Butterfly Balance Wellness Center

Eliminating More Plastic

I've been on a quest for a while to eliminate as much plastic in my life as I can, especially where food is involved.

As a former Tupperware salesperson, my house was filled to the rafters with plastic items. Well, until I started hearing about the dangers of plastics from a Green perspective - specifically, the dangers of BPAs (Bisphenol-A) and what happens when plastic is heated with food in it and the dangers that can come from it. 

I was mostly successful with my conversion, except for one thing: cups big enough for my morning protein smoothies. Our glass drinking glasses were not large enough, and we'd continued to use our 30 oz. Tupperware tumblers. I know I wasn't using the cups for heating and storage, but in a perfect world I wanted to eliminate drinking out of the plastic, especially when I do it daily. It's not ideal when you spend your time making sure all your smoothie ingredients are organic and healthy, and then drink it out of plastic!

I was sitting in a vegan organic cafe near my house (Chaco Canyon), drinking a smoothie out of a stainless steel cup, and I decided to buy some from them for drinking glasses, but at 16 oz. they were still not large enough. But when I looked at the label on the cup, I realized that they were actually shaker cups (you know, for mixed bar drinks) and started searching online to see if they made them larger. Eureka! 26 oz. stainless shaker cups! At $2.99 each and reasonable shipping, I highly recommend them. (I don't receive any incentives if you purchase them at that link.) Food Service Warehouse also sells a 15 oz. version for $1.99.

Dishwasher safe, they don't stain or take on odors like plastic, and they are low profile and nest so nicely that they take up less room than the plastic or glass in my cabinets. Plus no nasty BPAs being added to your body. What's not to like?

I have BPA samples (and other toxic substance samples - all in energetic form so as not to be harmful to anyone) in my Health Kinesiology test kits, which I can use in corrections to help the body recognize it and learn how to process it out of our system. But it's always easier to keep things from happening than work to fix them later!

 

Note: Due to FTC guidelines, I am now required to disclose that if you click on a link in this post (or any other post or link on my blog) and purchase Young Living Essential Oils, books/products through Amazon.com or nutritional supplements through AIM Companies, that I will receive a small commission as a result of those purchases. Thank you for your support.

Mindful Spending

I just finished reading this really interesting blog post about Mindful Spending that I wanted to share.

Mindful spending is something I've only started really implementing in the past few years. A great deal of my life was spent pulling out credit cards a bit too freely, running up debt, and confusing wants for needs. I've done a lot of soul searching about the whys of what I'd done in the past, and why that couldn't continue anymore. I'm grateful to have righted the situation before things got worse than they were, and learning to live within my means.

But this post I read reminds me that Mindful Spending isn't just watching how much you spend, but also considering the intent behind what you spend - putting your money where your mouth is, if you will. From the article:

Mindful spending is a way of treating yourself, your community, and your money with respect. 

Mindful spending begs you to consider each dollar you spend an extension of your personal values, creating an individual economy that centers on what you love and not what society tells you you have to have. It means choosing not to spend money at all sometimes, choosing to spend more on high-quality, well-crafted items that support your community, and choosing to spend less on items that commercialism has put an unnecessary price tag on.

It really did make me reflect on how I spend my money. One of the biggest changes I've made is in how I spend my food dollars. I used to always look for the bargain - spending a great many years eating cheap, processed food (ramen noodles, anyone?). I remember in my first apartment with my best friend Ben, we used to say that we drank nothing but soda because it was cheaper than milk and juice. I bet that's still true today (although I don't drink milk or soda anymore, so I can't say for sure). But now, I really think about the quality of what I buy, how it's processed and where it comes from. Sure, I still buy processed foods from time to time, but I look at ingredients - if the ingredients are written in 5 pt. font so they can fit all 100 ingredients (chemicals), I just put it back on the shelf. I deserve better than that. I shop at the local PCC Market (food co-op/health food store) and invest in local, organic foods when I can.

Even a choice of store reflects on mindful spending. There is a store that I've browsed in that sells gemstones, rocks, and various other natural items. The prices are so insanely low that you just know that they have to using some sort of slave labor to obtain these items. I love the items in the store, but I refuse to buy any of it to support these prices that must likely reflect unfair trade.

Another example is a a major retailer that two years ago was selling king size flannel sheet sets for $20. I really needed sheets, and who doesn't like cheap prices? So I bought them. But now that I need more sheets, I'm having a hard time with the concept of $20 king sized flannel sheets. Think about the material and the workmanship that goes into making a king-sized set of sheets. I have a hard time thinking of ethics and fair trade when prices are that low.

For me, making the choice to not purchase is living in integrity and by my values.

Not all my choices are so virtuous. I'll be first to admit I still run through a drive-thru from time to time or buy some worthless junk I don't need, but I'm trying to make those events the exception and not the rule.

What does YOUR spending say about your personal values?

 

 

Disposing of Drugs

For many years, if I had leftover medication (both prescription and over-the-counter), I did what many people did - dump it into the toilet or the trash. What I didn't realize at the time was that doing so has the potential for the drugs to enter our water supply, killing fish and otherwise contaminating our environment.

I started asking around at pharmacies about how to dispose of expired or unused drugs and nobody seemed to have a good answer for me. Holding onto these drugs in the hopes that I'd find a save disposal method is not necessarily save either. This article in today's Seattle Times explains of the risk of misuse of these drugs:

"Prescription drugs are now involved in most drug deaths in Washington, and one easy place to find them is the home medicine cabinet — often chock-full of leftover Vicodin or Valium tablets from various dental visits, day surgery or bad-back episodes.

Drug counselors and addiction specialists tell stories about repair people surreptitiously snatching a few pills from each bottle. In their own homes, teens might pilfer pills to sell, give to friends or take themselves — often not realizing that mixing drugs or taking them with alcohol can have deadly results."

Apparently, even if you can find a pharmacy or other program that will take back unused drugs, most of them won't take controlled substances, which have the greatest risk of misuse in the wrong hands.

On Saturday, September 25, 2010, the US Department of Justice's Drug Enforcement Administration is coordinating a National Take-Back Day where you can find somewhere local to drop off those drugs, with no ID required, no questions asked.

Please click here to take a look at the DEA's website where you can enter your zipcode for the nearest location to you for returning these drugs on Saturday - an easy step to safeguard our loved ones and our environment.

 

 

Human Exposure to BPA "Grossly Underestimated"

"Americans are likely to be exposed at higher levels than previously thought to bisphenol A, a compound that mimics hormones important to human development and is found in more than 90 percent of people in the United States, according to new research.

"U.S. EPA says it is OK for humans to take in up to 50 micrograms of BPA per kilogram of body weight each day. The new study, published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, suggests that we are exposed to at least eight times that amount every day.

"Our data raise grave concern that regulatory agencies have grossly underestimated current human exposure levels," states the study."

The text above is from an article in yesterday's New York Times: Study: Human Exposure to BPA 'Grossly Underestimated' which I found highly disturbing.

I've been on a quest for a long time to remove a majority of plastics from my household in the quest to reduce my exposure to BPAs. When I mention this to friends/family, I'm often told that I'm overreacting, and that it's not really a big deal. And I've probably felt complacent for a while about the removal of BPAs from what I buy. I don't drink out of plastic bottles, and none of my glasses, dishes or food storage containers are made of plastic anymore. But I'm all for convenience foods and have conveniently ignored the BPAs that are present in the packaging of the foods I buy, and the containers I'm microwaving them in. (The microwave is a whole different issue that I want to write about.) I figure I'm doing "so much already" in terms of avoiding it. But when I read articles like this, I realize I'm not doing enough.

BPAs are stored in the body in fat (among other places). So if this hormone-disrupting substance is storing itself in the ample fat storage of my body, and now studies are showing that "they" really underestimated how much humans are exposed to, well, it makes me think twice about my health and what I'm doing for it.

It's frustrating to think that as I make so many changes to "detox" my body of the chemicals and exposures of my lifetime which have caused the many ailments I've suffered from, that simultaneously I'm returning these substances to my body.

One thing I urge you to pay attention to are the numbers on the bottom of plastics that you purchase.  If you see a symbol that looks like the one to the right with a #7 on it, I recommend that you avoid it. This is the symbol used when a plastic doesn't fall under all the other categories, and while all #7 plastics do not contain BPAs, those that DO contain it will usually bear a #7 on it.

There are so many things in our environment that we do not have any control over, but this is something that we can start to become aware of and avoid when possible. Don't just take my word for it - do your own research into the reported effects of BPAs, as I did when I first heard about it.

I have BPA samples (and other toxic substance samples - all in energetic form so as not to be harmful to anyone) in my Health Kinesiology test kits, which I can use in corrections to help the body recognize it and learn how to process it out of our system. But it's always easier to keep things from happening than work to fix them later!

 

 

Taking Advantage of "Green"

"Green" is quite the attention-grabbing buzzword, isn't it?  Chances are that the word green is what got you to click on this blog entry. Which is my point exactly!

Who doesn't want to be be "green" or "sustainable" or "eco-friendly" or any number of similar buzzwords.  Is there even a standard for what those terms mean? I was looking at a business site I could join to promote my business, and it said it gives priority to green businesses. I recycle paper; does that make my business green? What makes my business more green than another?

Unfortunately people are assigning value to the term "green" and making assumptions about a business or product that uses these buzzwords, and it's getting attention.  Today I was driving and saw a sign above a car lot. The car lot itself didn't interest me in the least. But the sign said "Green Motorhome 21K." I have no interest in a motorhome, nor do I have $21,000 for it. But "green" got my attention and made me start thinking about this lot and its product. Meanwhile, I seriously have doubts over what can possibly be green about a $21,000 motorhome, which is probably an older, used, gas-guzzling monstrosity. I also don't need one, which would make it a frivolous expense even if I did buy one. So it would hardly quality as green in my book.

What do you think about when you hear the word Green in advertising? Do you trust a company more? Does it get your attention?  What do you define as being "green" anyway?

Story of Bottled Water (and Stuff)

You may have seen the popular YouTube video a while back called The Story of Stuff. Here's a new, similar video about bottled water, how it allegedly differs from tap water, and the hazards of the plastic bottle industry on our health and environment. Don't let the cartoon look fool you - the message is very poignant.

 

If you missed the original Story of Stuff video, I highly recommend it:

 

I've been carrying my own non-plastic water bottles for quite some time now. If you're not, please consider it - both to help the environment and your own health. Not to mention all the money I've saved on buying bottled water!