Skin Care Products

Many of the substances that are bad for the environment are also bad for us. Unfortunately, many of the products we use on our skin and bodies contain unhealthy, dangerous chemicals, preservatives, and compounds.

TreeHugger's article Beyond Parabens highlights some of the most common harmful substances that make their way into your skin care products and cosmetics.

-Parabens
-Fragrances
-Polyethylene glycol (PEG)
-Nanoparticles
-Phenoxyethanol
-Triclosan
-Petrolatum/Petroleum jelly
-Quaternium-15

So check out the ingredient lists on your sunscreen, make-up, cologne/perfume, shampoo, lotions, soaps, etc. If you see any of these ingredients, please look them up, in the TreeHugger article or elsewhere, so that you may wisely weigh your options and consider ceasing your use of the products. If you are pregnant or hope to conceive in the future (whether you are male or female), or if a child uses the product with one of these ingredients, pay very close attention.

Hand Sanitizer

If you often use waterless hand sanitizer, consider switching to a green alternative. The following article from Tree Hugger discusses the Clean Well line of hand sanitizers. Here in West Melbourne, FL, you can find these products at Paradise Health and Nutrition. I'm sure if you have the good fortune of having access to larger natural food/products stores, you'll be able to find Clean Well easily where you live, too.

A Greener Hand Sanitizer for Cold Season?

Natural CleanWell hand sanitizers kill 99.99 percent of germs while being 100 biodegradable just in time for cold season. CleanWell’s kid-friendly sanitizers, soaps, and wipes are made with ingredients from renewable plants such as thyme that don’t require pesticides during their growing process.

CleanWell also doesn't include Triclosan, an ingredient that has gotten a pretty bad wrap. Triclosan, widely used as an antibacterial ingredient in household hand sterilization products, breaks down rapidly when exposed to chlorinated water and produces toxic chemicals including chloroform. According to a study published on the Environmental Science & Technology research website As Soon As Publishable (ASAP), many antibacterial products may not only be ineffective, but harmful.

According to Cleanwell's Web site, however, the product doesn't disrupt the eco-system. It's also free of toxins like Triclosan and cruelty-free (not tested on animals).

Lloyd previously discussed how hand sanitizers can do more harm than good. According to Scientific American, it appears that after spraying a counter with an antibiotic cleaner, some chemicals linger and continue to kill bacteria but don't necessarily get all of them. The ones that survive develop a tolerance. That's scary stuff. The jury is still out as to whether that's true of natural sanitizers.

The bottom line: people love hand sanitizer. So if you're going to use it, you might as well try a greener version.