You’re always nagging your kids to eat their fruits and vegetables, but with our increasing understanding of the harmful health effects of pesticides it’s harder to do so with out some trepidation. Scientists now believe that even small doses of pesticides and other chemicals can be especially damaging during fetal development and early childhood. While the health benefits of eating a diet rich of fruits and veggies outweigh the risks of pesticide exposure, we all want to keep our kids as safe as possible. The Environmental Working Group (EWG) has a great Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides that makes for a handy list of which produce are low in pesticides and which to stay clear of, or better yet, buy organic.
You can download the guide here and be sure to check out the full list here.
With spring break in full swing and summer right around the corner, it’s time to break out the sunscreen again. The Environmental Working Group’s (EWG) 2009 analysis of name-brand sunscreens might leave you both confused and shocked as to the effectiveness and dangers of your favorite brands. Of the 1,581 sunscreens tested, EWG found that 3 out of 5 offer inadequate protection from the sun or contain ingredients with significant safety concerns. 8 out of every 9 sunscreens protect only from sunburn (UVB protection) and not from UVA radiation, which leads to skin damage and aging, immune system problems and skin cancer.
Here are some tips for keeping your family protected from harmful rays all summer long:
Avoid products with bug repellent. Mosquitos aren’t usually out in the heat of the day, and the mixture of the ingredients leads to greater amounts of the pesticide soaking through the skin.
Check the bottle for an expiration date. Sunscreens that have been sitting around in your medicine cabinet for years won’t protect you from the sun’s rays.
Avoid powder and spray sunscreens. Those nano-particles are more easily absorbed through your lungs than your skin.
Avoid sunscreens with oxybenzone. In laboratory tests, oxybenzone has been shown to disrupt the endocrine system and release reactive oxygen species that could contribute to skin cancer. Up to 9% of oxybenzone applied to the skin absorbs into living tissues and blood vessels below the surface.
Stay out of the midday sun. Summer sun is more intense between 10 AM and 4 PM.
EWG’s Top 3 rated beach and sport sunscreens:
Soleo Organics Sunscreen Organic chemical free sunscreen, SPF 30+
Badger Sunscreen, SPF 30
Purple Prairie Botanicals Sun Stuff, SPF 30
To read more about sunscreens and to see how your favorite brand stacks up, visit EWG’s sunscreen guide.
Nothing says Christmas like a beautiful tree covered in chemicals, right? Wrong! Sadly, many trees, that timeless symbol of Christmas, are dangerous to your child’s health. Some farmers use 40 different pesticides, as well as chemical colorants, when growing christmas trees. The good news is that there are now a number of tree-farms that sell pesticide-free trees, so ask your local Christmas tree seller, or search for an organic tree farm near you.
If you want to go the extra mile and ensure lasting memories, you can purchase a tree with roots still intact. Once the holidays are over, you can plant the tree in your backyard or donate it to a local organization and watch it grow for years to come. To learn more about trees with their roots intact, click here.
“The Story of Stuff”is a must-see short video about where all of our “stuff” comes from, how it’s made and where it all ends up. It also reveals what effects the manufacturing, selling and disposing of all our “stuff” has on our planet, our bodies, and even our happiness. With great animations, The Story of Stuff is an engaging, thought provoking and life changing video. Going to the store will never be the same again!
“If I had influence with the good fairy who is supposed to preside over the christening of all children, I should ask that her gift to each child in the world be a sense of wonder so indestructible that it would last throughout life.” -Rachel Carson
Rachel Carson, (1907-1964) was a writer, a scientist, an ecologist and a brave advocate for the environment. As a young girl, Rachel’s mother nurtured her daughter’s love of nature. She studied the sea, plants and wildlife, and taught others about the living world around them through her books and articles. As a young woman, she became the Editor-in-Chief of all publications for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, where she wrote pamphlets on natural resources and conservation. Carson strongly believed that people are integrally linked with nature, and must learn to care for it, rather than overpower it. One article she wrote, “Help Your Child to Wonder,” (1956) aimed to teach people about the wonder and beauty of the living world.
In 1962, Carson published the book SILENT SPRING, and with it the environmental movement was born. The book was written to raise awareness of the great harm that synthetic chemical pesticides had on the environment. It took great courage for Carson to speak out against the agriculture and chemical industries. But she firmly believed that we as human beings are just as vulnerable to the toxic pesticides we spray on our fields, homes and trees as the insects themselves are. In defending her book, Rachel Carson stated: “We still talk in terms of conquest. We still haven’t become mature enough to think of ourselves as only a tiny part of a vast and incredible universe. Man’s attitude toward nature is today critically important simply because we have now acquired a fateful power to alter and destroy nature.”
I heard that batteries are bad for the environment and shouldn’t be thrown out with the regular trash. How do I get rid of them so that they don’t cause any harm?
Recycle your used batteries
Resident Expert Answer:
You are right, batteries do contain chemicals like mercury, lead, cadmium and nickel that can harm you and the environment when they are thrown out with the trash. Batteries can release toxic substances into the ground as well as into the air when burned in garbage incinerators. Luckily, today’s batteries contain far less toxic materials then they did way back when your parents were kids. Many towns are even advising their residents to simply throw batteries out with the trash. But until batteries are made out of soybeans, there is still some risk of hazardous materials contaminating our soil, water and air. And like all other garbage, when recycling is an option, that’s your best choice. Recycling saves resources like recovered plastic and metals that can be made into new batteries.
There are two good options for recycling your batteries. You can visit earth911.com to search for places in your area that will recycle your batteries. Some stores like Whole Foods Market and Radio Shack are starting to accept them.
If you can’t find a place in your area that will accept them, you can order a battery recycling kit, like the iRecycle Kit from Battery Solutions and start collecting them right at home. Once you have enough batteries to fill the box, ship it pre-paid to their recycling center. This is a great community service project that you can set up at your school, club or church. You will make a lot of people, who just like you are bewildered with how dispose of their batteries, very grateful!
