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Green Living Now™News, Edition Thirty-Two

1. Toxic Chemical Found In Some "Green" Products, Surprise, Surprise!

Most natural and organic shoppers are aware that there are toxic synthetic chemicals in conventional products. That's why we pay the extra money and often go out of our way to shop at natural food stores. But, what if you can't trust that the "greener" products are truly safer and healthier?

A recent study commissioned by the Organic Consumer's Association, overseen by David Steinman (author of the Safe Shopper's Bible) found that 47 out of 100 "organic" and "natural" products (personal care and cleaning products) tested contained the undisclosed carcinogenic contaminant, 1,4-dioxane. And, what's worse, some of these products are designed specifically for babies and young children. None of the products certified organic by the USDA contained the contaminant, just some of the self-proclaimed organic and natural ones.

So, what is 1,4-dioxane and why should you care?

In order to make harsh chemicals milder cheaply, some companies use the cancer-causing petrochemical, ethylene oxide, which generates 1,4-dioxane as a by-product. The State of California, under Proposition 65, considers 1,4-dioxane to cause cancer. According to the California EPA, it's also a suspected kidney and respiratory toxicant, and neurotoxicant. But, guess what? You won't see 1,4-dioxane listed on the ingredient label. That's because it's considered a "by-product" of the ethoxylation process, or a "contaminant", not an ingredient intentionally added.

The Organic Consumers Association study found this toxin present in products with synthetic ethoxylated ingredients, including those with ingredients with these letters in their name: myreth, oleth, laureth, ceteareth, any other "eth"; and PEG, polyethylene, polyethylene glycol, polyoxyethylene, or oxynol, in their names. The really annoying thing about this is that these chemicals are in products marketed as "natural" and "organic". Talk about greenwashing (trying to promote your product as "green" and charging extra money for it, but it's barely better than supermarket brands). USDA organic certification doesn't allow ethoxylation or any other synthetic petroleum products, which is why 1,4-dioxane isn't in those truly organic products.

What were some of the products that had 1,4-dioxane in them?

Seventh Generation's Lemongrass & Clementine Zest Natural Dish Liquid; several Method products (which are NOT natural products), Kiss My Face's Moisture Soap and Early To Bed Shower Gel and Foaming Bath; Jason, Planet Ultra Dishwashing Liquid, Rainbow Soap for Kids, Shikai shower gel, several Giovanni products, Earth Friendly Products Ultra Dishmate (the almond and regular, and the amounts were rather large), several 365 Every Day Value Brand products (the shower gel was the worst), Alba Passion Fruit Body Wash, Aura Cacia Natural Aromatherapy Bubble bath, a couple of Healthy Times baby bath products, a couple of Nature's Gate shampoos, Sea-Chi Organics Tasmanian Lavender Shampoo. To see a complete list, go to: http://www.organicconsumers.org/bodycare/DioxaneResults08.cfm

Luckily, the brands that I sell on this webstore, www.greenlivingnow.com did not contain 1,4-dioxane. Perhaps that's because I favor certified organic products, and natural products like Aubrey Organics (which in addition to being plant based, most of those natural ingredients are certified organic, often 75% or more).

What's the difference between "natural" and "organic"?

My understanding is that "organic", if it's "certified", means that the ingredients were grown or produced without the use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides. Just like certified organic food. "Natural" on the other hand, though it may be from plant or animal sources, may contain synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, and may be minimally synthesized. Sadly there aren't any standards that govern the words "natural" and "organic" for personal care products. See a previous article I wrote about "organic" shampoo (http://greenlivingnow.com/column/column.htm).

It's really difficult for consumers to know which products are safer and healthier and which are masquerading as green products. The whole reason that I started researching organic and natural products over 15 years ago was because I was so annoyed that many of the "natural" and "organic" brands sold in health food stores contained a lot of the same toxic synthetic chemicals as the supermarket brands. I was pregnant back then and was looking for products that really were what they said they were. Not an easy thing to determine. (Okay, here comes a sales pitch, sorry…) That's why if you shop here at www.greenlivingnow.com, you'll get the benefit of my research and experience. You won't have to spend all of the time and money researching and using products yourself. I love finding new products to add to the site that meet my strict criteria. You might be surprised to know that some of the products that I try that have excellent certified organic ingredients just don't make the cut because they don't work as well as the others on my site, are too expensive, are made outside of the U.S., or don't smell good to me.

Sources:

http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/ingredient.php?ingred06=726331
http://www.organicfacts.net/organic-food/organic-food-basics/difference-between-organic-and-natural-food.html

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-fi-natural14mar14,1,3735606.story

http://www.organicconsumers.org/bodycare/DioxaneResults08.cfm

2. Are There Any Green Lawn Care Services Out There?

Guest Article By Dr. Bob Ross

Dr. Ross,

I read your column in the (Yourtown, USA) Weekly News. I try to be "green" and your column always encourages me to do more. I have tried to reduce the amount of grass in my yard but I still have major areas that are covered with grass and I have trouble with weeds and
grubs. Do you know of any organic/green lawn care companies in the (Yourtown, USA) area that I could contact for help?

Thanks for your time!

Joann Ribar

Dear Joann,

Thank you for your letter, for already being "green," and for trying to
be even "greener." That's what my column is all about. And the answer to your letter is going to be what this column is all about.

The first thing I did after I read your letter was to check the (Yourtown, USA) yellow pages for lawn services and see if there were any advertising themselves as providing green lawn care; meaning they use only organic, nonpolluting methods of weed control and maintenance. And as you undoubtedly found, there are none listed.
So, what I'd have to recommend at this point is some do-it-yourself
care.

First, you'll need to find a store that sells the sustainable,
environmentally-friendly products you need, which you can find easily on the internet. One very good website I found for do-it-greener-yourselfers is www.eartheasy.com/grow_lawn_care.htm. They've got a full line of organic supplies for weed and grub control along with all sorts of other products and green lawncare tips. With a little work and some of their products, you could probably take care of your weeds and grubs all by yourself.

Or you could try another idea. You could call some of the
unnatural/non-organic lawn care services in (Yourtown, USA) and ask if they would provide the lawn care muscle if you provided the organic lawn care products. If you found one that would work such a program with you, that might have two good effects: you get the organic weed and grub control you want and you encourage a local lawn care service to think about adding green products to their arsenal and becoming the first in the area to do so -- a green-green situation.
I hope somebody out there is getting the idea here -- there's a
potentially large, wholly unserved market in (Yourtown, USA) that's ripe for the picking. Given the investment the existing lawn care businesses already have in their non-green products and equipment, they're not likely to change anytime soon. Which leaves the market wide open to new businesses. All you'd need to start a green residential lawn care business is a line of sustainable, healthy products and some battery operated equipment for mowing and trimming. The Neuton Power Equipment Company, www.neutonpower.com,makes two great battery lawnmower models that work just fine without either the nasty, fossil fuel burning pollution or the irritating, high decibel noise of the gas mowers. There are also companies that make battery operated weed eaters and leaf blowers. And there are even battery operated lawn tractors out there -- the GE Elec-Trac for instance .I would be willing to bet that if some ambitious kids started offering green lawn care to (Yourtown, USA) residents, they'd quickly have a ton of greenbacks to put in the bank. And the first customer is already standing in line --right here -- right now (Joann Ribar).

So Joann, I hope I've answered your letter satisfactorily and that you
get your weeds and grubs under control organically. If, after this column, you still can't find somebody locally to help you, maybe you and I ought to think about starting an organic lawn care company of our own. But you'll have to do any heavy lifting -- I have this bad back -- doctor's orders you understand.

Thanks again Joann,

Sincerely,
Dr. Bob Ross

(Previously published by Graphic Publications
PO Box 358
Millersburg, Ohio 44654)

For more information on do-it-yourself organic gardening, check out Amy's article, Personally Probibit Pesticides, Please. http://www.greenlivingnow.com/newsletterapril.htm#pests

Dr. Bob's Green Tip of the Week: As energy costs keep going through the roof, remember that there's still one type of energy that doesn't cost a cent -- the energy not used. Instead of building more coal-fired power plants and off-shore oil rigs, we should simply conserve more. One study showed that if every household in California replaced four 100-watt incandescent light bulbs with four 27-watt compact fluorescent bulbs, the state would save 22 gigawatt-hours per day -- enough energy to shut down 17 power plants.

For more information on energy conservation, go to
http://life.gaiam.com/gaiam/p/EnergyConservationANoBrainer.html.

Any Questions? Don't hesitate to contact me, Amy Todisco, Editor in Chief, and Owner of Green Living Now™, LLC, at: amy@greenlivingnow.com