In case you haven’t checked the ingredients lately, Girl Scout cookies contain palm oil.
That’s not great for several reasons. Palm oil has more saturated fat than alternatives like canola and olive oil, both of which are more earth-friendly oils. And palm oil plantations are taking away crucial habitat for endangered animals like orangutans, pygmy elephants and Sumatran tigers. Also, the palm oil industry has been associated with gross human rights and labor violations.
If there’s an alternative that’s better for you and better for the environment, why continue to use palm oil?
Grist reports that Rhiannon Tomtishen and Madison Vorva, two Michigan Girl Scout members, are protesting the use of palm oil in cookies by refusing to sell them. Word is that Girl Scout USA CEO Kathy Clonginer isn’t very receptive to the idea of abandoning the use of palm oil.
Meanwhile, Britain’s sister organization to the Girl Scouts (the Girl Guides) have done away with palm oil in their cookies. The result? A 60 to 70 percent reduction in saturated fat!
Please email the Girl Scouts USA to let their leaders know that you’re interested in switching to a more healthy oil.
UPDATE 3/17/11: Find out more about Kellogg’s response to these Girl Scouts at Grist.
Could it be? Organic milk really is better for you (and not just more expensive). So, it seems that what’s good for the planet is also good for your body and waistline.
According to new research from the UK’s Newcastle University, organic milk from the supermarket has higher levels of nutritionally beneficial fatty acids than conventional milk. Organic milk was of better quality, regardless of weather conditions or the time of year.
Study leader Gillian Butler says that if you choose organic milk, you can reduce saturated fats by 30 to 50% while still getting the same level of beneficial fatty acids. Of course, this study was done with UK milk, but it stands to reason that the same results could be replicated in the U.S.
Do you choose organic milk?
Image credit: Newcastle University (Gillian Butler at Newcastle University’s Nafferton Farm, Northumberland, with some of the farm’s cows.)
You’ll soon have some assurance that the receipt you’re handing is free of the chemical bisphenol-A (BPA).
Back in July, I told you about how BPA has been found in nearly 40 percent of cash register receipts from major US businesses like Walmart and even Whole Foods.
Appleton, the only producer of BPA-free thermal receipt paper in the U.S., is adding red fibers to their register receipts. Appleton stopped using BPA in 2006, and now they’re helping you to know if you’ve gotten your hands on one of their receipts.
By the end of November, 75 percent of the Appleton thermal receipt paper shipped out will have the red fibers. And Appleton expects that all of their thermal receipt paper will have the red fibers in 2011.
In addition to being more healthy, the BPA-free receipt paper is also recyclable. The embedded red fibers are made of rayon, a fiber that is even more biodegradable than cotton.
If you spot red on your receipt, please check back to let us know where you found it.
I’ve steered clear of perfume, scented lotions and assorted other fragranced products like detergent for years now.
And, yeah, some people disagree with me.
I know folks who think the laundry just doesn’t seem clean unless it has a scent. I’ve even been told my towels don’t smell clean because there was no scent lurking about.
Well, if you want to use essential oils OK. That type of fragrance doesn’t bug me.
But I can’t take artificial scents. If I’m exposed to them, some angry thing starts banging away against my forehead.
So, of course, I loved reading about this new study. I don’t love that the study shows that even “green” scented products are unsafe, but I’m happy to have some backup on my fragrance-free crusade.
Details on Findings:
The research team analyzed 25 best-selling products like air fresheners, cleaners and detergent, and around half of them claimed they were green, organic or natural. However, the products tested (brand names not disclosed) emitted more than 420 chemicals, almost none of which were listed on the label.
A third of the products emitted at least one probable carcinogen. All of the products tested emitted at least one chemical classified as toxic or hazardous.
Lead study author Anne Steinemann suggests avoiding products with fragrance, and making use of vinegar and baking soda for cleaning.
Don’t worry so much over war or hunger, the thing that’s killing more people than anything else is lack of water and basic sanitation.
Of course, we need to act on many issues, including poverty and diseases without cures, but it’s water that should be tugging at your heart. Perhaps you live in the U.S. or another country where lack of water isn’t a concern. If that’s the case, you probably rarely ever hear of or think about the 42,000 deaths that occur each week from lack of safe drinking water and unhygienic living conditions.
Of those 42,000 deaths, 90% are children whose bodies aren’t yet strong enough to fight off diarrhea or dysentery and other illnesses.
About one in eight people on this planet aren’t as blessed as you. They don’t have safe drinking water.
To change that, help spread the word about this issue at the dinner table and anywhere you roam online like Twitter or Facebook.
Lots of us have safe tap water, but choose bottled instead. Bottled water is not only expensive, but it wastes valuable resources like 17 million barrels of oil a year for the production of disposable bottles, only 14% of which ever get recycled. Read more on this issue of our Bottled Water Addiction at Change.org, and consider investing in a water filter if you don’t like the tap taste.
The UN has declared water is a human right. Do you agree? If so, why aren’t we doing more to ensure this rights for the vulnerable?
The problem of what to do with unwanted or expired prescription or OTC drugs is very persistent, much like a gnat. The big difference is that drugs just won’t die like gnats! Flushing drugs is a good way to pollute water.
Alternatives to Flushing Drugs:
Many pharmacies are stepping up by offering free disposal of unwanted drugs. Ask your pharmacist. Unfortunately, this service isn’t mandatory.
This Saturday, September 25 is National Take-Back Day, an effort led by the DEA to help curb overdoses and drug abuse. That’s right, your friends or relatives can steal drugs out of your cabinet. Even if you think that would never happen to you, there’s always the chance of your drugs getting stolen by drug abusers who enter your home illegally. If you don’t want the drugs, why leave them around?
Learn more about disposal sites near you for National Take-Back Day. Don’t worry, it’s anonymous. However, no illegal substances or needles will be accepted.
The endocrine disruptor that everyone wants to avoid these days seems more and more unavoidable.
Bisphenol A (BPA) has been discovered through lab tests to be lurking inside 40 percent of receipts from major US businesses like Walmart, CVS, McDonald’s, Safeway, KFC, the US Postal Service and even Whole Foods.
The levels of BPA found were 250 to 1,000 times higher than what’s inside canned foods and baby bottles.
The culprit is thermal paper used for receipts. And the Environmental Working Group (EWG) warns that this paper shouldn’t be recycled as it could corrupt recycled paper with BPA.
Starbucks beats out Whole Foods when it comes to BPA on receipts!
All’s not bad news though. Some companies had receipts that were either free of BPA or contained only trace amounts. So, cheers to these companies: Starbucks, Target and Bank of America ATMs.
I guess I’m still naive when it comes to BPA, but thanks to the lab study commissioned by the EWG, receipt BPA is now on my mind. Awareness is a good thing though. I tend to keep up with my receipts as I need them for checking all the charges against my debit card. Now I’ll take care to wash my hands! (Read more at EWG)
If you work as a cashier, you should probably be concerned. A recent Swiss study showed that BPA absorbs easily into the skin at a depth that’s difficult to wash away. (Read more at CNN)
