Frank and I watch Bill Moyers Journal on PBS (KOCE HD, ch. 409 here in Ventura County, CA!) Awhile back he had a program about how we can make a difference by the choices we make when we shop! This first site I am listing is so cool because it not only tells you if the product is good for you, but if it is good for the environment--therefore, how its production impacts our world! It has categories like food (things like levels of baby food based upon their age and weight), personal care (things like baby care, hair care, and makeup, household chemicals(air fresheners and detergents), and toys(baby and young children, sports equipment, and learning toys). It makes companies more accountable not just for the quality of their products, but for the quality of the way they do business! I know we are all not going to make a grocery list and then go to this website to check the entire list, but if we just would go to this site occasionally and look up ONE THING we buy regularly, it can make a real impact upon companies and the choices they make to produce that product. I know it is a small step, but if everyone does it, we can make a difference! I always love the example of Lady Bird Johnson, first lady from 1963 to 1969.
She started a campaign called "Beautify America". It was mostly a grassroots effort to clean up our communities. But it worked! All of the sudden, people were out in groups picking up trash along the streets and highways. She also lead an effort and was instumental in Congress passing an act to stop huge billboards from blocking our view of nature! Again, there was a real impact: many signs were taken down and many, many new signs were denied access to our Interstate and Highway roadsides. Don't ever become overwhelmed with the information explosion, but embrace your little piece of it. http://www.goodguide.com/ MamaL &PDaddy's friend has a similar blog too: http://green-lemonade.com/The other website they talked about that day was http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/ . It has safety guides to cosmetics and a link to things like the
2009 guide to sunscreen www.ewg.org/whichsunscreensarebest/2009report . Again I know we are all "bargain shoppers" but sometimes we are willing to spend a little more if we know for sure the product we are buying is worth the extra pennies or dollars! On a personal note, I have purchased 5 of the cloth bags (3 from Albertson's Grocery store and 2 from Walmart, and none from Trader Joes, although I look at them everytime I shop there and think they look so cool with their surfboards and wine bottles on them! --but I am too cheap! lol I mean, I got the 3 from Albertson's for free because I bought the Disney movie Wall-E for $19.95 and they gave me 3 bags--what a deal, right? and I got the 2 from Wally world because they were on sale for $.50! But the Trader Joe's are $1.99 and up, so I am holding out!) Now the true confession is that I remember to take these bags out of the trunk of my car about 1/2 the time I enter a store! Half the plastic bags or paper ones, is 1/2 as much, right? Oh well, I do use the plastic bags to clean up doggie poop when I walk Pete and kitty poop when I clean Shadows litter. (But that is a whole other environmental issue, in my opinion! I mean, what are we thinking? I know no ones want the little deposits or big deposits stinking up our living areas but by picking it up, we are placing in containers that are tough for nature to break down, whereas the poop would break down very quickly and actually fertilize the area! If you care to read my further ideas on this subject and away to turn it around and actually create a new energy source, then read my http://grandmasgottablog.blogspot.com/2008/11/not-drill-baby-but-scoop-baby-scoop.html . )
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