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Entry bubble Taking the Mystery out of Makeup

By: Nicole | May 09, 2008 | Category: Health

One early morning in college, I was putting on makeup and accidentally dropped a bottle of foundation. LipstickIt exploded into shards of glass and a thick goop that covered the sink. After removing the glass, I scrubbed the porcelain surface for at least 10 minutes, trying unsuccessfully to remove the oily substance and peach-colored stain it left behind. All the while, I kept wondering: What is in this stuff anyway!?

Well, now I have an answer. A research group called the Environmental Working Group has developed the Skin Deep Cosmetics Database, which allows you to search by product to learn what is in your makeup and whether the ingredients are harmful. Skin Deep uses 50 different regulatory and toxicity databases to research the ingredients in common cosmetic products. It then assigns an overall hazard level for the product and for each of its ingredients.

I searched one cosmetic product I use everyday and discovered that it earns a level 4 hazard rating (10 is extremely hazardous). It contains ingredients associated with cancer, toxicity, allergies, and irritation. I couldn’t believe the detailed information I was able to find, and I couldn’t believe I’d been putting this junk on my face for the last five years.

The database will also tell you whether a cosmetics company has signed the Compact for Safer Cosmetics agreement and whether the company does animal testing. 

In addition, the FDA provides helpful articles about cosmetic products. The FDA also provides highlights about recent changes in cosmetics regulations. CosmeticsInfo.org, a site developed by the cosmetics trade industry, is another source of product information.

So, before you hit the makeup aisle, do some research to avoid the really nasty stuff.

| Comments [2] | envelope Email This Entry | Tags: beauty  blush  compact  cosmetics  eyeshadow  foundation  lipstick  makeup  mascara  powder  safety 

 

Entry bubble Motorcycle Safety

By: Stephanie | April 15, 2008 | Category: Health

In the spring, a young woman’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of ... motorcycling.

Apologies to Alfred, Lord Tennyson, but I can’t help having that altered poetry in my head right now. The warm April weather prompts me and my husband to finally take motorcycle lightsthe winter tarp off our motorcycle and head out down the road. There are some great national parks, trails, and wildlife refuges that we can bike to. And we'll join many other bikers on the road, apparently: motorcycles are the fastest growing form of personal transportation in the United States. Even the head of the U.S. Department of Transportation rides a hog.

But we don't take our motorcycle into the street without first inspecting it, digging our helmets out of storage, and finding our armor jackets and boots. May is Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) offers motorcycle safety information, plus has some sobering stats on motorcycle-related deaths. For example, motorcycle fatalities now account for 11 percent of total road fatalities, and have more than doubled in a decade.

As part of our safety education, my husband and I took a course with the Motorcycle Safety Foundation, a nonprofit that works with NHTSA and offers more than 1,500 rider education and training courses across the country. The organization offers basic rules for motorcyclists, including riding within one's limits and wearing protective gear. NHTSA estimates that helmets saved the lives of 1,546 motorcyclists in 2005. If all motorcyclists had worn helmets, 728 more people could have been saved.

Car drivers also can do their part to make motorcycling a safer pursuit—including giving two-wheelers some room, looking out for motorcyclists, and using turn signals. NHTSA offers humorous posters for car drivers to educate them about motorcycles on the road, such as the "Tough on the Outside. Soft and Squishy on the Inside" poster. Not terribly poetic, either. But it just might save a life.

| Comments [2] | envelope Email This Entry | Tags: fatalities  helmets  motorcycle  safety  stephanie  transportation 

 

Entry bubble Car Seats Make Me Crazy!

By: Joanne | February 12, 2008 | Category: Home and Family

But before you think I’m a horrible mom, allow me to explain myself. For the past 7 years I have been wrestling irritable young children into car seats and strapping them in for a safe ride. Safe, yes – but you try having a rational discussion about crash safety with an immobilized and indignant toddler. Gone are the carefree days of the free floating children in the back of the station wagon. That was me, playing cards, napping, and waving to everyone on the highway.

These days it’s different – we know more about child passenger safety than our folks did. So I will wrestle and wrangle and do what I need to do to make the kids safe in the car.

The thing that really bugs me the most is actually positioning a seat in the car. Am I alone in thinking that it’s frustrating and back breaking and I feel like I have to be an iron man contortionist to get the dang thing installed properly? How my mother laughed at me when I told her that my infant car seat came with a 36 page instruction manual!

That’s why I was so excited to see that the National Highway Traffic Safety Association has done something absolutely brilliant – they’re now publishing ease of use ratings for child car seats.

I’m past the point where these ratings will help me plan my car seat purchases – what’s done is done. I do hope that they’ll spare some of you some pain in the back and a pain in the neck as well!

| Comments [6] | envelope Email This Entry | Tags: car  child  crash  joanne  safety 

 

Entry bubble Treecycle – Recycle Your Christmas Tree

By: Joanne | December 25, 2007 | Category: General

It’s Christmas day and while you’re admiring your Christmas tree with its pretty lights and ornaments, I want you to take a moment image of a pine forest to consider fire safety and what you’re going to do with this tree when Christmas is over. Think before you pitch that tree! Do you want it to be just another big, bulky thing taking up space in the landfill, or do you want it to move on to a higher purpose? Go forth and treecycle, or use your Christmas tree to GreenScape your yard.

If you’ve got a cut tree, you’ve got options. Trees are biodegradable and recyclable, and there are many options for recycling and re-using trees. Your local waste authority probably has a Christmas tree recycling program. In many areas, Christmas trees are picked up, mulched, and then free mulch is offered back to the community. This kind of seasonal program keeps holiday trees out of the landfills and helps municipalities save money by reducing disposal fees. Tree collection is usually offered early in January, so if you don’t know about your community’s Christmas tree recycling program, it’s not too late to find out.

Besides mulching, you can burn a tree in your fireplace or wood stove, chop it up and add it to your compost pile, use it as wildlife habitat and even use the needles to make a nice potpourri. The University of Wisconsin Extension Service has an article with lots of ideas for reusing your Christmas tree.

We always buy a live tree (roots and all), so disposal’s not an issue at my house. It’s really pretty easy to care for a live Christmas tree. Before the ground freezes in the winter, my husband prepares a hole for our Christmas tree and then we plant it in the yard the week after Christmas. I never thought a tree would live if you planted it in the winter, but since they’re dormant when they’re dug up and dormant when they’re planted they seem perfectly happy when they wake up in the spring. If you’ve got somewhere to plant a tree and a strong back, I highly recommend a live tree – just be sure to buy a variety that will thrive where you live.

| envelope Email This Entry | Tags: christmas  fire  greenscape  holiday  joanne  recycle  safety  tree  treecycle 

 

Entry bubble Happy Halloween

By: Sam | October 31, 2007 | Category: Home and Family

I love Halloween.  The Great Pumpkin is on.  The stores are over-stocked with candy corn (I can’t resist).  From lattes to muffins, pumpkin is the ingredient of choice.  And no matter your age, there are so many entertaining and creative things you can do to celebrate. 

I'm celebrating by taking a ghost tour in Georgetown with my best friend.  Although it didn't make the recent list of the "10 Great Places to Get Spooked by Your Surroundings," I'm sure there will be plenty of scary stories to keep a permanent chill up my spine.  Best of all, Georgetown on Halloween night is unlike anything else in D.C.  The streets are filled with people who are dressed in some of the most inventive and unique costumes I've ever seen.  Maybe I should wear my Care Bear costume from childhood.

If ghost tours aren't your thing, then check out all the great Halloween links on USA.gov.  You can find tons of fun facts about the holiday and its history and folklore.  Here’s one I couldn’t believe-in 2006, the U.S. produced 1 billion pounds of pumpkins.  That’s a whole lot of Jack-O-Lanterns and pumpkin pies! 

If you’re like many of my friends who are attending a pumpkin carving or costume party tonight, make sure to check out the Halloween recipes on USA.gov.  The Eyeball Soup is guaranteed to win you “Best Dish.” But if you're heart is set on  “Most Original,” you should try an office favorite, Dead Man's Meatloaf.

And for the many who are taking kids out trick-or-treating, here’s some tips to ensure the evening is a fun but safe one:

Consumer Product Safety Commission-Halloween Safety

U.S. Food and Drug Administration-Safety Tips for Halloween

National Crime Prevention Council-Halloween Tips

| Comments [1] | envelope Email This Entry | Tags: autumn  fall  safety 

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