oops I did it again October 29, 2011

I did it again… despite having about 7 cloth bags in the trunk of my car, I still managed to leave the drug store with a plastic bag for 3 items. Why is it so hard to do this one simple thing?

Can I blame it on human nature? General laziness? It’s not that I loooove plastic bags and secretly want to keep using them. No, I think it’s just plain habit. My whole life I’ve been able to walk out of any store, carrying my purchase in a convenient container provided by the store. Now I have to provide it; I guess that’s actually a pretty big change when you think of it that way.

OK, so how to make this new habit as easy to stick to as walking? I’ll have to carry my bags with me. Literally, on my person – or an extension of my person, the purse. Keep that extra bag, and the stainless steel travel mug, and metal utensils, and cloth hanky / napkin in my purse. I recently (ha! actually a couple of years ago) upgraded to a beautiful leather tote bag (handmade by a local artist), which actually will hold all this stuff without bulging. Unfortunately, I still have a long-time avoidance of big purses, so I often grab my wallet out of the purse and leave that bulk behind.

Guys – you’re on your own. Unless you have a bag or pack that you carry as regularly as most women carry purses. It’s ok, your man-bag can take on a whole new level of utility by carrying all your green gear.

Maybe I just need to learn to think ahead… hmmm… that sounds like it would solve a lot of problems at once. If I’m thinking ahead, I’m planning my car trips, I have an idea of where I’m going to be eating… wow, efficiency instead of convenience. Is it really giving something up (plastic bags) or gaining a new skill?

Lipstick on a pig? October 26, 2011

The other day, I bought some new makeup – an eyeliner and an eyeshadow (4 colors in one!). I am rather ambivalent about makeup – I’ll go days without a speck, and other days I really want to glam it up; and of course there are all the inbetween days… the last time I bought new makeup, I spent days researching brands; noticing what was available at my usual shopping locations, then looking those brands up to see which were the cleanest, greenest ones (Dr. Hauschka, but it seems so expensive to be buying it at the grocery store; or Laura Mercier at Sephora – both get high ratings on GoodGuide.com).

This time around, it was totally on a whim; I was at Rite Aid and just couldn’t resist the low price… so for about $14, what did I get?

Revlon Colorstay 12 hour Eye Shadow, #345 Sterling Rose: mica (organ system toxicity, persistent and bioaccumulative, human immune system toxicant), boron nitride (not assessed for safety in cosmetics), dimethicone (organ system toxicity),  calcium aluminum borosilicate (neurotoxicity, organ system toxicity), talc (often contaminated, not assessed for safety in cosmetics), cyclopentasiloxane (persistant and bioaccumulative, organ system toxicity), polypropylene (human immune system toxicant), trimethylsiloxysilicate (not assessed for safety in cosmetics), nylon-12 (not assessed for safety in cosmetics), acrylates/ dimethicone copolymer (not assessed for safety in cosmetics)… and that’s just in the top 10 listed out of 19, PLUS another 12 that “may” also be in there (depending on the color).

Maybelline Master Drama by Eyestudio, cream pencil bold brown: Isododecane (not assessed for safety in cosmetics), PEG/PPG-19/19 Dimethicone (violation of industry recommendations for use), cyclopentasiloxane (persistent and bioaccumulative, may be carcinogenic, endocrine disruptor, organ system toxicity, ecotoxicity), synthetic wax (also called paraffin wax; limited data), hydrogenated polydicyclopentadiene (not assessed for safety in cosmetics; by the way, also used as a depilatory. In my eyeliner?), C20-40 alcohols (not assessed for safety in cosmetics), nylon-12 (not assessed for safety in cosmetics), perfluorononyl dimethicone (not assessed for safety in cosmetics), polyglyceryl-4 diisostearate polyhydroxystearate sebacate – polyglyceryl-4 diisostearate/ polyhydroxystearate/sebacate (for all that, not assessed for safety in cosmetics), polyethylene (irritant, human immune system toxicant, missing safety data noted by industry review). Again, only the top 10 ingredients out of 12, plus another 9 that may or may not be in there.

Still feel like the cosmetics industry is keeping our health and safety in mind? The bigger issue here is that these same ingredients, plus hundreds more, are bombarding you every day: through your skin, in the air and in the water. No wonder babies are being born “pre-polluted” these days. While it will take legislative action to force companies to take the toxics out, many have already done so, or never did to begin with – its worth the effort to find these ethical manufacturers and support them with your dollars. In the meantime, sign the petitions when they come around, and vote!

www.EWG.org and www.safecosmetics.org are great resources for doing your own research.

I used EWG’s Skin Deep database to find out about these ingredients, and www.goodguide.com for info on the brands.

the Story of Exasperation October 19, 2011

I just finished reading Annie Leonard’s The Story of Stuff book, and I haven’t felt as jazzed about the future of our planet, nor as depressed about it at the same time since I read Cradle to Cradle.

The jazzed part: Annie does an amazing job at detailing the complex interactions of our Stuff. Simple, like the film, “The Story of Stuff” but packed with all the interesting and weird facts that the Story in based on.

The depressing part: her meticulous research shows how pervasive Stuff is, and especially how some people have used the so-called free market system to benefit at the expense of other people, and especially at the expense of our planet.

Her book is a triumph of investigative research, passionate arguments, and really good story telling. I get such a clear picture of the state of our planet and especially of our culture of Stuff that I begin shutting down emotionally. It is not a pretty picture, and it is so much easier to stick my head in the sand than deal with this mess – especially my own complicity in it (I love my Stuff!).

The good news is that with such a clear understanding of how our world is so tightly linked to everything else (hitched to everything in the universe, to paraphrase John Muir) it is possible to see, actually have faith that the actions of a few dedicated people (you and me and a few million of our like-minded fellows) can shift the tide of cultural habits and create a more sustainable world for everyone.

But that doesn’t let the politicians and CEOs off the hook!