Eco-Friendly Products

Most people are concerned, at least to some extent, about their personal health. And, a growing number of people are becoming concerned about the health of our planet. What most people don't realize, however, is that these two topics are not mutually exclusive. By living "green," you do things that are good for your personal health. Here's how:

1. Using reusable shopping bags instead of disposable paper or plastic bags: At least 500 billion plastic bags are produced and used worldwide each year. During their production, tons of environmental toxins are released in to the environment that are absorbed by our bodies as "free radicals." These free radicals have been known to harm our bodies in the form of cardiovascular disease, cancer, and weakened immune systems. By using reusable bags, we can cut down on the production of plastic bags and, consequently, the number of free radicals that enter our environment.

Further, plastic bags negatively impact ecosystems, especially marine ecosystems in their post-useful-life. This impact can diminish our ability to get healthy food. Also, millions of trees are harvested each year to produce paper bags. Those same millions of trees could be spared and used to improve the quality of air that we breathe. Again, using reusable bags can cut down on this.

2. Purchasing organic foods and products: Organic foods are far and away healthier for our bodies. They contain more nutrients and minerals than conventionally farmed foods. Further, organic products are raised without the use of harmful chemicals and pesticides that enter our body when we eat the foods and also deteriorate the quality of our soil – eventually making it useless.

3. Using eco-friendly cleaning products: Traditional household cleaners contain a number of harsh chemicals that contribute to free radical damage in our bodies. They also pollute and harm our environment during their production. Using eco-friendly cleaners reduces the number of free radicals that enter your body and helps reduce the demand for the production of the cleaners that pollute our environment during their production and use.

4. Walking and/or biking instead of driving: The health benefits here are pretty obvious – walking or biking is a form of exercise that will burn calories and help you remain healthy. Walking and biking also eliminates the pollution that you would have caused had you driven a car. Of course, the length of the commute must be considered, but for shorter trips, you can never go wrong on a bike or on your feet.

A big part of the obesity problem in America today comes from the relatively sedentary lifestyle that most Americans live. The simple fact is that most people spend the majority of their day sitting down, either at work, driving, watching TV, and so on. Choosing to walk or bike for short trips will get you the exercise that you need and will help our environment by limiting your pollution.

So, it is relatively easy to see how green living and healthy living can be one and the same things. Even implementing a couple of the above strategies can help make you healthier and benefit our planet.

Many people don't think about the eco-friendliness of everyday products such as lotion, lipstick, deodorant, and other personal care products. We generally assume that if they're safe to put on our bodies, they should be safe for the environment, right? Not necessarily.

Government restrictions on personal care products are not as strict as one might think. The Washington Toxics Coalition reports that the FDA, who is responsible for cosmetic regulations, does not require companies to conduct safety tests and only regulates products AFTER they are on the market. There are only nine chemicals prohibited by the FDA for use in cosmetic products. The European Union prohibits 1,110. These chemicals are obsorbed by our skin and processed through our bodies. Some make it out and end up working their way in to our environment. And, of course, since these chemicals are used during production, the risk exists for them to contaminate our planet during cosmetic manufacture. Still convinced that your skin care products are 100% safe?

You can help protect yourself by avoiding products that contain harmful chemicals that the FDA ignores. The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics offers a list of chemicals to avoid and products that they are commonly found in. However, since cosmetic companies are not required to disclose the chemicals in their products, it is hard to know exactly what chemicals are in what products simply by reading the labels on the packages. For more information, you can review the Cosmetics Safety Database, which includes a toxicity rating for ingredients found in products.

Beyond being careful of what products you buy and put on your body, we can address the greater environmental destruction that we continue to perpetuate on multiple fronts. The rise in popularity of the reusable shopping bag is a great example of how quickly eco-friendly movements can catch on. Cities are now considering bans or taxes on plastic bags, encouraging citizens to help our environment by bringing their own reusable bags. Many dry cleaners and individuals are also catching on, beginning to offer reusable dry cleaning bags as well. This shows that when the need to make changes is identified, people are not afraid to make changes. We can hope that this trend carries over in to other areas, such as cosmetics and personal care products.