☆ Infographic: The Global Water Crisis ☆

Infographic by Seametrics, a manufacturer of water flow meter technology that measures and conserves water.


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☆ What's Going On: Why Go Organic? ☆

At the most simply-put basis, Organic is everything you could dream of for a healthy body, wildlife, and planet. 

Natural is NOT Organic

Please remember that "Natural" does Not mean "Organic" in any way shape or form. "Natural" only means that a food product does not have any preservatives, synthetic additives, colors, or flavorings Added. But you are still biting into a mouthful of pesticides and still facing all the horrors of non-organic crops. 

Pesticides:

There are over a thousand chemical pesticides available for use in Canada alone. Depending what country you live in will make a difference on the standards in place. Many pesticides are banned in one country, due to their links to cancer, reproductive disorders, and acute toxicity, yet are still used in other countries. And with so much of our food being imported, things get pretty mucky no matter where you live. 

Pesticides have hormone-mimicking, neurotoxic, reproductive-impairing properties, with about 60% of them being hormone disruptors. 

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 200, 000 people die every year from pesticide poisoning.  

These nasty pesticides don't just stay on their designated crops either, less than 5% end up where they are supposed to as the winds will carry them hald way across the world. Chems banned 20 years ago, such as DDT, are blowing over from countries where they are still in use! 

Check out http://foodnews.org for the foods with the highest and lowest pestice residue. 

Fertilizers:

Laziness has made it so that crops are no longer rotated to let the land's soil rebuild itself. Now the soil is pumped full of potent petrochemical fertilizers instead. 31% of all fossil fuels used by North American farms goes into fertilizes, much of which ends up in rivers, lakes, and oceans. This is bad because overdoses of nitrogen and phosphorous from fertilizer runoff can create massive algae blooms that suffocate aquatic life and create large dead zones. 

Water:

Global agriculture suck up about 70% of all the water we use on this planet. 

What's extra silly is that Canada has some of the most water-intensive crops (grains and cattle) and 60% of that agriculture happens in the Prairies--which just so happens to be the driest part of the country! 

Irradiation:

Is the zapping of our food with gamma rays, x-rays or electron beams to get rid of germs, slows the sprouting, ripening, and moulding processes so that products can sit on shelves longer. This may sound like a good idea, but the process drains some of the vitamins out of food and it also creates radioactive waste. 

Irradiated foods are supposed to be clearly marked with an international symbol, and if more than 10% of the ingredients in packaged products have been irradiated the label has to list which ones.

GMO:

Here is a prime example of our attempts at playing God without considering the consequences. Genetically modified organisms are developed in labs when genes from different organisms are spliced into another to create so-called "super-foods," but really there is nothing "super" about it. They are meant to improve hardiness, pesticide resistance, and draught resistance, or any other number of things. But GMOs have not been around long enough to know the long-term health effects and they are hardly tested enough to be put out on the market. We really don't understand their effects in nature and have already disrupted natural species, helped continuously create "super weeds" that evolve and grow more resilient to GMO crops, and create super insects with similar aspects. Plus, once they're exposed to wildlife you can't exactly completely remove those pesky GMOs from the environment, as they are carried by animals, insects, winds, and waterways all over the world. 

There is no labeling for which foods or packaged foods are GMO either--that is unless you're buying Organic.

Pesticide Regulation:

We'd like to think that Pesticides are "safe" for human health but the testing process is a joke, with minimal testing done all-together. Steps are skipped due to pressure, and older pesticides have by-passed the new safety standards, which never put into account the effect of pesticides on children's health. Not to mention that these nasty chemicals are tested on animals which react entirely differently in their bodies than ours (what might be poisonous to us might not be to them and vise versa). 

Pesticide regulations in the U.S. are far behind much of the rest of the industrialized world, largely in part due to corporations like Monsanto having such an influence in Government affairs, and because the U.S. does not adequately account for things like additive and synergetic effects*. The European Union regulates much of their pesticide use with the "precautionary principle," which prioritizes protecting human health when there is significant doubt about the safety of a product. In the U.S. such products are "innocent until proven guilty," which often takes decades to prove whether or not a chemical is guilty or not, and in the meantime can wreck all sorts of environmental damage and health hazards. 

*Synergetic Effects: when one type of pesticide plus another type of pesticide equals a more lethal effect due to their combination. A scary thought when conventional crops use more than one type of pesticide so this dangerous cocktail is very likely. 

Environment, Wildlife, and Human Health:

Organic does not pollute groundwater, rivers, lakes, and oceans with synthetic pesticides and fertilizers. Organic reduces soil erosion, improves soil quality, increases biodiversity and wildlife on and near farms. Organic does not expose workers to the health hazards of synthetic pesticides. 

Countless animals die due to the spread of pesticides; 30 registered pesticides are known to kill wild birds, fish, and important beneficial insects. They also weaken animals and create birth-defects. 

Furthermore, the growing consensus among the scientific community is that the consumption of pesticides and other chemicals can possibly cause lasting damage to human health, especially during fetal development and early childhood. Scientists are warning of the long-term consequences of ingesting these chemicals and are advising that we minimize our consumption of pesticides. The truth is that we still don't know just how badly these pesticides effect human health.

The impacts of pesticides on human health have been linked to causing ADHD in children, birth defects and childhood cancer in the very young, Parkinsons’ Disease in the elderly, asthma, cause neurotoxicity, hormone disruptors, developmental or reproductive toxins, and are known or probable carcinogens. Not to mention they are toxic to Honeybees and are a probable cause of the growing CCD (Colony Collapse Disorder) problem. These chemicals also linger in our systems for years, and there is always pesticide residue left behind on non-organic foods even once they reach the grocery store.

Buying Organic is a Responsibility to the World:

Organic doesn't just mean that the food is pesticide-free, it also means it's grown in soil that has been untouched by chemical fertilizers or pesticides for at least three years. The soil is properly taken care of and is rotated, fostering the soil's nutrients instead of kiling it and rendering it useless like conventional crops. Organic food can not be irradiated or fumigated with synthetic agents. It is free of genetically modified organisms (GMO), hormones, and fake processing aids (such as coloring, preservatives and flavorings). Organic is real, true, un-altered food, packed full of nutrients and vitamins. You don't have to worry about getting sick from chemical pesticides. You don't have to worry about your child developing health problems. Organic harmonizes with Earth instead of poisoning wildlife, workers, waterways, the air, and the ground.

Peace & Love,

xo

~Bianca  

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☮ Be the Change: Idiot's Guide to Being Green #1 ☮

After observing other's horribly ungreen habits, I must admit it makes me want a reality TV show on teaching people easy steps to being green. I am always striving for new ways to be as eco-friendly as I can, and I enjoy sharing those ways with all of you, however, somehow it never occurred to me to start with some basic obvious ones, things that make me cringe because they are so awful for the planet yet sooo easy to fix. 

So here is list... 

p.s. you know I love you and the "idiot's" is really just light-hearted fun...but seriously, these are easy things you should be doing already ;)

#1 of Being Green for Idiots 

☮ 1. Recycle! No matter where you are, it's easier than people make it out to be. Either the super easy blue-bag system that is in effect for most cities these days, go to a depot at the end of the month or so. 

☮ 2. Don't Idle!!! Turn off your damn car! Not only is it illegal (thankfully) now in more and more places but it's an easy two-second move. Idling longer than 10 seconds uses more fuel and produces more CO2 compared to restarting the engine. 

☮ 3. Turn off your lights! If you're not in the room, turn off the light. The worst is those who leave their lights on when they're not even home!!! Why do you do this???!!! It literally takes two seconds to flick off a light switch. Who are you leaving those lights on for anyways??

☮ 4. Turn off the TV! Do you need to leave it on all day? Really, seriously? There's nothing good on anyways. It amazes me that people can leave their TVs on all day long, again, even when they're not home. It's not good for the planet but it's also not good for YOU! All of those electronics send out positive ions (those are the bad ones), sucking away your energy and making you feel "blah."

☮ 5. ReUsable Bags--USe them!! Ditch the plastic IMMEDIATELY! Keep a reusable bag with you at ALL times, never ever opt for using a plastic bag. Ever. All that plastic is ending up in our oceans and wildlife, killing it all. Plus the stuff never decomposes. 

☮ 6. Disposable Plates and Utensils. More plastic waste to go around, for what? A one time use? Biggest waste EVER! Ditch em. Use your own plates and utensils, there is no reason for disposables. And if you absolutely can't go without them (I don't see why you wouldn't :p) then go with eco-friendly ones! 

☮ 7. Have Shorter Showers. Ten minutes should be the longest, if you're spending longer in there it is time to re-evaluate. So much water is wasted, baths especially. Pay attention to your water use! 

☮ 8. Don't leave Water Running! When you're brushing your teeth, washing dishes, or whatever else, please turn off the tap. Start paying attention to how much water you're wasting when you really don't need to be doing so. If you're not immediately using it, turn it off, and don't run it on full-blast either. 

☮ 9. Don't Waste Food! Far too many people throw out food instead of saving left-overs or reusing the left-overs into something else. You should neverrrrr be throwing out food (unless something has gone moldy of course). We forget the true value and environmental effects of that food. Be smart, don't waste it! 

☮ 10. Don't Litter! Just don't do it. It takes no time at all to put trash where it belongs there is NO reason whatsoever to be dumping it anywhere else. Ever! 

More Lists to come soon ;) 

Peace & Love,

xo

~Bianca

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☆ What's Going On: Face Care ☆

The topic of facial care has come up a lot lately, so this post is a bit of a double-sided one. Which is good, right? ;)

Firstly, I hear a lot of complaints about bad skin complexion, breakouts, etc. Now, I have to be completely honest here, I have pretty good skin, and have been fortunate enough that it's pretty much always been this way. However, that does not mean that I don't have advice or pointers to share. I can tell you what I have heard from others and what I have learned myself. 

I am not sure if my skin is good because I am just lucky or because I truly do take care of it. Or quite likely a lot of both. I eat very well and have never eaten a lot of greasy foods or junk food or high amounts of sugar. I have almost Never worn cover-up or blush or any kind of make up on my face (I'm not talking about eye shadows or mascara), even when I first started wearing make up back as a teenager. I use all natural cleansers and lotions on my face as well, which I KNOW is a huge helper for ANYONE. 

So, that being said, here are my recommendations...

Don't put chemicals on your skin! I'm talking about your whole facial routine here. What you clean, tone, moisturize, and put on your face for make up all have an effect. All those chemicals add up and act like a toxin in your pores. It's really no wonder so many people have problematic skin when we are basically polluting it with our "beauty" products. I have posted previously about how horrible most beauty products are out there (Dying to Be Beautiful) so I don't need to go any deeper into that; they're full of chemicals, read ingredients! 

When you stop using all those chemicals, your skin may get worse before it gets better. Why? Because it finally gets to detox. Just like when you do a cleanse for your body, it can be a bit rough for a few days. But once your skin is able to detox it will almost definitely get better. 

From this point on, only use truly natural cleansers. Again, Read Labels! Don't just pick up anything that says "organic" or "natural" because that's not always the case (again, you can read more HERE). 

Let Your Skin Breathe! Even if you are using natural makeup, it's good to allow your skin to actually breathe and be completely free of makeup. When you sleep is an obvious one, but you should also give yourself days through the week where you are makeup free, especially when it comes to cover-up and foundation. 

Eat Well! People for some reason don't always make the connection between our skin and our diets but they are so closely connected, as everything with our bodies is. Eating crap all day acts as just another "polluter" to your body which, basically, leaks those toxins back out through your skin. Lots of sugar, greasy junk foods, processed foods (as they are packed with preservatives), and a lack of fresh vegetables and fruits can all be huge factors in your skin's appearance. Your diet should be high in fibre, fresh fruits and vegetables, and other essential vitamins. Omegas can be great for your skin as well.

Also, drink lots of water! It helps to cleanse your body and therefor your skin! :)  

Environmental Polluters. Ok, so this one may be harder to avoid. Depending where you live can make a huge difference on your skin's appearance. Live in a big city with lots of pollution? Chances are you're going to have a harder time keeping your skin at it's best. But that doesn't mean you can't do all of the above. 

Tap Water. This is likely the biggest one that is over-looked, but the water you clean your face in can make a difference if you have super sensitive skin. We'd like to think that all of our water is good and clean, but the truth is not pretty. The majority of municipalities add Chlorine and Fluoride, while the water also contains other contaminants that end up in our drains (such as PCBs, THMs, heavy metals). A water filter added to your tap can make a difference. We have one on our shower-head which is nice for at least the longest period I spend submerged under water. 

Simple pointers that can make a HUGE difference, especially the first three tips. Try them! You may be pleasantly surprised. ~_^

Peace & Love,

xo

~Bianca   

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