Sunburn season officially kicked off Memorial Day weekend. Are you prepared? After all, you don’t want to get skin cancer like me, do you?

SHADE AND CLOTHES: YOUR FIRST LINES OF DEFENSE

To be protected, you need to reduce your exposure to two kinds of sun rays:

1) UVA, which causes wrinkling and ageing, and

2) UVB, which can cause basal cell (what I got) and squamos cell carcinoma.

Most people rely on some kind of sunscreen or sun block to keep them safe. But according to the EWG Sunscreen Guide compiled by Environmental Working Group, a non-profit research institute that analyses sunscreens and sun block every year right before summer begins, only about 25% of the 1800 products analyzed deliver great protection from the sun without using dangerous chemicals you probably don’t want to apply to your skin.

I’ve linked to some of the sunscreens that pass muster for safety and effectiveness below. In case you can’t remember brand names, here are the ingredients you should look for when you shop:

ZINC OXIDE-BASED CREAM OR LOTION SUNSCREEN WITH AN SPF OF AT LEAST 30

* Read the label of any product you’re considering carefully. Choose a sunscreen that contains the active ingredient of zinc oxide (NOTE: EWG also recommends titanium dioxide or 3 percent avobenzone, but Marie Veronique Organics, one of EWG’s highest rated sunscreen manufacturers, makes a convincing case here for sticking with zinc oxide-based products).

• Avoid oxybenzone, a hormone disruptor,  and vitamin A (retinyl palmitate or retinol), which may actually increase the risk of skin cancer or other skin problems.

• Use creams or lotions, not sunscreen sprays or powders.

• Use an SPF of at least 30, and apply it at least 20 minutes before you need protection.

• Buy sunscreens that do NOT contain bug spray. Apply bug repellant separately if needed.

EWG says “the major choice in the U.S. is between “chemical” sunscreens, which break down in the heat and sun, penetrate the skin and may disrupt the body’s hormone systems, and “mineral” sunscreens (like zinc), which often contain micronized- or nanoscale particles of those minerals.”

After reviewing the evidence, EWG determined that mineral sunscreens offer the safest choice currently. They are stable in sunlight and do not appear to penetrate the skin. Plus, they protect against UVA, a leading contributor to skin cancer. If you don’t like mineral products, EWG recommends you use a sunscreen containing 3 percent avobenzone and without oxybenzone, but scientists recommend parents avoid using oxybenzone on children due to penetration and toxicity concerns

BRANDS RECOMMENDED IN EWG’S SUNSCREEN GUIDE

Among the best sunscreens EWG recommends are the following, which you can find online, in our own Amazon store, or possibly in your local drugstore or supermarket. All of those listed below have an SPF of at least 30.

Marie Veronique Organics  – Moisturizing Face Screen SPF 30

Badger – Lighlty Scented Lavender Sunscreen and Baby Sunscreen with Chamomile and Calendula

Blue Lizard – Australian Sunscreen, Face

Burt’s Bees – Baby Bee Sunscreen Stick

California Baby – Everyday/Year-Round Sunscreen Stick and No Fragrance Sunscreen Stick

Seventh Generation – Baby Sunscreen

(Here is the complete list of EWG’s Sunscreen recommendations)

 PROTECT YOURSELF FROM THE SUN!

Even before you buy sunscreen, think about ways you can protect yourself from the sun.Why? Because people who use sunblock alone may be more likely to get skin cancer, since they actually spend more time out in the sun than those who don’t use sunscreen. If at all possible, avoid direct sunlight, especially between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. when the sun is most intense.

That doesn’t mean you need to stay inside! It’s summer, after all, and a great time to enjoy the outdoors. If you’re at the beach, take shelter under a shady umbrella when you’re not in the water. If you’re out gardening, biking, walking, or picnicking, wear long-sleeved cover-ups and capris to protect your arms and legs. If you’re strolling about, don a hat and sunglasses to protect your face, neck and eyes.

WEAR COOL CLOTHES LIKE THESE…

Here’s are some clothes that are cool and sheer but still effectively prevent powerful sun rays from damaging your skin.

The post Safe, Effective, Non-toxic Sunscreens Protect Against Sunburn & Skin Cancer appeared first on Big Green Purse.

Women’s Voices for the Earth (WVE), a terrific non-profit organization whose scientists keep an eye on the consumer products you buy, has just issued a report that identifies toxic chemicals used by five top companies: Clorox, Procter & Gamble, Reckitt Benckiser, SC Johnson and Son, and Sunshine Makers (Simple Green). WVE looked at 20 different cleaning products – and found toxic substances in all of them. If not for this study, titled “Dirty Secrets: What’s Hiding in Your Cleaning Products?” you’d never be the wiser, because none of the noxious chemicals were listed on the product label.

WVE believes consumers deserve to know what chemicals they are being exposed to so they can easily avoid products that may make them or their kids sick. I agree. That’s why I wholeheartedly support WVE’s call for Congress to pass new federal legislation called the Cleaning Product Right to Know Act requiring cleaning product manufacturers to disclose all the ingredients they use in their products directly on the product label.

I’ve also signed WVE’s petition urging one of the offending companies, Tide, to remove the cancer-causing chemical 1,4-dioxane from its Tide Free & Gentle® detergent. 1,4-dioxane is a known cancer-causing chemical, and has been linked in animal studies to increased risk of breast cancer. Nevertheless, Tide Free & Gentle® is being marketed to moms as a healthier choice for their kids’ laundry, even though infants and children are particularly vulnerable to chemical exposures because their immune, neurological, and hormone systems are still developing.

WVE is targeting Procter & Gamble (makers of Tide®) because P&G has taken 1,4 dioxane out of some of its other products, like its Herbal Essences® shampoo. More than 75,000 people have signed the petition asking the company to do the same for Tide and the rest of its products. Ironically, the Tide website says: Safety: The Most Important Ingredient in Tide®. If that’s true, then 1,4-dioxane should never have been in the product in the first place.

Here’s one more important way you can make a difference: use your big green purse. Shift your spending to safer laundry detergents that are free of toxic chemicals. Here are some we sell in the Big Green Purse store; you can also find them in many grocery stores.

Seventh Generation

Ecover

Method

Here are more ways you can take action.

Related Posts:

Your Big Green Muscle is Getting J&J To Make Its Baby Shampoo Safer

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For me, those scents – and the memories associated with them – are seasonal. Walk into my house right now and here’s what you’ll smell: cinnamon sticks and orange rind simmering in a small pot of fresh apple cider. Take a whiff. Mmm… I don’t know about you, but one whiff of that for me and … I relax. I kick off my shoes, snuggle up on the couch with my cat, and enjoy the autumn.

At Christmas time, it’s fresh boughs of pine and fir, which I stick liberally into holiday baskets or strew on the red and green table runner I put out the beginning of December and leave until New Year’s Day.

In February, my amaryllis and narcissus bulbs start blooming, their scent so sweet they can infuse an entire room.  In Easter, the lillies do the same. My  spring and summer tulips and daffodils DON’T smell, but plenty of other flowers, bushes and herbs do. In fact, I always have pots of rosemary growing on my back porch just so I can roll a few sprigs between my fingers whenever I want to breathe in that wonderful, ennervating smell.

Then there’s lavender. When I was writing the Big Green Purse book, I holed up in a writer’s colony at Point Reyes Station, California to complete the bulk of the research. Only one thing made the daily grind tolerable: the smell of lavender that wafted through my open windows. As luck would have it, my small writer’s cabin was surrounded by fields of this beautiful flower, and they were all abloom. I started and ended every day breathing in that scent as deeply as I could. Maybe it’s why I was able to finish the book under an impossibly tight deadline.

If you’ve never had the pleasure of wandering through such fields, your luck could change. Seventh Generation is offering sweepstakes trips for two to Italy, France, and Vermont to give people like you a chance to see where the company gets its plant-based essential oils. As they would say, they come from “fields, not factories.” Do me a favor, will you? If you win, take a big deep breath…and think of me!

WHAT ABOUT YOU?

Do you have a favorite smell? Does a particular fragrance trigger a memory – happy or sad – that stops you in your tracks? If you could bottle the oil from one plant, what would it be?

DISCLAIMER:

I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms and Seventh Generation blogging program, for a gift card worth $50. For more information on how you can participate, click here.”

The post Do Natural Scents Make You Happy? appeared first on Big Green Purse.

Conventional products may contain a mixture of rayon and cotton. Rayon has been implicated in toxic shock syndrome, particularly for superabsorbent tampons. Cotton is highly pesticide-intensive; 25 percent of pesticides used globally are devoted to growing cotton. To look as white as possible, conventional pads and tampons are usually bleached with chlorine, a process that can create dioxin, a known carcinogen.

Tampons, pads, and panty liners made from organic cotton are becoming increasingly available online and in the marketplace. If you’re going to use conventional products, choose those sold in the simplest packaging.

Options:

O.b. tampons come in a small box with no applicator. They’re compact and easy to use, and take up very little room in your purse.

Original-style Tampax are wrapped in paper and have a cardboard applicator that breaks down relatively quickly if they happen to get loose in the environment. They’re preferable to the Pearl brand, which has an almost indestructible plastic applicator and is wrapped in coated paper.

Natracare and Seventh Generation chemical-free, nonchlorine-bleached biodegradable pads, panty liners, and tampons are available from natural food stores and food co-ops, as well as online.

The DivaCup is worn internally like a birth control diaphragm. It may require emptying two to four times a day depending on your flow. This reusable option generates no trash, but is not quite as convenient as a tampon. Some women swear by it; others think it’s, well, pretty messy. Take a look and decide for yourself.

Want more eco-friendly personal hygiene tips? Click here.

The post Tampons- The Planet’s Most Extreme Case of PMS appeared first on Big Green Purse.

The non-profit research group evaluated dozens of brands of toilet paper, facial tissue, paper, towels and napkins according to three criteria:

1) How much recycled content they contained – using 100% recycled content helps protect forests because it significantly reduces the demand for trees, especially trees coming from native forests.

2) How much of that was post-consumer waste – to get the top ranking, at least 50% post-consumer waste needed to be used in manufacturing the product.

3) How the paper was bleached – the top-ranked products are not bleached using chlorine, which can create the toxic byproduct dioxin.

According to Greenpeace, Americans could save more than 400,000 trees if each family bought a roll of recycled toilet paper—just once.

The group has produced a pocket guide you can use when you shop to buy the most eco-friendly option.

Brands that ranked high on the Greenpeace list include:

* Green Forest

* 365 Whole Planet (available at Whole Foods)

* CVS Earth Essentials

* Seventh Generation

* Trader Joe’s

* Cascades

Of course, when it comes to napkins and towels, use cloth, and avoid the paper debate altogether.

The post Please don’t squeeze the Charmin – or use it for anything else! appeared first on Big Green Purse.

Some manufacturers claim phosphates help get dishes cleaner. In tests conducted by Consumer Reports, it appears that enzymes actually pack the cleaning punch in the most effective dishwashing detergents.

These four phosphate-free, enzyme-containing brands were tested by Consumer Reports; all performed well.

You can find Seventh Generation, Ecover and Method in most Whole Foods stores; Method products are also available in Target. Trader Joe’s products are sold exclusively at Trader Joe’s stores. If you don’t see any of these brands where your regularly shop, you have a few other options:

* order online

*ask your store manager to order the brand into the store for you

*read labels of two or three brands you’re inclined to buy from what’s on the shelf; choose the option with the lowest phosphorus content.

Seventh Generation

Trader Joe’s

Ecover

Method

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