exposures in childhood raise breast cancer risk

Women heavily exposed to the pesticide DDT in childhood were five times as likely to develop breast cancer, according to a scientific study published in Environmental Health Perspectives. Women born between 1945 and 1965 were most likely to have been heavily exposed to DDT. Used to kill mosquitoes and other insects, it was banned in the United States in 1972. For more on the environmental link to breast cancer read Common chemicals cause breast tumors below.

Air pollution linked to heart disease

Researchers at UCLA found that people with high cholesterol are especially vulnerable to heart disease if they are exposed to diesel exhaust and other common air pollutants. They reported that diesel particles enter the circulatory system from the lungs, react with arterial fats to change the way genes are activated resulting in inflammation that causes heart disease. Diesel exhaust has also been linked to lung cancer and asthma.

Common chemicals cause breast tumors

In a stunning recent report in the journal Cancer, researchers reported that more than 200 common chemicals caused breast cancer in animal tests. Breast cancer is the leading cause of death in U.S. women in their late 30s to early 50s. About 178,000 new cases will be diagnosed this year in the U.S.

Of the 216 chemicals that induced breast tumors in animals, 97 were very common and include pesticides, dyes, cosmetic ingredients, hormones, pharmaceuticals, radiation and a chemical in chlorinated drinking water (see below for a select list). The researchers reported that most of the chemicals tested "caused tumors in multiple organs and species; these characteristics are generally thought to indicate likely carcinogenicity [cancer-causing] in humans, even at lower exposure levels."

According to toxicologists, mammals typically develop the same tumors as humans do.

Perhaps most shocking is that the research team said there are probably more than 216 chemicals that cause cancer because only about 1,000 of the 80,000 chemicals registered for use in the United States have been tested on animals to see whether they cause cancer or cause changes to DNA. Below is a list of some of the chemicals the study found caused breast tumors:

* 1,4 dioxane-- in detergents, shampoos and soap
* 1,3 butadiene and benzene-- common air pollutants, in vehicle exhaust
* acrylamide-- in fried foods
* perfluorooctanoic acie-- used in the making of Teflon
* styrene-- in carpets, adhesives, hobby supplies; used to make plastics
* vinyl chloride-- used to make vinyl
* 1,1 dichloroethane--industrial solvent, in paint removers
* toluene diisocyanate-- in foam cushions, furnishings, bedding
* methylene chloride-- in furniture polish, fabric cleaners, wood sealants
* PAHs-- in diesel and gasoline exhaust
* atrazine--common herbicide, used on corn

The reports and commentary were compiled by researchers from the Silent Spring Institute, Harvard Medical School and its School of Public Health, the Roswell Park Cancer Institute and the University of Southern California's Keck School of Medicine.

Obesogens

Recent animal studies suggest that environmental exposure to chemicals may make people fat, prompting one scientist to label them “obesogens.” In a process known as adipogenesis, chemicals appear to trigger fat cell activity, scientists reported at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. The offending chemicals, known as endocrine disruptors for their affect on hormones, are used in marine paints, pesticides and food and beverage containers, including baby bottles. A study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that one such chemical, bisphenol A, was found in 95 percent of people tested at levels at or above those affecting fat cell development in animals. People who are overweight or obese are at greater risk for cardiovascular disease, diabetes, stroke and certain cancers.

Global warming report paints bleak picture

Fossil fuel pollution is expected to raise temperatures, worsen floods, droughts and hurricanes, melt polar sea ice and continue disrupting the global climate system for a thousand years, the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reported. By 2100, average global temperatures are expected to rise 2 to 11.5 degrees Fahrenheit (1.1 to 6.4 Celsius), sea levels will rise 7 to 23 inches (18 to 59 centimeters), tropical cyclones are likely to become more intense, heat waves and heavy rainstorms will likely increase and late summer Arctic sea ice will disappear almost completely. The IPCC report involved 2,500 scientists from more than 100 countries. Carbon pollution, which is the driving force behind global warming, is created mainly from burning oil, gas and coal. When burned they release carbon dioxide, which traps heat from the sun instead of letting it radiate safely into space. “We are in a sense doing things that have not been done in 650,000 years,” IPCC Chair Rajendra Pachauri said.

As dire as the report was, some scientists said the report would underestimate the problem because it was leaving out a growing body of recent data on melting glaciers and ice sheets. Drew Shindell, a climate expert at NASA, was quoted in the media as saying, “The melting of Greenland has been accelerating so incredibly rapidly that the IPCC report will already be out of date in predicting sea level rise, which will probably be much worse than is predicted in the IPCC report."

Another effect of global warming is the spread of infectious disease. When Prince William Sound in Alaska topped 59 degrees in summer 2004 the bacterium vibrio parahaemolyticus infected the oyster beds, resulting in diarrhea, cramping and vomiting for some cruise ship passengers who ate the infected oysters. “This is probably the best example to date of how global climate change is changing the importation of infectious disease,” Dr. Joe McLaughlin, acting chief of epidemiology at the Alaska Division of Public Health recently told the Los Angeles Times. A report issued by the World Health Organization in 2000 concluded that about 154,000 deaths that year could be attributed to conditions sparked by climate change, such as disease outbreaks. In Sweden, fewer cold days and more warmer ones have encouraged the northern movement of ticks, coinciding with an increase in tick-borne encephalitis. And in Africa, mosquitoes have crept north along the slopes of Mt. Kenya, bringing malaria to villages that had never been exposed.

What can you do?

Drive less, buy your electricity from green sources (check with your local power company), use energy efficient light bulbs and electronics and invest in carbon offset programs. We have links to some on our website.

Saving our oceans

The Los Angeles Times has been reporting on the health of the world’s oceans in a series of excellent, if not troubling, reports. The latest, Slowing a tide of pollutants, reports on how agriculture and urban runoff are changing the chemistry of the oceans. The report also offers some simple tips on what the average consumer can do to reduce individual contributions to oceanic pollutions, such as properly disposing of garbage, cleaning up after pets and throwing away medicines and solvents instead of flushing them down the toilet. We strongly encourage each of you to read the report.

Human resource requirements outpace planet

A report by the WWF conservation group concluded that humans will need two planets worth of natural resources every year by 2050 if current trends continue. In addition, the WWF found that populations of many species fell about 30 percent from 1970 to 2003 because of human threats to the environment, such as pollution, over-fishing and clearing of forests. The countries with the biggest “ecological footprint,” meaning they use the most natural resources per capita, are the United Arab Emirates, the United States, Finland and Canada. The United Nations projects that the current world population, 6.5 billion, up from 3 billion in 1960, will rise to 9 billion by 2050.

World supply of seafood running out

Writing in the journal Science, an international team of ecologists and economists warned that the world will deplete the supply of seafood by 2048 if the current steep declines in marine species are not halted. Over-fishing, pollution and other environmental factors are limiting the ocean’s ability to produce seafood, filter nutrients and resist the spread of disease, the team wrote. They concluded that by 2003 (the last year for which data is available) 29 percent of all fish species had collapsed.

Less junk mail, more trees

For $3 a month you can remove your name from junk mail lists and pay to plant a tree. Greendimes is a subscription-based service that removes your name from junk mail lists that send out a seemingly never-ending stream of paper. They regularly check lists for your name and continually update their list of junk mailers. Annual and lifetime subscriptions are also available.

Altered oceans

In a recently released United Nations report scientists reported a 34 percent rise in the number of dead zones in the world's oceans from two years ago. Scientists place most of the blame on fertilizers and other farm run-off, sewage and fossil fuel burning. The Los Angeles Times recently ran a excellent five-part series on the health of the world's oceans. It is a shocking and sobering account of how man has used the seas as a dumping ground and how this is not only affecting marine life, but human health as well. Go to Altered Oceans.

New study cites hazards of indoor air

A recent study of high school students in New York and Los Angeles found chemical pollution in indoor air to be comparable to breathing second-hand cigarette smoke. The biggest culprit was off-gassing of  formaldehyde, found in particle board cabinets, shelving, plywood paneling and other pressed-wood furniture. Writing in Environmental Health Perspectives, researchers  found a second chemical,  1,4-dichlorobenzene, also posed a substantial cancer risk. It is found in solid deodorizers, toilet deodorizers and mothballs.

Top green K-12 schools in the U.S.

A leading environmental health news report, The Green Guide, recently released its list of Top 10 environmentally-friendly K-12 schools. The schools were ranked according to their performance in 10 areas including green building, use of renewable energy, school food, recycling, environmental curriculum and presence of environmental contaminants. The report includes information about innovative environmental approaches at each of the schools. If your child's school isn't on the list we encourage you to ask school officials, Why not? Visit the Green Guide to learn more.