Zion Health has an interesting new product - ClayDry, a clay deodorant that absorbs sweat naturally. ClayDry is enriched with montmorillonite clay minerals that are highly absorptive and contain natural anti-bacterial properties. Aluminum based anti-perspirants work by drawing aluminum ions into the cells blocking the release of sweat. ClayDry absorbs sweat upon release, allowing glands to clear undesired proteins and fatty acids that accompany perspiration.

ClayDry is a completely natural deodorant whose main ingredient is montmorillonite clay which contains more than sixty trace minerals that work to balance pH levels on the skin. Montmorillonite also contains natural anti-bacterial properties long used to heal wounds and absorb poisons. ClayDry is also filled with natural organic herbs such as lavender, chamomile and aloe vera that nourish the skin and release a pleasant fragrance.

Worth a try!

But if you can’t find it at your local druggist, these ones might be a more readily available option.

According to TreeHugger, new research being done in Ohio points towards dandelion root sap being made into a rubber of equal quality to traditional rubber from trees, at a lower cost. Read on, dear reader…

BPA Free is a new running Greenthinkers feature where we discuss BPA, link to BPA-related pieces in the news, and also discuss and review all the BPA-free products you can handle. Enjoy your new BPA-free life.

BPA in the news this week…

Reuters: The amount of a controversial chemical bisphenol A (BPA) found in baby bottles is tiny and cannot harm human health, the European Union’s top food safety body said on Wednesday reacting to recent health concerns.

USA Today: In April, Canada proposed banning BPA, commonly used in polycarbonate baby bottles and the linings of formula cans. Last week, Congress passed legislation to ban several phthalates in toys for children under 12. The ban will take effect six months after being signed by the president, who is expected to do so in the next week or so, according to the White House. Chemical-makers say the chemicals have been used safely for decades. Studies have suggested the chemicals can affect the reproductive system.

CNN: Wal-Mart’s decision to stop selling baby bottles with the chemical bisphenol-a is seen as a sign of how online activist campaigns by entities such as the Environmental Working Group and activist bloggers can affect markets. Stores including CVS and Toys “R” Us also removed the products from shelves, and one chemist said the trend indicates that “the science can’t compete with the emotion.

Vancouver, B.C.’s Easywash is the most eco-friendly DIY car wash in the world. Featuring environmentally friendly touchfree carwashes, interior detail centres, and even an automated touchfree dogwash, EasyWash is powered by a hydrogen fuel-cell, draws its own well water and gathers rain water which is later captured and recycled. And as we all know, car washes can be more water conscious than we are at home with the hose.

And yes, apparently you can even get the dog washed while you’re there. Designed in part by veterinarians, the ‘cabin’ washes your pet in such a way that they don’t have to be held down or unduly restrained. Now that we’d like to see.

Let’s go to Vancouver and wash our cars and dogs!

Via Savvy Mom.

According to the David Suzuki Foundation, sea-lice infestations caused by open net salmon farms are one of the biggest threats to wild salmon. In one of Canada’s crucial wild salmon habitats, researchers predict that 99% of the wild pink salmon will be gone in four years if sea-lice infestations continue. And the salmon in your local grocery store might come from one of these open net salmon farms.

Learn more and do your bit here.

From watching the video above, we can see that Lotus is joining the growing group of automakers selling fake engine sounds for their hybrid cars. Seriously? Yes! The cars will feature weatherproof speakers that will emit some combination of vroom-vrooms so that people will know they are approaching.

We had no idea that hybrids were so dangerous. But Jalopnik did. Check out the labours of their investigation after the jump.

Read more...

Hey, did anyone notice that the ice is melting? Another summer, another iceshelf fractures. This time it’s ice breaking off from the Ward Hunt Island Ice Shelf, just north of Ellesmere Island. That’s in Canada.

Kids Recycling Zone is a fun website for kids that looks at what happens to all those objects in your recycling bin after they are carted away from the curb. Click!

BPA Free is a new running Greenthinkers feature where we discuss BPA, link to BPA-related pieces in the news, and also discuss and review all the BPA-free products you can handle. Enjoy your new BPA-free life.

Feedback has started to roll in on our recently launched feature on living a BPA-free life. Thanks to our readers for their questions, comments and pats on the back. And thanks to one particularly interested reader from FactsOnPET, an effort to educate the public on the safety of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles (it doesn’t contain BPA). His letter after the jump.

Read more...

Feces, urine, vomit, blood. Synthetic hormones, heart pills, antibiotics, illicit drugs, Viagra. Bacteria, viruses, E. coli, parasites. Household cleaners, shampoo, solvents, pesticides and traces of arsenic, mercury, cadmium, lead, dioxins and flame retardants. Each day, this chemical cocktail is piped from our homes, businesses and industries to sewage plants across the province. The water is filtered and reclaimed. The solid waste that remains is turned into biosolids, more commonly called sludge. For more than 30 years, Ontario’s sludge has been trucked out to farmland for use as fertilizer.

And so begins a rather interesting article on said sludge.

BPA Free is a new running Greenthinkers feature where we discuss BPA, link to BPA-related pieces in the news, and also discuss and review all the BPA-free products you can handle. Enjoy your new BPA-free life.

When it comes to BPA-free products for kids, The Safe Sippy stainless steel drink cup is amongst the greats. Created specifically in response to the growing body of emerging scientific evidence about the dangers of toxic chemicals used to make many plastics, the Safe Sippy is made from clean, stable and durable stainless steel. Stainless steel s the good guy in the BPA world.

Of course, as you can see from the photo, The Safe Sippy does have some plastic pieces on it. But be assured, makers Kid Basix have kept contact between water and plastic to a minimum, impress that all their plastics be certified free of Bisphenol A and phthalates.

And now on the the review. We gave a Safe Sippy to a 21-month old boy and asked him to use it for a few months, His verdict after the jump.

Read more...

The internet is abuzz (abuzz, we tell you) about Greenthinkers’ new feature BPA-Free. Look for this talk to continue as we are looking to keep this one going for a long time. Look for news, views and product reviews for days, weeks and months to come.

But that doesn’t mean we still won’t continue to cover green products and news like always. Don’t worry, we’re not going anywhere.

BPA Free is a new running Greenthinkers feature where we discuss BPA, link to BPA-related pieces in the news, and also discuss and review all the BPA-free products you can handle. Enjoy your new BPA-free life.

Today we tackle one of the more pressing BPA-related issues out there - baby bottles. In early 2007, Environment California Research & Policy Center published a report titled Toxic Baby Bottles: Scientific Study Finds Leaching Chemicals in Clear Plastic Baby Bottles. The report describes how polycarbonate plastic’s harmful BPA is used to make the vast majority of baby bottles. Flash forward a year and there are a myriad of BPA options available on the market. So let’s take a look at them with the help of Environmental Defence. We don’t have any babies in our group of testers at the moment so no reviews will be forthcoming from the world of baby bottles.

Adiri has a new Natural Nurser line that is bisphenol A-free. Soft and shaped like a mother’s breast, Adiri’s Natural Nurser comes with an easy to use and dishwasher safe Fill, Twist and Feed system. Made of polycarbonate-free and bisphenol-A free materials, it features a unique Petal vent that is said to help reduce colic.

BornFree is a hot seller at hip baby shops everywhere as they manufacture and sell baby bottles that are BPA, phthalates and PVC-free.

Evenflo makes glass bottles and its Comfort Select plastic line doesn’t contain BPA either. Weird website alert.

Green to Grow bottles are made of PES plastic, which gives them a natural golden color. They are free of phthalates and free of bisphenol A.

MAM ‘Care’ bottles are BPA-free. Their other lines are not.

Current hot breast pump brand Medela makes all their pump kits and bottles without BPA.

Mother’s Milkmate also offers BPA-free bottles in its unique pump-store-feed system.

On the flipside, according to Z Recommends:

You should be most concerned if you are using bottles by Avent, Dr. Brown’s, Evenflo, the First Years, Munchkin, Nuby, Playskool, or Second Nature, or sippy cups or breast pumps by many of these brands. You are also likely, but less certain, to be using products containing Bisphenol-A if you are using bottles by Gerber, Playtex, or Tommee Tippee.

Coming soon, a look at sippy cups, bottles, flasks and more for children of all ages.