Choosing the Right Sunscreen

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Do you use sun protection? Hopefully you do. Do you put it on only when you plan to be outside for an extended amount of time, or do you wear it everyday? I used to wear mine everyday. I currently use a moisturizer with a built-in SPF of 15, but I no longer have a body moisturizer that has an SPF in it. You see, when I switched my lotion for a greener alternative, I couldn’t find one that met my standards that also provides sun protection. The one I am currently using on my face is nowhere near green, but I refuse to throw it out because it’s a waste of product and money. I realize that I need to start using sun protection again, but I also realize that a lot of products which claim to block both UVA and UVB rays don’t do such a great job, or they only block UVB but not UVA.

Searching for the right sunscreen can be a daunting task. Looking for eco- and human-friendly products can be difficult, but add that to finding a sunscreen which will actually protect your skin, and you’ve got quite a challenge. Fortunately, there are available resources online that can help you out. I don’t recall having read anything in either green living book that I own (Snow and Loux), but I know that the Environmental Working Group (EWG) has conducted several studies on popular sunscreens and their findings are pretty frightening.

The EWG’s 2010 Sunscreen Guide offers a list of sunscreens to avoid (and why), some of the best sunscreens to buy (and why), as well as sun safety tips. Did you know that, according to the EWG, some sunscreens not only fail in providing protection from UVA rays (which can cause skin cancer), but they also come in sprays or powders that can be accidentally inhaled? Some of the particles in those sprays and powders can cause lung damage and/or enter the bloodstream and potentially cause cancer. Wow.

Gaeaphilia Is Now A Carbon Neutral & Carbon Positive Blog!

Thanks to Stock Display’s Carbon Neutral Blog Program and Ipix’s Carbon Positive Blog Program, Gaeaphilia is now carbon neutral and carbon positive! Here’s why:

Every blog that attracts 15,000 hits per month generates on average around 3.5kg of carbon every year – this figure is worked out according to a study conducted by Alexander Wissner-Gross, PhD, physicist at Harvard University and environmental activist, who has worked out that an average website causes about 0.02g of carbon dioxide for each visit – so a blog attracting 15,000 visits per month contributes around 3.5kgs of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere per year. His study took into account the power consumed by computer usage, electricity hours and server cooler systems. Although 3.5kg’s a year doesn’t sound like a lot, when you consider that last February The Sunday Times reported that there was around 200m blogs in the world, it means that with an average readership of 15,000 hits per month blogs alone contribute around 700,000 tonnes of carbon to the atmosphere every year.

Source: Stock Displays Carbon Neutral Blogs

Joining is easy. All you need to do is visit their websites (see links above), add both buttons to your blog, make a post about it, and send them an e-mail with a link back to your post. In exchange they will both plant a tree for you. It’s that simple. So, what are you waiting for?

Is Bottled Water Really Worth It?

Everyone wants to drink clean water, right? While we’re fortunate enough in the United States to have access to clean drinking water, I’ve often wondered how “clean” bottled water is. I’ve also wondered how many of those plastic bottles are recycled. To answer my question, I did a little digging, and this is what I found:

How Clean Is the Water You’re Drinking?

In November of 2008 the Environmental Working Group (EWG) published the results of a study in which they tested different brands of bottled water (including the ten most popular brands) to measure the levels of contaminants. Each brand of water contained 38 different types of chemical pollutants, and 4 brands contained biological contaminants.

In July 2009, CNN published an article that addressed the results of two reports, one of which was by the EWG (mentioned in the paragraph above). The other report, CNN stated, reveals that there is little regulation of the safety of bottled water (the FDA has little authority over this matter). This means that companies can use water from various sources and are not required to disclose their sources, or any pollutants or contaminants found in that water. To make matters worse, companies who bottle and sell water aren’t required to have their water tested for contaminants. Even if high levels of contaminants are found, those companies are also not required to notify consumers within 24 hours.

While I prefer to drink filtered water, I refuse to buy bottled water. I think a home purification system is the best route to take. These and other reports suggest that bottled water might not be as pure as the consumer is led to believe.

Are the Majority of Plastic Bottles Recycled?

According to Earth911‘s “Facts About Plastic Bottles”, they are not. Earth911 states that 80% of all plastic bottles purchased will end up in a landfill, despite the fact that 80% of all households in the United States have access to recycling facilities (drop-off locations or curbside pick-up). How ridiculous.

They also state that the most commonly recycled types of plastic are PETE (#1) and HDPE (#2). This is not surprising at all, at least not for someone who is mostly familiar with recycling facilities in Las Vegas. Almost all places I’ve encountered accept only #1 and #2 plastics.

Most importantly, “Producing new plastic products from recycled materials uses two-thirds  less energy than required to make products from raw (virgin) materials.  It also reduces greenhouse gas emissions.” This is why it is so important to recycle and reuse. Not only does it save the planet from plasticides, but it also calls for a reduction in the amount of energy consumed while manufacturing the plastic.

So.. What Now?

If you purchase bottled water, be aware that you might not be as pure as you’d think. Also, please, please, please, recycle that bottle. If you are a part of a curbside pick-up program, there is no excuse not to recycle. As for those who have to drop their recycling off, it’s not that difficult. I’ve been doing it for years, so you can, too.

A Different Perspective: BP Oil Leak

Traditionally I present information and opinions with respect to environmental and human impact. While I am extremely concerned about the fate of the Gulf of Mexico and those who depend on it for their livelihood, I have found myself rather irritated by the media and commentary that has ensued since the leak first began. I’ve been pretty quiet about the leak, mostly just listening, but lately have felt the need to express my opinion. Let it be known right now that I am not striving to ignore the consequences of the leak, but am rather fed up with the lack of self reflection many consumers seem to have.

People are complaining about offshore drilling and “negligence” and “cutting corners” and “abandoning safety”, yet the full investigation hasn’t even been completed yet. People who work for BP, honest, good, environmentally aware people, are being dragged through the mud by this. If this country wasn’t so freaking dependent on oil, offshore drilling wouldn’t even be an issue because there wouldn’t be a need to drill offshore. This matter is more personal than most people are aware of and it hurts every time I read another article or comment about how horrible big oil is.

I find it HILARIOUS that after an event like this (and yes, I agree, it is a really, really big problem) I still hear commentary in the news from Americans who don’t think now is the right time to push for a bigger move toward clean, green energy. So I suppose we can just continue to rely on oil like we do, import as much as we do from other countries, try to resist offshore drilling, avoid moving toward cleaner, greener forms of energy (even though the Gulf of Mexico is crying out for it right now, along with the rest of the planet we, as a species, are currently destroying), and continue to drive our over-sized trucks, power our over-sized homes, and refuse to admit that bigger isn’t always better.

The fact of the matter is, we all have a hand in this somewhere. Whether corners were cut or not, if we weren’t dependent on oil there would be no need to drill for it. To those who want to badmouth BP and big oil, I have one question for you: how many miles did you walk to work today?

Money Speaks Louder Than Words: Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions

While browsing the latest headlines on MSNBC, I came across this article which discusses raising the cost of oil and coal in an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. There was a point in my life where I would have considered the idea to be ridiculous. However, now, I agree with it.

I recently took a class about global environmental change. In it we discussed a lot of varying topics, including the rate of annual greenhouse gas emissions (by country). The United States used to be the nation with the highest greenhouse gas emissions, but in the past few years we’ve been passed by China.

While many still don’t believe global warming exists, there is scientific evidence to show otherwise. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has published numerous reports discussing the evidence which points toward climate change. Yes, I know, there were some errors in their reports before. That however doesn’t invalidate the overall message: the Earth is getting hotter.

The MSNBC article mentions a paper recently published in Nature which detailed “a study suggesting the world’s oceans are absorbing more heat from global warming than previously thought. Scientists from the U.S. and Japan estimated the amount of energy swallowed by the oceans since 1993, a figure roughly equivalent to more than 2 billion Hiroshima-sized bombs.”

TWO BILLION. Pretty impressive and scary, all at the same time.

While the oceans continue to warm up they will also continue to absorb more carbon dioxide (CO2), leading to an increase in acidity. This will increase the ocean’s ability to absorb additional CO2 while affecting marine biota and possibly triggering extinctions. Warmer ocean temperatures also means the potential to melt additional methane (CH4) hydrates, leading to an increase in atmospheric methane levels. Since methane is also a greenhouse gas (stronger than CO2), this will mean additional heating, causing the oceans to warm up even more, and.. I am sure you get the picture.

Also, warmer atmopsheric and oceanic temperatures means additional melting of sea ice. This will lead to further heating of the atmosphere and ocean, which will lead to additional melting, which.. okay, I’ll stop.

Regardless of what is done to reduce (or in my opinion, cut all together) greenhouse gas emissions, it needs to be done soon. Many people feel that there are more important issues to focus on right now, and perhaps in some respects there are, but if we do nothing, then the problems we as a generation are creating today will be left for the next set of generations to solve. By the way, that includes your children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and so on.