Greenwashing · Eco-Chick

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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.

atmosphere, Baby, Beauty, beauty products, book, books, decor, eating, farm, FDA, Food, garden, Green Living, greenwashing, health, Home, Organic, Outdoors, Personalized, Plants, recipe, urban, waste

Are Aveda Products as Safe and Natural as They Claim?

46 Comments

by Stephanie Rogers · 11/04/08

Aveda is one of those brands that has long held a reputation for being pure, natural, safe and environmentally friendly. After all, Aveda brands itself as “providing beauty industry professionals with high performance, botanically based products that would be better for service providers and their guests, as well as for the planet.”

But, many people are incredibly disappointed to trust in this ‘green’ image of Aveda, only to read the ingredients on their products and realize that many contain parabens, sodium laureth sulfate, artificial fragrance, petrochemicals and other ingredients of questionable safety and origin. In fact, the majority of Aveda’s products rate no better in the Cosmetic Safety Database than products from brands like MAC Cosmetics, which makes no claims about being natural or eco-friendly.

On their ingredient guide, for example, Aveda states that “what you put on your body should be as healthy and natural as what you put in it”. It then lists dozens of natural ingredients like avocado, flax, neroli, seaweed and tourmaline with nary a mention of the ingredients contained within their products that don’t fit this standard.

Aveda has rightfully earned their reputation as stewards of the environment, as they’re one of the biggest brands to do so much work raising awareness about causes like recycling, pollution and the responsible sourcing of raw materials. Aveda takes great care to ensure that when they purchase exotic ingredients like Lippia from Brazil, they’re giving back to the community and encouraging sustainability. They’re also the first beauty company to run on 100% wind power, and an industry leader in responsible packaging. Aveda has a lot to be proud of.

Stacy Malkan of the Skin Deep Cosmetic Safety Database says that for all Aveda’s efforts, they should really be focusing on safer ingredients. “A company like Aveda, with the backing of billion-dollar Estee Lauder, really ought to be at the front of the line innovating the safest products on the market,” says Malkan. “Instead, I think what we’ve seen is a trend that the major multinational beauty companies face a lot of pressure to keep costs low, and use a lot of cheap synthetic petrochemical ingredients.”

Aveda responded by stating that they’re working on changing their formulas, actively working to replace parabens with other preservatives. Aveda Spokeswoman Suzanne Dawson says they currently offer 350 products that don’t contain parabens. They’re also seeking organic certification for more of their ingredients. Until recently, the company contended that parabens were safe (the FDA deems them so, but they also lets high levels of phthalates, BPA and lead slip under the radar, so can they really be trusted?).

We’ve certainly come a long way since women smeared products all over their bodies without a moment’s thought of what was in them. We’re demanding safer, better, more natural, more responsible – and that’s the key. If companies don’t see a good reason to change, they won’t. But if consumers come together to say “we deserve better than this”, the companies will listen.

I recently wrote to Aveda asking that they continue improving their products and practices, to truly live up to their reputation. You should, too – and do the same for any other ‘natural’ company you like that still uses questionable ingredients.

Read all about Aveda’s standards and practices at the Aveda website.

Cosmetiques, Eco Beauty, greenwashing

Beware of Greenwashing: Natural Beauty Products Flooding the Market

19 Comments

by Stephanie Rogers · 10/22/08

A study released by Mintel last week showed that the number of beauty products labeled ‘natural’ and ‘organic’ are at an all-time high, up 23% from 2007. This is great news for anyone who’s been frustrated in the past by the lack of ethical, healthy, natural options. While there are several reliable brands that have been around for years – like Burt’s Bees and Kiss My Face – there are those occasions when you find that you just don’t like the scent, texture or color of a product and wish you had more to choose from.

Unfortunately, I’ve definitely noticed a huge increase in the number of products labeled or marketed as ‘natural’, that have long lists of ingredients including things like irritants, synthetic fragrance, animal-based substances and even carcinogens. That’s bound to be a downside to the boom in natural cosmetics and personal care products, so we’ve got to be on the lookout for companies who don’t give a second thought to greenwashing their products so they can make a buck off the natural/organic market.

At least some companies are being honest and backing up their claims, though. From Brandweek:

“What we saw a lot of in 2007 was products that said ‘natural’ or ‘organic’ but when you turned it over, you couldn’t pronounce any of the ingredients . . . Now there is a level of natural, organic and ethical philosophies behind these products,” said Mintel senior beauty analyst Taya Tomasello. She added that manufacturers try to convey these philosophies through either environment-friendly packaging or organic certifications on product labels.

Consumers are wising up to greenwashing, luckily, and in the future getting away with false claims won’t be nearly as easy as it has been in the past. Some companies, like The Body Shop, are making big commitments that other brands will have to compete against, like making 80% of its products preservative-free by 2010 and using 100% recycled PET bottles by the end of this year.

All in all it’s a good time for anyone who cares about what’s in the products we put in and on our bodies, where they came from and who made them. Companies are slowly realizing that they won’t be able to get away with poisoning us and the environment much longer.

Resources:
Check what’s in your fave products at super-searchable Cosmetics Safety Database
Find truly natural products at these awesome natural beauty supply stores: Beautorium, FutureNatural, and Kaia House.

Cosmetiques, Eco Beauty, greenwashing

Get a Dose of Humor with your Green News at EarthFirst.com

3 Comments

by Stephanie Rogers · 09/11/08

If you’re not already reading EarthFirst.com every day, you’re missing out. And I’m not just saying that because I’m the snarky green blog’s lead writer. It’s the best place on the web to get your green news served up with some humor, sarcasm and goofy cartoons. Created and run by a cast of characters that believes green can be funny, cool and exciting, EarthFirst (not associated with activist group EarthFirst!) doesn’t shy away from calling out greenwashers and foes of the environment.

There are a lot of doom-and-gloom stories out there in the green news world, and while you’ll certainly find dramatic topics like ‘7 Reasons You Should be Losing Sleep Tonight’ and ‘9 Natural Disasters Throughout the Ages’ on EarthFirst, you’ll also find the latest green gadgets, weirdest eco-inventions, funny illustrated go-green tips and original cartoons by EarthFirst’s own Jerry King. Among the blog’s unique categories are ‘Haters’, which exposes people attempting to derail positive change, and ‘EarthFirstU’, which highlights all the green goings-on at colleges and universities throughout North America.

We at EarthFirst.com aren’t afraid to call out folks doing the wrong thing, and heap praise on those working hard to further green causes. We’ve caught greenwashers attempting to use the environmental movement to market their shady products and services, and berated politicians for taking the side of greedy corporations and their lobbyists. One need only peruse posts tagged ‘jerkass’ to see what I mean – stories to which this tag has been applied include ‘Senate Fails Again to Renew Key Energy Credit’ and ‘HP Over-Packages to Epic Proportions’.

EarthFirst also highlights the good being done in the world, including the series ‘Who’s Who in Green’ (which has featured Eco Chick’s own Starre Vartan, Olivia Zaleski and Summer Rayne Oakes!) and ‘Featured Change Agents’, which calls attention to environmental activists and their pet projects.

So head on over to EarthFirst.com and check out the videos, book reviews, analyses of the ‘green-ness’ of the original Star Wars trilogy and controversial takes on topics like ‘Why You’re a Global Warming Denier’. If you spit your coffee all over your computer screen reading EarthFirst’s latest posts while enjoying your breakfast, don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Featured Blog, greenwashing

Corporate Cotton Greenwash!

3 Comments

by Starre Vartan · 08/28/08

Have you seen this ad? I’ve found it in lots of mainstream mags like Lucky, Marie Claire, etc. and it’s total B.S. It’s basically asserting that because it’s a ‘natural’ fiber (ie. it grows from the ground), cotton is green, or environmentally friendly. Nothing could be further from the truth! Cotton uses INSANE amounts of pesticides and herbicides per pound of fabric. And those pesticides are BADDIES:

-The EPA classifies eight of the pesticides used in conventional cotton as possible carcinogens
-Cotton uses 25% of the world’s pesticides
-In India, 91% of cotton workers complain of illness caused by chemicals
-Only 1% of cotton grown is organic (though that’s growing because of savvy consumer’s demand!)

(The above, plus more info and sources about cotton’s toxic footprint, can be found here, or check out PANNA- the Pesticide Action Network North America- article on what’s wrong with conventional cotton growing.)

Because cotton is made in so many third-world countries which have much lighter (or unenforced) environmental rules, that means tons of chemicals are ending up in water supplies and drenching soil the world over so we can snap up a new pair of chinos.

Read about some of the problems with expanding cotton supplies here, on EcoStreet (quote below excerpted from this page).

With conventional cotton there is such a long chain of buyers and manufacturers. Clothing retailers shop around for the cheapest fabric and the growers at the end of the chain are squeezed to the maximum so that the price of their product falls. They see the only way forward as increasing their yield with increased use of chemicals. Eventually pests develop resistance and the yield decreases. American and European subsidies push the price down even further and this way third world countries are kept poor and in debt to the Agrochemical giants who maintain a healthy profit.

I combed thefabricofourlives.com website and there’s nary a mention of organic cotton anywhere, even when I searched (there area few organic cotton items in some of their product suggestion pages, but no mention or discussion of it otherwise on the site).

However, there ARE several references to cotton’s eco-friendliness, but without any specific info as to why the fabric has somehow become sooooo much less environmentally deleterious than in the past (uh, it hasn’t). The only place where I found ANY legit kind of argument that non-organic cotton could be eco-oriented was on the page that encourages us to use cotton bags for shopping rather than plastic bags. There’s lots of greenwashing though, in a partnership with Macy’s that donates money to the National Park Foundation with the purchase of any reusable (conventional cotton) bag, and a page on the ecofriendliness of reusable bags generally.

This is PATHETIC. Instead of embracing and encouraging organics on their site, Corporate Cotton has decided to ignore this rapidly growing category, I’m SURE because they don’t want to make conventional cotton look ‘bad’ (I’m guessing this whole campaign is in reaction to the fact that it HAS gotten a bad rap recently). I’m hoping for a day in the near future when ALL cotton is raised organically, that is, without abusing the Earth to get there.

corporations, cotton, greenwashing, organic cotton