Bright Lights, Now 33% Whiter?

One morning last week, very early, I gazed out of the window of the regional jet I was flying to Chicago and took notice of all the lights. Street lights, headlights, parking lot lights, flood lights—all illuminating Central Pennsylvania in a dot pattern like a giant LiteBrite board. Looking closer, I realized the lights were two distinct colors: orange and white. Orange for old-school, incandescent bulbs and white for newer, LED bulbs. I scanned the area within my view and made the entirely unscientific declaration that about one-third of the fixtures were energy-saving ones. I found that encouraging.

Last week en route to Las Vegas, I didn’t take notice of white lights, but, then again, in Vegas, most lights are colorful. It’s hard to imagine the original Sin City worrying about their electric usage when that neon skyline is tied so closely to its image. Has anyone noticed how entrenched “white lights” are in cities you’ve visited?

Conventionally grown fruit or no fruit in the winter?

The wisdom and sustainability of certain things we take for granted, like grocery stores brimming with perfect looking produce all year round, should probably be questioned.

Photo (c)2010 Dr. Danny George, Farmers Market in Hershey

I find myself picking up organic apples only to put them down when I realize they're from New Zealand. I scour the red peppers for varieties from Canada rather than Mexico (mostly because I think the use of pesticides is not as great; unfounded assumption that it is). I find myself longing for organic grapes, no matter where they grow this time of year. My kids love fresh fruit and veggies and it's hard to figure out the best options for out-of-season months here in Central PA.

Like I said, I still buy peppers and cucumbers, mostly the greenhouse variety, and I'd love to know if these carry a lower toxic burden. I've done some research and posted questions on popular sites, but so far have not gotten any useful responses. I won't give up, but it's not at the top of my list at the moment. I also buy melons and bananas (I know that's a dirty business!) because they're good for my kids and they eat them. I wash the outside of the melons and always wash my knife in between cutting, to minimize the exposure to chemicals on the rind, but they're still being shipped from South America or somewhere else not very eco-friendly.

What's the right thing to do, for the planet: To eat less out-of-season food, even if that means less than a balanced diet, or prioritize healthy whole foods, regardless of their origin, all year round? It's not an easy answer. I'm guessing most people would opt for a middle ground, being sensitive to staying "as local as possible." Which is not local at all this time of year. Sigh.

New Year, New Resolution for This Blog

I admit, I've been a little neglectful lately of my OllieOllieToxinFree friends. It's not been intentional, but I've been busier than usual at home and at work. Yesterday, I renewed my URL (which I'd let lapse and thankfully no one had snapped up) and bought three years of hosting from GreenGeeks.com. If I'm going to do this, I'm going to make it legit. Stay tuned, for a new look (most likely, since I won't have this template) and the new live URL. Please keep sending me ideas for topics and thanks for all the support to date!

One post that caught my eye so far this year was on Inhabitots, a favorite blog. They asked folks in their green network to make predictions for 2011. The panel consisted of Inhabitots founder Jill Fehrenbacher; Danielle Friedland, Healthy Child Healthy World; Natalie Zee Drieu, CRAFTZINE; Micaela Preston, Mindful Momma founder; Nick and Kimber Christensen, Little Sapling Toys designers; Mari Richards, Small and Big founder; and Jennifer Chait, Growing a Green Family founder. 

Some of their thoughts:

• "...more parents will get turned on to the importance of simple, unprocessed food and toxin-free toys for their children, and this consumer demand will finally lead to major change in manufacturing processes."
• A lot of handmade and DIY solutions (make it, grow it, etc.)
• "We'll be demanding greener products. We'll be advocating for better school lunches. We'll be rallying against unsafe chemicals."
• "...eco-friendly, less toxic art supplies will be more plentiful and more varied."
• "2011 is going to be the year we see a shift in parenting values. Values that say it's okay for parents to ease up a bit and allow kids to be kids."

I agree that consumer consciousness is growing, which should mean demand will keep growing. People are starting to think more about what's in their food, in their personal care products and in the air they breathe. Credit is due to movies (Food Inc., King Korn); people (Michael Pollan, Jamie Oliver, Alice Waters, Michelle Obama); grassroots movements (the Slow Food Movement, Edible Schoolyards), research organizations (Healthy Child Healthy World, Environmental Working Group) and the media's willingness to cover these topics.

I think we will see non-toxic products become more mainstream as we find out more about BPA, phthlalates and other neurotoxins and endocrine disruptors. People will continue to spend more of their dollars on healthier products, and the market will keep shifting to meet demand. This will be a slow process, though, nothing breakthrough this year.

Unfortunately, I think we're also going to see more research proving the link between toxic chemicals and illnesses, from cancer to autism to diabetes. I've already seen some incredibly disturbing studies; this might be the year for the smoking gun.

Talking Turkey: Order Yours Now

I know it's only Halloween, but it's time to start thinking about your Thanksgiving turkey. I know, I know, many "green" people are vegetarian and vegan, but I'm not. I try to eat meat consciously and less frequently, acknowledging its greater burden on the planet, but at Thanksgiving, we like to have turkey. Organic, free-range, antibiotic-free, pastured, happy-go-lucky local turkey.

Happy Turkeys at Sunnyside Farm

I'm in Central PA, as most of my readers seem also to be, so here are some local resources to call to reserve your bird now.

Breakaway Farms, Manheim, PA. Offering broiler chickens and turkeys that "roam free in a special protected pasture from the time they’re a few weeks old, and enjoy a varied diet combining grasses, alfalfa, clovers and bugs from the pasture in combination with locally grown organic feed mix."

Sunnyside Farm, Dover, PA. Conveniently located off the I-83 corridor, Sunnyside offers pasture-based, intensive grazed grass-fed beef, chickens, farm fresh eggs, turkeys and raw honey. Now accepting orders for Thanksgiving 2010 heritage breed turkeys. A $40 deposit will hold your bird on the farm, with delivery right before Thanksgiving. Only $5 per pound for heritage breed, moved to fresh pasture daily, hormone-, antibiotic- and worming-medication-free birds.

Eberly Poultry, Stevens, PA. Looking for something more exotic, like a goose, capon or pheasant? Eberly is a larger-scale, organic and free-range type outfit that sells to Carr's at Lancaster's Central Market and to Keener's Poultry in Lebanon, among other retailers. Eberly also sells direct (at great prices) if you can make it to their outlet store not too far from Lancaster.

Jubilee Farms, Myerstown, PA.  Grass-fed turkeys and lots of other certified organic meats, dairy, prepared foods and produce (seasonally).

Are you ordering one? I'd love to hear of other places to try and reports on your experiences with turkeys or other fowl from any of the local farms!

Startup of Note: Healthy Beauty Project

My good friend, Todra Payne, an incredible makeup artist/author/generally great person, has decided to do something about toxic cosmetics. If you've tried to figure out what's good, bad and ugly in this space, taking into account what also works and looks good, you know the challenge she's up against.

Check out HealthyBeautyProject, where you'll find videos, articles and more. Trust me; you will learn something. She's also very accessible. Do you have a question? Do you have feedback on a product you've tried? Have you found something you think is great? Ask her, share with her, tell her.

Best of all, she understands your dirty little beauty secrets. She does not judge you for using Dior Show mascara even though it's not "healthy" in any sense of the word. You evaluate products, you make the best informed choices for you, and you do not obsess. And that's cool.

Hope you like the site. Let me know what you think!