Safe Mama is one of my favorite resources!  When I receive questions and PR pitches about skincare lines I often run to her for help.  She never complains about my lack of understanding as she translates those fifteen syllable words into terms I can easily grasp.

With her growing knowledge, Safe Mama has become more aware of bothersome ingredients, aside from parabens and phthalates, she wants to avoid.  As a down to earth parent, she also realizes that parents are at different places in their non-toxic journey in regards to how many chemicals they’ll tolerate and budget constrictions.  To this end, she divided her new Safer Skin Care Cheat Sheet into several categories:

• BEST CHOICES: Safe Mama’s Top Picks:  these brands are free of toxic chemicals according to the latest ingredient information .  They also rate well in the EWG Skin Deep Cosmetics database and are made by responsible companies.
• BETTER CHOICES:  these items are free of parabens, phthalates, PEG’s, propylene plycol, phenoxyethanol, cocamidopropyl betaine, sodium benzoate, dimethicone, SLS and a bevy of other chemicals.  The brands exhibit a very respectable ingredients list.
• GOOD CHOICES:  these brands are paraben, phthalate, propylene glycol, PEG, propylene glycol free, but have one or more products containing cocamidopropyl betaine, sodium benzoate, dimethicone, and/or phenoxyethanol. Some of these brands had traces of just one questionable ingredient and others had several, or contained more chemically processed ingredients than SafeMama was comfortable with.  They are still far better choices than most mainstream baby products and would recommend them.  You will need to investigate the products yourself and make a judgment call.

You can find the complete list on Safe Mama’s website.  If you’re unsure of the chemical names listed above, take a minute to review Safe Mama’s glossary for descriptions.  And as always, she’ll continue to update the list as she learns more.

All I know is that if I were J & J I wouldn’t want to run into Safe Mama and The Smart Mama together in a dark alley.  Just sayin’

Q: I’m looking for safe empty bottles with spray tops and pump tops to use for baby lotions and diaper wash spray. Any ideas on where to buy them?

A: We recommend choosing glass spray bottles whenever they can be kept safely out of little hands.   Our favorite resource for glass bottles is SKS Bottle Company.  They offer sizes up from 1/2 oz to 32 oz, so you can find a size for any situation.

If you need an unbreakable option, we recommend going with bottles made from HDPE (#2).  Most spray nozzles are made from polypropylene (#5), so you shouldn’t have to worry about that.  You’ll want to avoid bottles made from PET (like this one) because this type of plastic doesn’t hold up well to reuse, detergents, or heat.

By the way, LDPE (#4) is fine too but they’re thinner, more flexible, and are typically used for thicker liquids with a squeeze top.

How about a little something for teens and parents this week for TGI Tuesday?  We have the perfect non-toxic and eco-friendly To Go Ware RePeat Bambo Utensil toolkit!

I don’t know about you, but I’ve found that keeping a set in my bag, glove compartment, lunch box or desk is the only way I don’t end up using those blasted disposables.  It reminds me of the grocery shopping trips where I load  my whole basket and head for the check out, only to remember too late that my reusable bags are at home.  Aarrgghh!

Our Favorite Features

• Includes a knife, fork, spoon and chopsticks (which double nicely as coffee stirrers)
• Carabiner allows you to clip and go
• Carrying case made of RPET, a sturdy, washable material made of recycled plastic bottles
• Heat and stain-resistant, won’t impart or absorb flavors
• Lightweight surprisingly durable
• Finished with a top grade, food safe wood oil
• Dishwasher safe, though hand-washing is better for longevity

Thank God It’s Tuesday Giveaway!

For TGI Tuesday we’re giving away two To Go Ware RePeat Bambo Utensils.  We’ll be giving one away via live giveaway on Twitter at 3pm EST today and another set via Blog Drawing right here (ends tomorrow at midnight CST).

How to enter our live giveaway via Twitter (#TuesGiveaway)

1. Follow us on Twitter @thesoftlanding
2. We’ll send out a contest announcement on Twitter at 3pm EST, and you’ll be entered automatically when you copy/paste that announcement and re-tweet it.  Our tweet will look something like this:  “RT to WIN: @thesoftlanding is giving away XYZ to the 50th person to tweet this!” (the tweet will be sent out right at 3pm EST and will not look exactly like this one – so be watching on Twitter)
3. The lucky tweet(s) will win!  We’ll notify everyone by tweeting the winner(s) Twitter ID when the contest ends.  Please check our profile page at http://www.twitter.com/thesoftlanding.com for updates
4. The winner(s) will contact us at info@thesoftlanding.com with their full name and shipping address to claim their prize
5. If you’ve won in the last 30 days, you will not be eligible to win today

How to Enter the Blog Contest

Don’t worry if you can’t make it to our TGI Tuesday Giveaway today, because you can enter here on our blog too for a chance to win!  Simply leave a comment right here on this blog post by midnight tomorrow March 17, 2010.  One entry per person. Open to all blog readers worldwide!

See our Privacy Policy here

We’ve talked extensively about BPA-based epoxy linings commonly used in aluminum cans, especially in regards to finding BPA-free tomatoes.  It was a difficult task because of their acidic nature, but we finally found Pomi.  Not even Eden Organics, the leader of the pack, has found a way to go BPA-free in the tomato category just yet.

During our tomato treasure hunt, we gathered a small list of all BPA-free canned foods currently available.  Hopefully this list will grow quickly with the possibility of new BPA-free lining alternatives like this one made from sugar.

BPA-free Canned Food Options

• Eden of Organic Beans
• Trader Joe’s (canned corn, beans, fish, poultry and beef; they wouldn’t go into detail on what their future plans for more BPA-free options are)
• Vital Choice Seafood (salmon, albacore tuna, sardines and mackerel;  they test for all endocrine disruptors, not just BPA)

More Alternatives Confirmed by Tree Hugger

• Oregon’s Choice (6oz lightly salted albacore and the company is working toward going BPA-free with their crab and shrimp too)
• Wild Planet (5oz skipjack tuna and its 5oz albacore tuna)
• Eco Fish Oregon’s Choice (albacore tuna is currently BPA-free and they’re looking for a suitable lining for their salmon too)
• Native Forest/Native Factor (all canned foods, including the only canned coconut milk that uses a BPA-free can – which happens to the brand I’ve been using for years – yeah!)

Tree Hugger pointed out a great resource by Willy Street Coop on the BPA status of several other brands’ canned foods.  We’ll be anxious to see how their information changes as time goes on this year.

Fresh produce and dried beans are still your best bet.  Frozen produce is a good second choice because they’re usually harvested when ripe, heated for a shorter time and immediately frozen.

P.S.  Aseptic packaging (like Tetra Pak cartons/bricks) are also BPA-free.  These packages are made with layers of cardboard and aluminum, then lined with low-density polyethylene (LDPE) for the food contact surface.  Read about BPA-free Pomi tomatoes in aseptic packaging here.

Unborn baby girls exposed to bisphenol-a can suffer permanent uterine changes that may eventually result in cancer.  The process is thought to occur through alterations in their DNA.

The findings by researchers at Yale School of Medicine were reported in the March issue of Journal of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB J.).   Led by Hugh S. Taylor, M.D., professor in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences at Yale, the study is the first to show that BPA exposure permanently affects the endocrine system, not only immediately in unborn babies, but also in the long term.

The study exposed one group of mice to BPA as a fetus during pregnancy and exposed another to a placebo.  The mice exposed to BPA as a fetus had an exaggerated response to estrogens even as adults, many years after the exposure to BPA.  So basically, their genes were permanently programmed to have a super-heightened sensitivity to estrogen.

What our mothers were exposed to in pregnancy may influence the rest of our lives. We need to better identify the effect of environmental contaminants on not just crude measures such as birth defects, but also their effect in causing more subtle developmental errors.

This study underlines the importance of avoiding BPA for pregnant moms and even moms-to-be.  The easiest way to remove the greatest sources of BPA from your diet is to eat fresh foods and use a BPA-free water bottle with filtered water.

>> LEARN more about what bisphenol-a is, where it lurks and how to avoid it.

>> REVERSE the effects of BPA by increasing folate in your diet.

Thank God it’s Tuesday!  We’re sharing one of our favorite food storage tools ever – the SnackTAXI.  They’re a great alternative to disposable plastic bags and cling wrap.  Their heavy duty woven nylon lining gives then a moisture barrier, adding flexibility in the foods they can hold.  They are must-have addition to your diaper bag, lunch and at-home storage.

SnackTAXI’s are mom-invented and they’re even made in the USA.  The mom-owned company relies on a core group of talented local seamstresses, and you know how we love that!

Our Favorite Features

• Can be machine washed and dried, or simply wiped clean with a damp sponge
• Very durable materials with heavy stitching
• Reusable and waste-free
• BPA, PVC and Phthalate free
• Sandwich size dimensions: 7.5″ W x 6″ H
• Snack size dimensions:  6″ W x 4.5″ H

Thank God It’s Tuesday Giveaway!

For TGI Tuesday we’re giving away two SnackTAXI’s (your choice of size).  We’ll be giving one away via live giveaway on Twitter at 3pm EST today and another set via Blog Drawing right here (ends tomorrow at midnight CST).

How to enter our live giveaway via Twitter (#TuesGiveaway)

1. Follow us on Twitter @thesoftlanding
2. We’ll send out a contest announcement on Twitter at 3pm EST, and you’ll be entered automatically when you copy/paste that announcement and re-tweet it.  Our tweet will look something like this:  “RT to WIN: @thesoftlanding is giving away XYZ to the 50th person to tweet this!” (the tweet will be sent out right at 3pm EST and will not look exactly like this one – so be watching on Twitter)
3. The lucky tweet(s) will win!  We’ll notify everyone by tweeting the winner(s) Twitter ID when the contest ends.  Please check our profile page at http://www.twitter.com/thesoftlanding.com for updates
4. The winner(s) will contact us at info@thesoftlanding.com with their full name and shipping address to claim their prize
5. If you’ve won in the last 30 days, you will not be eligible to win today

How to Enter the Blog Contest

Don’t worry if you can’t make it to our TGI Tuesday Giveaway today, because you can enter here on our blog too for a chance to win!  Simply leave a comment right here on this blog post by midnight tomorrow March 10, 2010.  One entry per person. Open to all blog readers worldwide!

See our Privacy Policy here

I had the opportunity to interview Steve Perrine, author of The New American Diet, Editor of Children’s Health and Editor-at-Large for Men’s Health.

In our recorded interview, you’ll  learn why:

• The Old American Diet has stripped vital nutrients from our food, trained our bodies to store fat, and kept us hungry and unhappy
• Solutions that will trim flab from our bodies, improve our emotional well-being, and cut down our impact on the environment
• Top 3 recommendations for removing surprise obesogens from your diet
• How to support repair for harm from exposure

Click here, then click download to listen

*Note:  After clicking download, the MP3 will open in a new window and is about 12 minutes long.

>> READ more about how folate can help reverse damage done by BPA here.

What are obesogens and where are they found?

The term “obesogen” was recently coined in 2009 by researchers to describe the known outcomes of a group of endocrine disrupting chemicals found throughout our current food system.   Study after study links them to weight gain and, in turn, numerous other diseases that plague Americans.

Obesogens enter our bodies from a shocking number of sources other than plastics — natural hormones found in soy-based products, hormones given to animals,  ingredients added to processed foods, and pesticides sprayed on produce. They act in a variety of ways: by mimicking human hormones such as estrogen, by misprogramming stem cells to become fat cells, and possibly by altering the function of genes.

The New American Diet arrives on the scene

This is extremely unsettling, and yet it rings true for me.  My own experience with weight gain and constant issues with disruptions in my own endocrine system (namely Hashimoto’s and recurrent, painful thyroditis) made me sit up and take notice when I heard an interview with Steve Perrine, author of The New American Diet.

And I honestly thought I had my family’s diet pretty well lined out with organic meats, milk, eggs and produce – - until I finally broke down and watched Food Inc last month. I was shocked to learn how off-kilter our food system is and I was left feeling overwhelmed and wondering what to do next. It’s difficult to find your way in a world full of pre-packaged, processed convenience food.  Food that routinely contains untested chemicals that are legally hidden under the “artificial flavoring” label.

This is where the New American Diet came to the rescue for me.  The book is so much more that a weight loss plan, laying out a doable strategy for avoiding chemical pitfalls based on current obesogen research.

• The important differences between naturally raised meats and factory farmed meats
• How high fructose corn syrup (which is found in 70% of all prepackaged food) can effect our sensitivity to leptin, resulting in false hunger
• The link between high levels of organochlorides in people and higher frequency of disruptions in their thyroid function (organochlorides are pollutants from pesticides sprayed on corn and soy which are woven into almost every facet of prepackaged food)
• How exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals in children ages 7 and under can cause immediate effects, but can also lead to latent periods where children are set up for a host of metabolic problems

But it’s  not all bad news!  I had the opportunity to interview Steve Perrine about The New American Diet about tips on how to best to avoid surprising obesogens in common foods and food packaging.  In our recorded interview, you’ll  learn about his top 3 recommendations for getting started on the road to obesogen-free eating.

Check back for the interview on Monday morning

Crocodile Creek Playballs are an easy choice for parents struggling to find BPA and PVC-free toys.   And we’re going to make adding these adorable balls to your arsenal of fun easier in the TGI Tuesday Giveaway!

The Crocodile Creek 5″ Playball makes playground games more fun with this hard to miss ball!  With a sassy frog on one side, and the word “Ribbit” on the other, the smiling green and orange ball makes a welcome addition to a kiddo’’s collection of outdoor toys.

Features:

• Ball is made of rubber, NOT PVC
• 5″ size is perfect to take-along anywhere and great for little hands
• Promotes early and gross motor skills
• Promotes social and emotional development, as well as, independent play

Thank God It’s Tuesday Giveaway!

For TGI Tuesday we’re giving away two Crocodile Creek Balls (your choice of design).  We’ll be giving one away via live giveaway on Twitter at 3pm EST today and another set via Blog Drawing right here (ends tomorrow at midnight CST).

How to enter our live giveaway via Twitter (#TuesGiveaway)

1. Follow us on Twitter @thesoftlanding
2. We’ll send out a contest announcement on Twitter at 3pm EST, and you’ll be entered automatically when you copy/paste that announcement and re-tweet it.  Our tweet will look something like this:  “RT to WIN: @thesoftlanding is giving away XYZ to the 50th person to tweet this!” (the tweet will be sent out right at 3pm EST and will not look exactly like this one – so be watching on Twitter)
3. The lucky tweet(s) will win!  We’ll notify everyone by tweeting the winner(s) Twitter ID when the contest ends.  Please check our profile page at http://www.twitter.com/thesoftlanding.com for updates
4. The winner(s) will contact us at info@thesoftlanding.com with their full name and shipping address to claim their prize
5. If you’ve won in the last 30 days, you will not be eligible to win today

How to Enter the Blog Contest

Don’t worry if you can’t make it to our TGI Tuesday Giveaway today, because you can enter here on our blog too for a chance to win!  Simply leave a comment right here on this blog post by midnight tomorrow March 3, 2010.  One entry per person. Open to all blog readers worldwide!

See our Privacy Policy here

Today we’re tackling another great suggestion submitted by one of our readers:  what type of plastic are FoodSaver and Seal-a-Meal vacuum bags made from and is it safe?

We spoke with Jarden Consumer Solutions, who happens to make both products, and confirmed that all of their 5 ply vacuum bags are made from poly nylon plastic.  They explained that the bags are a polyethylene/nylon blend and all  bags are BPA-free.   And they are made without PVC and phthalates as well.  This is great news for folks who buy their food in bulk and freeze extras for future use!

By the way, many of the FoodSaver and Seal-a-Meal products are available through Amazon.com – - and you can support the Environmental Working Group’s amazing research by using THIS LINK to shop