Props to Home Depot! Commits to Phase Out Harmful Phthalates in Flooring by End of 2015

World’s Largest Home Improvement Retailer, Home Depot, Commits to Phase Out of Phthalates in Flooring by End of 2015

This is so huge I can barely believe it but once again, all of our hard work is paying off yes? Although our government is moving slowly to protect consumers, including the youngest and oldest among us, private industry is taking action but there is still much work to do.

Target Hears Our Voices and Leads the Way to Safer Products on Store Shelves

Me outside of Target before delivering the SCHF coalition letter and Hazardous 100+ list

Target Takes Big First Steps for Consumers...Expect More. Get More
Who would have thought it would be Target who would shine a light on what has been an otherwise horrid week? This past week has been one of the toughest of my life as I said goodbye to one of my dearest friends and I thought nothing could make me cry anymore but Target is making me shed the happiest of tears.

The 4 Keys to a Healthy Life

4 Keys to a Healthy Life

What? Did you think it was going to be something you have never heard before? It is soooo simple I am constantly in awe of why folks do not just do it.

1. Drink water - ditch almost every other drink out there and most certainly doth the high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) which is linked to heart disease and is a genetically modified (GMO) food. See more about GMO's HERE!

Nutrition Goes Google with Handy Voice Search App

Nutrition Info on the Go with Google Voice App

Ever have a moment when you just know that popcorn you want at the movies is loaded with all of the bad things you don't need but you convince yourself it won't matter just this once?  Wouldn't it help if you had an easy way to get verification that there are 31 calories in a cup of popcorn and that there is more than a days worth of calories from fat in movie theater popcorn?

I just downloaded the Google Search App for my iPhone which is also available on Android, iPad and Windows 8 and I'm already loving it for my tons of nutrition questions I find myself asking myself throughout the day.  Not all answers come in voice but you can ask all questions via voice which makes it really handy.

The other day I was chowing down on hummus and peppers and wondered if I was blowing my calories for hte day so I asked how many carbs in hummus and got my answer as my phone told me (and the voice does not sound like Suri) 2.1 grams in one tablespoon.

I love it and I bet you will too.  Very cool Google.

What apps have you found helpful to stay healthy?

Connect with Shane on Google+

P.S.- People always ask me where I get my organic food and personal care products and I love to tell them about The Green PolkaDot Box! Backed by the Organic Consumer's Association and EnvironmentalBooty.com, you can easily buy NonGMO organic groceries, including Harvest Fresh Organic produce, at wholesale pricing online.  It's like a Sam's club but focused on products for green, healthy living! You can even shop by dietary restrictions like gluten free, vegan or diabetic and it all comes right to your front door. Enjoy!

Time to back away from the cookie jar? Introducing nutrition info in search - Inside Search

Forget Obama Care. How 15 Year Old Genius Jack Andraka's Lowers Consumer Health Care Costs

Consumers Benefit from 15 Year Old's Genius Invention

Jack Andraka is a flipping genius and consumers are going to benefit greatly from his IQ.  Andraka is a sophomore in high school and this past December, he won Intel’s prestigious Gordon E. Moore Award along with other top honors at the corporation’s annual Science and Engineering Fair, the world’s largest high school research and science competition.

So what did this genius do? Jack Andraka created a simple dip-stick sensor to test for levels of mesothelin, which is a biomarker for early-stage pancreatic cancer that’s found in blood and urine. The method is similar to diabetic testing strips, utilizing just a pinprick of blood and costing just pennies to make.

So What Does That Mean to You and Me?

So what does that mean to consumers like you and me?  What makes Andraka's methods for pancreatic cancer detection so incredible, aside from being incredibly inexpensive, is that consumers can find out about their cancer early enough to treat it with a positive outcome.  Current tests for pancreatic cancer are in most cases so ineffective, that they are unable to detect the cancer until it is too late to treat.  Andraka feels that his tests could take the survival rate from a dismal 4% at 5 years to nearly 100% saving the lives of approximately 40,000 people a year. 

5 Strategies to Reduce Your Family's Cancer Risk

Preschool Children Particularly Vulnerable to Compounds Linked to Cancer in Food

In a jaw-dropping study published this week in the journal Environmental Health and funded by a Science to Achieve Results (STAR) grant from the United States Environmental Protection Agency, researchers at UCLA and UC Davis measured food-borne toxin exposure in children and adults and found high exposure to cancer causing compounds.  

By pinpointing foods with high levels of toxic compounds and determining how much of these foods were consumed, the researchers found that family members in the study, and preschool children in particular, are at high risk for exposure to arsenic, DDE (a DDT metabolite), dioxins, dieldrin, and acrylamide.

These compounds have been linked to cancer, developmental disabilities, birth defects, hormone disruption and other health related conditions. Even relatively low exposures can greatly increase the risk of cancer or neurological impairment in children.  But here's the good news,  the study also points to dietary modifications that could reduce the risk.

How Are Toxins Getting Into Our Food and What Is It Doing To Our Kids?

Scientists at USC and Oxford Find Global High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) Type 2 Diabetes Link

What's the Big Deal with Eating and Drinking HFCS? New Research Tells You

If you are one of the many consumers who wonder what the big deal is with ingesting high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), the latest scientific research from the University of Southern California (USC) and Oxford will help shed some light on the question.

How To Be Green? Take 5 for Healthy Families Day of Action and Stand with Kids, NOT Big Chemical!

Wondering What All of This Fuss Is Over Chemicals?
One of my daughter's friends asked her yesterday why I was so worried about chemicals.  My daughter's answer was priceless, "Because lot's of them are bad for us, that's why." she said.

Our children are being bathed in an abundance of neurologically harmful heavy metals like mercury and lead as well as being immersed in a life full of unsafe consumer products.  Today it is easy to see the alarming rise in illnesses linked to chemicals from childhood cancer, infertility, learning and developmental disabilities, birth defects, early puberty, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and certain types of cancer.

When Millennial babies are born, they already have over 200 industrial chemicals and pollutants in their umbilical cord blood.  Hard to believe but hard to ignore once you know what the fuss over chemical laws is all about.

What's The Best Drug Free Anti-Depressant You Already Have?

Want to stay strong, happy and healthy? 

Want to Stay Strong, Happy and Healthy Without Medication?

It's no secret that I love to work out.  What may actually be a secret, though, is that one of the reasons I do it 4-6 times each week, is literally for my own sanity!  There is a history of depression in my family and I like to fight mine with the most natural remedy I have found that you and I both already have...our bodies!  When we use our bodies to get up off the coach and exercise, I promise you will feel better.

Feeling Down But Hate Meds?

Latest News on 9-11 First Responder's Health

I Remember Being On Top of The World

I remember being 14 years old and standing on top of the South Tower and feeling like I was literally on top of the world.  My girls ask me what it was like and it is very hard to put into words other then to say that it was invigorating and somehow hopeful to think that man could create such an unbelievable piece of architecture that I was able to be a part of.  I still remember it like it was yesterday.

First Responders Remember 9-11 Through the Eyes of Illness 

You Want to Be Healthy? Start by Being Realistic

Sustainability Isn't Just for the Birds

I write about health all of the time on this blog because our health cannot be extracted from the "go green for the planet" conversation. How can we sustain our planet if we are all unhealthy? Our health and the health of our planet are inextricably connected.

 "Our future depends on our knowledge and actions. What choices will you make today that will change your health and the health of our world tomorrow? Together we CAN find the path that will lead us to a greener, healthier future." - SSS

You Want to Be Healthy?  Start by Being Realistic

Maybe I am grumpy today or maybe I have just had it up to "here" with folks who want a magic pill or those who unrealistically blame everything and everyone, but themselves, for their unhealthy lifestyle and weight.  Or maybe, when I look around me, I am concerned at the size (and poor health) of 1/3 of my fellow Americans.  

"More than one-third of U.S. adults (35.7%) are obese." - CDC

Being Fat Isn't About Beauty, It's About Health

I grew up in a family of obese people.  I knew from a very young age that I would do all I could to insure that I never became unhealthy because of my weight.  I understood that, even though I loved my family as the beautiful people they were, they had a hard time walking even short distances and it seemed that they never did anything but talk about their next meal instead of their next adventure.

Are You Ready to Really Live?

I am not here today to tell you that there is one way to a healthy future, life and body.  What I am here to tell you is to stop whinng, looking for that magic pill, or feeling like you will never get back to a size you feel good about becasue you totally flipping can!  If your future matters to you and if you want to really live your life to its fullest, get off of your ass and do something about it now.

As for me and my ass, I am going to do a workout even though I have had back surgery and can barely walk most mornings, I have three kids, I am 43, I don't have the time, I...well you get the point don't you?

Connect with Shane on Google+

P.S.- People always ask me where I get my organic food and personal care products and I love to tell them about The Green PolkaDot Box! Backed by the Organic Consumer's Association and EnvironmentalBooty.com, you can easily buy NonGMO organic groceries, including Harvest Fresh Organic produce, at wholesale pricing online.  It's like a Sam's club but focused on products for green, healthy living! You can even shop by dietary restrictions like gluten free, vegan or diabetic and it all comes right to your front door. Enjoy!



Photo Source: UTMB Health

Go Green Get Fit Friday Update - I'm in Knots and My Goals Suck

So if I thought last week was bad, I am still up and it is almost 4am if that tells you about how this week went for my Go Green Get Fit Challenge.  I am all tied up in knots and I am not really sure why.  I think I want to toss out my goals for the Go green Get Fit Challenge and rewrite them this week.

3 Easy Ways to Reduce Your Family's Exposure to Harmful Chemicals in Your Home

Today I am heading out of Orlando and over to the west coast of Florida to meet with the Deputy Director of Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families, Lindsay Dahl. To me, Ms, Dahl is a rockstar and I am actually a tee tiny tad bit nervous to meet her.

Lindsay Dahl
Deputy Director, Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families

Seriously. Get this, before joining the campaign for Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families, Lindsay directed policy and media strategy for the Healthy Legacy Coalition of Minnesota. While she held that job she didn't do too much.  She just led the campaign for Minnesota to become the first state to ban bisphenol-A (BPA) and the fourth state to pass the beginnings of a comprehensive safer chemical policy framework.

Wordless Wednesday 3-7-12 What's In My Green PolkaDot Box?

Wordless Wednesday is a day for me to share a photo from a moment in time in my green living life with you with just a few words...

I look forward to seeing my Green PolkaDot Box orders on my porch.  This one was full of Dr. Bronner's, Froose, Pur gum, Organic soups, Preserve BPA free toothbrushes, cutting boards, measuring cups and containers.

Next week the "test launch" of the new Harvest Fresh program will begin at The Green PolkaDot Box (GPDB).  Soon my Green PolkaDot Box will be filled with fresh, organic, non-GMO produce at up to 60% off.  The Harvest Fresh program will be available to all members living within two days FED EX delivery from Exeter, California, where the GPDB certified organic facility is located.

P.S.- Have you heard about The Green PolkaDot Box! Recently launched with over 12,000 members and backed by the Organic Consumer's Association, you can easily buy NonGMO organics at wholesale pricing online.  It's like a Sam's club but focused on products for green, healthy living!!  You can even shop by dietary restrictions like gluten free, vegan or diabetic.

There's More in That Can of Soda Than You Paid For: Part Two, What The Coca-Cola® Company Is Doing to Protect Consumers

Yesterday in Part One of our series on soda, There's More in That Can of Soda Than You Paid For, we discovered that drinking soda from a can can mess with your hormones.  Bisphenol-A (BPA) in the lining of the cans and the sweetener fructose, which is found in many sodas, inappropriately cause the pancreas to release too much of the hormone, insulin which can lead to diabetes.

Today in Part Two we look at what The Coca-Cola® Company is doing to protect consumers.

Unlike the PepsiCo site (where I couldn't find anything), a simple search of BPA on the Coca-Cola website revealed 30 documents about the harmful hormone disruptor BPA.  That's a clue to me that they are, at least, in the BPA conversation as they certainly should be.  Just look at how many of their beverages are consumed in a typical day by 10:25pm.

Although all of these beverages are not being consumed in cans, I wonder just how many are?

The document that I found most interesting from my BPA search on the Coca-Cola site was the Responses to Common Questions Submitted on The Coca-Cola Company Shareowner Forum for the 2011 Annual Shareowner Meeting.  Of specific interest to me were questions #7 and #8:

There's More in That Can of Soda Than You Paid For: Part One, Hormones

New research shows that when you drink soda from a can, you are getting more than you paid for.  You are also getting a shot of a common pollutant as well as a dose of sweetener that combine to produce a toxic cocktail that messes with important hormones.  Bisphenol-A (BPA) in the lining of the cans and the sweetener fructose (found in fruit, honey and HFCS), which is found in many sodas, inappropriately cause the pancreas to release too much of the hormone, insulin.  And that's not good.

Latest News on Johnson & Johnson McNeil Infant TYLENOL® Recall

Once again Johnson & Johnson's McNeil Consumer Healthcare (“McNeil") is recalling 574,000 bottles of Infants' TYLENOL® Oral Suspension in the 1oz Grape flavor at retail and wholesale levels in the United States.  The latest news on the voluntary recall is that 7 lots (see full product list below) of  Infants' TYLENOL® are being recalled because of a small number of complaints about difficulty with dosing.  I remember when my girls were babies that my hubby and I would have questions about how much to give the them.  It seems that parents are still having difficulty figuring out the correct dosages even though McNeil's new SimpleMeasure™ dosing system was supposed to eliminate any questions.

As Number of Americans with Diabetes Hits Almost 26 Million, Study Says BPA is a Culprit. How to Decrease Your Type 2 Diabetes Risk

The number of Americans with diabetes has risen to nearly 26 million while the CDC reports that more than a third of adults are estimated to have prediabetes.  Even more disturbing is the news that Type 2 diabetes already appears to be a sizable and growing problem among U.S. children and adolescents.  As I reported yesterday,  HFCS (high fructose corn syrup) may be leading to the increase in numbers of diabetics while new research suggests that low doses of BPA (Bisphenol-A) found in plastics, the lining of food and drink cans as well as on receipts is also a culprit. The new research adds credibility to previous studies linking type 2 diabetes and low-dose exposure to BPA.

“I don’t think that anyone can say now that low-dose effects don’t occur,” says endocrinologist Ana Soto of the Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston, who was not involved in the new work. “It shows that changes happen in human cells — and at concentrations comparable to current levels of human exposure.”

The HFCS Diabetes Connection, What You Need Know

Is it really okay to let your kids have as much HFCS foods and drinks as they want?

I have been keeping you up to date on the latest news about the HFCS (high fructose corn syrup) corn sugar false advertising case and today I want to fill you in on some of the latest research pointing to a diabetes, HFCS connection.  Researchers reported online February 6 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that they have discovered that fructose (found in fruit, honey and HFCS) can rev up the body’s secretion of insulin by exciting the taste cells on the pancreas.  This is a concern for people prone to diabetes like men, those who suffer from depression, people who do not get enough sleep, certain ethnic groups and those who are overweight.

Latest News on HFCS Corn Sugar False Advertising Case - Sugar Growers Accuse Corn Refiners Association, ADM and Cargill with Trying to Evade Liability

Sugar Growers Accuse Corn Refiners Association (CRA), ADM and Cargill with Trying to Evade Liability

Sugar farmers have rejected a bid to remove key defendants from false advertising lawsuit against corn processors.  Attorneys for the Sugar Association and the sugar farmers it represents filed papers early this week in federal court accusing members of the Corn Refiners Association (CRA) of trying to evade liability for their roles in the creation and sponsorship of false advertising about high fructose corn syrup (HFCS).