Earthy Thursdays

Welcome to my new addition, Earthy Thursdays, where I share all my thoughts on my journey to become more 'natural' and 'eco-friendly'. I love the weekly edition that you can find on other blogs like here, here, and here. It inspired me to share my journey of becoming more eco-friendly and losing weight (Weight Watchers Wednesday). For those of you who know me, there is no disclaimer needed, but those of you who don't here it is. I am the furthest thing from an eco-friendly consumer and natural living person. I LOVE Walmart, I usually by non-organic, I have used chemical cleaners for years and spend hours in the store smelling all the different scents until I find the perfect one for the next few months. I am; however, trying to change our lifestyle and this year is the year to do it.

Toxic Face

We have already kinda started and I will share some of those things soon, but for today I want to share the current change, Cosmetics and Skincare and the startling truth... (cue music... dunn dunn dunn...) Recently, I tried these products that were advertised as 'natural' and 'botanically based'. I was most excited about their baby line as Dana and I are always trying to find good products for our children. I was going to see if my girlfriend Jen would be interested in these products, and she is the one who introduced me to this new knowledge. She asked what main ingredients did the company use as preservatives, and after some investigation I was told it was 'parabens'. I didn't think much of it, but when I told this to Jen, she immediately said no (politely as she could) and then informed me that parabens are actually proven to be cancer causing. I, being non-eco aware, brushed it off thinking Jen was a little 'radical'. Whatevs. But then when home and did my own research and was surprised by what I read... she wasn't be radical, but extremely smart. This is what I found.

Most cosmetics and skin care products contain synthetic and petroleum-based ingredients that can cause reactions "as mild as skin irritation and as severe as cancer". The cosmetic industry is a self-regulated industry, which basically means they play by their own rules. There is the FDA and Cosmetic Ingredient Review that they use, but they only have safety information on 11% of the 10,500 ingredients the industry uses. California and Minnesota have taken the first step in trying to make cosmetics safer through #1) Creating the Safe Cosmetics Act that requires companies to list any ingredients that are on the Proposition's List of 65 Ingredients that cause cancer, birth defects and/or reproductive harm. #2) Banning mercury use in mascara, eye liner and skin lightening creams. Here is the kicker. Any products that say 'organic' or 'natural' offer no real guarantee as they are not regulated terms. Companies who use even one organic ingredient or have one plant based ingredient can use those terms despite what else is in their products. USDA- certified organic cosmetic are an exception as they use the same regulations as organic food. When I heard 'cancer', 'birth defects' and 'reproductive problems' I got scared. Maybe not for myself as much as for my kids. My daughter. I felt I needed to change. So I went through all our bathroom products and threw out anything that contained 'parabens' or any of the ingredients listed below (except Parfum or fragrance). I was pretty much left with nothing, but a few products my mother-in-law had given me a while ago (GO Carleen!). It is extremely hard to find companies who don't use these ingredients. I basically could only buy a handful when I went to Walmart or Shoppers to look; however, I had much better luck when I went to a natural food and bulk store. Below I have listed some products that have been deemed 'greener' by the article where I got most of these facts (Green Guide: Beauty Secrets: Emily Main).

Green Guides 'Dirty Dozen'
12 Petroleum-Based Chemicals that have serious health impacts.

1. Antibacterials
2. Coal tar colours (FD&C, Blue 1, Green 3)
3. Diethanolamine (DEA)
4. 1,4 Dioxane (present in sodium laureth sulfate and other -eth ingredients)
5. Formaldehyde (from urea-based and quaternium perservatives)
6. Fragrance
7. Hydroquinone
8. Mercury and lead
9. Nanoparticles
10. Parabens (methyl-, ethyl-, propyl-, butyl-, isobutyl-)
11. Petroleum distillates
12. Phenelenediamine (PPD)

PRODUCTS THAT HAVE BEEN DEEMED 'GREENER'
1. NVEY ECO econveybeauty.com
Has Australia's OFC certification which means that 95% of the ingredients certified organic, and contains no harmful ingredients. Has a great selection of colours.

2. PHYSICIANS FORMULA ORGANICS WEAR
Can be bought at pretty much any drug or discount store (even Walmart)
Certified by Ecocert which means 95% of the ingredients have a natural origin and that 10% are organic. Brushes are also made with goat hair rather than a petroleum based product. Is mostly foundation and bronzers.

3. SUKI COLOUR sukicolor.com or natural retailer stores
Made from sensitive skin friendly minerals that don't contain bismuth oxychloride. Also packaged in glass making it much easier to recycle. Have also removed all ingredients banned in the European Union and have sustained all other ingredients they use for safety.

4. DR. HAUSCHKA drhauschka.com and Whole Foods Market
They abide by the European Union which is much stricter than the US's regulations. They are independently certified by BDIH which requires the use of plant based ingredients wherever possible and bans the use of petroleum based products and animal testing.

That's all I have for you this week. Stay tuned next week for one of the following:
The Living Roof
Plastic Beware
Immunizations Education

I hope that you have enjoyed the read. Please know that I am not trying to be judgemental in any way. I am just sharing the new things I am learning and choosing for myself. We all have the freedom of choice and ultimately have to feel comfortable with our decisions. Good luck with Go Green ways.