The No GMO Challenge

For the next 30 days, I am going to focus on not consuming any GMO crops – The No GMO Challenge, co-sponsored by Real Food Media and the Institute for Responsible Technology. I pretty much do this now, but I know I let a few things slide here and there. If you have no idea what I’m even talking about with GMO, you can go to The No GMO Challenge or Genetically Modified Organisms on wikipedia.

An interesting statistic in a press release is that:

Nearly two-thirds of products on supermarket shelves contain unlabelled
genetically modified ingredients.

This makes it very hard to avoid, if you eat process foods. Jeffrey Smith, a leading expert on the health dangers of GMOs, also has some big statements about GMO’s:

GM crops concentrate corporate control of food, increase herbicide use without increasing average yields, endanger food security, are detrimental to sustainable and organic farming, and trap farmers in a cycle of debt and dependence. They shrink biodiversity, harm beneficial insects, damage soil bacteria, contaminate non-GM varieties, and persist in the environment. The presence of self-propagating genetic pollution might outlast the effects of global warming and nuclear waste.

So I hope you help me to raise awareness about GMO’s and do your body some good, by joining the challenge.

Our Acceptable Level of Poison

The World Health Organization (WHO) announced it recommendations for daily tolerable levels for Melamine. Some of you may be saying, “that’s nice!…but so what!” You might have missed it, because the news in October were centered around the election and the economy, but there was a little problem with findingMelamine in the milk supply in China.

Melamine is an industrial chemical that is great for creating durable plastic and cleaning products, but not so great for the human body. In us, it has the potential to cause cancer, reproductive damage, kidney stones, and other kidney diseases.

I know I feel much better that WHO has issued that the tolerable levels have been set at 0.2 milligrams per kilogram of body weight. From the above article, I feel completely reassured, as the experts have said:

Melamine is a contaminant that should not be in food. However, sometimes it’s unavoidable.

My question, which I think seems to be legitimate, is why? Shouldn’t the acceptable be …gee, I don’t know, let me pick a number….ZERO?! As some may be sitting there thinking that this is ok because this happened “over there” and doesn’t affect us. I say think again. Trace amounts of melamine have been found in U.S. baby formula.

What are your thoughts on these newly deemed acceptable levels to Melamine? Write a post and let me know.

The Dangers of Plastic

Everything seems to come in plastic or has a component that is plastic. Plastic at one point seemed to be a miracle of the 21st century. Lately, evidence has been coming forward that indicates the widespread use of plastic is causing harm to our health.

In the SixWise Newsletter, there is an article entitled Six New Studies Confirm Health Dangers of Plastic. The article sheds some really interesting light into why we might have some health concerns and not know the reason. Plastics can act as “endocrine disrupting chemicals” which may hinder the action of thyroid hormones, affect testosterone production, and act like a xenoestrogen in the body.

The use of plastic seems to be be affecting fetal development, animals, and the environment. Chris Jordan is an artist who does amazing work with common objects. In his work called Plastic Bottles, he shows you the magnitude of the problem and the use of plastic beverage bottles in the U.S. for just 5 minutes.

While there probably isn’t anyway we can totally eliminate our use of plastics at this point, the article does give tips for limiting our health complications from the exposure to plastic. They recommend:

• Use glass and paper products instead of plastic.
• Avoid drinking bottled water.
• Replace toxic plastic products with safer plastics, such as bio-based materials.
• Be aware that a “3″ or a “V” stamped underneath the recycling symbol of your plastic product indicates that the product contains PVC.
• Smell your plastic! PVC products give off a distinct odor from toxic gases being released, such as the smell from a vinyl shower curtain.
• During the construction process — when building a house, for instance — make sure to avoid installing PVC plastic piping.

I continue to try to stay as informed as I can on the matters that affect the health of my family, including my Longevity Studios family. I have adopted ways in my home-life to avoid these dangers and I continue to search for ways to move them into my business practices as well. My use of plastics for Longevity Studios will be significantly reduced in the very near future. I will let you know how when it happens. I hope you take actions to do the same.

Hypermiling

This summer gas prices jumped significantly. They have leveled off, but the days of $5 dollar per gallon are just around the corner. It has always been in our best interest to be fuel efficient and maybe now it’s time to take it to the next level…to become a hypermiler.

Hypermiling allows you to maximize your fuel efficient by utilizing a given set of techniques. While this won’t solve the energy problem, it will at least have you make the most out of your gas dollar…at least until we are all driving those electric and solar cars!

Are you not sure how to become a hypermiler? Checkout these 105 Hypermiling/Ecodriving Tips from Ecomodder. If you already practice some of these, let me know which ones. If you have some tips that aren’t on here, put a comment so all of us can benefits from your expertise. Happy hypermiling!

Cell Phone Dilemma

As I get busier and busier with family, business, commitments…or another way to say it, LIFE in general, I have begun to spend countless more hours on my cell phone. While I am tech interested, I am far from tech savvy, so I fail to have any device that moves the phone further from my head. By now, most of you know the association with cell phone use and brain tumors. If you don’t, read “Cell Phones, Cancers and Brain Tumors. What is the REAL story?” and you become well aware of the controversy.

Up to this point, there hasn’t been solid evidence to back that cell phones may be a problem, just much speculation and correlation. An article published in New Scientist in February of 2008 found that proteins were affected by cell phone use. In skin cells, one protein increased by 89 percent while another decreased by 32 percent.

This alone doesn’t confirm the cancer hypothesis, but does speak to cell phones having definite metabolic implications for their users. To learn more about the article and Dr. Mercola’s opinion of the controversy, read “How Cellphone Radiation Affects Your Cells”.

Where do you fall on the issue? Give me a comment and let me know.

Poisoning Our Food Supply

The next time you’re shopping for groceries, trying to decide whether or not you should spend 50% more for organic vegetables, ask yourself if you can afford not to spend the extra money. What’s the long-term cost of pesticides in our food supply? What’s the long-term impact on our health? On our children? I’m guessing the extra money you spend on truly organic foods is far less than what you’ll spend on diseases caused by pesticides.

This documentary, produced by a French television network, takes an in-depth look at Monsanto, a multi-billion dollar company that has a tremendous impact on your food supply. It’s 1-hour and 50-minutes long, but it’s worth watching.

Does organic matter? That’s a question I can’t afford to ask.

Of course, a label that states a food is “organic” doesn’t necessarily guarantee that it’s 100% organic. In fact, many foods qualify for the label if they’re just 25% organic. The best source of organic foods is from organic farmers who sell their produce at local farmer’s markets, from community-supported organic farms, and fromreputable organic mail-order businesses like Vital Choice Seafoods. Maybe the best option of all is to plant your own garden and fruit trees. Then you’ll really know what you’re eating. Organic Garden Tips has 50 tips for growing your own organic produce.

When you’re at your local grocer, if your veggies are wet, they’re probably not organic. According to Consumer Reports:

Make sure you get what you pay for by watching where produce sits on shelves. All grocers are legally required to stack organic fruits and vegetables where they won’t be exposed to water runoff from the misting of conventional produce, which could contaminate organic items with pesticide residue. If a store is not following that rule, you may be wasting your money by buying organic produce there.

For more information, check out the Consumer Reports page on “when it pays to buy organic”.

Earth Hour 2008

I’m a little late getting you this information. Mainly because I just received it just the other day. But last night, on March 29th, many cities and people from around the world turned their lights off for one hour to relieve some the energy demands on the Earth and raise awareness the problem of global climate changes. The event was called Earth Hour 2008.  This evidently happened last year on March 31st, but I had never heard about it. It was only in Sydney, Australia, but it made an impact. There were 2.2 million people and 2100 Sydney businesses that participated. If the greenhouse reduction achieved in Sydney during Earth Hour 2007 was sustained for a year, it would be equivalent to taking 48,616 cars off the road for a year.

This year it went global and these were the partnering cities:

• Aalborg
• Aarhus
• Adelaide
• Atlanta
• Bangkok
• Bogota
• Brisbane
• Canberra
• Chicago
• Christchurch
• Copenhagen
• Darwin
• Dublin
• Hobart
• Manila
• Melbourne
• Montreal
• Odense
• Ottawa
• Perth
• Phoenix
• San Francisco
• Santa Cruz
• Suva and Lautoka
• Sydney
• Tel Aviv
• Toronto
• Vancouver

We missed it this year. But next year, I and some of my friends plan on participating. Click on the link below if you’d like to know more about how you can reduce the energy demand on the Earth and becoming involved with Earth Hour 2009.

Whether you believe in global warming or not, it’s time to become more informed about changes that will help the sustainability of the Earth and future generations.