day 51. july 21. 2010. July 21, 2010

Puma. and Yves Behar. I’m not gonna lie, I’m a little more excited about Yves than Puma. Yves is, um like, a design god. I am in awe of him. Perhaps a little weak in knees awe, actually. And reduced to using “like” in my, like sentences, and stuff.

Yves is an industrial designer based in San Francisco and founder of fuseproject, and he designs SERIOUSLY cool stuff.

Like the XO Laptop. (The story of why he designed this laptop, and what happened when it went to market is incredible.)

The Mission Motors Motorbike. SAW-weet!!!

But in terms of being an honourary ecoJunkie, Yves gets my vote for this:

Earthshattering? No. But really clever!! And DOWN with shoeboxes! You are still my hero, Yves!

day 49. july 19. 2010. July 19, 2010

These girls are pretty. They are also pretty eco-friendly. Well I know for a fact the one on the right is close to ecojunkie. They are also the cofounders of The Beaver Theatre Company. (and not just cause they are Canadian).

They are doing a bit of a show on Monday July 26 2010 at Cool Hand of  a Girl, a little organic cafe spot regularly frequented by myself, and the girl on the right, along with the girl on the right’s family. The girl on the left is sometimes seen “in the kitchen” at Cool Hand of a Girl. Cool Hand of a Girl makes the best sandwiches. I know this for a fact. As a sandwich “hater” I know a good sandwich when I have one. The Avocado & Tomato Sandwich with Lemon Pepper Dressing is divine. As the comedy by these two ladies. Divine Comedy. Come check them out if you are in the city next Monday. More info on the Beaver Theatre Company’s Website!

day 48. july 18. 2010. July 18, 2010

I’m wearing flowers on my face! One of the items I picked up at the natural make up party was a blush by Zuii Certified Organic Flora Makeup. Zuii Organics are made in Australia. Their team has formulated and developed the Zuii range of products based on Certified Organic flower petals, essential oils, plant extracts, vitamins and minerals.

• No talc
• No synthetics
• No Petro Chemicals
• No Parabens
• No genetically modified ingredients
• No Animal Testing
• Preservative Free

Their Company is 100% Australian owned and all of their products are created and manufactured in their state of the art production facilities. Keeping the manufacturing processes within Australia allows Zuii to maintain the integrity of their product range, and gives them the opportunity to source the purest forms of ingredients for production processing. They also manufacture cruelty free and do not test on animals.

Some of the Zuii product ingredients include:

• rosebuds
• chamomile flowers
• geranium oil
• jasmine buds
• horsetail (a plant… not actually horse hair)
• coltsfoot extract (a herb … not actually the foot of a colt)
• jojoba oil
• st. johns wort extract
• aloe vera

day 47. july 17. 2010. July 17, 2010

I’m going to a “natural make up” party tonight!! I’ll let you know if there’s any good stuff!!!

day 38. july 8. 2010. July 8, 2010

poplove! i love the name of this unique fashion house!

About:

Growing up in Georgetown, Ontario, a city of about 40,000, Andrea Hughes moved to Toronto to study the business end of fashion at George Brown College. After a stint at retail chains like Aldo and the FX Boutique, by age 23 Hughes was designing her own clothes.

Today, four years on Hughes has moved again, and now she and her husband Shai Wallach are running a unique family business – a line of “upcycled” fashion items for women and men – out of their PopLove studio in south Tel Aviv, Israel.

“Basically I decided I was done with working for other people and wanted to design for myself,” Hughes tells ISRAEL21c, explaining that “upcycled” refers to clothing which is recycled into garments that are a cut above the pieces from which they originate.

Wallach and Hughes took materials sourced from a local women’s charity that collects donations of clothes to create PopLove. It’s an online fashion retail brand that can be found in Tel Aviv’s trendiest boutiques, like those in the Gan Hashmal (Electric Garden) area. Items for sale online are popular with American, European and Australian clientele.

day 20. june 20. 2010. June 20, 2010

Yoga.

Does Yoga have anything to do with being an ecojunkie? I would suggest yes. Yoga helps you to become more aware, not only of your own spirit and soul, but also of how that soul is in tune with the rest of the world and the universe; the people, the plants, the soil, the water, the animals and God; the creator of everything. Awareness is one of the most difficult things (for me) to keep in the forefront of my mind.

I am easily distracted. I am easily swayed.  OH! LOOK! SHINY THINGS!

Seriously.

I have practiced yoga on and off for about twelve years. Mostly OFF of late, but lately I have taken to starting the day with sun salutations. I have a wonderful house down by the lake with a very unique layout that allows me to practice yoga in a large hardwood floored space while overlooking my park-like backyard.

I feel very lucky to have this space and have been taking advantage of it. Especially now that I know that I only have it for a few more months. And the loft is a wee bit smaller. I will have to find a good yoga studio.

day 18. june 18. 2010. June 18, 2010

Marie Veronique Organics.

Although I have (just, like yesterday) started making my own cosmetics, I am coveting Marie Veronique. Marie obviously has access to ingredients that I will never have access to…

A few pluses:

• all of her ingredients are vegan except for four (honey being one of them).
• most of her ingredients are organic and many are fair trade and local.
• zero toxins, no petroleum based product and no nanoparticles.
• and WOW… expensive. but, Marie does donate 10% of her profits to The Acumen Fund, “dedicated to creating better opportunities for women and children in Third World countries”. That is a really beautiful thing.

day 16. june 16. 2010. June 16, 2010

I finally ran out of (name brand) eye make up remover. I was excited because that means I could start experimenting with making my own cosmetics. I wear waterproof mascara (I’m a bit of a cryer) so this homemade stuff had to be super effective. Of all the reading I did, there was an overarching theme of olive oil as being pretty much magical for your skin. No more expensive anti-wrinkle creams?

I found this recipe and it’s AMAZING. Dip a soft cloth in the oils and gently wipe from the corner of your eye to the outside edge until cloth comes away clean. Then gently wipe with warm water to eliminate the oils.

Mix equal parts of :

• castor oil
• extra virgin olive oil
• castor oil

Mix small doses at a time. Always use a clean soft cloth to eliminate the transfer of bacteria. Never put your fingers in the oils. Store in a tightly closed glass bottle.

day 9. june 9. 2010. June 9, 2010

Summer is finally here! I am CERTAINLY a summer person. And if you are a summer person, ain’t no better place to live than Toronto. Unless you HATE winter. Then Toronto is less than ideal. Unfortunately for me I HATE the winter. Well I hate the Toronto winters anyway. Freezing cold. Snow. Sleet. Frozen roads and sidewalks and piles of dirty slush in soupy puddles at street corners. ULGH. Fortunately for me, I may have already endured my LAST Toronto winter!

But SUMMER! is my favourite! Hot days, warm nights, evenings in the backyard on my deck with a cold drink. Driving around with ALL the windows down AND the sunroof open. Sunglasses. Lazy afternoons in the garden. PATIO! SEASON!

Don’t forget the sunscreen! Right?

We hear the warnings all over the place. Be sure to wear sunscreen everyday! Reapply after swimming or strenuous exercise! We see the ads. We notice the drugstore aisles, 15spf, 30spf, 45spf… I kid you not, this year I saw 80spf. But what is IN that stuff? Turns out, not much good. Or a whole lot bad. Depends if you are a glass half empty person, or glass half full person.

Chemical Sunscreens Include:

Benzophenones (dixoybenzone, oxybenzone)

PABA and PABA esters (ethyl dihydroxy propyl PAB,  glyceryl PABA, p-aminobenzoic acid, padimate-O or octyl dimethyl PABA) PABA is on the Canada – Prohibited and Restricted Cosmetics Ingredients list

Cinnamates (cinoxate, ethylhexyl p-methoxycinnamate, octocrylene, octyl methoxycinnamate)

Salicylates (ethylhexyl salicylate, homosalate, octyl salicylate)

Digalloyl trioleate

Menthyl anthranilate

Avobenzone [butyl-methyoxydibenzoylmethane; Parsol 1789] – This is the only chemical sunscreen currently allowed by the European Community. However, its safety is still questionable since it easily penetrates the skin and is a strong free radical generator.

One of the best natural sunscreens I can find is Soleo Organics All Natural Sunscreen SPF 30+. The Environmental Working Group’s website gives it a VERY low hazard rating, with almost no concerns and excellent sun protection. If you have small children, it is safe to use on “adults and children of all ages.”

If you are curious about what is in YOUR sunscreen, type it’s name into the Cosmetic Data Base, brought to you by the Environmental Working Group. While you are there you can check all the other products in your bathroom! Looks like I am going to be tossing out a thing or two. Well, I AM trying to reduce the amount of stuff I’m schlepping across the country. Right?

day 7. june 7. 2010. June 7, 2010

Triclosan. Triclosan is an antibacterial and antifungal agent.

In August 2009, the Canadian Medical Association asked the Canadian government to ban triclosan use in household products under concerns of creating bacterial resistance and producing dangerous side products (chloroform).

Reports have suggested that triclosan can combine with chlorine in tap water to form chloroform gas, which the United States Environmental Protection Agency classifies as a probable human carcinogen. As a result, triclosan was the target of a UK cancer alert, even though the study showed that the amount of chloroform generated was less than amounts often present in chlorinated drinking waters.

Triclosan also reacts with the free chlorine in tap water to produce lesser amounts of other compounds, like 2,4-dichlorophenol. Most of these intermediates convert into dioxins upon exposure to UV radiation (from the sun or other sources). Although small amounts of dioxins are produced, there is a great deal of concern over this effect, because some dioxins are extremely toxic and are very potent endocrine disruptors.  They are also chemically very stable, so that they are eliminated from the body very slowly (they can bioaccumulate to dangerous levels), and they persist in the environment for a very long time.

A 2006 study concluded that low doses of triclosan act as an endocrine disruptor in the North American bullfrog. The hypothesis proposed is that triclosan blocks the metabolism of thyroid hormone, because it chemically mimics thyroid hormone, and binds to the hormone receptor sites, blocking them, so that normal hormones cannot be used. Triclosan has also been found in both the bile of fish living downstream from waste water processing plants and in human milk. Another 2009 study demonstrated that triclosan exposure significantly impacts thyroid hormone concentrations in the male juvenile rats.

In the United States, manufacturers of products containing triclosan must now say so somewhere on the label.

So where does triclosan show up in our homes? Toothpaste. Mouthwash. Facewash. Handsoap. Deoderant. Dishwashing liquid. Hand sanitizers. Clothing. Kitchenware. Furniture. Toys.

Toothpaste. Seriously.

Some brands: Clearasil Daily Face Wash, Dentyl mouthwash, Dawn, the Colgate Total range, Crest Cavity Protection, Softsoap, Dial, Right Guard deodorant, Sensodyne Total Care, Old Spice, Mentadent, and Bath and Body works hand sanitizers. Lots of detailed additonal information here, including a comprehensive product list.