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Skin Deep

Skin Deep is a safety guide to cosmetics and personal care products brought to you by researchers at the Environmental Working Group.

Skin Deep pairs ingredients in more than 25,000 products against 50 definitive toxicity and regulatory databases, making it the largest integrated data resource of its kind. Why did a small nonprofit take on such a big project? Because the FDA doesn't require companies to test their own products for safety.

12 Foods You Don't Have to Buy Organic (and some you always should)

The Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit organization that advocates for policies that protect global and individual health, produces the Shoppers' Guide to Pesticides in Produce. Based on the results of nearly 43,000 pesticide tests, the guide provides us with a list of the safest conventional fruits and veggies as well as the least safe.

Organic fruits and vegetables are by definition grown without the use of pesticides. But some find the expense of organic foods prohibitive.

Below are the twelve foods with the lowest pesticide load:

Go Green with Gathering Home

Check out the wide selection of "green" products now available thru GH by arrangement with Amazon.com!  Let me know what you can use ...

College Cooks -- Salad

A salad is one of the quickest routes to refreshment and good nutrition if you do it right. Use the freshest ingredients you have or can purchase. Don’t drown the salad in dressing, in fact, use ½ T Extra Virgin Olive Oil and 1 tsp of a good quality vinegar with salt and pepper and you’ve got the easiest of the great-for-you dressings. Even if you’re out of lettuce, you can still make a salad. One of the best salads I’ve ever had consisted of radishes, carrots, red onion, and cucumbers. I added chickpeas the next day to dress it up and some fresh parsley and croutons the day after; I enjoyed three fairly distinct “fast food” meals on a budget.

Following are five recipes for salads that will transport you (well, maybe not) to some rather exotic or romantic locations. ;)

QUICK -- MAKE THESE SALADS!!

Happier Cows

Press release from Organic Consumers:

CONSUMER AND FARMER VICTORY!
MONSANTO FINALLY FORCED TO DUMP RBGH
Monsanto recently announced it will "divest" or sell off its controversial genetically engineered animal drug, recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH). Monsanto's divestment of rBGH is a direct result of 14 years of determined opposition by organic consumer, public interest, and family farmer groups. Since its founding, the Organic Consumers Association has campaigned against this cruel and dangerous drug, pointing out to organic and health-minded consumers that rBGH-tainted dairy products pose unacceptable dangers to humans from increased antibiotic residues and elevated levels of a potent cancer tumor promoter called IGF-1. OCA's "Millions Against Monsanto" campaign has generated over a quarter million emails and petition signatures on the topic of rBGH, helping make rBGH one of the most controversial food products in the world.

Visit OrganicConsumers.org for more info !

An Eco Guide to Consumer Electronics

In its' most recent version of the quarterly Greenpeace Guide to Consumer Electronics, Nintendo became the first brand ever get zero out of 10 points.  In its report, Greenpeace ranks the majority of electronics manufacturers on how they have eliminated toxic materials from their products

Top 16 GREEN Tips To Help Your Life and Home

Here are some of our top tips on how to go "green" in your home and life.  Most are easy to do and require little extra time or effort.  Remember that every "green" effort, even if small, add up considerably when enough people do it.  Please share eco information with others and invite them to visit Gathering Home.  We're always looking for new ways and technologies to have save energy, time and money.  So, let us know how what you're doing and how you've "greened" up your life recently.

No Bottled Water - It's pricey and uses fuel to produce, transport, and store those bottles. Use what comes out of your tap instead but filter it. (you know, alot of bottled water is filtered tap water anyway!)

Buy Local- Most produce in the United States is shipped around 1,500 miles before it's sold. Reduce the shipping by rediscovering the bounty of your surrounding area. Find farmers' markets, co-ops and CSAs (community-supported agriculture projects).

Eco Question of the Month

This month’s question is: Do you have a bicycle? (If so, for what and how often do you use it?) That’s a tricky way of asking two questions. ;)

Please share your answer in the comment section !

Best of July 2008 Posts

     It's summer and everyone's busy (including me), so below you'll find links to GH "Best of July 08" !  Whether you're new here or an old friend that might have missed something, check 'em out.