What NOT to buy: Chemicals in your child's life.

I am always looking for products that are safe for the environment and my children (one in the same really). So when I came across this report on children's bath and body products by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, I thought I should share it.

Brand name household products for children and infants can contain carcinogenic chemicals as ingredients or byproducts. It is hard to know what's safe because most of these chemicals are not listed and the products are often "recommended by doctors."

Fortunately The Campaign For Safe Cosmetics has done the research and reported their findings so you can keep the chemicals out of your baby's life!

1,4-dioxane and formaldehyde are found in many children's health care products including Baby Magic "Soft Baby Scent" Lotion and Johnson's Baby Shampoo. Hospitals put this on your newborn baby, right after they are born!

Why should you keep 1,4-dioxane and formaldehyde off your child's body? The EPA considers 1,4-dioxane a probable carcinogen and the Consumer Product Safety Commission believes even a trace amount is cause for concern. Formaldehyde is also considered a probably carcinogen by the EPA and can trigger adverse skin reactions. Click HERE for the details of this eye opening report.

Another great resource for product research and testing is The Environmental Working Group. The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics was founded in part by the EWG, Breast Cancer Fund, and Clean Water Fund.

Please read the report. Make sure to avoid these products at the store when you shop for your kids, AND also when you shop for gifts for other people's children. If it's pink and smelly it's probably not good for anyone's body.

Organic T-shirt Project for Law School

Recycle Me has designed an organic cotton alumni shirt for Northwestern School of Law of Lewis and Clark college.

The project came about because NWSL was writing an article on me, Alix Gnoske '99, as an alumni and green business owner. I was very excited about this project because attending NWSL was one of the best experiences of my life.

I went to NWSL to study Environmental Law. I choose NWSL because they were (are) the #1 environmental law school in the country, and it's situated in a beautiful corner of the Pacific Northwest. The law school sits next to Tryon State Park, and this wonderful sign post, that is always pictured in the school catalog, just spoke to me as an environmentalist and outdoor enthusiast. It made me feel that this was the right place to be. I later learned that it spoke to a lot of people who attended the law school. So with that in mind, I designed this t-shirt for the law school alumni weekend 2009.

Although I no longer live in Oregon, I frequently and fondly remember Tryon State Park and all the time I spent there, taking breaks, hiking, or just lying on a moss covered log listening to the forest and it's inhabitants.

And like our brand name clothing, this t-shirt is 100% organic cotton, with water based dyes and inks, made in the USA. An environmentally responsible shirt for an environmentally inspired law school.

What is Healthy?

For years I've been interested in living a healthier lifestyle. And while I don't eat fast food, that hardly makes me healthy. But it does make a difference. But I came to some interesting realizations when researching the clothing industry for my green business, RECYCLE ME.

I thought, if you have to make choices, you should be informed. So think about this in your quest for a healthier lifestyle for you and your family.

Cotton, corn, and soybeans are the most heavily sprayed crops in the world. That effects you directly and indirectly in so many ways. From the air pollution, water table, and soil that is soaked up by your food to the actual direct consumption of these products.

You may not realize it, but you probably eat cotton by-products frequenlty, in the form of cotton seed oil in your processed foods from crakers to tortillas to cookies. And in your dairy and beef products through the cow's diet which can consist of cotton seed.

Now I'm not saying cotton, soy, and corn are bad for you in and of themselves, but when you douse them with pesticides and fill them with synthetic fertilizers, you may as well put bug spray on your table as a condiment.

But don't think that you are doing all you can for your health if your food isn't organic. Those chemicals add up in your diet and in your body. And although there has been press that organic food isn't any healthier for you, as in the vitamins and fiber, it is healthier for you in that it isn't covered with chemicals.

And when you buy and eat organic you will also be happy to know that the people who worked on sowing and reaping your food don't have to face cancer and future birth defects of their children because they farmed for a living. It's about health all the way around. It always is.

And if you can't eat everything organic, try to avoid the biggest offenders. The Environmental Working Group lists the most important produce to eat organic.

To you, your health, and the health of those around you!

World Music Festival Chicago 2009 Harvest Party

Please join RECYCLE ME and many other local and organic vendors this Friday, September 18th from 4pm - 10pm to celebrate the Harvest Season at Uncommon Ground and enjoy the beginning of The City of Chicago's World Music Festival 2009, September 18 - 24.

Honky Tonk Happy Hour is from 6pm - 8pm.

Mar Caribe plays at 8pm. Combine Spaghetti Western, gypsy jazz, and bluegrass with a mildly tropical twist and you have Mar Caribe.

Markus James & The Wassonrai (Mali/California) will be playing at 9pm. Slide guitarist and singer Markus James, now based in northern California, has been recording and performing original, blues-based music with traditional Malian musicians since 1994, when he first made his way to the village of Niafounke, home of the legendary Sonrai musician Ali Farka Toure.

Suggested donation is $5.00. Hope to see you there!

BPA and SIGGs

Here is an interesting exchange in letters from a concerned parent, in 2007, with SIGG.

If you haven't heard BPA is a liner in most cans, from canned food to water bottles. The Environmental Working Group has done extensive research on this issue. BPA can leak into the food or water in the can or container, and therefore be consumed. It's not a chemical you would willingly eat.

I've been using Kleen Kanteen's for my family for a couple of years now basically to avoid the BPA leaching.

Help RECYCLE ME win the Shine a Light Grant!

Please help RECYCLE ME win the Shine a Light Small Business Grant by nominating us CLICK HERE!

RECYCLE ME need's to receive 50 nominations by September 13th. You are eligible to win $3,000.00 when you nominate a small business.

We truly appreciate your support. We would love to expand our organic cotton clothing line and give you more ways to keep the chemicals out of the environment and off your body!