Healthy Home Tips

If you've kept up with this blog, you already know that we're big fans of the Environmental Working Group and the wealth of information they offer consumers. Last month they began their Healthy Home Tips Series for Parents. You can sign up via e-mail to be alerted of the next installment of the Healthy Home Series, and you don't have to be a parent to benefit from the content. The series is check full of ways that you can ensure your home is as healthy as possible. The latest installment is all about personal care products and how you can be a better label decipherer. Click your way on over to a healthier home for you and your family!

It's All Good...

I am a frequent user of the Environmental Worling Group's Cosmetic Safety Database, so I was extremely excited to see another product database called GoodGuide. GoodGuide ranks products not only on environmental performance and health performance, but also on social performance. Rankings go from 0 (the worst) to 10 (the best). This "higher number is better" scale is the opposite of the Cosmetic Safety Database, so be careful. GoodGuide also goes beyond personal care products to include toys and household chemicals. I, for one, am excited to dive deeper into this new resource!

The Makeup of Your Makeup

Sorry that it's been so long since the last Eco-Smart post. I've been busy struggling with the moral dilemma of whether to replace my BPA-containing water bottles with BPA-free bottles that (a) are made in the USA, but from a company that resisted the phasing out of BPA or (b) are made by a company that was quick to provide a no-BPA alternative, but produced overseas. Nevermind my moral dilemma...check out this book! Not Just a Pretty Face is by Stacey Malkan, co-founder of the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics. That will sound familiar to you if you've checked out the Environmental Working Group's Cosmetic Safety Database (a GREAT resource!). Malkan takes a close look at the chemicals found in our daily beauty routine and tells the stories of folks she has met who are trying to make our products safer. Grist recently interviewed Malkan about the book. You can also learn more at the book's own Web site!