What is "green"? What works? What is just marketing? Where to find the answers

Have you noticed that many new hair products have "Sodium Lauryl Sulfate- Free" or "Paraben-Free" written on their bottles?  Now that Clorox has come out with its Green line, do you wonder whether to try these or other "green" products rather than use your old standby Tylex or Pine-sol? There are so  new many "eco" or "green" products out there that it is hard to figure out what is better, worth paying a bit more or whether to stick with what you know.  What threatens the environment and/or  poses a risk to you or your family's health and what is just marketing? I was and still am asking myself these questions and I came across a few resources I thought I'd write about.

I looked up Sodium Lauryl Sulfate and Parabens on Wikipedia, and they didn't seem all to concerned. They acknowledged that there is controversy, but their articles weren't at all as in depth as the ones regarding the Bisphenol-A and Pthalates.  So I dug a little deeper.  I bought a book, checked one out of the library and found a couple of websites.  I won't reiterate everything I have read since it would take me about 500 pages. I will recommend the books:

Raising Baby Green, The Earth Friendly Guide to Pregnancy, Childbirth and Baby Care by Alan Greene, M.D.

This book I recommend you borrow from the library or a friend.  It is simple and easily read, but it doesn't offer much in depth discussion of the topics.  It lists good ideas of how to live "green" but seems more focused on what you can do rather than on the why.  Why was one of my first words... I like to know why!! 

GreenGreenerGreenest- A Practical Guide to Making Eco-Smart Choices a Part of Your Life by Lori Bongiorno.

This is a nice little book that is handy as a guide, it is printed on 100% Recycled Paper and printed with vegetable based ink.  I would recommend buying it as it does outline the problems and then  it lists the green, greener and greenest choices. It is small and could fit in a purse.  It is much better suited to someone who wants to understand the issues. Yet, its just under 300 pages, so a lot of it is condensed.  Still it gives a nice overview of the issues and good discussion on what you can do.

A great website is by National Geographic. It is called the www.GreenGuide.com.  This site has real science and is run by a reputed and known company.

This site had the best answer to my question about personal care products.  Both books discussed at different length the increase risk of cancer associated with the chemicals in these products, but not in any detail.  What I found at the greenguide.com is that while Sodium Lauryl Sulfate and parabens could potentially be cancerous, the real issues deal with formaldyhide and polyethelynes.  Sodium Lauryl Sulfates is grouped with the later and these compounds are can become contaminated with 1,4 dioxane which has caused liver cancer in mice.  Some other ingredients, such as diethanolamine and triethanolamine, can react with nitrites (preservatives) inside the shampoo bottle to form carcinogenic nitrosamines, which can be absorbed through the skin.  The list goes on and I would rather you check out the website than retype what is already well explained.

Another website that is good is called Skin Deep: www.cosmeticdatabase.com. There you can see how your personal care products rate in terms of safety and sometimes read reviews.

A third website you may be interested is by CHEC's HealtheHouse.  www.checnet.org/HealtheHouse/myehome/index.asp  You can take an online test and it will give you an analysis of the state (healthy or not) of your home.

My thought is this:  If I keep myself reasonably educated, I can make better decisions for my family.  When I buy any product more than once, I consider it an endorsement of the practices that the company selling the product employs.  So when I buy local, organic or something that is "eco", I do it for myself and my family, but I also think of a way to buy interest in the future. I am endorsing that company's way of doing things and voting against large companies who look only at the bottom line. 

Seventh Generation is a great company who develops ecologically responsible products. They also have a great webpage you should check out.

On the back of the Seventh Generation Dishwashing liquid they say that if:

"Every household in the U.S. replaced just one bottle of 25 oz petroleum based dishwashing liquid with our (Seventh Generation's) vegetable based product, we could save 81,000 barrels of oil, enough to heat and cool 4,600 U.S. homes for a year!"

I like this approach.  I can't afford to install solar panels, I still need to drive places, clean my house, etc so I try to do as much in the rest of my life to offset my carbon footprint and reduce my contribution to pollution and waste. If a product is non-toxic, biodegradable and can help offset my carbon footprint, I'll pay the roughly 50 cents more.  The more "natural" shampoos/ soaps are also more expensive, but precisely because they are I try to waste less. This helps offset their higher costs but also reminds me of how "expensive" household and personal care items often are.  Conventional items may be cheaper on the wallet, but for the most part have a higher environmental and health cost. 

So do I have any recommendations?  I haven't done any major product testing, but here are a few things I have tried and liked.

For household items:  I like Seventh Generations' stuff, but I haven't used Clorox yet.  Since Seventh Generation's company was founded on the principle of providing non-toxic and biodegradable products, like to support them by rather than Procter and Gamble (sorry Tom).

Also, I like Method's bathroom scrub (it comes in a cool bottle with a great sponge) and their toilet bowl cleaner.

For the laundry, I like soapnuts, and also Seventh Generation's laundry detergent.

For personal care:

Aside from Dr. Bronner's soap (now even available at Target) and vegetable based loosed soaps found at Wegmans' and a lot of natural foods stores,  I haven't yet hit the jackpot.  I really like the soaps, but I haven't yet found a shampoo/ conditioner that works for my hair... which is short, straight and fine, nothing too crazy! I am toying with trying the kids shampoo! If anyone knows of one that works well, please let me know.  

For the kids, I have found California Baby, which is great for Emma since not only does it not contain any of the chemicals listed above, but it is soy, gluten and dairy free.  Since she loves to suck on her wash cloth, she isn't getting any of those in her system and hurting her and also keeping us up at night. So far we have tried the baby wash/ shampoo and a cream that works wonders.

What next?  I would like to switch to biodegradable trash bags and freezer storage bags. If not biodegradable, at least made with recycled materials and without harmful chemicals. A post to come!  I will let you know what I find. So far I can't really afford the biobags at $5 for 12... but I am sure there will be some options sooner rather than later!