aargh! bamboozled?

This recent consumer alert from the FTC is distressing. To me, bamboo = sustainable = good. I guess this confirms that the greenest items are the ones already in existence. Vintage/thrifted clothing is the way to go, people.

Have You Been Bamboozled by Bamboo Fabrics?

Looking to be a more environmentally conscious shopper? You’ve probably heard about bamboo. Bamboo stands out for its ability to grow quickly with little or no need for pesticides, and it is used in a variety of products, from flooring to furniture. But when it comes to soft bamboo textiles, like shirts or sheets, there’s a catch: they’re actually rayon.

The Federal Trade Commission, the nation’s consumer protection agency, wants you to know that the soft “bamboo” fabrics on the market today are rayon. They are made using toxic chemicals in a process that releases pollutants into the air. Extracting bamboo fibers is expensive and time-consuming, and textiles made just from bamboo fiber don’t feel silky smooth.

There’s also no evidence that rayon made from bamboo retains the antimicrobial properties of the bamboo plant, as some sellers and manufacturers claim. Even when bamboo is the “plant source” used to create rayon, no traits of the original plant are left in the finished product.

Companies that claim a product is “bamboo” should have reliable evidence, like scientific tests and analyses, to show that it’s made of actual bamboo fiber.

The FTC works for the consumer to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices in the marketplace and to provide information to help consumers spot, stop, and avoid them. To file a complaint or to get free information on consumer issues, visit ftc.gov or call toll-free, 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357); TTY: 1-866-653-4261. The FTC enters consumer complaints into the Consumer Sentinel Network, a secure online database and investigative tool used by hundreds of civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad.

Tapped

Thanks to Heather at Shivaya Naturals for posting about this movie. I haven’t seen it yet, but the message in this trailer is one with which I wholeheartedly agree.

Here’s a challenge: If you buy bottled water, go get a nice, reusable water bottle. Next, take what you have been spending on bottled water (it adds up, people) and fill the glass of someone who needs it. Try Water of Life, an organization that brings fresh water and living water to those who thirst for both. These people are from my church – my neighbors, making a global impact.

“The problem is huge. The solution is one village at a time.”

Take a look:

this is the way we wash our clothes

 

Homemade laundry soap? Don't laugh -- it's amazing stuff.

I have a variety of allergies and skin issues, too numerous to mention here. Suffice it to say that if it smells good, I can't be near it and if it it is washed in commercial laundry detergent, I can't wear it.

Pleasant by-products of making this at home: it costs about 85 percent less than the stuff from the store, it is gentle (and therefore doesn't eat away at clothes -- or skin) and I am not buying a bottled, diluted product that has been shipped from who knows where, with its environmental impact expanding by the mile. I am not an expert and I have no idea how much this reduces our laundry's carbon footprint. But it has to help.

The basic recipe is here. I use a vegetable-based, natural glycerin soap and I do not add essential oils, though I recommend doing so if you are not allergic.

Go forth and have clean clothes. Enjoy

we pause for this commercial message...

This Liquid Logic water bottle (click the photo for a link) is 40 percent off today at Amazon. We have one of these and love it. It even survived an unfortunate encounter with the steel jaws of a car door -- scarred but still fully functional.

byob (of the water variety)

Going green? Bring your own water bottle... (Ignore the goofy picture of me. I must get that updated.)

color my world

I completely ripped off this recycled crayon project from this site. However, I found that 350 degrees was too much for our bunch of broken crayons. Maybe my oven is off kilter? In any event, 250 degrees for 10 minutes was plenty. We made ours in muffin tins and the kids decided they look a little like mutant Reese's peanut butter cups. As such, you should probably monitor little ones carefully.

We first discovered these homemade rainbow crayons during a homeschool class at our local art museum last spring. The kids used these on black paper and the effect was incredible.

Go scrounge under the car seats and you will probably find enough broken crayon pieces to make your own batch. Or maybe that's just us...

the reports of blogger's death have been greatly exaggerated

Many blogger sites are currently inaccessible, and mine was included in that group until a few minutes ago. If you hit a friend's site and you get the "Internet explorer is unable to open" error, please email them and let them know that this is not related to the current "blogger sites as spam" issue (that's a different can of worms that the folks at blogger are working to fix). This is related to Sitemeter. Sitemeter html needs to be removed until the issue is fixed or the site will not load.

That's all I know about html. Really.

Edited to add: OK, I know less than nothing, so don't take my word for this, but I think it has to do with Internet Explorer interacting with Sitemeter. I don't know if Microsoft is fixing this or Sitemeter or both or neither. :) And I could be wrong.