Eco-Chick · The modern girl's guide to living green & fabulous.

Sara Snow's – Fresh Living: The Essential Room-By-Room Guide to a Greener, Healthier Family and Home

I first became familiar with Sara Snow when I was pregnant and on bed-rest. Between reading baby books and eating I watched her Discovery show Get Fresh with Sara Snow and enjoyed her ease and playful approach to environmentalism. I love how Sara always mixes stories of her childhood into her day-to-day recipes for green living. This adds a personalized touch to her passion for all things green.

Growing up the daughter of Tim Redmond, co-founder of Eden Foods, informed Sara’s life as a green foodie and all around eco-advocate. In her new book, Fresh Living: The Essential Room-By-Room Guide to a Greener, Healthier Family and Home, Sara traverses the modern home, discussing every aspect of our lives and what we can do to connect more with nature and minimize wasteful practices. This unpretentious guide is an easy read that is full of useful information. Sara discusses everything from how to maintain a green lawn naturally (or better yet, how to plant wildflowers and indigenous greens that attract butterflies and deter mosquitoes,) to how to decorate a toxin-free baby nursery.

Sara gives detailed lists of what ingredients to avoid in beauty products, toys, household cleaners, and pretty much anything else one may have in their home or garden. Comprehensive definitions explain the origins of chemicals, how they are used and what is most harmful. These days many products, including purported “organic” or “natural” items, contain dubious ingredients. The explanations of scientific terms really help one to weed through the ambiguous marketing language of greenwashing. There are also recipes for how to make your own cleaners and home products that are totally natural and inexpensive.

A small part of the book I really enjoyed was the simple reminder that house plants are good. They bring the outside in, clean our air, and promote healthy chi. Sara shares a list of the top fifteen plants to have indoors to remove various pollutants from the air. These days people spend hundreds, even thousands on air fresheners and purifiers. Plants!

The description of composting is user friendly. Sometimes composting can seem detailed or labour-intensive, but Sara keeps it simple with a description of what we need and what ingredients can assist in maintaining a healthy compost, even for those living in urban areas.

An important theme reiterated throughout the guide is that there are real dangers in our environment, but we can be empowered by educating ourselves and creating an atmosphere that is fresh, vital and thriving. This book would make a sweet gift but is also an excellent resource to just have handy around the house.

Melamine in Infant Formulas; What's Safe, What's Not?

The FDA has reached their conclusion that levels of melamine alone or cyanuric acid alone, at or below 1 part per million (ppm) in infant formula do not raise public health concerns. Traces of any amount, especially those above the FDA minimum raise alarm in my mind as well as many others I am sure. 

Melamine is widely used in plastics, adhesives, countertops, dishware, and whiteboards. Because melamine is rich in nitrogen, companies who are trying to increase their production of formulas add the substance to increase the apparent protein levels of their product. This in addition to diluting the raw milk with water. It is not naturally occurring and is not approved to be directly added to food in the United States. Though somewhere in the world of government loopholes, melamine is approved for use as part of certain food contact substances. This does leave legal room for traceable levels of melamine to show up in certain food commodities.

Behind the scenes, the FDA had conducted tests over the past several months on U.S. made formula. You can check out some of  those results here. Some definite red flags from the report show that melamine and cyanuric acid, a related chemical, were found in the baby formula made by U.S. manufacturers Abbott Labs, maker of Similac; Mead Johnson, maker of Enfamil; and Nestle, maker of Good Start. The sad and alarming news is that these 3 brands make up 90% of all of the formula sold in this country.

Shortly after the China infant formula contamination scare, Nature’s One made it a integral operational process to test each production run of their “Baby’s Only Organic” and “PediaSmart” products for Melamine. The products are manufactured in the U.S.A. with no milk protein or dairy derivatives purchased from China. They also are the only carriers of organic lactose free milk based formula, Baby’s Only Organic® Lactose Free.

This is a great solution for parents who wish to avoid soy proteins and for babies who are lactose intolerant. Instead of corn syrup, which is found in all other lactose-free formulas, the company uses brown rice syrup. The formula is designed to address common digestion problems that result in fussiness, gas and bloating. You can only purchase here and the company offers free shipping if you buy by the case or they have a maximum shipping rate of just $5.95.

Of course I have to mention that the healthiest, most sustainable, and economic way to providing your baby with the nutrients and goodness he or she needs is breastfeeding. Here are just a few benefits of breastfeeding as referenced from the NRDC:

• Breast-fed children are more resistant to disease and infection early in life than formula-fed children

• Breast-fed children are less likely to contract a number of diseases later in life, including juvenile diabetes, multiple sclerosis, heart disease, and cancer before the age of 15

• Mothers who breastfeed are less likely to develop osteoporosis later in life, are able to lose weight gained during pregnancy more easily and have a lower risk of breast, uterine and ovarian cancer

Under President Obama, Will the FDA Finally Do Its Job?

Under Bush’s leadership, the FDA has failed us. The Food and Drug Administration is supposed to be protecting us from harm, ensuring that the drugs that we take and the ingredients that go into products we use are safe. That rarely happens, however, as the FDA has put the interests of the pharmaceutical industry and corporations above the needs of the people.

In fact, we – the people – have been forced to police ingredients in the cleaning products, cosmetics, personal care products and other items that we use ourselves, since we’ve found that we can’t trust the FDA to do it for us. The FDA has failed to set adequate limits or remove entirely toxic substances like parabens, phtalates and other chemical compounds that can cause birth defects and cancer from cosmetics. They’ve failed to keep high levels of Bisphenol A from being used in plastic items like baby bottles. They’ve failed to keep dangerous levels of lead from being ingested by children who play with toys imported from China.

In 2006, the Union of Concerned Scientists determined that even FDA scientists themselves felt ineffective at doing their true job – protecting us – because of pressure from the Bush administration. Among the findings:

• Three in five scientists said they knew of cases where commercial interests inappropriately attempted to change an FDA action.
• One fifth said they were asked by FDA decision makers to provide “incomplete, inaccurate or misleading information to the public.”
• Nearly two in three said that the laws and regulations that govern the FDA need “change for the agency to better serve the public.”
• Only half felt the FDA is acting effectively to protect the public health.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve spent much of the last eight years being very angry at the FDA. Why should we be fearful of every product we purchase, thinking, “what’s in this that could harm my family?” President Bush made it clear to all of us that he values business interests above our own, especially as he spends his final months in office on an environmental rampage, doing as much damage as possible so that corporations can make even more money.

But now, we have hope. We have President-elect Obama, who has spent his entire career helping the common man, not increasing corporate profits.  Under President Obama, the FDA will undoubtedly undergo some major changes, not the least of which is the fact that the agency will no longer be pressured to alter their results to please lobbyists.

We can expect President-elect Obama to appoint someone responsible as the FDA chief, in stark contrast to Bush-era FDA officials like former lead counsel Daniel E. Troy. Troy helped the government aggressively fight lawsuits from citizens that claimed that FDA-approved medications had devastating and unexpected side effects. Unsurprisingly, he had previously represented major U.S. pharmaceutical firms before he was named lead counsel.

Analysts say that Obama will likely take as long as 6-18 months to choose a new FDA commissioner.  Many believe that Obama will choose someone who will offer a renewed sense of political independence and focus on science, something that has been sorely lacking under Bush’s rule.

Regardless of who Obama ultimately chooses, I believe that we can feel pretty confident that the FDA will once again resume its job of protecting us. That doesn’t mean we can totally let our guard down – after all, government agencies are still fraught with inefficiency and things won’t change overnight.  We must remain our own advocates, but at least now we can breathe a little easier knowing we’re not engaged in a constant battle against a government that would cast us aside in favor of Big Business.

Photo via Flickr user Kanko*

Is Melamine Safe for Kids?

If you ever needed another reason to breastfeed, here it is. Four babies have died and thousands are ill after melamine was found in contaminated dairy products in Asia.

The industrial toxin, which is high in nitrogen, is added to milk when producers want to artificially boost protein content. According to the Associated Press, one in five national dairy companies tested positive for the chemical. The hygiene practices of dairy farmers dates back to 80′s standardization and this lack of updated regulation has allowed the antiquated technology to go largely unchecked.

After the pet-food scare with melamine it leaves one wondering what, if any, form of melamine is safe. I was recently given some kids’ bowls made from melamine. Are they at risk? Obviously the substance is solidified, but as we now know with regard to plastics, it is best to err on the side of caution.

Melamine flatware is usually created by combining the chemical with formaldehyde. Formaldehyde has been linked to asthma and cancer. In a piece for the Green Guide, Alexandra Zissu (author of The Organic Pregnancy – a great book I reviewed last year,) discusses the concern surrounding melamine and other durable plastics used in baby and toddler wares. In her article on plastics Zissu notes:

Aside from sippy cups, most kidware isn’t made of polycarbonate but of durable, colorful melamine. Melamine is a questionable choice for food because it’s made with formaldehyde, which has been linked to allergies, asthma and cancer. There’s no evidence that formaldehyde leaches out of melamine every single time it’s used, but some studies, including one by the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration, have shown that the chemical can migrate out of melamine and into food under certain circumstances, such as heat and when serving highly acidic foods.

In my home we have been using glass, stainless steel, #5 plastics and wood. As far as plastics go, it is wise to never use abrasive detergents or scrubby sponges as this can cause degeneration, which can lead to leaching. Zissu discusses what she feels are the best alternatives:

My daughter eats from our own lead-free ceramic dishes. She also eats from small stainless-steel prep bowls purchased at a kitchen supply store, and even the occasional glass bowl. I know some moms and dads worry about shattering glass, but she’s never broken one, despite the fact that the floor under our dining table is poured concrete (inherited from someone else’s renovation). It probably helped that we have firmly explained to her over and over and over that she may not toss the things.

Avoiding all things plastic is not a new concept. The idea of toddlers throwing glass and ceramic bowls at the dog can be daunting, but as Zissu says, teaching can help alleviate flying objects (at least ideally.) People go back and forth with the plastics debate. A few weeks ago a study was released saying “everything is OK – you can use BPA” and some of my friends told me they felt duped into buying BPA-free. But, here’s the thing. If we know we are already exposed to all of these chemicals in our environment and have a higher body-burden than our civilization has ever seen, isn’t it wise to err on the side of caution? When so many still use microwaves and plastics together, this just seems like a no-brainer to me. We put this stuff through the dishwasher (heating to high temps,) we serve hot food on it, and we bang it around and scratch it up. The attitude of “well, everything is dangerous – everything causes cancer” is resigning responsibility and leaving the well-being of our youth up to Dow and Monsanto, who as we know, have done a bang-up job so far.

The FDA Officially SUCKS!!

This is truly upsetting to me; doesn’t the FDA work for the American people? Aren’t we paying their salaries? See why I’m so pissed in the video below: