Father’s Day Gift: Nordgreen Eco Watch
I was looking for the perfect sustainable Father’s Day gift online, when I discovered Nordgreen eco watches. Whether the watch becomes an actual gift remains to be seen — it also could end up on my wrist.
Truly Natural Sex Guide
Are you having natural sex? You might think so, but you’re probably wrong. Take lubricant, for example. Whether it’s coconut cream or mango delicious, that tube you stashed in your nightstand is probably chock-full of parabens, hormones, silicones and petroleum by-products which can cause irritation that makes you more susceptible to decidedly unsexy yeast infections. Ick. So what about toys? C’mon, don’t pretend you haven’t tried them once or twice—or thrice. Since Shades of Gray came out, they’re practically selling sex toys at Barnes & Noble. But they also can be pretty toxic.
Air Fresheners Don’t Make Scents!
From plug-ins to sprays, synthetic air fresheners are bad news. Chock-full of toxic ingredients, they typically contain phthalates linked to obesity and other problems, as well as potent allergens that lead to fragrance allergies—a condition that affects 34 million people in the U.S. That’s why when I heard about this new campaign from Women’s Voices for the Earth, I knew I had to share. The campaign targets Glade air fresheners and employs some of the cutest babies I’ve ever seen as messengers. If SC Johnson can use cute babies to sell products, why can’t we use them to let people know about the air-polluting fragrances that are in their products?
5 Rules to a Healthy Eating Habit
My kids are sick of healthy eating. They don’t want organic soybean butter and Farmer’s Market fig jam sandwiches, they want Lunchables: crackers, processed cheese, salty disks that pass for lunch meat and a whole lot of chemicals wrapped up in a plastic box. My younger daughter confessed she dumps the organic carrot sticks the trash (and I thought the ranch dip was decadent). My oldest has been trading her edamame for candy. Forget the veggie chips I carefully stowed in wax paper bags—heaven for these children would be to open up their lunch boxes and spy a bright-orange bag of Flamin’ Hot Cheetos.
3 Steps to Avoid Flame Retardants
This could be the end of the line for flame retardants. As the EPA launched an investigation into the chemicals, Washington state banned flame retardants from kids’ products, and California announced a move to update the state’s flammability standards, pressured by those concerned about a policy that had exposed millions of people to toxic flame retardants—also known as PBDEs—in our homes. What’s the big deal about California? Because the state represents such a large market, California’s flammability standards—governed by TB117, which was adopted by the state 40 years ago—have become a national standard, essentially forcing furniture and baby product manufacturers throughout North America to add chemical flame retardants to their…
Toxic Gold + Blood Diamonds = Commitment…?
I used to have a thing for diamonds. Maybe it was too many afternoons eating popcorn and watching old VHS movies — Marilyn in the pink dress; Audrey in the oversized sunglasses — or maybe it was just the fairy-tale scenario that little girls seem to be steeped in since birth. In any case, I brandished my great-grandmother’s single solitaire diamond with pride through high school and college, until the day my husband and I decided — on a whim, after two weeks of knowing each other, at the ripe old age of twenty-five — to get married, and it became my official engagement ring. I’m still pining for the…
What is Teflon: The Infertility Connection
We all do it. The minute we decide to move out to a home of our own, we’re imagining creating the perfect meal in the perfect kitchen outfitted with the perfect pots and pans. For most of us—myself included—that means a 10-piece set that includes everything from a giant roasting pan to a teeny-tiny frying pan, which goes from the box to the cupboard and never sees the light of day after that. Typically, these inexpensive cooking sets are coated with a nonstick surface like Teflon. And we love them because we can make an egg and it’ll slide right off the pan onto the plate. But there’s something else that…
What Are Phthalates? Nix Them in 3 Easy Steps
Can a rubber ducky make your kids fat? A 2012 study found a connection between a chemical found in PVC and kids’ obesity: Children with the highest level of the common phthalate di-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP) in their blood were nearly five times as likely to be obese as children with the lowest levels. But what are phthalates? These chemicals, also known as plasticizers, are used to soften plastic. (Want to know why that your old ball gets brittle? That’s because phthalates have leached out of it.) They also serve to help personal care products penetrate the skin, as well as preserve synthetic fragrances.
