Here She Comes. . .

Miss Door County!

As a Deep Green Mommy, I have raised my kids with a heightened awareness of the dangers of conventional food, personal care and cleaning products.  There has always been a  bit of a struggle,  sometimes they want what the other kids have. But it’s generally turned into a traditions they enjoy, like trading their Halloween riches for delicious organic fair trade chocolate, or offer them Trillium rather than Mr. Bubble.   As they have grown up, they find that they actually prefer the good stuff.

The stakes just got raised.

My eldest daughter,  Zephyr was crowned Miss Door County, and is now preparing for the Miss Wisconsin Scholarship Pageant in June.  Here’s a shot of she and I when she won Miss Door County.

Our children sure do have a way of pulling us out of our comfort zones.  Zephyr is a beautiful, talented, gracious, girl, while the pageant world is famous for it’s toxicity; from risky diets, to toxic cosmetics, to ugly “pageant girl” sabotage.    She is in it to win it, so personal care products that perform are high on her list.

While I am concerned,  I am very happy with the way she is approaching it all.  Zephyr is a very level headed and wise young lady.  She has chosen to use this competition as a vehicle to become healthier and stronger.  She is on an detoxifying organic healthy diet, works out to beat the band, practices her music , works within the community to help people recognize and overcome bullying  and together we are researching beauty products for both function and safety.  In the coming months, I will sharing the trials, tribulations, successes and failures of my journey as an “organic stage mom”.

In the mean time, here’s a little bit from the EWG about why you, mothers and daughters, should really care about what you apply to your face body and hair.

Adolescent exposures to cosmetic chemicals of concern

By Rebecca Sutton, Ph.D., Staff Scientist, September 2008

The 20 teens we tested had an average of 13 hormone-altering cosmetics chemicals in their bodies.

Laboratory tests reveal adolescent girls across America are contaminated with chemicals commonly used in cosmetics and body care products. Environmental Working Group (EWG) detected 16 chemicals from 4 chemical families – phthalates, triclosan, parabens, and musks - in blood and urine samples from 20 teen girls aged 14-19. Studies link these chemicals to potential health effects including cancer and hormone disruption. These tests feature first-ever exposure data for parabens in teens, and indicate that young women are widely exposed to this common class of cosmetic preservatives, with 2 parabens, methylparaben and propylparaben, detected in every single girl tested.

In Alex (Washington DC): 12 hormone-altering cosmetics chemicals. “It’s frightening to learn about the many different kinds of toxic chemicals that can be found in my body. At the same time I would much rather be knowledgeable about my body’s chemical makeup than uninformed; in this case, ignorance is NOT bliss.”

This work represents the first focused look at teen exposures to chemicals of concern in cosmetics, exposures that occur during a period of accelerated development. Adolescence encompasses maturation of the reproductive, immune, blood, and adrenal hormone systems, rapid bone growth associated with the adolescent “growth spurt,”  shifts in metabolism, and key changes to brain structure and function. Alterations in an array of sex hormones, present in the body at levels as low as one part per billion (ppb), or even one part per trillion (ppt), guide this transformation to adulthood. Emerging research suggests that teens may be particularly sensitive to exposures to trace levels of hormone-disrupting chemicals like the ones targeted in this study, given the cascade of closely interrelated hormonal signals orchestrating the transformation from childhood to adulthood.

Study teens use more personal care products daily than an average adult woman

Source: EWG product use surveys.

During this window of vulnerability to toxic assault, adolescent girls typically experiment with an increasing number and variety of body care products. Teen study participants used an average of nearly 17 personal care products each day, while the average adult woman uses just 12 products daily. Thus, teens may unknowingly expose themselves to higher levels of cosmetic ingredients linked to potential health effects at a time when their bodies are more susceptible to chemical damage. Cosmetics and other personal care products are an alarming example of government and industry failures to protect public health. Federal health statutes do not require companies to test products or ingredients for safety before they are sold. As a result, nearly all personal care products contain ingredients that have not been assessed for safety by any accountable agency, and that are not required to meet standards of safety. To protect the health of teens and all Americans, we recommend action:

• The federal government must set comprehensive safety standards for cosmetics and other personal care products.
• Teens should make healthy choices for themselves by reducing the number of products they use, and by using our Shopper’s Guide to Safe Cosmetics to select safer products.
• Companies must reformulate products to protect consumers from exposure to potentially toxic chemicals, untested ingredients, and noxious impurities.

The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, news from the front lines

I write to you today to share some important news from my personal favorite political action group, The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, on the job in  Washington.  here is a press release from the front lines in our fight to clean up personal care in America.

…………………………….

In response to public pressure from recent scandals including mercury in face cream, lead in lipstick and formaldehyde in hair products, the House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee yesterday convened the first Congressional hearing in 30 years on the safety of cosmetics and personal care products. The hearing was weighted in favor of industry, which represented four of the six witnesses who testified. No witnesses representing health impacted salon workers or consumers were called to testify.

“It’s upsetting that manufacturers, their trade groups and lawyers got most of the seats at the table but the voices of people who have been hurt by toxic products were shut out of the process,” said Jennifer Arce, a hairstylist who is suffering respiratory ailments due to formaldehyde exposure from hair straightening treatments. Arce’s name was submitted to the Committee but she was not chosen to testify.

“Despite the heavy industry influence, safe cosmetics champions Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D – IL) and Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA) gave voice to the strong science supporting concerns about toxic chemicals in cosmetics and were staunch advocates for public health, worker safety and consumers’ right to know,” said Lisa Archer, director of the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics.

Michael DiBartolomeis, PhD toxicologist and head of the Safe Cosmetics Program for the California Department of Health, testified that companies have reported to his office 17,060 personal care products that contain one or more of 96 carcinogens or reproductive toxicants. The reporting is required by the California Safe Cosmetics Act of 2005.

DiBartolomeis stressed the importance that any federal cosmetics legislation must not preempt states’ rights to create stronger standards, as California has done. This could be a central issue as Congress gears up to debate cosmetics safety in the weeks ahead.

“This is a critical time for the future of cosmetic safety in the United States. Industry, environmental groups and both parties seem to agree that the failed 1938 cosmetics laws need to be updated, but the million-dollar question is, will it be meaningful reform or will industry write its own rules and make a bad situation worse?” said Janet Nudelman, policy director of the Breast Cancer Fund.

Three legislative proposals are circulating. The original cosmetics safety bill — the Safe Cosmetics Act, introduced last year by Schakowsky, Markey and Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) — is being supported by more than 100 consumer, public health, medical, faith and environmental groups.

Yesterday, Reps. Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and John Dingle (D-MI) introduced the Cosmetics Safety Enhancement Act. That bill calls for companies to pay $500 in user fees and would grant recall authority to FDA for cosmetics. Unlike Schakowsky’s bill, it would not provide protections against carcinogens and reproductive toxins in cosmetics, would not require full disclosure of cosmetic ingredients, and does not contain as strong a safety standard.

A third legislative proposal, written by the Personal Care Products Council, seeks to have FDA codify into law decisions about ingredient safety made by the industry-funded Cosmetic Ingredient Review Panel. Such a move would be “unprecedented” and possibly unconstitutional, according to Michael Landa, Director of the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition at FDA, who testified at the hearing.

The Energy and Commerce Committee has said there is a placeholder for cosmetics safety language to be added by Rep. Leonard Lance (R-NJ) to the User Fee Reauthorization Act that Congress will vote on in the coming months.

“Essential public health protections could be set back another 70 years if industry gets away with writing its own laws that put industry profits over public health,” said Janet Nudelman from the Breast Cancer Fund.

Nudelman stressed the need for meaningful reform that includes phasing out cosmetic ingredients linked to cancer, reproductive or developmental toxicity; a safety standard that protects workers, babies and other vulnerable populations; full disclosure of ingredients and FDA authority to recall dangerous products from the market—all of which are elements of the Safe Cosmetics Act of 2011.

“Anything less than this will fail to protect the public from the worst toxic chemicals that are lurking in our most intimate products,” Nudelman said.

# # #

The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics is a coalition of more than 150 nonprofit organizations working to protect the health of consumers and workers by eliminating dangerous chemicals from cosmetics. Core members include: the Breast Cancer Fund, Clean Water Action, Commonweal, Environmental Working Group, Friends of the Earth, and Women’s Voices for the Earth. www.safecosmetics.org

Letter to my Kids

As a mother of 3, my life is defined by the ways in which I support thier lives, through planning a feeding them wholesome organic food; planning and feeding them inspiring, educational books and experiences; planning and driving them to various classes, and activities. All of that takes of most of every day, until at the very end, I give the very last of my energy putting them all to sleep. In the midst of that, I run Trillium, keep a house and garden. It would be very easy in all of that busy-ness to forget to reflect on bigger ideas. The letter below was written by a Dad, and it really hits the nail on the head. Take a gander, and consider writing such a letter to your own kids. Or just do like I did, share and talk with them about this one. . . . .

Be Well!

Karen

“Limited money and family obligations have never stopped a man who REALLY wanted to do something, although they provide excuses for a man who is not really up to the creative challenge in the first place.” – David Deida

A Letter to My Kids

By Jason Leister

Dear Kids,

I’m taking the time to write this to you today, years before there’s a chance that you’ll ever read it.

One of my reasons for doing this is simply because I want to affirm some things that I see you doing and some of the ways you are being before you forget them.

But also, I want to give you an example of how life is a never-ending journey that is filled with shades of gray.

So, although you’re not quite ready to hear me talk about all of the challenges in my life, hopefully what follows will help you understand that no one has it all figured out… even your dad.

And that’s OK.

Part I: Who You Are – What You Want

When I started out in business, I was missing some key ingredients.

I didn’t know much about being an entrepreneur (I had just quit my job and decided to go out on my own. If I teach you right and you decide my suggestion is right for you, hopefully, you’ll never have a job, so this won’t be an issue) and I lacked confidence in myself.

But most importantly, I lacked a clear understanding of who I was and what I wanted.

I don’t blame anyone for that but myself. It was pretty much my way of surviving I imagine. A way to avoid conflict and to ensure that I didn’t ruffle any feathers.

If you don’t shine too brightly, there’s less of a chance of sticking out and calling attention to yourself.

So that’s where I want to begin, with the whole idea of who you are and what you want.

It’s funny that this is even an issue for me at 33, because right now, at your age, you are very, very clear about WHO you are and what you want.

I’m writing to you to tell you never to forget that.

Just a word of warning…

As you grow up, people around you might react to your clarity in a variety of ways.

To some, your ability to be clear and to say exactly what you want will make them uncomfortable. It might make some angry.

Please don’t listen to them. Their lives are the way they are, in part, because they aren’t able to clearly articulate what they want.

This lack of ability creates a lot of suffering in the world.

I will do my best to steer you around it now that I understand how it works.

Two of the keys to living a full life are to understand who you are and to be clear about what you want.

Everything else flows from that.

Part II: How to Become Successful

I used to think that in order to become a successful businessperson, I had to become more like successful business people.

So I read a lot of books about other people.

I read about Carnegie… I read about Bill Gates… I read about Felix Dennis…

The books I read were packed with pages and pages of “how to do it” information and stories of how others became successful.

Little did I know at the time that I was walking in the opposite direction of success.

Instead of learning how to be more like someone else, my focus should have been on learning how to become a more effective version of me.

In business, there’s this idea of the unique selling proposition. In a nutshell, it’s how what you have to offer is different (and therefore better) than anything else out there.

Being you… thinking the way you think… doing things the way you do them… your take on the world….

That’s your USP. It’s built in. Those are your competitive advantages.

But if those are not well developed, because you have not taken the time to develop them, then those differences are hardly noticeable at best, and completely hidden at worst.

This will work against you, because there will be no obvious reason for people and opportunities to flock to you over another.

You will be competing against the herd and your journey will be harder than it needs to be.

So despite what you might read in books, I recommend that you do become a pioneer.

After all, there’s really no other way to be successful as you.

You’re the only one living your life. So you are a pioneer whether or not you like it.

The only question is how effective you’ll be.

How do you measure success?

I can’t tell you that because that’s a decision that only you can make.

For me, success means that I’m a better version of myself today than I was yesterday.

Maybe that will work for you. Maybe not.

I’m probably on a very different journey than you are on, so please figure this out for yourself.

Just listen… you’ll hear the answer.

Part III: Money

You’ll hear a lot of stories about money as you grow up.

Some will say it’s good.

Others will say it’s evil.

Still others will say it’s OK as long as you only have enough… not too much.

Here’s my advice: They’re all lying.

Money has no meaning.

So when you hear people arguing about it… when you hear them say it’s good to have it… when you hear them say it’s bad to have it…

Please just ignore all of them.

They are wrong.

Money is energy. It flows to people who understand it.

It flows away from people who do not.

Don’t listen to the stories about money, just watch what it does and watch how it moves.

Here are facts:

As I write this, money is required to do things in the world.

Want to go to Italy and live there for 6 months?

You need money.

Needing money is not bad…

Needing money is not good…

Needing money just is.

Be OK with that.

But my recommendation is to develop a deep understanding of how it works. That way you can use it as a tool to live your life, instead of being like most people who use up their life working for it.

If you want to create a lot of it… go ahead.

If you want to exist with little of it, that’s your choice.

If you have other plans, pursue them, just don’t forget Part I of my letter.

You see, money isn’t evil.

Wanting money isn’t evil.

Going out of your way to get money isn’t evil.

It’s all a story. Someone else’s story.

The only thing that matters in life is your story. That’s why you’re here.

You’re here to write your own story.

Part IV: Know What You Stand For

In order to attract to yourself the people, the experiences and the opportunities that will make your life full, you have to shine a bright light out into the world.

Its message cannot be mixed, uncertain or unclear.

When the message you send out into the world based on who you are, what you do and what you offer is clear and powerful, you will attract just about anything you want.

But to do that, you have to know what you stand for. Of course, this list will change over time as you grow, but my hunch is that it will not change very much.

Just to give you an example of what I’m talking about, I’m going to give you my list below. Please don’t let any of these items make their way onto your list word for word.

You have your own list to make.

Again, if I’ve done my job well by the time you read this, you’ll already know your list without giving it a whole lot of thought.

What I Stand ForI stand for being real. For being who you are no matter what everyone says about it. Being anything else is living a lie. And it will kill you on the inside far before you die on the outside.
I stand for looking out for my own best interest. If I choose to help others, that is my choice to make. For helping others is a gift you give, not something you are forced to do.
I stand for power. Not the loud strong arm way of acting people see on the outside, but the quiet power that exists on the inside. It’s this power that you use to create anything you want in your life.
I stand for taking 100% responsibility for my life. This applies to the good the bad and the ugly. 100% responsibility means no exceptions.
I stand for living my life how I choose to live it, provided I do not tread on the freedoms of others’ ability to do the same.
In the end, the best advice I can give you is this:

Be true to who you are and take one step at a time. There’s no rush.

I wish you the best of luck on your journey,

Dad

[Ed. Note: Jason Leister is an internet entrepreneur, direct response copywriter and editor of “The Client Letter,“ the daily e-letter from ClientsSuck.net, where he helps independent professionals create success. You can contact him via his website at JasonLeister.com.]

The Solstice Pilgrimage

As I sit in the predawn darkness of Solstice night, sipping my hot cocoa, and munching on ginger snaps, not the best cookie I’ve ever tasted, but as my first crack at making up a gluten free recipe, they’re yummy enough.  I am reminded of the many years that came before.  Solstice, to me is bigger than Christmas, it is the real “reason for the season”.   This longest night, that was kept sacred by the ancients for one very good reason, hope.  They gathered to appeal to the gods to make the gathering darkness relent and again give way to the light.  All of the lights, remind us of that desperate plea for the light to return and the earth to be reborn into the new life of spring once again.

So many “traditions”  are merely recent creations of marketplace desperate to encourage consumption at any cost.  The latest holiday grab, transforming the last un commercialized bastion of family and community into the feeding frenzy of “Black Friday” is such a shame.  I heard on the news of a man for missed the family meal to stand in line to get a better price on a swing set for his daughter.  I would be willing to bet that she would have rather spend time with her dad than had a swing set for christmas.

Every Solstice, I have a tradition that until this year, I did not truly appreciate how much it meant to my children.  Simple, really, but one that we never miss.  I warm up the car and stock it with cookies and hot chocolate and lots of blankets.  I wake them up and place them into their coats and shuttle them into the car.  We drive out to the lake to watch the sunrise.  munching on cookies, and sipping our cocoa, we watch the return of the light, together, groggy, giggling and snuggly warm on the frozen beach.  Every year we find a different beach.  sometimes a mountain of ice, whipped up by angry frozen waves, sometimes the water is free and ice chips lap at the frosty sand.  We never know.  Off we go!!

…

Today, we found the first snow, the VERY first of the year to stick to the ground.  My middle son “prayed” for snow last night.  He was thrilled to see his prayers answered.  A little consolation prize for the holiday, to ease the sting of his 11 year old realization that Santa is not exactly who he thought he was.  The looks on all of their faces, the quiet contemplative moments standing in the cold, the moment when we all looked at one another and raced back to the warm car.  . .  All of it, priceless.

I pray that you find some magic with your friends, family , and community this holiday season, the kind of magic money cannot buy, the priceless kind.  Connection to one another’s experience, as we travel together on this wondrous planet earth.

Happy Solstice All!

Karen

Queen Mother of Trillium Herbal Company

 

Post Script:   To all who will share Trillium under the tree this christmas, or have purchased it inside this year.  I thank you deeply, you should know that you are also giving a gift to 6 families whose trees are lit, houses are warm and whose tables will indeed be graced with fat turkeys this holiday season.

 

 

Natural Awakenings article on Trillium ( December 2011)

Personal Care Products That Mother Nature Would Applaud

Trillium Organics Locally Made Formulations That Began in a Bailey’s Harbor Kitchen.

Linda Sechrist

Who amongst us hasn’t tried a safe and gentle natural rem­edy as a solution to a minor discomfort: baking soda for heartburn, chamomile tea for a restful night’s sleep, or Epsom salts for sore muscles. It was the lack of harmful side effects to common-sense home remedies like these that first drew Karen Ciesar, founder of Trillium Organics, to comb through her collection of home remedy books searching for natural recipes to use in personal care products. “My friends and I still get a kick out of paging through my home library where we always find formulas for preparations that our mothers and grandmoth­ers used,” says Ciesar. Her Organic Body Polish, which took four years of ground-level product formulation and person-to-person product testing to perfect, was the first salt scrub formulated and packaged for home use at a national level. Unfortunately, her application for a utility patent for her USDA Certified recipe was refused. “You would think that my law degree would have been good for something,” jokes Ciesar, who started Trillium Organics in 1995.

Karen Ciesar

Prior to her first pregnancy in 1994, Ciesar was a social justice attorney who advocated for women’s rights in the workplace, as well as an activist involved in numerous wom­en’s issues. During her pregnancy she studied to be a mid­wife, which introduced her to the world of the herbalist. “I was intrigued with how women were once deeply connected to the Earth and herbal formulas were passed down through generations. Regrettably, our society stopped honoring that wisdom and handed over preparation of personal care items to commercial manufacturers much in the same way as the preparation of our food, and, with similar negative results,” explains Ciesar. “Next to processed foods and prescription drugs, I believe that commercially made personal and skin­care products are major contributors to the body’s toxicity.”

It wasn’t just being a new mom that convinced Ciesar that her legal career was no longer her passion. The loss of two grandmothers to breast cancer and the fact that no re­tailer carried even one baby-care product that didn’t contain either cancerous or incomprehensible ingredients, tipped the scales in favor of Ciesar becoming part of a greener, cleaner, and better solution in personal care products.

“I had already spent so much time on research and had such an avid interest in non-toxic solutions for cleansing, moisturizing, and protecting the skin that it was a natural leap,” recalls the enthusiastic entrepreneur. Her one-woman

business that began with an organic body polish made in a rustic cabin in Bailey’s Harbor, now has six employees. Its longer list of organic offerings, which includes botani­cal perfume roll-ons and baby-care products, even gets exported to exotic places like Dubai, United Arab Emirates and China.

Trillium Organics continues to advocate for the rights of individuals to care for them­selves in a safe manner while supporting the Earth for future generations. It was one of the first signers of the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, a coalition effort launched in 2004 to protect the health of consumers and workers by securing the corporate, regulatory and legislative reforms necessary to eliminate dangerous chemicals from cosmetics and personal care products.

Since its inception the Trillium Organics formulation philosophy has never changed. “We exclusively use ingredi­ents which have an evolutionarily significant history of safe and beneficial use by humans,” notes Ciesar. “And, our cold pressed oils and therapeutic-grade essential oils and botani­cals, which are beneficial to the skin and safe for the health of the whole body, are certified organic.”

Unlike the majority of conventional personal care products, Trillium products are made by hand, contain no preservatives, and are not made from ingredients that enhance the performance of the product to the detriment of the skin and body. “The modern shelf-life expectation for personal care products is upwards of seven years,” advises Ciesar, who explains that this long period is achieved through using broad spectrum anti-microbials such as parabens, phenoxyethanol or other alcohols.

According to the Journal of Applied Toxicology 2004, parabens have been linked to human breast tumors. Phenoxyethanol and other alcohols ultimately dry the skin. And all anti-microbials, by design, kill micro-flora in the lo­tion. When applied to the skin, they destroy the skin’s surface micro-flora. The acid mantle, or outermost layer of epidermis, is host to a plethora of beneficial micro-flora that exists in balance to support healthy function of the skin. The use of preservatives disturbs this balance.

“In my opinion, we’ve all been part of a big experiment in personal care. Products that we’ve been using since the 1930s were found to be toxic in the `70s,” muses Ciesar. “It’s time to go back to the basics; the ones that Mother Nature provides.”

Location: 185 E. Walnut St., Sturgeon Bay. For more information, call 920-746-5207 or 800-734-7253 or visit TrilliumOrganics.com.

http://www.naturalmilwaukee.com/MILW/December-2011/Personal-Care-Products-That-Mother-Nature-Would-Applaud/

Victory for Authentic Organics

Big News is breaking again today in the land of  Organic Personal Care products.  The marketplace of so called “natural and organic” personal care has been mightily confusing for everyone for years due to the fact the the word “organic”,  while highly regulated in the realm of food, had no legal meaning in the realm of personal care.  California ( love them out there) has once again legislatively lead the way, and the Center for Environmental Health sued a bunch of body care compnaies whose labels made unsupported organic claims based on the Cal law.  Bravo CEH!!

BTW, Trillium has always been on the right side of this fight.  My approach to formulating starts with the individual ingredients, unless there is a evolutionarily significant history of safe human use, we won’t use it.  (That approach effectively excludes all of the synthetic , post petroleum era ingredients)  You may have to learn a few new tricks, like applying oil to wet skin instead of using lotion, or polishing your face with salt before shaving.  We think that a healthy body into the future and happy skin in the present is worth it!  I bet you do too!

I pass this press release along to you dear reader. . .

Landmark Legal Agreements Set Truth-in-Labeling Standard for Organic Personal Care Products

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

November 30, 2011

Kiss My Face, Boots, Colomer and eight other major brands reach first-ever settlement requiring adherence to California’s Organic Production Act

Oakland, CA-The Center for Environmental Health (CEH) today announced it has reached legal agreements with eleven producers of national brand hair care and other personal care products in the first-ever lawsuits settled under the California Organic Production Act (COPA).

Earlier this year, CEH purchased “organic” labeled personal care products from national retailers including Target, Walgreens, CVS, Rite Aid, Whole Foods and other stores, and in June filed lawsuits against more than two dozen companies for products that violated California law, which requires “organic” labeled personal care products to contain at least 70% organic ingredients. The legal agreements certified by the Alameda County Superior Court yesterday call on the companies to comply with COPA, either by increasing their use of organic ingredients or changing their labels, and to make their organic ingredient records available to CEH for inspection. Given the size of the California market, CEH expects the settlements will effect products nationwide.

“This is a victory for organic consumers who deserve to get what they pay for when they buy “organic” labeled personal care products,” said Michael Green, Executive Director of CEH. “We expect all companies with improper organic labels to agree to these terms and comply with the law on the same timeline.” The settlements with the eleven companies call for their products manufactured after March 31, 2012 to be in compliance with COPA. On or before that date the companies will make available to CEH information on their labeling codes, so the nonprofit can identify which products were made following the compliance date.

CEH has pending lawsuits remaining against 23 other companies that sell products in violation of COPA. While the Center is hopeful for a similar agreement with many of these companies, some companies have resisted a resolution that would offer truthful labels to consumers. Brands sold in national stores that have yet to commit to truthful labels include:

• Vogue International “Organix” brand hair care and other products: the company uses the term “organic” as well as the brand name “Organix” in large type on the front label on products that contain few or no organic ingredients.
• Namaste Laboratories “Organic Root Stimulator” hair care and other products: the company uses the word “Organic” in large type (as part of the brand name) on products that contain no organic ingredients.
• Strength of Nature Global “Elasta QP” brand hair care products: the company uses the term “organic” on the front label of products that contain no organic ingredients.

In some cases, “organic” labeled products from the companies contain synthetic ingredients suspected of causing serious health problems. For example, an Organic Root Stimulator Girls Olive Oil No-Lye Conditioning Relaxer System, a product marketed to young children, contains ingredients linked to birth defects, hormone altering effects, and skin allergies. Package warnings on this “organic” product read “Keep away from eyes. Can cause blindness.”

CEH has a fifteen-year track record of protecting communities from the health impacts of toxic pollution and has uncovered toxic health threats to children from wood playground structures, toys, vinyl baby bibs and lunchboxes, imported candies, children’s jewelry, children’s medicines, and many other products. CEH also works with major industries and leaders in green business to promote healthier alternatives to toxic products and practices. Last year the San Francisco Business Times bestowed its annual “Green Champion” award to CEH for its work to improve health and the environment in the Bay Area and beyond.

-30-

List of 11 Settling Companies

Boots (Boots brand)

Kiss My Face

E.T. Brown (Palmer’s Olive Oil Formula brand)

Pacifica

At Last Naturals (Lucky Tiger brand)

Himalaya (Organique brand)

RenPure

Suki (Sukiface brand)

Stearns (derma e® brand)

Cosway (Head Organics brand)

Colomer (Crème of Nature brand)

List of 23 companies with pending complaints

Advantage Research Laboratories, Inc./Murray’s Worldwide, Inc. (Parnevu® brand)

All Natural Distributors Inc. (Tints of Nature brand)

Aubrey Organics, Inc.

Beauty Without Cruelty/Lotus Brands, Inc.

California Inside & Out, Inc. (Out of Africa® brand)

Curls LLC

Episencial LLC

Hain Inc (Jason brand)

Herb UK Limited (Tints of Nature brand)

House of Cheatham, Inc. (Organics by Africa’s Best brand)

International Trade Routes of New York, Inc/Laboratorios Phergal, S.A. (Naturtint® brand)

Jean Pierre Inc. (Blum® Naturals brand)

Kinky-Curly Hair Care, LLC

Lafe’s Natural BodyCare, Inc/Lafe T. Larson, Inc.

Lamas, Inc. (Peter Lamas brand)

Morrocco Method, Inc.

Namasté Laboratories, L.L.C. (Organic Root Stimulator brand)

Nature’s Baby Products, Inc.

Nubian Heritage Group LLC/Sundial Brands LLC (SheaMoisture and Nubian Heritage brands)

Nutrition Resource, Inc. dba NutriBiotic (NutriBiotic® brand)

Rainbow Research Corporation (Rainbow Baby Oh Baby® brand)

Strength of Nature Global, LLC (Elasta QP® brand)

Todd Christopher International, Inc. dba Vogue International (Organix brand)

Giving Thanks Again

I have so much to be thankful for, our first community Thaksgiving Feast was a rousing success, sure , it was mostly our extended family, but the seed has been planted, and I can see that it will grow and grow and grow  in the years to some.  As we held hands around the vast array of delicious dishes that everyone had brought to share, I gave thanks that we all had our health and happiness.  Little did I know , that all of that would be mightily challenged just hours from then.

I awoke on Saturday morning, ready to go share the virtues of Body Polish with the Holiday Revelers and Santa Visitors at Sister Bay Trading Company, when I asked the constant question “Where’s Sammy?”  my two year old who has a real talent for finding the most dangerous thing in any room.  I discovered him on my other son’s bed surrounded by and chewing on some of Grandma’s medicines!   AAAAAAHHHHHhhhh!!   I really didn’t see that crisis coming.

We have just returned from a 24 hours of  observation in ICU.  Another bullet dodged.  Nothing like trying to keep a highly active toddler hooked up to monitor wires in nine places while he squirms and squiggles!  Alas, here I am again, back at home thankful for our health, and happiness.  Thankful for everyone who brought Thanksgiving leftovers, organic grapes, and cookies and company to the hospital yesterday.  Thankful for the super loving nursing staff at Door County Memorial.

Happy Holidays everyone, remember to be thankful for the quiet joys of every moment, you never know when life will turn on a dime and sends you flying in another direction.  Blessed BE the little ones who keep us on our toes.

The Organic Shave

Forget everything that the conventional guys sold you about heavy synthetic surfactant foam, extruded from cans with fluorocarbon,  leaving your skin stripped and scraped followed by a (don’t be a wimp) ”bracing” menthol and alcohol slap int he face.  Ouch!  Could anyone really love that kind of pain? and toxic load?

Today, the measure of a man, or a woman isn’t how much money they spend on grooming, it is how intelligent they are about what is in those supplies, their impact on the earth,  their own sperm count, and how many years it shaved off their life expectancy.  The new Black is indeed Green.

Those who have discovered Organic Body Polish already know that it is the best shaving substance ever invented.  Without depleting the ozone layer, messing with your hormones, or adding any carcinogens to the cocktail, your can experience the best shave of your life.

Here is how it works.

Rub Organic Body Polish onto the area in small circular motions..  The crystals of salt exfoliate the skin that grows up around the follicle, liberating any ingrown hairs.   The Organic oils soften the hairs preparing them for the shave.

Rinse the polish from the skin BEFORE shaving.  The temperature of the water will affect how much oil is left on the skin as a barrier for the shave.  Using cooler water will leave a thicker layer of oil, warmer will thin the oil and rinse more away.  Adjust the temperature to your personal liking.

Shave  Using a clean, sharp razor, shave the area of choice.   Rinse oil and hairs from the razor with each pass.  Using and oil barrier instead of thick foam gives you more control of where the razor is shaving, handy when you are trying to sculpt a goatee. or edgy beard.

Revel in your smooth, moisturized, healthy skin!  The salt is antiseptic, and promotes healing, so any nicks will resolve readily.

That’s it, your simple, Organic shave,  now your Eco IQ is even higher. and your shave is closer.  Just be sure to reuse or recycle the jar.

OGbaby recipe for Organic Baby Wipes

I don”t use commercial baby wipes on my babies.  The preservation chemicals in even the cleanest and greenest wipes are simply unacceptable.  Generally, I just use wash cloths and water from the sink, if it gets really gross, I just place him right in the tub and clean him up.

Alas!  running water is not always handy, and hanging on to poopy dirty wash cloths is just plain gross, I admit that have thrown them out rather than risk finding them a couple of days later in the bottom of the diaper bag.  ( not so green or thrifty)

I took great care in making our OGbaby products, but there is just no way to make moist towlettes without adding some pretty heavy-duty preservatives.   However, if you are willing to do a little prep work, you can have it all.

No yucky chemicals on your babe.    No yucky wash cloths in you diaper bag.  No big deal.

“Diapey Wipey Juice “

• 2 cups water
• 2 TBS OGbaby Gentle Soap (Fragrance Free or Breathe Free Tea Tree)
• 1 TBS OGbaby Moisture Oil (Really Fragrance Free)

shake it up, use it up inside a month * remember it is not preserved with anything toxic so it will get funky faster than the chemical stuff.

For wash cloths:  Simply pour the juice into a squirt or spray bottle ( preferably something reused after using another natural product) and squirt it onto your clean wash cloths for a great cleanup wipe for anything from sticky faces to grimy hands to dirty butts (in that order).

For disposable wipes: Get some high quality, preferably recycled, unbleached, they must hold up when wet, paper towels, using a serrated knife, cut the roll in half.  Place the half towel roll in a plastic container with a lid that will close over it. Pour the Wipey Juice over the towels until completely saturated.  Cover.  Once soaked, remove the inner core and pull your home-made Organic Towlettes from the center of the roll.  Super handy organic wipes for Mama’s who are willing to take a few simple steps to make it safe, healthy and Organic!!!

Either way you do it, you will be one of the cleverest of the OGmamas in your playgroup!

Who can you trust?

I simply had to share this.  People know how much these chemicals endanger our children’s future, yet business and bottom line concerns prevail!  It is this is allowed in our country, yet because our regulatory system around personal care is rub by industry and not by concerned consumers, or elected officials with a fiduciary duty to the consumers,  this is what we get.

read it and weep. . .   it is the truth. .

USDA Certified Organic Personal care is the only trustable source.

TRENTON, N.J. — Two chemicals considered harmful to babies remain in Johnson & Johnson’s baby shampoo sold in the U.S., even though the company already makes versions without them, according to a coalition of health and environmental groups.

The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics has unsuccessfully been urging the world’s largest health care company for 2 1/2 years to remove the trace amounts of potentially cancer-causing chemicals – dioxane and a substance called quaternium-15 that releases formaldehyde – from Johnson’s Baby Shampoo, one of its signature products.

Johnson & Johnson said it is reducing or gradually phasing out the chemicals, but did not respond directly to the campaign’s demands.

Now the group is ratcheting up the pressure and urging consumers to boycott Johnson & Johnson baby products until the company agrees to remove the chemicals from its baby products sold around the world.

“Johnson & Johnson clearly can make safer baby shampoo in all the markets around the world, but it’s not doing it,” said Lisa Archer, director of the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics. “It’s clearly a double standard, something they can easily fix.”

The campaign’s new report, “Baby’s Tub is Still Toxic,” is set to be released Tuesday, when the group was launching the boycott via its Web site, . http://www.safecosmetics.org

Archer said her group has met with Johnson & Johnson representatives three times since spring 2009, and is disappointed the company is not making safer baby shampoo and other products in the U.S. when it does elsewhere.

On Monday, the campaign sent Johnson & Johnson a letter, signed by about 25 environmental, medical and other groups representing about 3.5 million people in the U.S. and other countries. It urges the company to publicly commit by Nov. 15 to removing the chemicals from all personal care products worldwide.

In response, Johnson & Johnson said in a statement that formaldehyde-releasing preservatives are safe and approved by regulators in the U.S. and other countries, but that it is gradually phasing them out of its baby products. It said it is also reformulating baby products to reduce the level of dioxane below detectable levels. But it did not say whether it would respond to or meet the campaign’s full demands.

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The letter, addressed to CEO William Weldon, was signed by groups including the Breast Cancer Fund, Environmental Working Group, Friends of the Earth, American Nurses Association, Physicians for Social Responsibility and Green America.

“Even though the chemicals may be low-level, why risk it?” said Tracey J. Woodruff, an associate professor and director of the Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment at University of California-San Francisco.

Woodruff, who is not involved in the campaign, noted that the chemical levels in the baby products add to other chemicals infants are exposed to every day.

According to the report, obtained by The Associated Press, one of the suspect chemicals, quaternium-15, is a preservative that kills bacteria by releasing formaldehyde. Formaldehyde, used as a disinfectant and embalming fluid, was declared a known human carcinogen this past June by the U.S. National Toxicology Program. Formaldehyde also is a skin, eye and respiratory irritant.

Quaternium-15 is still an ingredient on Johnson & Johnson’s Baby Shampoo sold in the U.S., Canada, China, Indonesia and Australia, but the campaign’s research this summer found it’s not in the same product sold in at least eight other countries, from the U.K. and Denmark to Japan and South Africa.

The second chemical, 1,4-dioxane, is considered a likely carcinogen. It’s a byproduct of a process for making chemicals more soluble and gentler on the skin.

The campaign’s May 2009 report, called “No More Toxic Tub,” stated that studies by an independent laboratory it hired, Analytical Sciences LLC of Petaluma, Calif., found that 1,4-dioxane was contained in Johnson & Johnson’s Baby Shampoo, Oatmeal Baby Wash, Moisture Care Baby Wash and Aveeno Baby Soothing Relief Creamy Wash.

According to the report, the company has since launched a baby shampoo called Johnson’s Naturals, sold in the U.S., that does not include 1,4-dioxane. But original Johnson’s baby shampoo, which costs about half as much, has not been reformulated for the U.S. market, according to the campaign.

Analytical Sciences tested multiple J&J baby product samples from the U.S. for the first report, finding low levels of the chemicals. After that, according to Archer, consumer groups in South Africa, Sweden and Japan contacted her group to note that quaternium-15 was not being used in products in their countries. The updated report was based on an examination of label ingredients for Johnson & Johnson baby products in 13 countries.

Archer noted that some of the countries where the products did not contain the harsh chemicals had bans on them in personal care products, but others didn’t.

Woodruff, who researches health effects of chemicals, said there is evidence that formaldehyde is associated with nose, lung and blood cancers such as leukemia. She said an infant’s scalp is more permeable than an adult’s, so exposure to the chemicals could cause more harm for babies than adults.

“You’re exposing a child during a very vulnerable period of development, when the effect may be worse,” Woodruff said.