(January 26, 2010) Santa Cruz, CA - On January 19th, after more than a year of continuous controversy, the FDA has released a statement naming the chemical Bisphenol A (BPA) as a safety risk, allocating $30 million for independent research for a first-time, non-industry-funded study  in an effort to learn more about the health risks associated with BPA.  Bisphenol A is especially prevalent in baby bottles, and while consumer pressure and declining sales of BPA plastics have spurred the six largest, plastic baby bottle manufacturers to voluntarily remove BPA from baby bottles sold in the U.S., the chemical is still widely prevalent in consumer food and beverage containers sold around the world.

Bisphenol A, or BPA, is one of the world’s highest production-volume chemicals, and has been used for 40 years in plastic items such as baby bottles, food and beverage containers, and dental sealants. Independent studies have shown adverse health effects of BPA occur on the brain and reproductive system, as well as create metabolic diseases in laboratory animals.

In the human body, BPA mimics the estrogen hormone, and studies have tied the BPA compound to reproductive abnormalities and the increased risk of both cancer and diabetes. Infants and children are thought to be particularly vulnerable to the BPA compound because their reproductive organs and ability to metabolize chemicals are not fully formed.  In a statement in 2008, the FDA said BPA was safe in materials that come into contact with food, to which  critics accused the agency of using outdated studies that had been sponsored by the chemical industry, so the new cautionary statement by the FDA is a huge step in the right direction of consumer safety over corporate pressure.

There was considerable media coverage of the BPA baby bottle controversy last year. Scientist and expert Frederick vom Saal explains the situation like this: “The Japanese industry voluntarily removed BPA from can linings 10 years ago and thus, were able to reduce exposure to BPA by 50 percent.  Last year, Congress asked companies in the United States to take similar actions; however, companies have made no move toward compliance.”  In spite of this and tarried by pressure from chemical corporation lobbyists, the FDA still has no official plan to ban BPA from consumer goods.

The new FDA position is consistent with that of the National Toxicology Program made two years ago.  To avoid this health risk all together, choose BPA-free plastics, and avoid putting all plastics into the microwave and dishwasher, where they can release dangerous chemicals when heated, or degrade in the heat and excessive moisture.

Safe plastics that use polyethylene (#1, #2, and #4) and polypropylene (#5) require the use of less toxic additives. They also are non-chlorinated. Avoid choosing products that use polyvinyl chloride (#3), polystyrene (#6), and polycarbonate (#7) which typically contains bisphenol A (BPA) and is found in baby bottles and/or sippy cups.

About the author: Elizabeth Borelli is the Founder of Nubius Organics, an eco-conscious mom, and an environmental activist. She began www.nubiusorganics.com to bring her knowledge of safe, healthy alternatives to a greater audience, and to share valuable  information, resources, and green solutions with the public, the media, and parents to be.

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While teams of scientists are in the midst of searching for the best, lowest impact alternative fuel resources, some scientists are just having fun – meaning they are spending their time discovering ways to apply green technology for fun, everyday uses.

Researchers Klaus Sedlbauer and Herbert Sinnesbichler from the Fraunhofer Institute for Building Physics have created the temperature-regulating mug using a phase change material (PCM). PCM is capable of storing and releasing large amounts of heat by changing its phase,  for example, changing from a solid to a liquid as needed, to maintain an optimal temperature for your beverage.

The mug was created using a hollow porcelain shell filled with ribbons of highly conductive aluminum. The aluminum formed a honeycomb structure, which the researchers filled with solid PCM. When the mug is filled with a hot beverage, the PCM absorbs the heat and melts like wax into a liquid. This process cools the beverage down to the optimal temperature. As the beverage cools over time, the PCM slowly releases the stored heat back into the drink, maintaining the optimal temperature for up to 30 minutes.

Researchers note that different drinks have different optimal temperatures. Warm drinks such as coffee and tea are best enjoyed at 58° C (136.4° F), beer tastes best at 7° C (44.6° F), and ice-cold drinks are best at -12° C (10.4° F). Since different types of PCM have different chemical properties and melting temperatures, the scientists can make different mugs for different beverages. Unfortunately, consumers need a mug for hot and cold, as there is not a single mug that can manage both types of drinks.

Other Applications

Besides this practical application in the construction of mugs, scientists believe PCM has a variety of other interesting uses. Researchers are currently investigating the possibility of using it to keep perishable foods from spoiling. Another suggestion is to put it on museum walls to protect paintings in the case of a fire (PCM is non-flammable). PCM also has long-term memory capabilities, and would be a good alternative for storing computer data without the need for an electric current.

PCM is currently being used in construction materials, where its embedded in walls and ceilings to maintain a comfortable room temperature. Its also being included in the fabric liner of some winter jackets for greater, more consistent warmth.

Now if they could only find a way to use it in a Snuggie(TM)…

Katrina Pfannkuch
Buzzword Communications, LLC

About the author: Katrina Pfannkuch is a writer, Reiki Master and entrepreneur who lives to write and create. She started Buzzword Communications to pursue her passion for excellence in communication and satisfy her entrepreneurial spirit.

by Park Howell

Dane Platt and William Carey discuss their unique golf ball recycling program while offering you a FREE sleeve of Earth Golf Balls for a test drive. See below.

When I think of an “Eco-friendly” golf ball, I can’t help but picture those exploding joke golf balls made of chalk that you tee up for your unsuspecting buddy.

Then I met Dane Platt and William Carey of Dixon Golf.

And they introduced me to the Earth Golf Ball, the world’s first high-performance 100% eco-friendly golf ball.

These guys didn’t just stop at making a really green golf ball (more about the ball in a second), but they activated a recycling program that gets golfers involved beyond just playing a round.

“Golf, in its essence, should the greenest of all sports.  And yet our industry is still 10 years behind the times,” said William Carey.

Platt and Carey said that they want to incentivize golfers to recycle the standard golf balls that are made with heavy metals and do nothing for the environment. When you turn in any golf ball at a pro shop or store that carries the Earth golf ball, you receive a 50 cent discount on a new Earth ball. You get a $1 discount when you recycle a Dixon Earth ball. The program recycled more than 38,000 golf balls on Earth Day alone.

The Earth golf ball is organic to the core, and has replaced the heavy metals, like lead, tungsten and titanium, with a proprietary organic compound that is essentially like salt.

But is salt like chalk?

“The problem with completely biodegrable golf balls is that they do explode on the tee,” Dane pointed out. “So that doesn’t work so well for performance. What we have created is a high-performance ball that can be ground up and reused in all sorts of other new products, while we’re taking the heavy metals out of the environment.”

PGA Tour Partners sent a dozen balls to 125 golfers to test against the likes of Titleist, Nike and Callaway high-performance balls.  The Earth golf ball received a 92 percent approval rating. When asked what the Earth ball is like compared to the competition, Dane said the quality is between a Titleist Pro V1 and the NXT Tour. The company even has a long drive champ in it’s corner, with Sean “The Beast” Fister using their Eco-Distance ball in competition.

“You can’t make a crappy ball, call it eco-friendly and expect anyone to buy it if it’s not going to help their game,” William said.

Do You Want To Take A FREE Test Drive?

I asked these green golf innovators if they wanted to put their Earth golf ball to another test: Having you, my readers, test drive and comment on their ball? They have so much confidence in the performance of their new green ball, that they were generous enough to give me four dozen to try. If you would like a FREE sleeve of Earth golf balls, please send me your name and address through my contact form, and I’ll send you a sleeve (while supplies last).  All I ask in return is that you give your honest review of the ball in the comment section on this post. And please play the ball and review it within one week of getting the FREE sleeve. I’ll be taking the new Earth ball for a spin this weekend.

A tip of the golf cap to Dane and William for not just making an eco-friendly golf ball, but for taking their drive farther by activating a terrific golf ball recycling program.

. . .

Park Howell’s ad agency, Park & Co. focuses on people, products, companies and services that make the world around us better. On his blog, ParkHowell.com, he shares ways to help businesses insure their green marketing and messaging is more sustainable, more responsible, more memorable, more believable, and more doable.

I was recently contacted by a representative of Mission Playground and asked to review their products. Before looking at their website, I agreed, thinking it would be recycled playground equipment or something. Later that day I made it to the website, and boy was I in for a pleasant surprise! (Not that there’s anything wrong with recycled playground equipment…)

Mission Playground is an environmentally conscious clothing company for men, women and children that uses apparel as a vehicle for positive change by raising awareness through their designs.

From the website:

The earth is our playground; our mission is to preserve it. This philosophy underlies our operations, from design to production to distribution. Through progressive design, globally mindful art and production practices, we are constantly mindful of the impact we have and want to share that with you. This means using sustainable materials whenever and wherever possible.

Mission Playground graciously sent me several pieces to review from their Fall 2009 line, including the One Life tee and Snicker pants. Here are my thoughts on both:

Fits to a T…

The One Life t-shirt (not pictured) for women is made of 100% organic cotton and is one of the most comfortable shirts I’ve ever worn. Soft, breathable and cut just right so that it has a feminine fit yet still allows you to move. Example: I wore it to yoga and felt neither restricted or exposed. Last but not least, the shirt’s design featured a design of hands forming a heart with the words “One life to love…Mission Playground” inscribed underneath.

Nothing to Snicker At…

The Snicker pants for women are just the antidote for your denim jean addiction. Made from 95% organic cotton and 5% spandex calvary twill, these pants are lightweight enough for summer wear, but tough enough for a late season hike. Featuring funky asymmetrical front pocket flaps and button and shock cord detail on the waistband, these pants are feminine without compromising utility.

Planting the seeds…

Besides producing fabulous clothing from sustainable materials, the folks at Mission Playground have also launched S.E.E.D (Sustainable Environment and Education Development)- a program that is committed to raising awareness for issues that concern our playgrounds. S.E.E.D. will pledge 1% of sales to non-profit organizations that share the same passions as we do for our playground.

‘Earth Tips’ Sewn into Each Garment

To further their mission, every Mission Playground garment includes a sewn-in ‘Earth Tip’, such as ‘Plant Your Car – bus, bike, walk, or carpool’ or ‘Bag, Your It – always remember to bring a bag with you whenever you shop’. The tips provide simple steps that we can all take to live in a manner friendlier to Mother Earth.

GIVEAWAY: WIN A COOL HAT FROM MISSION PLAYGROUND!!!!!

That’s right- we’re spreadin’ the love. Follow the directions below for entry to win the Whey hat from Mission Playground before it’s even available on their website! This is an 100% organic cotton, fitted five panel cap with angled fabric bill, contrast cotton piping and interior lining.

Multiple entries are encouraged! Here’s how:

First Entry (required) – Leave a comment on this blog post telling me the name of a product you would love to have from the Mission Playground website.

Second Entry – Follow @GenGreen on Twitter (if you don’t already) and Tweet about this giveaway. Leave a comment on this blog post with your @name and a link to the Tweet.

Bonus for Two Extra Entries – Post this Giveaway on your blog or website and leave a comment on this blog post with a link to your post.

The winner will be announced on Friday, May 1 2009 by 12 p.m. MST.

Good Luck!

The GenGreen Team

The most controversial thing about the reusable bag boom, is the consumption/conservation conundrum.

Environmentalists ask, “Why buy something new, taking on its whole carbon footprint and inevitably creating waste in the process, when the whole point of avoiding disposable bags in the first place is to reduce waste, pollution and ultimately cost?” It’s a valid point. Even though everyone from Wal-mart to local banks have come out with their own brand of reusable shopping bags, the question remains: Are just defeating the purpose by purchasing them?

I recently had the privilege of reviewing a couple of bags from reSACKel, a maker of reusable bags based in Hong Kong, China. Now, I know I recently delivered a harsh review on Waste-less Bags for being manufactured in China, but these bags are not currently being marketed to the U.S. (or any other country for that matter), meaning they represent a “local” solution to the issue of disposable bags in that country and for that I applaud them. Continue reading for more reasons to applaud.

True Reuse

reSACKel bags are made from used 25 and 50 KG rice sacks, meaning no material is manufactured or even recycled to make these bags. No chemicals or industrial processes are used, the plastic rice sacks are not shredded, broken down or made into pellets before being turned into another product, they are simply washed (by hand!) and resewn into shopping back size, thus removing a huge amount of these rice sacks from the waste stream.

One of a Kind Design

Because the manufacturing process is so minimal, the bags keep all the original designs and text from the sack, creating an original and distinctive bag. And no 2 sacks will ever be exactly alike. Because sack manufacturers already work hard to make their sacks bright and colorful, there’s no need to hire designers to think up new designs.

When the Going Gets Tough…

These bags can hold it together under rough-n-tumble daily use (which is more than I can say for the 85% rPET bags I got during a moment of weakness at my local grocery store). The sacking fabric is designed to carry loads of 25KG and 50KG, depending on the size of the sack, the fabric is incredibly strong and also designed not to tear, so even if you put a hole in your bag, it is not going to get any larger thanks to the woven nature of the fabric.

And now that I’ve got you all excited about these bags (aren’t the pandas the BEST?), I must remind you again of the sad, sad fact that they’re currently only available in China. But the moral of the story is, “we don’t have to make a mess to clean one up!” Let’s hold ourselves to a higher standard and really think about the products we choose to spend money on. Are they really a solution? Or is the drive to buy them part of the problem?

Not an easy question to answer.

- The Team at GenGreen

A week or two ago, we were contacted by Mr. Chris Savage, owner of Universol Aromas Soy Candle Company, who asked us to review his products…and we were more than happy to oblige!

As a result, we have been able to play with matches at work and enticed the other GenGreen Team members with the multiplicity of scents that have come wafting down from our office area. (Review Item #1: no one has complained; instead there have been many comments to the effect of, “Sniff, sniff…you guys have candles up there?!”

Always down for a scented adventure, we followed our noses, and this is what we found.

Ingredients with Integrity

Universol Aromas candles (and other aromatherapy products) are all made with 100% natural ingredients, and therefore won’t pollute your indoor air like other conventional products. Instead of choke-worthy chemicals, we found pure essential oils, distilled water, and natural soy wax (not paraffin, a refined petroleum product) that comes from non-GMO, herbicide and pesticide-free soybean crops right here in America.

Scents that Make Sense

Instead of unnatural and often overpowering scents like Moonlit Walk, Clean Linen or Angel Whispers (?!), the Universol Scents are inspired by  and named after the flowers, spices and fruits from which they are made, and are anything but overpowering. In fact, if we had one complaint, it would be that they’re a little too subtle, making it difficult for just one or two candles to fragrance a room.

Summer Breeze Spa Glass Candle – (lavender & lemongrass)

Awareness Candle – (eucalyptus & lavender) [Crystal's favorite!]

Love Candle – (lavender & ylang ylang)

Aphrodisiac Room Spray – (patchcouli, orange, lavender, jasmine, sandal wood, ylang ylang) [my favorite!]

Harmony Candle – (cinnamon, clove and vanilla)

Energy Candle – (rosemary, peppermint, lemon, and eucalyptus) [Crystal's second-favorite]

Size Does Matter

Universol Candles aromatherapy products are offered in a variety of sizes (and shapes), with candles in everything from large spa glass sizes to travel tins to votives. Travel tins and votives are perfect for smaller spaces (like, ahem, office bathrooms) and larger candles can hold their own in larger, open rooms, as long as you let them burn for a while.

Thinking Outside the Candle

An unexpected benefit of being incredibly clumsy and trying to read the bottom label on a soy candle that’s only recently been extinguished, is the realization that warm soy wax feels good on dry hands and, because it’s made from only natural ingredients, said wax can be rubbed into palms and cuticles (surpisingly moisturizing!) without worry.

An aromatherapy candle AND cuticle cream?? We smell another product line.

Special Offer for GenGreen Blog Readers! Universol Aromas has generously created a special discount for you. Visit the Sustainable Savings page to learn more!

- The Team at GenGreen

Reusable shopping bags are all the rage. Totes of all shapes, styles and sizes are popping up every day, and while they are a much more sensible alternative to traditional plastic or paper shopping bags, they still deserve the same discerning environmental eye that we use to evaluate conventional products.

Recently, I was asked to use and review a new brand of bag, cleverly called Waste-Less Bags TM: see my thoughts below and decide for yourself whether they live up to their name.

Less is More

The first thing I noticed about the Waste-Less Bags is that, instead of “less” bags, there are actually more. Three rolled shopping bags came in a “carrying pouch” which is actually another smaller bag. This carrying pouch is supposed to make it easier to keep track of the multiple bags within it, but to me it just looked like needless extra material.

Location, Location…and Materials

Attached to the “carrying pouch” is a tag with the bags’ stats, and although designed in the U.S., I was surprised to see the bags were made in China. Aside from China’s atrocious environmental policies, a long history of disregard for human rights, and poor labor conditions, this means these “affordable, attractive and easy-to-use” bags made a 12,000 mile journey before ending up at my doorstep (producing who-knows-how-many pounds of carbon). With so many U.S. made (and even DIY) options for reusable bags, I was extremely unimpressed with this aspect.

The same tag also boasted that the bags are made from 100% polyester. Although on it’s web site the company criticizes its “canvas or polypropylene” competitors for being “cumbersome and inefficient,” it neglects to inform consumers that polyester (better known as polyethylene terephthalate or PET) is chock full of toxic chemicals that can harm the planet and your skin, not to mention taking thousands of years to biodegrade.

(Also: before even using one of the bags I noticed that a seam was already torn. So much for being “Strong & Durable”).

User Un-Friendly

The shopping bags came neatly rolled and tucked into the “carrying pouch,” but of course the first thing I did was unroll one…and then tried to re-roll it. Getting it back to it’s original size and shape (so that it could be conveniently “carried” in its “pouch”) was almost impossible. Then I noticed that the flip side of the very informative tag also included 3-step directions for how to correctly re-roll the bags. A shopping bag with instructions?!  Talk about making things more complicated than they need to be.

Size Does Matter

One of the only positive things I can say about this product is that they are bigger than many of the original styles of reusable bags, making it easier to fit more items into one bag. And it had a carrying strap that made carrying a full bag over your shoulder pretty easy.

The Verdict

Although the hearts of the Waste-Less Bags creators are probably in the right place, there are too many companies out there trying to make a quick buck in the green scene without taking the time to do their homework and learn what it truly means to be sustainable. And that just gives the whole movement a bad name.

Contact Waste-Less Bags at info@waste-less.com

- The Team at GenGreen