Art | Resources
Gneiss Spice
Clever magnetic spice racks and organic spices in small packages to refill. Interlocking hexagonal magnetic spice jars stick to metal racks (or refrigerator doors, I assume).
Wal-Mart Responds to Consumer Demands by Requiring Manufacturers to Remove Some Toxic Chemicals from Products Sold at Their Stores
In 2013, Wal-Mart asked it’s suppliers to reduce certain toxic chemicals from personal care, cleaning, and beauty products and promote alternatives. The program affects about 90,000 items from 700 manufacturers.
Last week, Wal-Mart announced the chemicals on the list and reported that to date its suppliers have removed 95 percent of the chemicals on the list, by volume weight, from products sold in U.S. Was-Mart stores covered by the policy.
The eight chemicals being reduced by Wal-Mart are:
- Formaldehyde
- Triclosan
- Toluene
- Diethyl phthalate
- Nonylphenol exthoxylates
- Butylparabens
- Dibutyl phthalate
- Propylparaben
Brian Yarbrough, an analyst at Edward Jones & Co. said, “The retailer’s move makes sense. Customers are seeking more information about the substances in the products they buy. This is just the natural evolution of consumers today. From Wal-Mart’s standpoint, it’s kind of the way they need to be moving.”
So, see…our purchase of nontoxic products IS making a difference. The mass market is clearly moving in the direction of less toxic products.
This list of chemicals is interesting. It’s not the list I would have chosen, but it’s a step in the right direction. This list has chemicals that vary widely in toxicity. Toluene, for example, is tremendously more toxic than propylparaben.
I’m happy to see the reduction, but this doesn’t make Wal-Mart a place where all products are safe. I wish they would identify their nontoxic products with shelf-talkers to make it easy for consumers to find them.
This is progress!
BLOOM BERG: Wal-Mart Asks Its Suppliers to Stop Using Eight Chemicals
Amagansett Sea Salt
Premium finishing salt, to be added to food on your plate. “Amagansett Sea Salt is crafted entirely by hand in small batches from seawater harvested from the Atlantic Ocean. All steps – from the ocean to the jar – take place in Amagansett, a small, oceanfront hamlet in the Hamptons area of Long Island, New York. Our process is entirely natural, requiring only the sun, the wind, a strong back, and patience. By carefully balancing solar evaporation and exposure to the crisp, clear ocean breezes, our Amagansett Sea Salt forms slowly into crystals with a mild, sweet, flavor and a distinctive soft “crunch” that enhances any food. Clean water. Clean air. Exceptional sea salt. The best salt comes from clean, cold, fast-moving ocean water solar-evaporated outdoors in clean, fresh ocean air. We are not a salt importer or blender; rather we make our crystals. Our salt is made outdoors in the sunshine and bathed by ocean breezes, not under a roof or in a greenhouse. We do not boil or oven-dry our seawater or salt. We use no chemicals or anti-caking agents. We have taken excruciatingly difficult steps to eliminate all metal from contacting our sea water and salt crystals. Producing salt this way is hard, labor intensive and weather dependent, but the results are worth it.” Pure salt and salt blends.
Conner Handmade Hats
High quality hats for women, men, and children in many styles, made from organic cotton. Also hemp, leather, linen, waxed cotton, raffia, paper straw, wool, and more (see Material menu for full list). Extra large sizes available for big heads. I’ve never seen so many styles of hats made from natural materials all in one place.
Naked Binder
3-ring binders (various sizes), pocket folders, and tab dividers that are ‘recyclable, strong, and made of recycled materials. We designed them to not only look great, but be healthier and safer to make, use, and recycle…We believe the products you use should inspire, be strong, and be kind to the planet.” Choose from binders made with 100% post-consumer recycled cardboard covers or beautiful real wood covers.
Southern Scent Candle Co.
I found this candle company at a local street fair. “All natural soy candles at a price that everyone can enjoy.” All organic 100% soy bean wax, cedar wooden wicks, and organic essential oils for “a fully organic product…Due to the nature of the soy and wood these candles will have a low flame, a more delicate fragrance, and create more of a nightlight effect than the full flame produced by the petroleum and sting of traditional candles.”
Red Clouds Collective
Clothing, bags, and accessories made with all natural materials and exceptional craftsmanship. “Our products are born from necessity. Each one is thoughtfully designed to make life a little easier, and they’re all built to last a lifetime.”MATERIALS: Vegetable Tanned Leather from Hermann Oak—a St. Louis, Missouri-based tannery that has been tanning leather using extracts of tree bark in the traditional method since 1881. Waxed Canvas from Fairfield Textile, a specialized American manufacturer based in Bridgeton, New Jersey that has been crafting fabric since 1838. Selvage Denim from Cone Mills’ White Oak Plant in North Carolina, woven on vintage 1940s fly-shuttle looms that give each piece of fabric a unique depth and dimension.”
Seavees
Casual sneakers, espadrilles, and sandals—made with washed natural fiber fabrics (cotton, linen, hemp), genuine gum rubber soles, and vegetable-tanned leather.
America’s First Nontoxic City
Read this inspiring story about how the city of Irvine, California got pesticides reduced in public places.
Anyone can do this anywhere, for any chemical.
Let’s get going with this everywhere.
OC WEEKLY: How Irvine Became SoCal’s First Non-toxic City
Can Water Make You Fat?
The cover of First for Women on magazine racks this week says
THE NEW WATER CURE
Oxford University researcher confirm drinking H2O speeds weight loss by 550%
But 95% of women don’t see results because the water they’re drinking is slowing their thyroid
Well, I had to read that!
Unfortunately, First for Women doesn’t cite their studies, and I couldn’t find a study online to support the claim in their headline.
But it is widely known and documented that fluoride in tap water can effect your thyroid gland. Since the thyroid gland regulates weight gain and loss, drinking fluoridated water would impair your body’s ability to lose weight. Fluoride in tap water may even contribute to weight gain—so yes, one can get fat from drinking water.
It’s no secret that drinking water can help you lose weight, but drinking fluoridated water may defeat the purpose.
Since fluoride has many other health effects, it’s always best to drink fluoride-free water.
If you are drinking tap water, it’s likely that it contains fluoride.
Your best protection is to get a water filter that is specifically designed to remove fluoride.
The water filter I use in my own home is made by Pure Effect. It’s state of the art filtration removes just about everything that might be in your water that you don’t want to put in your body…including fluoride.
Learn more about Pure Effect water filters here…
