He was shortish. And oldish. And brownish. And mossy. And he spoke with a voice that was sharpish and bossy.

My absolute favorite children's book of all time is being made into a full-length animated film.  Its plot and message were almost singlehandedly the basis for my curriculum as a science teacher.  It contains powerful and insightful lessons for not only children, but all of us.

The Lorax will be out sometime in 2012 and will feature the voice of none other than Danny Devito.  I couldn't have dreamed up a better fit myself.

Counting the days until I can introduce MY LITTLE BOY to this gift from Dr. Seuss.

San Marcos is Going Gray

San Marcos passed a gray water ordinance today, allowing builders to install water reuse systems.  Gray water refers to water from sinks, washing machines, and showers that is safe for reuse in gardening, landscaping, and other outdoor uses (like foundation damage prevention).  Water from these household appliances is rerouted and redistributed in outdoor sprinkler systems rather than treated along with used toilet water.  I'm sure you can imagine the savings in water, energy, money, and infrastructure that result from gray water systems.

Other countries have used gray water systems extensively for years, but such systems have been slow to catch on in the US (probably from a misconception that the water is dirty).  Gray water does not include used toilet water, which is always sent to a treatment plant. 

I hope Austin follows San Marcos' footsteps in encouraging this great way to save aquifer water.  Incentives would be a great way to get developers and homeowners on board. 

Toxics In, Toxics Out

I think I've said enough about my thoughts on toxic chemicals in personal care products, but this cartoon is pretty informative.  Remember to use your dollars to protect your body, your future children, and our environment.





On a positive note, House legislation was introduced yesterday that would require the government to test product safety, rather than the industry self-policing as it currently does. Hopefully the bill also addresses well known loopholes such as the ingredient fragrance, which is protected by trade secrets and can pretty much contain any chemical under the sun.

Happy World Water Day

Photo and caption from Nationalgeographic.com:  In drought-ravaged Australia this Hallett Cove family not only shares showers, but carefully captures the runoff in buckets.  In this arid land, water is simply too precious to let it run down the drain.

Today is World Water Day, and National Geographic has released an interactive issue all about water.  It's available free here (only for a few weeks) and I highly recommend it.

The photo above caught my eye because Hallett Cove is a small town outside of Adelaide where my childhood pen pal grew up.  While every family there is certainly not making the same concerted effort to save their valued water, Aussies are in general more in tune with its importance than us Yanks.  Living in Australia and driving through the neverending outback was the first time I think I truly understood fresh water's value.

There it is - those little slivers in yellow.  Enough to go around ....except .....we humans are really skilled at procreating.

Anyway, there is plenty of info worth checking out in the magazine, and Zinio makes it a much more fun experience than reading it on a dead tree.  I especially liked this representation of drugs found in fish from Chicago's North Shore.  The number one drug these fish are being involuntarily prescribed?  Antidepressants.  Along with anti-seizure, antihistamine, and blood pressure meds.  Yikes. 

Home

Everyone is entitled to a home where the sun, the stars, open fields, giant trees, and smiling flowers are free to teach an undisturbed lesson of life.

-Jens Jensen, landscape planner, 1930s

Palo Duro Canyon

As an outdoor enthusiast, I'm embarrassed to say I still have not been to Palo Duro Canyon. I've spent time in a good portion of our state parks and lots of time in Texas' two national parks, but I've yet to make it to Palo Duro Canyon State Park. My problem is that for the past ten years, the Big Bend area has been my playground. Let's be honest...that will never change. But I'd like to make more time to be able to explore Palo Duro as well.

Palo Duro Canyon is the second largest in the US. That's right, it's the Grand Canyon of Texas. Accoring to TPWD, it's 120 miles long and 20 miles wide at its widest. (The GC is 270 miles long and up to 18 miles wide.) It's just outside of Amarillo (at about the same lat as Albuquerque), so it's a cool nine hours drive from Austin.

The park hosts a 50-mile Ultra Race every year at the bottom of the canyon. Dios mio! Don't think I'll be participating in that if I want to keep my original knees. But our "official state play," Texas, (of course) is performed at the park's amphitheater for a few weeks every summer. (They've been doing it since the 1960s.) It's down at the base of the canyon and a BBQ dinner is served before the show starts. A musical at the bottom of a gigantic red rock canyon on a summer night? Yes, please!

The Greenest of the Green

National Geographic recently published its list of the 25 Greenest Cities in the US. I'm proud to call Number Two home! Here's a glimpse of what the Top 25 municipalities are doing.

1. Eugene, OR (score 9.0375, pop. 137,893)
- Sustainable business incubator
- Renewable energy supplying 85% of city's power
- Extensive wetlands program

2. Austin, TX (score 8.5325, pop. 656,562)
- Green Builder program
- Smart growth initiative
- Committed to solar power

3. Portland, OR (score 8.24, pop. 529,121)
- Green building
- Excellent public transport
- Smart growth

4. St. Paul, MN (score 7.805, pop. 287,151)
- Green space makes up a quarter of urban area
- Significant greenhouse gas reductions
- Affordable housing

5. Santa Rosa, CA (score 7.785, pop. 147,595)
- Green building program
- Clean air and water
- Bicycle paths and lanes

6. Oakland, CA (score 7.3675, pop. 399,484)
- Building local food production
- Green building ordinance
- Public transport

7. Berkeley, CA (score 7.285, pop. 102,743)
- Green building requirements for municipal construction
- Well used public transport system
- Community gardens

8. Honolulu, HI (score 7.055, pop. 371,657)
- Clean air and water
- Biomass power generation
- Green building standards

9. Huntsville, AL (score 7.035, pop. 158,216)
- Green space makes up one-third of urban area
- High public transport use
- Excellent public education program

10. Denver, CO (score 7.0325, pop. 554,636)
- Greenprint Denver, sustainability initiative
- Large hybrid municipal fleet and nation's largest light rail system
- Clean water and access to wilderness

11. Boston, MA (score 6.99, pop. 589,141)
- Green building
- Excellent public transport
- Smoking ban

12. Lexington, KY (score 6.785, pop. 260,512)
- Comprehensive growth management plan
- Clean air
- Smoking ban

13. Springfield, IL (score 6.7225, pop. 111,454)
- Clean air and good water
- Green design
- Green spaces

14. Irvine, CA (score 6.72, pop. 143,072)
- Comprehensive green building program
- Smoking ban
- Pedestrian oriented

15. Cambridge, MA (score 6.72, pop. 101,355)
- High rate of public transport use
- Green design
- High percentage of green space

16. Anchorage, AK (score 6.705, pop. 260,283)
- Excellent air and water quality
- Smoking ban
- High public health

17. Syracuse, NY (score 6.66, pop. 147,306)
- Good air
- Smoking ban
- Commitment to reduce greenhouse gases

18. San Francisco, CA (score 6.6, pop. 776,733)
- Municipal composting
- Green design
- High percentage of renewable energy use
- Very high public transport use

19. Minneapolis, MN (score 6.58, pop. 382,618)
- City-specific minimum wage
- Smoking ban
- High percentage of renewable biomass energy

20. Milwaukee, WI (score 6.5125, pop. 596,974)
- Green housing development
- Green space

21. Rochester, NY (score 6.43, pop. 219,773)
- High percentage of renewable energy
- Clean air
- Smoking ban

22. Albuquerque, NM (score 6.3475, pop. 484,607)
- Clean water
- Smoking Ban
- Wind power

23. Ann Arbor, MI (score 6.2875, pop. 114,024)
- High percentage of public transport and bicycle commuters
- High yard waste recover
- Green space

24. Seattle, WA (score 6.115, pop. 563,374)
- Large number of green buildings
- Very high percentage of hydroelectric power use
- Clean air and smoking ban

25. Kansas City, MO (score 6.055, pop. 441,545)
- Clean water
- City specific minimum wage
- U.S. Mayors Climate Protection signatory

Kudos for the City of Austin

Heard some good press about my employer, the City of Austin, today. The League of American Bicyclists has given the City a 2009 "Bike Friendly Business" award based on its efforts to encourage and support bicycle commuting. What's significant about this honor is that we were the only city given the award (yep, we actually beat Portland at something!). In fact, the only other government entity to earn the award was DC-based National Parks Service. Most award recipients were environmentally focused or active-minded businesses.

Austin's own Bicycle Sport Shop earned the highest level award (no surprises there).

I still long for the day when I can transfer downtown and take advantage of the bike perks and PE/health program as a whole. Pilates, spin, swimming, and marathon training classes, farm to work goodies delivered to your office, discounted Austin Java downstairs, and Lady Bird Lake across the street. I could hang. :)

Rant

I work in the Lakeway area (for those of you not from Austin, it's a small affluent town on the lake) and am very accustomed to seeing parking lots full of SUVs with one passenger each, usually each being a young mom in workout attire and plenty of makeup. But this lady's Sequoia just struck a nerve with me.

I understand that some people want to drill our country away, but I don't understand the emphasis on "paying less" for gasoline because of it. If one wants to pay less for gasoline, there are so many other options that would be more effective. The most obvious one to me: buy a different car. One that is smaller and runs more efficiently. You'll save money on the actual car and the cost to make it run. And you'll save money immediately rather than twenty years down the line when we've built more plants to refine more oil. Just saying.

PS. Because of this young lady's Sequoia and the many others out there, our grandkids might not know what a sequoia is. Or a tundra or bronco for that matter.


I apologize for my rant. Sorry. :)

Popsicle, Anyone?

It's been really hot in Austin lately. I think today we reached 105 degrees and it's not expected to change anytime soon.

Did you know that Austin's per capita water usage is higher than that of both Dallas and Houston? I know - completely shameful (although it's quite possible that Lance Armstrong alone pushed us over the edge last year).

As your friendly Austin Water Utility employee, just sending a quick reminder to think about your water usage so we can get through the summer without maxing out our water and energy. Here's a list of 100 ways to conserve water. Many of them are not only easy, but also have many benefits beyond the actual water savings. Cheers!

Hike for Greens

My awesome pal Priya is hiking all 2,175 miles (Georgia to Maine) of the Appalacian Trail this year. Not only am I infinitely jealous, I'm also proud of her for for supporting a great cause along the way.

Priya and I both just completed the LBJ School graduate program in public affairs and also both taught with Teach For America in the Rio Grande Valley. There is a small family of charter schools in the Valley called IDEA, which was started by other former Teach For America teachers. IDEA schools have implemented Outdoor Classrooms in the Valley where children are raise and harvesting their own food. Priya is supporting this effort on her walkabout.

This is a cause that is dear to my heart as I also started an Outdoor Classroom of my own while teaching in the Valley. I received my Master Gardener certification, started a Gardening Club, and implemented the gardening process into the fifth grade science curriculum. While the actual food production process was definitely challenging, the program was a success. In the years that I taught at Trevino Elementary, the fifth grade science TAKS (state assessment) passing rate jumped from 33% when I started to 87% when I left. And of course, the students also gained a more valuable understanding of the connectedness of living things, importance of resource conservation and patience, and sheer enjoyment of harvesting something they contributed to the Earth. I am a firm believer in Outdoor Classrooms and know from experience that they work.

One of my former students with a new friend from the garden
(this is one of most favorite pictures ever)

So if you also share a love of outdoor education, take a look at Priya's Hike for Greens blog. She's got information about how to contribute to IDEA through her site. Hike on, lady!

A WONDERFUL Day for Austin

Austin just made history today thanks to my bosses at City Hall. 200 Smart cars are coming to our City as a part of the Smart car2go program!

I interned at Austin CarShare in 2007 and wrote a few reports on challenges and deficiencies it encounters as a small non-profit. The organization is definitely trying to serve a need in our community, but the cards have been stacked against it for a while. As a non-profit, its costs are high and pockets shallow. Aside from that, ZipCar has had its eyes on Austin for a while, and there is no way for Austin CarShare to compete sustainably. ZipCar is an international corportation with tremendously lower rates, thousands more vehicles, and dozens of successful markets.

I hadn't heard anything about ZipCar in Austin recently and was blown away when I heard this great news about cars2go, which was not even on my radar. Their policies are so much more intuitive than Austin CarShare's, and even ZipCar's.

Here's the lowdown from Wired:

Whenever a car is needed, it can be rented on the spot, or it can be pre-booked via mobile phone or the internet. A Smart car2go can be used for as long as needed, and can be returned to any unoccupied public parking space within the area of operation. So think of it as a car-sharing program run directly by a car manufacturer. And the costs are reasonable too: 19 euro cents per minute, and that covers everything, taxes, insurance, mileage and even fuel. They also rent by the hour and day, if needed, 9.90 euros per hour or 49 euros per day. All you have to do is register (for free) and have a valid driver's license. Once you're registered, you can open any car2go by means of a card reader placed behind the windshield.

Renting by mobile phone is the way to go, and free registration is absolutely fantastic. I love that one can see an available car, text their information to rent the car, and go! People decide when and where they return the cars giving an even greater amount of freedom.

The first phase of the Smart car2go program in Austin will be fleet replacement for the City. 200 cars (using only 100 spaces) will be available to employees this fall. The following year the program will open to the public. And if we succeed in Austin, other American cities will follow. This timeline is brilliant in my humble opinion. Get the cars here, peak interest, and create loyalty and word of mouth among the thousands of City employees, leading to a significant beginning customer base for Phase 2.

The program first kicked off in Ulm, Germany, a city significantly smaller than Austin. How'd it go?

Robert Henrich, responsible project manager at Daimler AG, sums up: “The success of the first pilot phase surprised even us and shows how much importance already is attached to forward-looking mobility concepts today. In just two weeks more than 500 customers had registered with car2go – a number we had not anticipated. Sometimes I could see from my office window how employees sprinted to the parking lot after work to get a car2go before they were all gone.” Their enthusiasm and the interest of the people of Ulm persist. In peak periods the entire fleet of 50 smart fortwo was being used to full capacity and could have been greatly expanded based on the user demand. Since the start, 8,000 rentals have been registered, and per day as many as eight customers have used one and the same vehicle. (from egmcartech.com)

The writer for Wired, undoubtedly one who has not visited Austin, also had this to say:

Smart is looking to bring on-demand use of its cars to Austin. You know, in Texas. Yes, the same Texas with all the steers, BBQ, cowboys, Bush family members and general vehicle xenophobia.

Sure, he may be right about the BBQs and Bushes, but here's our chance to prove him wrong about the vehicle xenophobia. I'm positive that a visit to Austin would do the trick.

Chuga Chuga Choo Choo!

I had a big loop of travel for Christmas: Austin -> Houston -> New Orleans -> Houma -> Dallas -> Austin. I needed to get back to Austin from Dallas and had a mondo bag with all of the sweaters and Christmas presents. I've always wanted to try the Dallas/Austin Amtrak line, and what better time to do it than vacation?

I had such an awesome time! The obvious disadvantage of taking a train rather than driving or flying is travel time. I left Dallas at 12:30 and arrived in Austin at 7:00. So if you are going up for a quick weekend, I could see why the train might not be the best option. BUT that being said, I argue that you can get lots of work done on a train. I could easily get grad school work accomplished on the way there, which would more than make up the extra few hours on the train.

In my eyes, the train has many other positives. My Top Ten reasons to ride a train:

1. No motion sickness. I don't get motion sick on trains, and that is huge. Attempting to read (or do anything for that matter) during a car, bus, boat, or plane trip can be disastrous for me.

2. Comfort. Huge amount of leg and seat room, reclining chairs with footrests.

3. Great views of the countryside rather than 18-wheelers. I saw many groups of cows and sheep on my ride, as well as several rivers, and many stretches with no humans visible. It's amazing how even looking at such scenery can refresh me.

4. Easy on the wallet. The one-way trip is $48. Renting a car for one-way is around $150 (plus the cost of gas).

5. Various food options. There is a cafe for takeaway food or a restaurant available for reservations. Beats peanuts any day.

6. Really nice people. I met lots of grandparents travelling with their grandkids on my ride. Many people playing cards or just conversing in the observation car. You will NOT run into stressed out Type As on the train :)

7. Environment, environment, environment.

8. Easy to get work done or devour a good book. There are booths with large tables in the observation car, and each seat has a tray table with plenty of room (unlike planes).

9. Creates demand for public transportation, which we all know needs a boost.

10. Timeless. Hopefully, at least. I'd hate to think of a world without trains.


I documented my trip with lots of pictures. Here are some of my favorites.

Union Station in Dallas. Home of Amtrak, DART, and the Trinity
Railway Express (links Dallas and Fort Worth)


The train getting ready. The Texas Eagle originates in Chicago
and ends in San Antonio. I sat on the top level of this car.

Lots of room!


The friendly cafe worker preparing my lunch.


The observation car. Great views.


Downtown Fort Worth Station.


Bass Performance Hall in Fort Worth. We had an hour layover in Fort
Worth, which I was excited about because Fort Worth is such a cute
city. I walked around downtown and hung out in a bookstore.


One of many Texas rivers.


Temple, Texas Station.


GREEN.


Getting off in downtown Austin.

The Texas Eagle runs daily between Dallas, Fort Worth, Austin, and San Antonio. It continues north to Chicago and west to Los Angeles. If you are interested in details about the route, click here.

I Love 2009

What an awesome year! Only mere weeks till our new President is officially sworn in and I couldn't be more excited. I love that such an honest, calm, and inclusive person will now be our leader.

On a personal note, this is a big year for me as well. In a mere five months, I will receive my Master of Public Affairs! I'm not going to think about the fact that I will have to take my final class over the summer [ :( ] ...the actual walk across the stage is more important, right? :) Chris and I are also getting married this year - whoohoo! Can't wait to have so many members of both of our families come to our home for the first time. And...I turn thirty this year! Maybe I'm just in an upbeat mood, but it sounds like fun.

I'm also transitioning to a great new trails project at work - the Walk For a Day trail. It's going to be a 34-mile trail going south from Barton Springs pool into Hayes County. The trail is in the very beginning planning phases, and lots of groups and politicians want to be involved (for better or for worse). It is an ambitious project (one of the first in the country to span multiple jurisdictions) and I'm excited to be involved.

As far as resolutions, I feel like lots of transitions are underway for me anyway this year, but I do want to dedicate energy to the great outdoors in a few specific ways: one old, one new.

In high school and college, I loved rock climbing and tried to do it as much as I could. I lived near Stone Works Climbing Gym in high school, and my girlfriends and I went there regularly. Here's a picture of us when we were about fifteen, trying to look like tough climbers.

When I moved to Australia in college, I got really into climbing. I went on several climbing trips in various parts of the country and really started improving. Here's a picture of me on Mount Arapiles, which has been rated one of the top ten climbing spots in the world.

I had three great climbing buddies in Australia, and when we were back in Melbourne we would frequent a gym nearby. Climbing is a sport that you really need a good buddy for. And a lot of trust is involved. It is important to me to find a great climbing buddy this year. I have lived here for too long not to get reintegrated into the climbing scene. So resolution number one - get back into climbing!

My second resolution is a new one, but one I am well equipped for. My awesome awesome brother Ondre gave me his old road bike for Christmas, so my second resolution is to spend more time biking! I've had a mountain bike for years and used to spend a lot of time on local greenbelts, but now I have been using it more for street rides on weekend mornings. I was thinking of buying my own bike, but Ondre was also getting a new one and gave me his. He saved me $1000, what a great guy :) Here is my new bike:
Step One: Master the shoes. I'm a little old ladyish at the moment and hope to get my takeoffs a little improved :) Step Two: Dre and I want to do a bike race together in a few months. Hopefully something laid back (Tour de Fat or something along those lines, right Dre?). I'd like to explore some of those country roads west of Austin sometime soon.

Hope you all are kicking off 2009 in a great way!! Best wishes for the new year!

Sick of All the Phone Books?

Chris and I (and everyone else in Austin) just received our third set of Yellow Pages and White Pages this year. They went straight to be recycled, again. What a waste of energy. The Yellow and White Pages are completely obsolete to anyone with Internet access (or a phone for that matter). YellowPagesGoesGreen.org is attempting to alleviate the problem by directly contacting phone book publishers with lists of people who have "opted-out" of receiving the books.


If you'd like to "opt-out" of recieving phone books, you can sign up here: http://www.yellowpagesgoesgreen.org/stop-yellow-pages/

For times when you are not wired, don't forget about 1-800-GooG-411 for your free 411 calls.

Yeah, Gas is Cheaper, BUT....

So yeah, gas prices are half what they were a few months ago. It may relieve us a little in these scary economic times (two friends lost their jobs just today!), but it's not a good thing. It's the simple law of supply and demand.

In reality, many factors are involved, but demand did slow up for gas over the past few months as a result of higher prices and changes in consumer transportation preferences. I read some pretty amazing figures in Mother Jones today:

Decrease in total miles Americans drove in June 2008, compared to June 2007: 12.2 BILLION

Transit rides taken in the first three months of 2008: 2.7 BILLION

Increase in transit rides from last year: 88 MILLION

Transit ridership in 1946, when US ridership was at its peak: 23 BILLION

So even though gas prices really stunk last summer, they brought some great benefits to our country. Which makes me worried about these $1.75/gallon prices I've spotted. Just when people were considering lifestyle changes, we're back to where we started.

On a related note, I blogged last month about the revolutionary car insurance company, MileMeter. Today I finally had the time to compare my current insurance costs @ State Farm to a quote for identical insurance from MileMeter. I found that for my current driving habits, switching to MileMeter won't save me much money :( The main culprit is commuting to my office, which is out in Bee Cave unfortunately. I love my job and am lucky to be able to telework at least one day every week, which helps...but the distance factor is the one thing keeping me feeling guilty about it. If I worked downtown or somewhere closer, MileMeter would be a much better deal. So for anyone thinking about switching, check out a free quote on their site.

Revolutionizing Car Insurance

Though I haven't usually thought of Dallas as an innovative city, my assumptions have shifted in the past few years. Now that I'm studying transit-oriented development, I've learned that Dallas has proven itself among the ranks of world-class cities providing transportation options that benefit the city (and planet) as a whole.

Now there's an auto insurance company out of Dallas that is revolutionizing the way people think about car insurance just as ZipCar did with the way we think about car use. MileMeter allows customers to purchase car insurance by the mile! That's right, here comes another great incentive for people to drive less. This company is not only providing cost savings to consumers, but it's encouraging them to think about how much the drive and give them a financial reason to decide against it.


I can get on the MileMeter website right now and purchase 1,000 to 6,000 miles of insurance. That means if I decide to take public transit or muscle power to get around, my insurance will last a lot longer than if I get around purely by car. GENIUS. I'm thinking about giving State Farm the boot.

But actually, it's not genius. It's common sense. How do we pay for electricity? For water? Food? With this new model, the old model of paying for car insurance whether it's sitting in the garage or not seems ridiculous.

Thanks to the founder, Chris Gay, Texans are some of the first people in the world to be able to purchase auto insurance by the mile. That makes me a happy girl.

Thanks for putting this on my radar, Ondre!

Bartering and Freecycling

Bartering is making a comeback, especially in economic times like these. Remember the "one red paperclip" a few years ago? Kyle MacDonald made 14 barters, starting with one red paper clip and ending with a house! Well, he's now looking to barter the house.

Even beyond bartering, there is freecycling - getting and giving away things for free.

Free things posted on Austin Craigslist today:
- huge Baloo stuffed animal (from Jungle Book)
- elm trees
- waterbed
- antique piano and bench (!)
- jacuzzi
- office cubicles
AND.... a toilet!

Many similar items are posted on Austin Freecycle Network, a yahoo group dedicated to freecycling.

I love that these sites are the ultimate example of recycling. Recycling doesn't have to be only for former packaging of new items...all of the things above would take up a lot of space in a landfill!! Why resort to that when someone out there is bound to want what you don't?

My goal is to both give and receive through these channels more often. I've only really posted moving boxes and stuff like that before, but I'm going to think more creatively in the future.

Join Austin Freecycle Network here.
Browse Austin Craigslist free stuff here.

Trashman 2.0

Unless you live in New Orleans, I'd guess you haven't heard of Sidney Torres. I hadn't either until about a week ago. I caught a great story about him on NPR.

Sidney owns a "waste management" business that won a contract to clean the French Quarter after Katrina. He is a true entrepreneur who is proud of his work, even if it is a little stinky. He has used modern technology (and attitude) to reinvent the trash business in one of the trashiest places I can think of (Bourbon Street is not a place I associate with cleanliness.)


As he says, he's bringing "class to trash." He created a fragrance called "SuperFresh" that the trucks spray throughout the Quarter. In the NPR interview, he spotted a cup (yes, one cup) in the Quarter and had a driver immediately drive to its location to remove it. Who would've thought?

Listen to the NPR interview here.

The Chemical Crusade

I've always got my causes. You know this about me. So this post will not surprise you. When it comes to my passions, my challenge is always to walk the line of education, when solicited, rather than being preachy. So oftentimes, I may learn about something that affects me on a certain level and not even really share it with many people. As I've gotten older, I think I've gotten better at filtering out environmental discoveries and knowledge to friends who have an interest. But the beauty of keeping a blog is that the message receiver can self-filter. What I'm saying is, if you're not interested in this topic, move on.

I've been thinking about chemicals a lot lately. Not that I didn't before, but they've been cramping my style lately. I was recommended a book this summer called Our Stolen Future by Theo Colborn.



This book blew me away. The main discussion surrounds chemical buildup in our bodies and the chemical transfer from mother to baby including its effect on sexual development. Basically, man-made chemicals build up in our bodies, and when a woman gets pregnant, much of the store of chemicals is transferred to the fetus.

On a personal level, I found myself evaluating health conditions of myself and my relatives in light of what I read. After living in the New Orleans area for a number of years, my grandmother, cousin, and mother all contracted various forms of cancer. I've always wondered what role environment played in their diseases given that none of our relatives had documented incidences of cancer in the past. As for myself, I found out a few years ago that I have a pituitary tumor, which affects my endocrine system. The cases of these tumors have grown exponentially in recent decades, puzzling doctors. The cause is unknown, but endocrine and reproductive disorders have been linked to chemical exposure. And of course the human species is not the only one experiencing this rise in endocrine and reproductive disorders. The book details the gamut of species that have been studied and are experiencing similar issues. The incidence of hermaphroditism has been found to be rising in some species, which makes me wonder about Mr. Hermie, my vet-tested "possible hermaphrodite."

This book was very educational for me. I've also found Environmental Working Group's website and findings to be a valuable source of information. As I've tried to understand the current situation, these are the conclusions I've made:

1. The FDA can't keep up with number of new chemicals being produced.
2. Trade secrets allow companies to keep harmful ingredients secret.
3. Consumers really do shoulder the responsibility of educating themselves about product safety.

So with these conclusions in mind, I've been taking baby steps to make more informed choices when it comes to my health. EWG sure does make this easier. Here are some things I've learned through my research:


Did You Know?
* Some mascaras contain mercury
* Some conditioners and moisturizers contain extracts from human and cow placenta
* Dental sealants contain Bisphenol A, which is linked to endocrine disorders. I've got 4 in my mouth. Coincidence?
* Lead is found in some hair dyes.
* Albacore tuna has three times as much mercury as light tuna.
* Traditional tampons and pads are bleached with chlorine, producing dioxin, which is linked to cancer and everything else bad in this world.

Some of the EWG tools that have made my life easier
Skin Deep database. I have come to love this database over the past few years and have gotten in the habit of consulting it before I purchase any health or beauty products. You can search by brand name or see a list of products arranged by toxicity ranking. The site is very easy to use and has comprehensive data on hair, skin, fragrance, and hygiene products.

Human Toxome Project. This study outlines levels of pollution found in humans around the world. Scary, but very informative.

2008 Sunscreen Study. 4 out of 5 sunscreens were found to contain toxic ingredients or not protect skin as claimed. This database tells you what ingredients to avoid and which sunscreens are most effective AND safe.

Shoppers' Guide to Pesticides in Produce. Outlines the "Dirty Dozen" and the "Cleanest 12" of produce (and everything in between) so you can decide which fruits and veggies are worth paying a little more for organic and which are fine conventionally grown.

Timeline: BPA from Invention to Phase-Out. BPA (Bisphenol A) is a chemical found in baby bottles, nalgene-type bottles, many other "hard plastics", and as a lining on metal cans. After many decades of research and proven negative effects, manufacturers and retails are finally heeding the warnings. A few months ago, some companies began phasing out products that are make with BPA, but the mainstream public is probably still unaware. BPA exposure has been shown to lead to prostate problems, breast cancer, early puberty, and behavioral problems. Infants are most at risk, and tragically, most baby bottles and formulas stored in metal cans have been found to contain BPA. Better days ahead, though.


Safe & Natural Products I Really Enjoy
* Doc Bronner's peppermint soap.

I've been hooked on this stuff for about five years now. I'm a peppermint fiend. This soap really wakes me up during my morning shower and also clears out my sinuses. I've also used it to wash my hair and clothes on long hiking excursions.

* Kleen Kanteen stainless steel water bottles.
These bottles keep your drinks C-O-L-D cold! And they are made of stainless steel, so there's no need to worry about leaching plastic chemicals making their way into your body. I'm also on the hunt for some steel drinking cups. My friend Deana has some great ones she found at a thrift store, but I'm having a hard time finding some myself.

* Natracare Feminine Products

According to their website, the average woman uses up to 11,000 tampons in her life. Natracare tampons are totally organic, and I like knowing that I'm not injecting pesticides into my body every month.










* Earth Friendly Products Ecos Laundry Detergent.

This detergent is totally plant-based and biodegradable, unlike many mainstream detergents, which are petroleum-based. I like the very light scent and the fact that I have to use a very small amount to get the clothes clean.













* Green Guide: The Complete Reference for Consuming Wisely.

I recently purchased this book and it seems to be a comprehensive guide for educated consumption.
















All in all, I urge you to educate yourself about the products with which you surround yourselves...no one else will do it for you!