How Green Are Exfoliants?

Exfoliants skin care products are very popular. I'm sure some of you use them like I do. My daily face wash contains micro beads that exfoliants.

Exfoliants comes in two forms: chemical and physical. Chemical exfoliants use...well... chemicals to dissolve the dead cells sitting on the surface of the skin. Physical exfoliants use abrasives to scrape way those cells.

According to FoxNews.com there are no required studies for personal care products and there are no safety systems in place, nor governing bodies overseeing the industry.

The ugly side of the beauty industry is money?
Most of the chemical peels use natural ingredients to eat away the dead skin. It does leave the skin with newer, healthier skin on the top layer.

There are few adverse effects on the environment, but they do leave people who use these types of exfoliants with a higher risk of sunburn and associated skin cancers.

Because of this, many now come with sunscreen built in. Many of the petroleum based sunscreens do have bad environments effects. The worse are the preservatives used, such as parabens and phthalates, which can disrupt reproduction.

With physical exfoliants, such as microdermabrsion, aluminum oxide crystals are used. These are harmless to humans, but after we're done washing our face, these crystals go down the drain, into sewers and into our water. These crystals are highly toxic to many species of aquatic organisms. In fish, the metal has been linked to birth defects, increased mortality and other complications. They also cause stunted root growth in plants.

Aluminum is regarded safe for humans in low quantities, except those on kidney dialysis and there may even be a link to Alzheimer's disease.

The manufacturing of these products releases tiny particles in the air, which can scar lung tissue and have led to tumors in animals.

Good news for our skin and our planet is there are many all organic products to chose from.

Climate Change: Long Term Effect on Water Supplies

The American Water Works Association gives a less than perfect picture of the effects of shifting global weather conditions on the United States and the world.

Some of their findings include:

· Precipitation will be less frequent but more intense, leading to increased flooding

· Periods of drought will increase, leading to increased risk of forest fires.

· Increased drought, flood and forest fires will negatively affect water quality. Drought increases sediment in reservoirs, while floods and forest fires can overwhelm downstream water sources with an onslaught of debris.

· Changes in snow pack, the melt season and run off will aggravate storage capacity deficiencies. This will then push water utilities to invest in increased storage capacity.

· Rising sea levels will cause salt water to intrude upon freshwater aquifers.

The report recommends that we create new water sources through recycling and desalination, cutting greenhouse gas emissions, encouraging conversation, and factoring the effects of climate change into long term planning.

Everyone just needs to pitch in with the many ways one can help our environment. We can make a difference

Frito-Lay Plant Cuts Waste & Saves Water

According to an article in Storm Water Pollution magazine, Frito -Lay's plant in Arkansas, will eliminate tons of waste and reduce water usage at the facility as part of the US Environmental Protection Agency's top 'green leadership" program.

Frito-Lay has maintained environmental compliance record and making new commitments to reduce, reuse and recycle.

Their commitment in the following 3 years includes:
Reduce 1.6 million lbs of pollution by adding a secondary wastewater treatment system

Reduce total water use by 31.5 million gallons by recycling water used during potato peeling

Recycle more than 1,000 tons of waster through increased recycling efforts.

More on Green: Green Medicine

Acupuncture, Chiropractic, Massage Nutritional Counseling and Yoga are just a few "green" alternatives to conventional medical treatments.

While it is valuable to visit your family doctor for diagnostic technologies, you also have the option of going for green treatments before using pharmaceuticals or more invasive medical procedures.

Green medicine is a move towards more biologically friendly techniques that work with the body's natural ability to heal. These treatments are gentler for the individual and for the planet.

Have you ever tried alternative medicine?

More Green News

Vatican City Goes Solar : A giant rooftop garden of solar panels will be built next year on top of the Paul VI audience hall. This will create enoughe lectricity to heat, cool abd light the entire building year round.

Rupert Murdoch, owner of Fox News joins the fight against climate change. In May of this year, he pledged not only to make his News Corp empire carbon neutral, but to persuade the hundreds of millions of people who watch his TV channels and read his newspapers to join the cause.

Walmart, the world's largest retailer, launched a campaign last fall to sell 100 million compact fluorescent bulbs. They also have plans to install solar on many of their stores.

Source: Business Education Guide

Green News

Bank of America made a 10 year commitment to lend $18 billion to commercial clients committed to constructing green buildings and developing sustainable products and services. The remaining funds will be used to develop consumer programs. This would include incentives for purchasing merchandise or investing in companies committed to green house gas reduction.

PesiCo announced a 3 year purchase of renewable energy certificates that are comprised of more than 1 billion kilowatt-hours annually, to offset 100% of purchased electricity used by all PesiCo US facilities.This purchase has put PepsiCo in the list of top 25 green power purchasers.

GOOGLE Solar: Google installed the largest commercial system in the US to date. The worlds leading provider of solar cells is Sharp. They have installed the solar modules at Google's corporate headquarters in Mountain View, CA. Roof mounted arrays were installed and also two carports for their employees to park. If any employee has a plug in hybrid they can also recharge their cars.

Source: Business Education Guide