According to new product tests released today by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, lipstick manufactured in the United States and used daily by millions of American women contains surprisingly high levels of lead. More than half of 33 brand-name lipsticks tested (61 percent) contained detectable levels of lead, with levels ranging from 0.03 to 0.65 […]
Author Archive | Diane
Clearing the Air
Fear of consumer backlash has motivated Walgreens Drugstores to withdraw three air fresheners that contain chemicals which may affect hormones and reproductive development, particularly in babies. Walgreens’ action was taken after an analysis by the Natural Resources Defense Council and other environmental and health organizations showed that 12 of 14 brands tested contained hormone-disrupting chemicals […]
A Thousand Dollars Adds Up Fast
The “One in a Million” Campaign is urging a million women to shift $1,000 of money they’d spend in a year anyway to green products and services that can help protect the environment. Women are finding all kinds of ways to swap out “brown” products for “green.” Erin just sent the balance sheet she downloaded […]
Green Shopping Makes a Difference
Big Green Purse encourages women to make a difference in the marketplace because the marketplace is what ruins or restores the environment. The dynamic works like this: Women’s enormous consumer clout is critical to manufacturers’ success. Manufacturing to meet consumer demand drives pollution and climate change. Pollution and climate change affect our […]
Aurora Dairy Undercuts Consumer Confidence
One of the nation’s largest organic dairies must stop using the organic label on some of its products because it is not producing that milk organically. Aurora Organic Dairy provides the organic milk Wal-Mart, Costco, Wild Oats, Trader Joe’s and Safeway sell under their own brand names. The dairy agreed to make major changes in […]
Make the Shift: Phosphate-Free Dish Detergent
Phosphates were once widely used in laundry detergents. Due to their deteriorating impact on water quality (too much phosphorus creates suffocating algae blooms), the Federal government limited phosphorus content to 5% by weight in the 1970s. But guess what? There’s no restriction on the phosphorus content of diswashing detergents, which may contain as much as […]
The A List: Keith Urban
We could solve all our energy problems if we could figure out how to capture the heat Keith Urban generates in his live concerts. I caught the Washington, D.C. leg of his World Tour, Love, Pain and the Whole Crazy World a couple of nights ago. Talk about VOLTAGE! I’ve been a fan of his […]
Third Toy Recall Makes for a Grim “Hat Trick”
This isn’t the kind of “hat trick” anyone would want to boast about. In yet another recall, Mattel today has asked parents to return almost 19 million toys made in China due to safety threats they pose from tiny magnets or lead paint. This action follows the millions of toys Mattel has already recalled […]