Leonardo DiCaprio’s “The 11th Hour”, opening this week in Los Angeles and New York, does not paint a pretty picture. The feature length documentary doesn’t want you to be able to hide from the environmental crises caused by human actions, so it splashes them across the screen with dramatic footage you won’t easily forget. Hurricanes. […]
Author Archive | Diane
Lead in Kids’ Toys a Crisis
I think it’s fair to call the “kid’s toys” situation a crisis. As yesterday’s New York Times reports, “Despite a two-year effort to eliminate the threat of poisonous lead in inexpensive children’s jewelry, hundreds of thousands of tainted items are still being sold across the United States.” Because of this negligence, thousands of children are […]
Toxic Toys from China #2
The announcement on August 2 that Mattel was recalling almost a million toys because they were covered in lead paint has parents seeing red. Just a month ago, I was urging a boycott of Chinese toys based on the lead found in Thomas the Tank Engines. Now we have to scoop up Dora the Explorer […]
The Dirt on Cleaning Your House
If you ever felt headachy, nauseous, or irritated after cleaning your house, chances are it’s not just from doing the work. A report just released by the nonprofit group Womens Voices for the Earth suggests that certain chemicals in some household cleaning products may be hazardous to women’s health. Kids are at risk, too. […]
Consumer Demand Works Magic on Harry Potter
The growing popularity of recycled paper, plus leadership from Canadian publishers, encouraged U.S. publisher Scholastic to print Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows on paper that even the whomping willow could be proud of. Nearly two-thirds of the 16,700 tons of paper used to print the 12 million copies of the U.S. version of […]
Do We Really Need Brewed Tea in a Box?
Hello? Anybody paying attention at Pacific Natural Foods? I don’t think so. Otherwise, why would a company that seems so ‘on target’ have completely missed the mark? Their latest offering is brewed tea…sold in a box. And it’s not just any box, either. It’s a 64-ounce, “shelf stable” box you can’t recycle, since it’s made […]
Japanese Nuke Accident Reminds Us to Nix Atomic Expansion in U.S.
The powerful earthquake that ripped through Japan yesterday should send a powerful signal to Americans that nuclear power is not a solution to our energy woes. The earthquake not only killed nine people and injured somewhere between 8,000 and 13,000 more as it flattened houses and buckled highways. It also struck Kashiwazaki Kariwa, the world’s […]
Is It Time to Boycott Bottled Water?
The more bottled water we drink, the bigger the toll it takes on the environment. Think about it: • According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, it takes 1.5 million gallons of oil – enough to run 100,000 cars for an entire year – to make plastic water bottles. Transporting the bottles, first to the […]