“Great News! The voices of mothers are being heard. Last week Toys”R”Us, Babies”R”Us, and CVS announced they’ll stop selling baby bottles which contain BPA, and Playtex committed to stop using BPA in all of their baby bottles by the year’s end.
But sadly, we can’t declare a full victory yet because many manufacturers and stores are still selling baby bottles made with BPA. Let’s keep up the pressure and get BPA out of all baby bottles and children’s products!
To do just that we’re working with our coalition partners to turn in 20,000 petition signatures at the end of this week to the CEOS of the leading companies that are making baby bottles with BPA. We already have over 12,000 signatures, and we need your help to reach 20,000.”
Please take action and sign the petition by following the link:
http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/1768/petition.jsp?petition_KEY=1177
“WHY NOW? After years of concern about the safety of baby bottles, children’s care products, and other food and beverage containers which contain the chemical bisphenol A (BPA), the verdict is in–and it’s not good.
In the past few weeks the Canadian government announced it is planning to ban the use of BPA in baby bottles, and declared BPA dangerous.[1] And the Los Angeles Times reported that the U.S. based National Institutes of Health (NIH) concluded that there is “some concern” that babies, fetuses, and children are in danger because BPA harms animals at the low levels found in nearly all human bodies.[2] Sadly, a recent study found this chemical in all five leading brands of American baby bottles.
It’s enough to sink any mother’s stomach.
Let’s take a second to take a collective deep breath, and then mobilize for major action. Sign a petition calling for the CEOs of the leading manufacturers of baby bottles to stop the use of BPA in our baby bottles and other children’s products.”
“WHAT DOES BPA DO? Growing children are especially at risk to chemicals as they face greater exposure per pound of body weight. Even fetuses are susceptible as chemicals, including BPA, cross the placenta in pregnant women. Over 130 studies suggest that BPA exposure, even at low doses, is linked to many health problems, including early puberty, breast and prostate cancer, obesity, attention and hyperactivity disorder, brain damage, altered immune system, and lower sperm counts.”
- MomsRising.org
Some of the “all natural” products on the market are not quite as good as they claim. Please follow the links for more information:
“The National Nuclear Security Administration has submitted a draft plan for consolidating the nation’s nuclear weapons complex, but the plan ignores reasonable alternatives that could reduce harmful environmental impacts and set the stage for eventual elimination of nuclear arsenals. Tell the Bush administration to revise its draft plan in order to reduce and eventually eliminate America’s nuclear weapons arsenal.”
To learn more about this issue and quickly take action, please visit the NRDC Action Center
I have been enrolling all of my bills in the paper-free billing option. I meant to do this so long ago. It seems like a simple task but life finds a way to deter you from doing even the easiest of things - even if they make a huge difference! This time, I made it a priority and did it.
This month, I even received a little reminder in my phone bill email thanking me for saving a tree =)
Sign up for paper free billing and do your part to save one, too!
The Nature Conservancy has some great ways to go green this Valentine’s Day. Some gift ideas include organic flowers, the adopt an acre program and just sending a FREE nature inspired e-card! Learn more by visiting Green Gifts at the Nature Conservancy.
There is a great online book for your kids to check out or for the whole family to read together about cleaning up our environment. It is fun and interactive!
Check it out here:
With all the discussion on food, I have noticed that my taste for meat has changed. It is not that I eat it all the time but I do eat it. I currently eat meat on occasion and I also love animals - I suppose this is one of the great debates within ourselves. I tried being a vegetarian many years ago unsuccessfully.
If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again!
I have decided that the cloning news has sparked a new reason to go veg. I found a couple of great resources to help. If you are looking to try vegetarian for health reasons or for the love of animals, visit these links to find out more!
TryVeg.com - get a FREE vegetarian starter guide and lots of help with what to do next. Also some great resources on why and how to change your lifestyle!
About.com Vegetarian - vegetarian information and recipes
There was an article published in the paper discussing the fact that some farmers have already been putting clone related products in our stores without us knowing.
Executives at the major cattle cloning companies confessed that clone offspring have entered the food supply already—and they have no idea how many—despite the previous FDA ban on food from cloned animals. And U.S. meat producers have been buying semen from prize-winning cloned cattle.
- About.com EnvironmentAt least one Kansas cattle producer also disclosed yesterday that he has openly sold semen from prize-winning clones to many U.S. meat producers in the past few years, and that he is certain he is not alone.
“This is a fairy tale that this technology is not being used and is not already in the food chain,” said Donald Coover, a Kansas cattle breeder and veterinarian, in an interview with the Washington Post. “Anyone who tells you otherwise either doesn’t know what they’re talking about, or they’re not being honest.”
- Washington Post
The FDA has decided cloned meat, milk and eggs would be fine for consumers to ingest on a regular basis and we will all do it unknowingly.
Regardless of whether you are pro or anti cloning is irrelevant. The major concern is that there has not been enough research to ensure that eating this would be safe. That is frightening. Who knows what research will find in twenty years!
Whether you would want to try the products or not doesn’t change the fact that this should be a choice we make as consumers. We have to be warned about hormones in milk or whether something is organic so why not tell us if something is made from a cloned animal? How hard would it be to add a “C” to the label?
To learn more and sign the petition, please visit:
Organic Consumers Association
I noticed that we were a bit lazy when it came to recycling our household items that did not give us a monetary return on our investment. It seems like it should be an easy enough thing to separate our recyclables along with our trash but I guess it seemed even easier to ignore it! I grew up being responsible about it. When I visit my parents, I do it naturally but for some reason recycling at home was some monstrous task. I guess I felt like we were doing quite a bit by the number of cans and bottles we were saving up for the big return at 5 cents a piece.
The turning point was the day that I drove past our local landfill and for a brief moment, I mistook it for a mountain. I saw it in the distance and thought, how nice it was to live so close to nature! I nearly cried when I came back to reality. Of course, then when I realized how much my family alone contributes to “the mountain,” I knew it was time for a change.
I guess the next question is what does one do?
This is where the fun comes in! Gather up the kids and a few containers. You can use any kind that fits in with your lifestyle or budget. Some people have recycling centers installed in their kitchen. These are great if you have the funding for them but don’t worry if you don’t! You can use regular garbage bags and hang a few different ones on a nail in the garage with labels above each bag or use large plastic storage containers that you can purchase for about $5 at a discount store and put labels on them. Saving the best idea for last, I saw this on an episode of Jon & Kate Plus 8. Grab some plastic storage bins or plastic storage baskets, paint on some chalkboard paint and let the kids label them with chalk.
Don’t forget to include the kids every step of the way! Let them decorate the bins or labels and have them start sorting! Use the activity time to discuss the importance of what you are doing.