Monthly Archives: October 2010
A Month of Pink Washing
| October 8, 2010 | Posted by Lisa Sharp under Uncategorized |
It’s that time of year again, breast cancer awareness month. Everywhere you look there is pink, even NFL players are wearing pink this month.
This seems like a good thing, right? We should feel good buying products that support breast cancer research, shouldn’t we? Sadly it isn’t that simple. Breast cancer research foundations like the Susan G. Komen put their logo on everything, even products that have known carcinogens in them. This is called pink washing. Think Before You Pink defines pink washing as this.
Pinkwasher: (pink’-wah-sher) noun. A company that purports to care about breast cancer by promoting a pink ribboned product, but manufactures products that are linked to the disease.
Last year one of the biggest pink washings was KFC’s pink buckets. Many ingredients in KFC’s food has been linked to cancer as has obesity, making this seem pretty hypocritical.
The Plastic Pollution Coalition talks about another item that has been pink washed.
“Sparkletts’ water delivery trucks, previously known for their flashy sequins, have been pink washed. They are decorated with a big pink bow for breast cancer research and a large advertisement heralding a partnership with the Susan G. Komen for the Cure breast cancer charity.
Perhaps Sparkletts is promoting an alliance with a cancer charity as a public relations strategy to distract consumers from Sparkletts’ more significant association with polycarbonate plastic bottles used to deliver the Sparkletts water. Sparkletts’ bottles are made with a known hormone disrupter, Bishenol-A (BPA), that is suspected to cause breast cancer and prostate cancer, among other diseases. A recent study — partially funded by Susan G. Komen for the Cure — even finds that BPA interferes with chemotherapy used to treat breast cancer.” – Read More
Wouldn’t it be better to be buying products that don’t cause cancer? Sure we all want to cure cancer but wouldn’t prevention be even better? There is one breast cancer organization that believes prevention is best. The Breast Cancer Fund will only put it’s logo on safe products and is working to connect the dots between breast cancer and environmental causes.
Here is a great video from Breast Cancer Fund with people who have personally experienced breast cancer.
The Breast Cancer Fund would like October to be Breast Cancer Prevention Month. They have ways for you to help them do that on their website.
So what are your thoughts on the issue? I have heard some say they want as much money to go to breast cancer research as possible, so they are fine with the pink washing. Is that how you feel or do you want to stop seeing pink ribbons on cancer causing products?
Product Review: Laura Bucci Handmade
| October 4, 2010 | Posted by Lisa Sharp under Uncategorized |
Laura Bucci Handmade makes many beautiful items like fabric magnets and coffee cup cozies. Here is what she says about her work.
“I draw inspiration from my love of culture, language and imagery to create image/text compositions in various languages. Whether on a cup cozy, a fabric pin, a wall art panel, or a tote bag my aim is to delight you with wonderful pairings and to excite you to learn a new word or two. And perhaps you’ll gain a new appreciation for your mother tongue as well.”
I was able to try out an Eco Cup Cozy from Laura Bucci Handmade. Here are my thoughts on the cozy.
The cozy is well made. The designs are very unique and have a nice vintage feel. The cozies are nice and thick to help protect your hands from the heat. They are made from cotton and linen and will fit a 12 to 20 oz cup.
While the cozy will help you reduce some waste you will still be using a disposable cup. I do know some people won’t remember a mug but can remember to keep a cozy with them. It also may fit some reusable mugs.
The cozies are a great gift for a coffee lover but do not get away from all the waste of coffee out.
Product Review: Green Irene
| October 2, 2010 | Posted by Lisa Sharp under Uncategorized |
Green Irene, an eco-consultant firm is now making cleaners. These cleaners are made from enzymes derived from plants. They are free of phosphates, chlorine and have no petroleum-based ingredients. They also sell refill packs so that you waste less packaging.
The currently sell Mildew, Floor, Bathroom, Stainless and Glass, Kitchen, and Stain and Odor. I tried out the Mildew cleaner.
It worked well on grout and also shockingly worked well on my washer’s seal (which even with drying it out has to be cleaned of mold all the time). I just left the cleaner on the mold for 15 minutes and for grout it just easily wiped off and with the washer it took some scrubbing but less than other things I have tried. It smells nice and not overwhelming.
They disclose the ingredients which is a must for me. They also are made in the US and use soy ink labels.
While the refills are nice the packaging is not recyclable as far as I can tell. I’m not sure what is a better option for this but I would love to see something that can be recycled.
While I make most of my own cleaners I know not everyone will want to do that. If you are one of those people check these out. They are affordable and safe.
October is Fair Trade Month
| October 1, 2010 | Posted by Lisa Sharp under Uncategorized |
This month is Fair Trade Month, so what is fair trade? Here is a quick video giving a quick overview.
I challenge you to buy at least one fair trade product this month. Help support people and the environment.
