Make a Healthy Choice about Household Products Using Healthystuff.org

Concerned about whether your everyday household goods contain toxic chemicals? You can now visit HealthyStuff.org to find out.

HealthyStuff.org contains test results on 900 common items, from toys to school supplies to women’s handbags. The testing – done by the nonprofit, Ann Arbor-based, environmental organization, the Ecology Center – analyzed products for lead, cadmium, mercury, bromine, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and arsenic. These chemicals, which build up over time in the body, have been linked to liver toxicity, thyroid disorders, learning disabilities, cancer, developmental disabilities, reproductive disorders, and other health issues.

Among the findings was the presence of “chemicals of concern” in most of the more than 60 common back-to-school supplies (e.g., backpacks, lunch boxes, pencil cases, binders) tested. Nearly 90% contained one or more toxins, 22% contained detectable levels of lead, and “far too many” were made of polyvinyl chloride.

Among pet products – including chew toys, beds, leashes, and collars – which are not regulated by the government, 25% had detectable levels of lead. Of these, 7% had levels greater than 300 parts per million (ppm), the current standard for lead in children’s products set by the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

A surprising finding was the amount of lead in women’s handbags. Of the 100 handbags tested, 64% contained more than 300 ppm lead, and 50% topped 1,000 ppm lead.

The Ecology Center hopes that consumers use the information on this site to make healthy choices and purchases. The site so invites consumers to take action and urge government officials and manufacturers to phase out lead, arsenic, and other hazardous substances from consumer products.

Is Your Auto Insurance Green?

How green is your auto insurance company? Here's a way to find out.

EcoSmartInsurance.com is the Internet’s first site dedicated to recognizing and promoting environmentally-friendly auto insurance companies. The site awards good, better and best recognition to insurance providers based on a number of factors including: environmental policy, giving back to the community, paperless billing, discounts for hybrids and pay-as-you-drive (PAYD) programs. Of the country’s many auto insurance companies only about 20 make the cut as “green” providers.

If your provider is not green enough for you, EcoSmart will help you choose a greener alternative.

And, thanks to a partnership with the Arbor Day Foundation, EcoSmartInsurance.com will preserve 250 square feet of rain forest for every completed green insurance quote through the organization’s Rain Forest Rescue program.

[via Got2BeGreen]

Don't Just Recycle -- Freecycle!

The problem: Junk everywhere. And nowhere to put it but the landfill.

The solution: A communal approach that shows that one household's junk is another's salvation.

The "How-to" from Annabelle Gurwitch, from Planet Green’s Wasted television show and treehugger.com:

"The concept of 'freecycling' has exploded in recent years, especially with the website freecycle.org. You go there and type in where you live and what you need to get rid of -- it could be a baby crib you no longer need or a set of old golf clubs.

Once you've posted the availability of items, you could get dozens of responses from people near you who need them. Then, you put it on your curb and it's gone!

I worked with one woman who had a ceiling fan and aquarium to get rid of. She was ready to pay for a salvage company to pick them up. I steered her toward freecycling instead, and she got 20 responses in one day. And she was able to get baby clothes that she needed from a mom whose child had outgrown them.

I have gotten rid of our child's crayons and magic markers doing this -- someone had a day-care business and needed them."

[via USA Weekend]

Don't Toss Those Leftovers -- Use Them

What’s in your refrigerator right now? Leftovers from dinner at a Chinese restaurant? Yesterday’s pasta? A few stalks of broccoli?

Before you throw out all this, thing about combining these "orphans" into another tasty while they are still good. After all, a smart way to save on groceries is to efficiently use what you buy.

Get creative. Have a bit of coleslaw? Use it to top a turkey sandwich. Extra cooked or raw vegetables? Tuck them into salads, omelets, casseroles. One broccoli stalk won't feed two people, but you can add other veggies and a protein (beef, chicken, tofu) for a tasty stir-fry.

Surf for more ideas. Two sites in particular -- wastedfood.com and lovefoodhatewaste.com -- offer lots of food for thought.

[via USA Weekend]

Leaving Computers On = $2.8 Billion a Year

Do you leave your computer on all the time? According to the PC Energy Report US 2009, we waste an estimated $2.8 billion a year by leaving our computers idling overnight. Shutting down your computer at night will not only save you money, it will help save the environment. If all the world’s 1 billion PC’s were powered down for just one night, it would save enough energy to light up New York City’s Empire State Building – inside and out – for more than 30 years.

Keep in mind that regular restarts will keep your computer running optimally.

Google Earth to Map Oceans, Seabeds

Google has just announced that it is adding underwater imagery and seabed maps to the Google Earth project, according to The Guardian of London. The site will also provide detailed environmental data on the impact of climate change in the world’s bodies of water. The move will take Google Earth closer to its aim of creating a complete digital representation of the planet.

The existing site, accessed by 400 million people, already includes three-dimensional representations of large cities around the world and includes images from street-level and aerial photography covering thousands of miles across the United States and elsewhere.

Another new feature of Google Earth, Historical Imagery, provides the ability to scroll back through decades of satellite images and watch the spread of suburbia or erosion of coasts.

More, from The New York Times.