Bikes for hauling

This is a great idea for those bikers who need to haul things….and kids.

Madsen Bikes—these are serious hauling bikes!

What’s in YOUR Body Care Products?

Follow-Up Tests of Leading Personal Care and Household Cleaning Brands Reveal Improvements in Levels of Carcinogenic 1,4-dioxane

But New Study Indicates Some Products Mislabeled as “Natural” Should Have Cancer Warning

3/6/2009 ANAHEIM, CA – Today, a new follow-up study was released that assesses levels of the petrochemical carcinogen 1,4-dioxane in leading conventional as well as “natural” and “organic” brands of personal care and household cleaning products. The results indicate significant improvement for 23 products from sixteen major brands that had formerly been found to contain potentially dangerous levels of the contaminant 1,4-dioxane in a similar study held in March of 2008.

Read the full article, fact sheet, and press release

http://www.organicconsumers.org

Rate it Green

Interesting site that gives lots of info so you can buy green confidently.
http://www.rateitgreen.com/

Paper vs. plastic. The shopping bag debate.

First, I’ll say–neither! Bring your own reusable bags. But if you have to here’s the skinny. For the full article please go to GREENFEET.net and spread the word.

PAPER?

Paper comes from trees – and lots of them. The logging industry is huge and the process to get that paper bag to the grocery store is long and environmentally taxing. First, the trees are found, marked and felled. Machinery is then used to remove the logs from the forest floor- whether it by logging trucks or, in more remote areas, helicopters.

Machinery requires fossil fuel and roads (which destroys habitat) thereby creating stress on the forests’ inhabitants (Even logging a small area has a large impact on the entire ecological chain in surrounding areas).

Trees must dry at least three years before they can be used. Machinery is used to strip the bark, which is then chipped into one-inch squares and cooked under tremendous heat and pressure. This wood stew is then “digested” with a limestone and sulphurous acid for eight hours. The steam and moisture is vented to the outside atmosphere, and the original wood becomes pulp. It takes approximately three tons of wood chips to make one ton of pulp.

The pulp is then washed and bleached, both stages requiring thousands of gallons of clean water. Coloring is added to more water, and is then combined in a ratio of 1 part pulp to 400 parts water to make paper. The pulp/water mixture is dumped into a web of bronze wires, the water showers through, leaving the pulp, which, in turn, is rolled into paper.

Whew! And that’s just to make the paper. We must include all of the chemicals, electricity, and fossil fuels used in the shipment of this raw material and in the production and shipment of a finished paper bag.

AND PLASTIC? Where does that plastic bag come from?

Plastic is a petroleum product – it comes from oil. As we all know, the oil industry is no small potatoes and is the cause of worldwide financial and political turmoil.

Traps of oil are located around the planet. Once a trap is located, a hole is drilled and a pipe is rammed into the oil deposit. The oil is forced to the top of the surface due to both the pressure inside the chamber and the weight of the earth above. Once a pump is in place, the whole operation is fairly simple and little oil is lost. The pumped oil is either piped or trucked to a refining facility where plastic is made.

Plastic is a by-product of oil refining and accounts for 4% of the worlds total oil production. It is a ‘biogeochemical’ manipulation of certain properties of oil, into polymers. Plastic polymers are manufactured into five main types; plastic bags are made from polyethylene. Polyethylene, as a raw material, can be manipulated into any shape, size, form or color. It is watertight and can be made UV resistant. Anything can be printed on it and it can be reused.

For the most part, the whole process of making plastic bags requires only electricity (minus the large, fuel burning heavy machinery required to acquire the oil). The electricity used in the actual production and manufacturing of plastic bags comes from coal fire power plants, which, it is interesting to note, 50% of that electricity is generated from the burning of old tires (made from rubber which is essentially, plastic).

Where does plastic go when thrown away?

Like paper, plastic bags can end up in two places: the landfill or the recycling center. If a plastic bag ends up in a landfill, it will stay intact for thousands of years. Plastic does not compost. With plastic products in the mix, garbage does not have a chance to break down over time. Landfills are considered airtight, which explains why after 20 years you can find a hot dog that is still fully intact and a newspaper with articles clearly legible.

Plastic is fabulous in that it is recyclable. All you have to do is basically re-melt and re-form. The re-melting process also sterilizes the plastic thus allowing any recycled plastic to be made into hospital grade products. Plastic can be recycled many times before it becomes brittle – then it can be made into something as functional as a mousepad or a doormat. Please note that not all plastic bags can be recycled and many stores that collect them, simply send them to the landfill for lack of another alternative.

My Holiday Tips

–Use old posters, posters from mail, schools, old maps, reused paper to wrap gifts.

–Reuse old christmas cards by removing the fronts. Send as post cards or stick in envelopes.

–Shop in antique shops and thrift stores. So much great items out there already in circulation.

–Look at ebay, criag’s list, any local classified ads for items being sold or traded.

–Be aware of packaging if you have to buy new. Over-packaged items should be avoided. Where does all that plastic go?

–Give experience gifts. Make gift certificates yourself for events. Walk in the woods, day at the movies, game nights, cooking diners, backrubs, foot massages, taking out the garbage, cleaning, babysitting……etc!

Downtown

How to get rid of stuff

This is an AWESOME reference site:

http://www.howtogetridofstuff.com/

Need to get rid of something? Anything? Anything you can think of is posted here. Check it out.

Many products contain the chemical BPA

Please remember–it’s not just what we ingest. It what we produce and throw away. Let’s get off this dependency.

The Associated Press, Star Tribune

Bisphenol A, or BPA, a chemical used in consumer goods, was the subject of a federal safety hearing Tuesday where new preliminary research suggested it might be linked to a higher risk of heart disease and diabetes.

BPA is used in lightweight, durable plastics. Products include some baby bottles, sippy cups and reusable food and drink containers, such as reusable sports water bottles and Tupperware, compact discs, DVDs, eyeglass lenses and sports safety goggles and helmets.
Most recyclable, single-use plastic bottles, such as those made for soft drinks and bottled water, don’t contain BPA.

Some manufacturers are phasing out BPA in some products and Tupperware’s Web site says it does not use BPA in children’s products sold in the United States and Canada.

BPA is also in epoxy resins used to make paints, adhesives and canned food liners.

Animal studies have linked BPA with breast, prostate and reproductive system abnormalities and some cancers, but experts disagree on whether it poses health risks for humans.

Government toxicology scientists say that to reduce exposure, people can avoid non-recyclable plastic containers that have the number 7 on the bottom; avoid using these plastics in the microwave, and don’t wash them in the dishwasher with harsh detergents.
___
Sources:
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences:
http://www.niehs.nih.gov/news/media/questions/sya-bpa.cfm

American Chemistry Council: http://www.americanchemistry.com

The end of August and still going strong

State Fair in Minnesota brings opportunities to spend money on the latest greatest slice it and dice it items in the merchandise building. I didn’t even set foot in the building. I passed on a Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings tee…admittedly due to the fact they were out of larges. By the time I regained my control I realized I would have had remorse once I got home, had I bought it. Then I got excited thinking of the possibility of it showing up in the downtown Salvation Army one day….and all was well. I did manage to buy her cd—-packaged in a paper cover rather than plastic.

All I can think of these days is purging….getting rid of stuff. Simplifying. There are times I look around the house and garage and can’t breathe……some of that I am sure is the overwhelm I feel thinking about having to go through it all. I feel out of control with my own life. How did that happen? The thought of purging feels freeing but also feels like I am starting over……like my first job, apt, relationship. But it is not freeing. It feels like I’m letting go of what I know of myself. Strange. I’m in a gap…..between what I’ve know–of myself and people in my life– and the unknowing of what’s coming. I sense it like a farmer senses weather coming in….seasons changing. Something’s brewing. I’m pushing the purging and seeing what happens out of the space opened up. This a result of this challenge—everything has shifted in my life. Things shift out of simply doing. Let the shifting begin.

Some help on shopping without buying new

Dust off your library card. One of the best uses of our tax dollars. Use public libraries for books, cd’s, books on tape, magazines, internet access, videos and dvds!

Be a one-car family. Replace a second car or even a primary car with a bus pass (www.metrotransit.org) and Hourcar membership (www.hourcar.org). Use Hourcar for middle-of-the-day appointments and a taxi or a rental car in a pinch. Think of the savings on car payments, insurance, gas and repairs. I take the bus downtown year round. It’s fast and easy.

Here’s some high end consignment shops in the Twin Cities of Minnesota:

The clothes can pass for new and the decor is posh. Only the prices look cheap. Sell your clothes too!

Clothes Mentor (13641 Grove Dr., Maple Grove, 763-494-4584 and 14200 Wayzata Blvd., Minnetonka, 952-303-6673, www.clothesmentor.com). Not as high-end as the others in the list, but these new resale stores sparkle with attentive service, low prices and spotless decor. Upside: cash on the spot. Downside: Sellers get less than consignors.

Fashion Avenue (4936 France Av. S., Edina, 952-929-7919 and 810 E. Lake St., Wayzata, 952-224-7014). The definitive upscale consignment store in the Twin Cities for women and men.

GH2 (318 E. Hennepin Av., Minneapolis, 612-378-0509, www.grethenhouse.com). Half consignment and half clearance from its feeder store Grethen House in Edina. Don’t miss the 90 percent off sale Aug. 15-16.

Rags From Riches (848 E. Lake St., Wayzata, 952-473-1435, www.shopragsfromriches.com) Small boutique with impeccable taste.

Rodeo Drive (4110 Minnetonka Blvd., St. Louis Park, 952-920-0188) A fixture in the upscale consignment community for more than 25 years.

Second Debut (4300 W. 36 1/2 St., St. Louis Park, 952-922-9640). Goodwill cherry-picks its best stuff and puts it in this sleek, chic gem (chandelier included). Men’s and women’s resale.

Not from Minnesota? I’m sure with little effort you can locate your nearby consignment shops and libraries. Remember–you can also sell your used clothes there too!