Green Daily

Your home smells naturally lovely, (as long as you take out the trash often enough!), but sometimes you want to spice it up a little bit, perhaps when guests are coming over.

Instead of dousing the place with air fresheners which can contain some not-so-healthy chemicals, try a simple, old-fashioned simmering pot.

Take two quarts of water in a pot and add in what you like, perhaps cinnamon sticks, cloves, nutmeg, allspice and a few lemon or orange rinds. Simmer on low and your home will have a lovely scent before you know it. It might even smell like you just baked something yummy.

Of course, keep an eye on the pot, don't let it simmer longer than necessary, and be sure to add water as needed.

Many children's hair and skin care products were found to contain toxic contaminants, according to a report released recently by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics. This groundbreaking study is the first to document the presence of formaldehyde and 1,4 dioxane in children's bath products. Formaldehyde and 1,4 dioxane are listed as probable carcinogens by the EPA.

Here in the U.S. there are no regulatory limits for formaldehyde or 1,4 dioxane in personal care products, although they are banned in other countries including Japan and Sweden.

Of the 48 children's products tested:

• Sixty-one percent contained both formaldehyde and 1,4 dioxane, including top brands.
• Eighty-two percent contained formaldehyde, including many lotions.
• Sixty-seven percent of the products contained 1,4 dioxane.
• Out of the children's shampoos tested, Suave Kids 2-in-1 Shampoo Wild Watermelon did comparatively well.

To check your children's bath products, see the full results here. EWG's Cosmetics Database is also a great place to perform safety research on all of your personal care products. In addition, it's often best to use fragrance-free products when available, due to phthalates.

It's the dreaded lice diagnosis. Coupled with a desire to not douse your precious kid's head with pesticides.

What to do? As an alternative to standard chemical treatments, many parents are turning towards methods that utilize suffocation instead. One method, the Nuvo Method, comes from Dr. Dale Pearlman, in Menlo Park, CA. The Nuvo Method uses a common mild cleanser available in most drugstores, Cetaphil Cleanser.

In a nutshell, you apply the Cetaphil Cleanser to the hair and scalp and then distribute the lotion evenly with a comb. Use a hair dryer to dry the lotion in place, "shrink wrapping" the lice and cutting off their oxygen supply. Leave the dried lotion on the hair for eight hours and wash out with a regular shampoo.

According to Dr. Pearlman's site, the Nuvo method is superior to other non-toxic suffocation methods of treating lice because the lotion is dried on the hair and cannot be wiped off. In addition, the dried lotion cannot be seen in the hair, a huge plus.

See Dr. Pearlman's website for all of the details and specifics of the treatment. Sounds fabulous, and also way less gross than using mayonnaise.

St. Patrick's Day is coming up, this Tuesday, March 17th. This holiday usually produces a crop of green foods, and when I say green, I mean literally green, like soaked in green food dye. Instead, take some time to try out some authentic Irish foods.

One nice, easy recipe to try is Irish Brown Bread. If you've never baked bread before, this is a great way to get started and to possibly kindle your interest in bread making for the future. Making Irish Brown Bread is super easy, as it uses baking soda for the leavening agent, eliminating yeast and all of that pesky rising time.

You can make your own from scratch quite simply. But if you want to go even easier, try a pre-made whole-grain mix like Odlums which requires only the addition of water. It's even tastier when made with some buttermilk.

This is a great way to commemorate the day and get in some healthy whole grains. And of course, if you add on other traditional dishes, such as colcannon and salmon, you'll really be on your way to an authentic Irish feast. Just skip the green food dye! And definitely skip the green beer.

Acai fruit products are everywhere, promising detoxification, anti-aging and the holy grail of supplement claims, weight loss. You've no doubt been inundated with ads for acai products, especially if you spend any time on the internets.

However, like many supplements, there is little evidence to back up many manufacturers' claims for acai, according to an article in the New York Times. While the acai berry does contain antioxidants, there are no solid studies showing specific anti-aging, weight or detox benefits. Even Oprah has had to put a disclaimer on her website, stating that she does not endorse any acai berry products, due to peripheral connections via her buddy Dr. Mehmet Oz. One researcher who performed a study on acai admitted that while the berry has good antioxidant levels, more studies are needed to back up other claims.

Since acai is probably just another berry, which is not a bad thing, you'll want to be aware of any possible hyped-up health claims. On the positive side, acai berry harvesting can provide a good source of income to farmers in the Amazon rainforest. For example, Sambazon (Saving and Managing the Brazilian Amazon), buys organic acai from 1,500 local families for use in their products, according to the Nature Conservancy. This helps provide a sustainable source of income for the farmers, while helping to preserve the forest.

Get Tips on Recycling Trophies
Here's the scoop on how to reuse and recycle all those trophies you have stacked up, not that I have this problem.

Japan Has Too Many Citizens Living to Age 100
Speaking of trophies, Japan is having a problem keeping up with their tradition of giving a trophy to those citizens who make it to age 100. Perhaps they should consider some gently-used?

Being Greener in a Virtual World
Seems like an oxymoron, but read about how you can be greener when you're living life in your virtual world.

Wiping American Butts Worse Than SUVs
If you've got SUV guilt, this one will make you feel better. Toilet paper is a worse offender, according to the NRDC.

Celebrity Eco-Friendly Beauty Routines
Celeb beauty routines that are eco-friendly, sounds good to me.

Spring Forward this weekend!

Dealing With the Peanut Recall

Edgy Mama, on Mountain Xpress, talks about dealing with the peanut butter salmonella outbreak and her participation in a buying club.

Nature's Own Stimulus Package

Richard Louv, author of the Last Child in the Woods who put meaning to the term "nature-deficit disorder" has a fabulous blog at Children and Nature. Check out Louv's most recent post about the benefits of spending more time out in nature to combat the stress of the these rough economic times.

Outdoor Baby: Skiing

Speaking of getting kids outdoors, Heidi has some awesome tips on getting kids out on the slopes and keeping them safe and warm while they are out there.

Most of us think of organic food as healthier. But what about safer? Well, even if you thought that organic food was safer, the recent peanut butter salmonella outbreak busted that myth. According to the NY Times, the rules for organic food don't have anything to do with food safety, at least any more than those for conventional foods.

Last month in Texas, a state worker who certified the company at the center of the salmonella outbreak, Peanut Corporation of America, was fired because the plant was allowed to keep its organic certification even though it didn't have a state health certificate. Nearly 3,000 products have been recalled in the salmonella outbreak, including organic foods from companies like Clif and Cascadian Farms.

The agency overseeing organic certification has been considered underfunded for a long time and there are also conflicts of interest in play, as the inspectors are paid by the companies they are certifying.

Peanut butter is a huge part of the menu around our home, and for now, I have changed brands to a very common, national brand, as it is more likely that I will hear about an outbreak should one occur. For the list of current recalled products, see the FDA's list of recalled peanut butter products here.

Snuggie, the blanket with sleeves, is quite the punching bag these days. The NY Times asked if it's appropriate to wear one in public (uh, no, it's a blanket.). Bill Maher wore one last week on his show Real Time, and it wasn't to make a favorable point.

But is the Snuggie really such a bad idea? Where I live, we are coming off a rough winter. Man, it was (is) cold. And you know you're supposed to keep your thermostat low now and all that, but sometimes it didn't even matter because my furnace couldn't even keep up anyway. Maybe the Snuggie could help. So what if it's a blanket with sleeves? Does a person look any sillier shuffling around in a blanket with sleeves than wearing a blanket like a cape?

Would I have worn a Snuggie, had I had one this winter? The answer is probably yes. But I wouldn't have told a soul.

Cold Water Laundry: Give It a Try

Sales of super-soft-fluffy toilet paper are on fire; in 2008 alone, they went up 40 percent in some markets, according to a recent NY Times article.

But, as you can suspect, this preference for the super-soft stuff is very bad news for forests. To make fluffy, soft toilet paper, fibers from live trees, including some from old and virgin forests, must be used, as opposed to recycled materials. According to James Malone of Georgia Pacific, "Recycled fiber cannot do it." According to Dr. Allen Hershkowitz, of the National Resources Defense Council, "No forest of any kind should be used to make toilet paper."

Toilet paper made from recycled paper content is just not making it in the U.S., with products made from 100 percent recycled fibers making up less than 2% of sales. And yes, people in other countries are more willing than us to use toilet paper made from recycled content, paper that might be a little less than super-soft and fluffy. Recycled toilet paper products make up on average 20 percent of the toilet paper market in Europe and Latin America.

Switching to recycled toilet paper remains one, easy thing you can do today that really will make a difference. An easy place to start is with Seventh Generation toilet paper, which is now readily available, even in my very mainstream grocery store. Seventh Generation toilet paper is made with 100% recycled paper, minimum 80% post-consumer content. It is whitened without chlorine, and has no added dyes or fragrances. Whole Foods 365 brand also gets good reviews from environmental groups.

Have you given up the super-soft stuff? What's your favorite brand?

Jarred peanut butter sales were down last month, most likely due to the massive salmonella outbreak. While most of the products on the FDA's list have been processed products with peanut butter added, there are straight jarred peanut butters on the recall list now.

Many parents are shying away from the PB&J lunch standby for their kids, fearing that we are only at the tip of the iceberg, according to a recent AP article. According to Michal Ann Strahilevitz, a professor at Golden Gate University, this is evidence that consumers have grown less trusting of government. Barry Glassner, a sociology professor at the University of California, says that unnecessarily avoiding peanut butter could teach children to be afraid of food.

Straight peanut butter is still on the menu in our household, although I have switched to a major brand for now, figuring that if there is a recall, I'll be more likely to hear about it quickly. Peanut-containing processed products, definitely off the menu for now. Except for Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, which are safe according to Hershey's.

Seattle city officials' decision to charge a 20-cent charge per plastic or paper shopping bag is up in the air, and scheduled to go to the voters in August, according to a recent article in the NY Times. Even an aide to a councilman who first sponsored the bill is doubtful about the outcome, due to the economic climate. In Portland, Mayor Sam Adams has said that he would not pursue such a fee, saying, "Now is not the time."

Even as support increased in pockets across the country, the economy has taken its tumble, and since then, no state has imposed a fee or a ban on disposable shopping bags, fearing public backlash.

Of course, across the country, paper and plastic bag makers have also been raising resistance. SaveThePlastic Bag, a group representing bag makers, offers these suggestions as opposed to taxes and bans: 1) Encourage people to reuse the disposable bags 2) Install more and better recycling receptacles 3) Publicize reuse at the checkout 4) Sell reusable bags at checkout.

While times certainly are tight right now, some argue that such a tax could raise much-needed tax revenues during this economic crunch. As long as the tax is small enough (20 cents, for example, might be on the high side), I don't see the problem.

What do you think? Do you think charging a tax per disposable shopping bag at this time is still a worthy pursuit, or that this is not the right time?

The Breast Cancer and Lotion Connection

Danelle talks about a possible link between breast cancer and skin lotion on Eco-Chick. She also mentions the pros and cons of essential oils for pregnancy and childcare, including lavender, pointing out that certain lavender strains may affect boys' hormonal levels in pre-adolescence.

The Big Risk of Insanely Small Nanoparticles in Our Food

La Marguerite talks about a new report from Friends of the Earth concerning "nanofoods," foods containing nanoparticles, teeny tiny particles. Due to their size and chemical nature, nanoparticles are known to be more chemically reactive than larger particles. Yikes.

Free Range Kids

I bet when you remember your childhood, it seems a lot different than how a lot of kids are living today. Check out Free Range Kids, a blog and upcoming book by Lenore Skenezy, all about raising kids "free range."