Important links to learn more and take action:

The Story of Cosmetics site
Safe Cosmetics Act Action (letter to House)
E-card to tell your friends about The Story of Cosmetics
Safe Cosmetics Act main info page

What: Best Buy’s electronic recycling program

Features: Did you know that Best Buy will take pretty much any electronic item off of your hands for recycling? From cell phones and video game consoles to big screen TVs, Best Buy will accept it. The web site offers program variations for each state, as well as information on how to dispose of the few items the program doesn’t accept. All US stores, (and stores in Puerto Rico, too!) run the program.

Green Factor:  Last year, Best Buy repaired, refurbished or recycled over 60 million pounds of old electronics. Recycling electronics helps keep toxic waste out of our landfills and water supply.

Bonus: Best Buy has several recycling programs in place as well as an informative FAQ page on their electronics recycling program. Check their web site for information,

Find It Here: Best Buy

America’s toxic chemicals laws are totally broken. Every American from newborn babies to senior citizens is exposed, without their consent, to hundreds of dangerous chemicals in everyday household products.

Some of these chemicals are linked to prostate and breast cancers, diabetes, heart disease, lowered sperm counts, early puberty, birth defects and other diseases and disorders. For tens of thousands more chemicals, we simply don’t have the data we need to know whether they are safe or not because they have not been required to be tested, which is the crux of the problem. Read the rest of this entry »

On June 2 and June 3 CNN is airing a two part special with Dr. Sanjay Gupta called “Toxic America“.

Wednesday night covers “Toxic Towns” and will delve into the environmental health and justice problems plaguing the community of Mossville, Louisiana—a sad example of our broken chemical safety system. Read the rest of this entry »

What: Meat Free Mondays

Features: The “Meat Free Mondays” campaign is getting worldwide attention as people become more committed to protecting the environment. Taking meat out of one day’s worth of meals is a simple way that we can help save the planet and adopt healthier eating habits, all at the same time

Green Factor: The UN has said that the meat industry dominates one-fifth of all man-made greenhouse gas emissions. Ouch! Going veggie one day a week or more would dramatically reduce those harmful emissions, and would save gallons upon gallons of water and gasoline

Bonus: The Meat Free Mondays web site is full of good stuff–there’s all sorts of information and recipes, including tips on which wine will best compliment your meal. Deee-lish!

Find It Here: Meat Free Mondays

On Our Blog: You Owe It to Your Kids to Care

Did you know that even if it’s marked “pure and gentle,” baby shampoo might contain contaminants linked to cancer. That’s what the Breast Cancer Fund’s Campaign for Safe Cosmetics found nearly a year ago, when product tests revealed formaldehyde and 1,4-dioxane in children’s shampoos, bubble baths and other cosmetics.

Yet because U.S. cosmetics are almost completely unregulated and the FDA has no authority to issue recalls on dangerous products, our government has taken no action.

Please support the Safe Baby Products Act, which would require the FDA to test kids’ products for contaminants and work to prevent contamination in the first place.

Find It Here:  Safe Baby Products Act

On Our Blog: We’re Blushing!

Disinfectant chemicals have a purpose and place, but should be used very sparingly as scientific studies have shown that disinfectant chemicals have been linked to chronic health issues like asthma, hormone imbalance, potential reduced fertility, and immune system problems.

What kind of disinfectant chemicals are we talking about? The kind we come in contact with everyday in household bleach, ammonia-based cleaners, triclosan in antibacterial soaps and other antibacterial products and nano-silvers found in antibacterial plastics, textiles, soaps and other materials.

Visit Women’s Voices for the Earth to learn more and then consider signing  this petition to tell companies to replace toxic chemicals in their household cleaning products with safer alternatives AND disclose all of the ingredients that they use in household cleaning products on the product label.

Target and Walmart have been recently caught selling products that expose your children to lead. AGAIN.

Tests conducted by the Center for Environmental Health found lead-contaminated Walmart and Target store brand shoes, belts and raingear for kids. One Target product contained more than FOURTEEN times the legal limit for lead. This post at Z-Recs details how very high amounts of lead were found in the snaps of Target brand onesies

These stores need to hear from you. They are powerful companies who have the resources to ensure the products they manufacture and sell are safe for you and your children. It’s time they committed to doing just that.

Please join thousands of children’s health advocates and send a message to Target and Walmart by sending them a letter and telling them you will shop elsewhere until they provide absolute assurance that they are taking the necessary steps to keep lead-containing products off of their shelves AND make public their independent test results on all store-brand products.

Recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH) is used to force cows to make more milk. It is, in essence, a genetically-engineered synthetic hormone. Most of the industrialized countries in the world have banned rBGH but here in the United States, we’re giving it to our most vulnerable citizens—our children! It is estimated that at least 84 million gallons of milk from artificial hormone-treated cows were distributed through the school nutrition programs in fiscal year 2005-2006. That’s about 20% of the milk offered in school cafeterias nationwide. I don’t give my kids rBGH-derived milk at home—why would I be okay with them having it at school??? The good news is that we have a great chance to bring milk free from artificial, genetically engineered hormones into our schools as Congress takes up legislation on the National School Lunch Program. Make your voice heard on this important issue by signing the True Food Network’s petition to ask Congress to state that schools can specifically seek out and purchase artificial hormone-free milk and organic milk.

It is an unfortunate fact of modern life that we, humans, have highly polluted bodies. This pollution in people is the direct result of a statute that does not require chemicals to be proven safe to get on the market, or stay on the market. Under federal law EPA does not have the authority to demand the information it needs to evaluate a chemical’s risk, and neither manufacturers nor the EPA are required to prove a chemical’s safety as a condition of use.

What’s even more shocking than the above is the sad fact that babies bodies are polluted with dangerous toxic, cancer-causing and hormone-altering chemicals before they’re even born. How does this happen? Watch the video below. What can we do? Sign this declaration and tell your elected officials that this is morally wrong and it needs to stop NOW.

Tonight (Saturday, March 28, 8:30pm your time) Earth Hour 2009 takes  place. My lights will be off for an hour while I read a few books by flashlight to my kids and then send them off to the Land of Nod. Why will my lights be off for an hour? Because all the cool kids are doing it! Oh, and to show that I support action against global warming. A symbolic gesture that started two years ago with the World Wildlife Foundation in Australia, Earth Hour has grown into a worldwide event with more than 100 US cities and towns agreeing to darken some of the nation’s most famous skylines in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Nashville, New York, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. Around the world cities like Beijing, Berlin, Copenhagen, Dubai, Hong Kong, London, Mexico City, Moscow, Nairobi, Paris, Rome, Toronto and Sydney will also be participating in this popular once-a-year event. There are also Youtube, Flickr and Twitter activities going on so that you can show your green spirit in other fun ways. Will you be participating? I hope so :)

It has been more than a year since the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics reported that many popular brands of lipstick contain lead. The FDA said it would conduct an independent investigation but despite repeated calls from the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics and consumers, as well as pressure from U.S. Senators, the FDA still has not released any data on its own lipstick tests or taken any action to protect consumers from toxic ingredients in cosmetics. In Europe and Canada, cosmetics are regulated but not here in America, which is shameful, although not particularly shocking when you consider that our government also doesn’t see a problem with BPA in baby bottles. So what can you do? Well, one really easy-peasy thing you can do is send a letter to the FDA, letting them know you don’t want lead in your cosmetics. Just click here, fill out the form and the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics will send the letter for you. It will take about 15 seconds and your voice will be heard. With any luck, our lips will soon be lead free—but only if we all speak up!