Mindful Momma

The Body Care Blues

It used to be fun going shopping for body care products at Whole Foods or my local co-op.  So many intriguing choices, each with their own special combo of natural ingredients and scents.  Plenty of options in the medium price range that I was looking for.  And I had the sense that they were all safe to use and certainly better than the stuff you find at the drug store.  It was like being a kid in a candy store - with enough money to indulge your sweet tooth for sure!  

Now I'm singing the body care blues.  Every purchase decision is plagued by questions:  "I wonder how this rates on Skin Deep?"  "I hope this doesn't contain any of those ingredients that turn into 1,4 Dioxane."  "Is this stuff really natural?"  "Is it safe to use?"  It's taken all the fun out of shopping.

Prime example:  I thought I had found a good low cost bubble bath for my kids in Whole Foods/365 Brand shower gel until I discovered that it contains sodium laureth sulphate which is one of the ingredients that can form cancer causing 1,4 Dioxane.  Looking a bit deeper I found that Skin Deep rates that ingredient as only a moderate hazard.  So, is it OK?  Should I keep using it???  I can't really afford California Baby every time.  I've tried Trader Joe's Peppermint Castille soap and Dr. Bronners for the bath, but they don't smell that great and don't bubble much.  Anyone have another good, affordable, safe bubble bath option?  Or a good homemade bubble bath recipe?

And then there's sun-care...I'm working on a post about finding a new moisturizer with SPF that is safe to use every day.  The products I've been using off and on for years (Alba, Avalon, Grassroots, KMF) either have terrible ratings on Skin Deep or are not rated at all.  Instead of fun, it's downright stressful.  Sometimes I wish I didn't read so much. 

I'm curious to know how other people handle all the conflicting info about natural body care.  Do you stress out when you shop or do you assume that most products are basically safe?  Do you do your research before you shop or do you just wing when you get to the store?  Any favorite product recommendations that pass muster on Skin Deep?  I'd love to hear from you!

Another Beach Vacation

I'll be gone for a bit.  Camping in the sand dunes at the Assateague Island National Seashore.  It's a protected national park, right on the ocean - a really special place!! 

Hopefully the environmental impact of 100+ people descending on the campsites for a wild & crazy 4th of July party will be minimal. We're a group of eco-minded people and we do our best to leave no trace behind. 

You may have heard of the wild ponies on Assateague (and Chincoteague).  They may look pretty in the pictures but they're really annoying to have in your campsite.  They do leave traces behind.  But since, it is their home after all...we have to be respectful.

Hope you have a Happy 4th!!

Mindful Mother's Day!

I hope all you Moms got a chance to relax yesterday and to appreciate how special it is to be a Mom! 

I spent some time reflecting about how making the extra effort to 'live green' may add to my workload a bit, but how it is SO worth it when I think about my boys' health and the future of their world.  That may sound sappy, but it's true, none the less! 

My guys (along with another family) all pitched in and made a fabulous brunch with as many organic and sustainably raised ingredients from the co-op that they could get their hands on.  Smoked salmon waffles with dill creme fraiche and capers, naturally smoked ham, avocado salad, mimosas....Yes, we Moms were impressed...and full...and very happy!

 

Michael Pollan on Why We Should Bother Living Green

Michael Pollan's recent New York Times article Why Bother? speaks to something that swirls around in my head all too often....how can one person's tiny actions like changing a light bulb or turning down the thermostat really make a difference in GLOBAL climate change; something so big and scary it's hard to even comprehend??? 

And what do we do about our "evil twin" on the other side of the world, who as Pollan says is "eager to swallow every bite of meat I forswear and who’s positively itching to replace every last pound of CO2 I’m struggling no longer to emit."  It certainly does beg the question - why bother?

Pollan answers that question in his usual smart and thoughtful way and ultimately convinces us (at least he did me) that we should bother, primarily because we are setting a good example and raising consciousness.  We are challenging the 'cheap-energy mind' - which fosters the "mentality that makes dealing with climate change in our own lives seem impossibly difficult".

In the end, Pollan encourages us to grow just a little of our own food.  Plant a garden, big or small, wherever you can fit it in.  It may not make a huge impact on our carbon footprint but it will help to reduce our feelings of dependence and change the 'cheap-energy mind'.  Powerful stuff.

Mindful Momma Giveaway: Ben Jelen CDs

It's time for a little something different....how about an eco-minded CD giveaway???

Ben Jelen is a singer-songwriter whose latest album Ex-Sensitive is all about love....but this time it's not about a girl, it's about Planet Earth and everyone on it.  Ben's quest for understanding this love took him to India, the UK and the American South and he eventually emerged with a set of 13 songs about the state of the earth and our relationship with it.

Ben's concern for our planet didn't just start and stop with this album.  He's been involved with many environmental causes in the past and recently started his own foundation, the Ben Jelen Foundation to directly support environmental causes.

Have a listen to Wreckage, a beautiful song about the destruction of the planet and how we can climb out of it together.  I think you'll like it.

I've got 5 copies of Ben Jelen's Ex-Sensitive CD to give away!  For a chance to win, just leave a comment on this post letting me know what you like about Ben Jelen!  The contest will run through midnight central time, Monday, May 5th and I will post the winners on Tuesday, May 6th.  (only one entry per person please and you must have a U.S. shipping address!)

The Trash Can Overfloweth

Another thing that was hard to get used to in small town Sayulita, Mexico was the fact that they don't recycle.  I had heard that there was a grass-roots recycling effort in town but we never saw any signs of it.  So we, like everyone else, threw just about everything in the trash.  In a short period of time, the trash can was overflowing with all sorts of things we don't usually throw out:

• plastic water bottles (we packed light and didn't bring any reusable bottles with us)
• glass bottles
• cans
• plastic bags
• papers
• paper towels used as napkins (no cloth available)
• fruit and vegetable scraps
• coffee grounds
• egg shells 

I'm not trying to be a grouch or anything - I'm just pointing it out because when you are used to recycling and composting all of this stuff, it just feels wrong to throw it out.   

It made me stop and think about how lucky I am to live where there is a city-wide recycling program.  It takes very little personal effort to recycle the majority of our recyclable items.  And not much more to compost.  Just think what a little extra effort could do!! 

Time Zones and Other Dirty Tricks

Our vacation in Mexico was extended by a day due to a time zone/time change snafu.  How dumb do you think we felt when we arrived at the airport only to find out that it was an hour later than we thought, our plane was about to leave and we were SOL. 

See, when we arrived at the Puerto Vallarta airport a week earlier, we lost an hour because we were told that PV doesn't switch to daylight savings time and for some reason we believed it.  Then we hopped on a bus and went 45 minutes north to Sayulita, where the time was yet another hour behind.  Little did we know that the country would switch to daylight savings time while we were staying in this sleepy little town where you're lucky to find people who speak English and the likelihood of hearing about a time change is practically nil.

But what's Mexico without a little adventure?  Sayulita is a wonderful little beach town, far away from the hustle and bustle (and irritating tourists) of Puerto Vallarta.  Great beach with shallow water for the kids, perfect waves for beginning surfers, plenty of ripe mangos, homemade tamales and fish tacos to munch on all day long (and you can bet we packed back our fair share of margaritas too!).  Pretty easy to lose yourself in the easygoing culture and forget about life back home. 

That is until you realize that things like running water, electricity and working appliances are not always a given in small town Mexico.  At first we took it in stride.  We just laughed when the lights came blaring on in the middle of the night or when the whole town lost power for 3 hours on a busy Saturday morning (no coffee for desperate touristas!!).  We rolled our eyes when we had to literally sit on the washing machine to keep it from shaking itself across the floor during the spin cycle.  But when our house was without reliable water for days on end and my husband had to get down and dirty to get the toilets to flush, we started getting a little annoyed.  And then the coffee maker broke.

But still - we had a great time!  The majority of our days were spent on the beach where none of that other stuff mattered a bit.  And watching our boys have the time of their lives was worth every single inconvenience. The lure of the warm sun and the soft sand will keep drawing us back to Mexico again and again...but not without the reminder that we've got it pretty good here in the States...where we spend our time worrying about conserving water and electricity but it's almost always there when we need it.

As for that time change thing - we have no one to blame but ourselves.  Sigh....

Heading South

Winter has lasted way too long around here.  We've got a few robins but there won't be anything green growing around here for a good long while.  So we're heading down south for a dose of warm sun and Vitamin D. 

I'll be curious to see how environmental efforts are coming along in Mexico.  Even recycling was not common last time I was there.

Stay tuned - I've got some fun giveaways coming up in April!  See you then...

Do We Really Need This?? Nutrition vs. Environment

My first thought when I saw Disney-themed, individually packaged fruits & veggies in my grocery store was: "OMG - I can't believe this crap!  Why do we need more wastefully packaged food??  And DISNEY????  For crying out loud, I'm not about to buy Disney-branded food!"

In case you haven't seen it yet, I'm talking about a new line of pre-packaged, pre-cut fruits and vegetables called Disney Garden.  The products I saw used conventional produce but according to their website, they carry organics as well. 

Foodles (in the Micky Mouse shaped container) appears to be a Lunchables knockoff - an assortment of veggies, fruits and dips or sides (like raisins or pretzels) for healthy snacking on the go.  They also sell individual packages of apple slices - perfect for lunch boxes.  If you like wasteful packaging, that is.

But after my rant, I started to wonder....am I just full of myself?  Arrogant?  Condescending?  I am a food marketer after all (albeit one on an extended leave to raise a family)  I do understand the power of branding to sell food.  I do understand the dire need to get kids to eat more fruits & vegetables.  And I do understand that it's not easy for everyone to take the time to chop up vegetables at home.  There is a market for this product, it's sad but true.

So, I'm dying to know what other people think.  What's your take on Disney's latest brand extension?  Will it help get fresh veggies into the mouths of kids who need them?  Is the packaging wasteful - or helpful?  Would you buy this product? 

Save the Polar Bear!

You probably thought this was going to be about global warming didn't you?

Well it is, but first I have to share a little early Valentine's gift that Liam gave me and his polar bear.  We had the red ink pad out for making homemade Valentine's cards.  Guess what happened when I went upstairs for a few minutes?

A couple of trips through the washer saved this polar bear...but what about the real ones?

The cute, cuddly white bear that we all love is all too often a skinny, malnourished animal, struggling to survive.  In fact, the polar bear might very well become the poster child for global warming in the coming years.  A few polar bear facts worth pondering:

• By 2050, two-thirds of the world's polar bear population could be gone, mainly due to loss of sea ice. 
• The polar bear's ability to hunt for food is much greater on ice and almost nonexistent on land.
• Polar bear's lose up to 2 pounds a day in the summer months when the ice is gone.
• The gap without ice is getting greater and greater due to global warming.

The Bush administration is considering putting the polar bear on the endangered species list but has been slow to get it done.  You can take action by sending a message to the Dept. of the Interior through NRDC's Polar Bear SOS campaign.  I did it and it took a whopping 30 seconds.

I guess I have to thank Liam for his Valentine's Day polar bear prank - it got me to take a closer look at the situation - and I'll be paying more attention from now on.