On the first Thursday of every month, my restaurant hosts a Green Eco-Mixer. I am always present for these events, meeting people and mingling (or at least trying to...usually my uncomfortable awkwardness with strangers prevails) as one of the faces representing the restaurant.
The theme of the event changes monthly. While I always support the ultimate goal (ways to live greener), the theme doesn't always touch a specific nerve in me. For example, a past event was, "Green Parenting." I am not a parent, nor do I aspire to be. So, during an event like that, it is a little difficult for me to mingle with mommies and discuss eco-friendly diapers. There really isn't any common ground.
Last night was the the first mixer that I genuinely looked forward to, and also learned a lot from. The theme was, "Alternative Personal Care Products."
As an added bonus, I also took home a reusable Whole Foods grocery bag stuffed full of pamphlets, resources, and personal care samples. Score!
Most of the information I learned, as with most eco-conscious "lectures", was not pleasant. Some of it made me feel kind of silly for never realizing on my own...
For example:
Your skin is your largest organ, and what goes on your body, goes in your body. Things that you put on your skin bypass the liver (which is great at filtering out toxins) and goes directly to your bloodstream, brain, kidneys, etc.
With 90,000 known chemicals floating around our personal care products, what you put on your skin is, potentially, more harmful then what you put in your mouth.
The President of the American Nutrition Association was one of the speakers. They are a wonderful organization whom I have had the privilege of working with a few times now. He had copies of the book "Toxic Beauty" for sale. The author, Samuel Epstein is, apparently, the leader in this research. So much so, that Congress calls on him to evaluate items in our environment that cause cancer. The founder of Aveda called the book, "the most important book of the decade." That seems a little ambitious to me, but I guess I will find out.
After talking him down from $25 to $20 for the book (I mean, really...), I had to buy it. So, I am sure there will be much more info on this subject in the future. After I finish Geoff Emerick's book on his life recording the music of The Beatles, that is. :-)
I did walk away with 2 very simple things that anyone can do to reduce the amount of toxic or carcinogenic chemicals absorbed into the body.
1. Avoid products with sodium laurel sulfate and sodium laureth sulfate. My guess is that out of the 90,000 known chemicals, these 2 must be the most dangerous because they were the only 2 specifically mentioned by name. A quick glance in the shower showed me that both of these items are in my boyfriend's body wash. And our toothpaste. Yuck.
2. Purchase a chlorine filter for the shower.
When you take a hot shower, your skin becomes more porous, so the amount of chlorine and chemicals from your personal care products absorbed into the skin is magnified.
Knowledge is definitely a scary, scary thing. Quite frankly, I am a little nervous to start reading "Toxic Beauty!"
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