Green Daily

It's the dreaded lice diagnosis. Coupled with a desire to not douse your precious kid's head with pesticides.

What to do? As an alternative to standard chemical treatments, many parents are turning towards methods that utilize suffocation instead. One method, the Nuvo Method, comes from Dr. Dale Pearlman, in Menlo Park, CA. The Nuvo Method uses a common mild cleanser available in most drugstores, Cetaphil Cleanser.

In a nutshell, you apply the Cetaphil Cleanser to the hair and scalp and then distribute the lotion evenly with a comb. Use a hair dryer to dry the lotion in place, "shrink wrapping" the lice and cutting off their oxygen supply. Leave the dried lotion on the hair for eight hours and wash out with a regular shampoo.

According to Dr. Pearlman's site, the Nuvo method is superior to other non-toxic suffocation methods of treating lice because the lotion is dried on the hair and cannot be wiped off. In addition, the dried lotion cannot be seen in the hair, a huge plus.

See Dr. Pearlman's website for all of the details and specifics of the treatment. Sounds fabulous, and also way less gross than using mayonnaise.

You've gotta love the minor holidays. They help us to get through the party drought that begins after Mardi Gras and lingers on into the summer. And, even though it's really just an excuse to get wasted on exotically colered beer, or maybe because it's really nothing but an excuse to drink exotically colored beer, St. Patrick's Day can really help to get your ya-yas out.

It's also an opportunity to get a horrible hangover on beer that's chock full of our dirty old, petroleum-derived friend: Green No. 3. While green food dye may not be the main reason why those St. Patty's Day brewhahas are especially hard on you the next day (I'm guessing that's the Guinness), Green No. 3 has been linked to an increased risk of bladder cancer. In fact, the state of Maryland is considering a ban on the stuff. If you want to party with some green brews, you might want to try Chefmaster's all natural green food coloring instead.

[via Treehugger]

Tissues are really not the best things for the planet, and yet, they can be so hard to resist. They seem so clean, sterile, and convenient, and a nice big box of Kleenex or Puffs seems to become the only friend willing to cuddle with you on the couch when you're sick.

Fortunately, if you are concerned about the environmental impact of your sniffles, there are several alternatives, as well as some eco-friendly tissue choices.

When choosing toilet paper, tissue or paper towels, look for brands made with 100% post-consumer product. If this is nowhere to be found, check to see if any come from forests that are certified to be sustainable. At the very least, steer clear of the super soft and fluffy toilet papers.

If you choose to try out handkerchiefs, Green LA Girl has an excellent guide to purchasing them, from plain to cute to downright fancy, and Super Eco has great tips to help you care for them.

If you are trying to educate the little ones about the spread of germs and proper procedure, something like Sniffle Sleeve might be right up your alley! Of course, in a pinch, tying a hankie around your child's arm would do the trick.

Finally, if you're interested in preventing the sniffles, why not purchase a neti pot?

With growing concerns about our nation's food safety, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack has taken steps to clean up the meat supply. Cattle that are non-ambulatory when entering a slaughterhouse (known as "downer" cows) are now to be humanely euthanized and removed from the food chain.

Previously, downer cows were allowed to enter the slaughterhouse if they previously passed USDA inspection. If they were injured or fell ill during the time following their last check-up, they were still allowed to be butchered and sold as food. These types of animals are more susceptible to bovine spongiform encephalopathy (or "made cow disease").

Due to massive beef recalls by Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing plant in California after video revealed injured and sick cows being abused and forced to stand to pass inspection, the USDA suggested closing this loophole in May of 2008. Vilsack has has now acted on the recommendation and has hopes that it will encourage consumer confidence in the beef industry.

Acai fruit products are everywhere, promising detoxification, anti-aging and the holy grail of supplement claims, weight loss. You've no doubt been inundated with ads for acai products, especially if you spend any time on the internets.

However, like many supplements, there is little evidence to back up many manufacturers' claims for acai, according to an article in the New York Times. While the acai berry does contain antioxidants, there are no solid studies showing specific anti-aging, weight or detox benefits. Even Oprah has had to put a disclaimer on her website, stating that she does not endorse any acai berry products, due to peripheral connections via her buddy Dr. Mehmet Oz. One researcher who performed a study on acai admitted that while the berry has good antioxidant levels, more studies are needed to back up other claims.

Since acai is probably just another berry, which is not a bad thing, you'll want to be aware of any possible hyped-up health claims. On the positive side, acai berry harvesting can provide a good source of income to farmers in the Amazon rainforest. For example, Sambazon (Saving and Managing the Brazilian Amazon), buys organic acai from 1,500 local families for use in their products, according to the Nature Conservancy. This helps provide a sustainable source of income for the farmers, while helping to preserve the forest.

Would you rather scald yourself, or allow harmful bacteria to grow in your water heater? Most energy conservation checklists will tell you that lowering your home's water heater to 120°F will help you safely shrink your home's ecological footprint. According to the health organizations in Canada, however, there may be one slight problem with this strategy. A deadly, warm water loving bacteria that causes pneumonia could possibly grow in your heater if you crank the thermostat down.

Legionella, named for an outbreak that killed 34 at an American Legion gathering in 1976, thrives in warm environments ranging from 77 - 113°F, especially in electric water heaters. At 122 - 133°F, Legionella can survive but not multiply. Why exactly do health organizations in Canada and the US disagree on this issue? It's hard to say. OSHA doesn't recommend setting heaters as high as 140°F, because of the risk of scalding children and the infirm. In Canada, most organizations warn against setting heaters below 140°F, because of the risk of Legionaire's disease. We've all been scalded with hot water, and it sucks -- but it's probably preferable to getting pneumonia. Don't you think?

[via Treehugger]

When it comes to our sense of taste and smell, lets face it, human beings aren't exactly leading the animal kingdom. We may think our tastebuds are advanced, but consider for a second phenomenons like cheeze wiz, Gogurt, and the Pepsi Challenge (anybody can tell the difference between Coke and Pepsi right?). When it comes to blind taste tests, sometimes it's better to defer to someone with superior skills. Like a hamster named Hammy.

When it comes to planet cramming, my fun new term for overpopulation, we're living in a unique time. Populations are not only spiking thanks to super-high birth rates in developing countries, but by steadily increasing lifespans in the developed world. In Japan, where the government doles out silver trophies to each person that lives to see their 10th decade (kinda like a gold watch for retirement), the government is having trouble keeping the tradition within the limited budget.

When they started handing out trophies in 1963, there were only 153 winners. Last year, there were 19,769 silver trophies awarded to Japan's elderly elite. According to a Health Minister, they've had to cut costs by shrinking the size of the silver cups: "we realized there's not such a big difference in appearance if we cut the diameter from 10.5 to 9 cm." Each of these trophies costs about $82 bucks, so now with more people refusing to kick the bucket, Japan's tradition of respecting the elderly is getting ever more costly.

There's got to be an argument for leading unhealthy lifestyles for the planet in there somewhere. Cigarette anyone?

Surprise, the smoke-belching broiler at your local BK is not only serving up artery-clogging grub, but it's slowly crispifying the planet. Thanks to a small business grant from the EPA, however, there may be a solution to the surprisingly harmful emissions created by our craving for cheap mcfood, warmed to perfection under a heat lamp. Innova Tech will take their $70,000 grant and use it to develop a contraption that will clean up the charbroiled particulate matter -- aka soot -- created by our fast food nation.

By retrofitting the charbroilers at your local fast food eateries, Innova Tech hopes to build a business out of helping fast food green its cooking process. In the US, it's estimated that the restaurant industry produces 285 tons of particulate matter (41 tons of pure VOCs) a day. Of that, 94% reportedly comes from underfired charbroilers. Innova Tech's contraption will use a filter, vapor condensor, and continuous waste removal to help keep charbroilers running at maximum efficiency.

[via CleanTechnica]

When it comes to bike commuting, two of the major benefits are lowering your carbon footprint and getting your daily exercise on your way to work, instead of sitting in traffic. Recently though, tons of inventors seem to be trying to meet the demand for those who want to bike without the sweaty spandex. Of the many power-assist ebike concepts that I've come across, the GreenWheel -- designed as part of MIT's SmartCities program -- is probably the most practical.

Every time I eat tuna I have to block out the voice in my head screaming "You're going to die of mercury poisoning!"

Apparently the thing I should really worry about is the much bigger problem of persistent organic pollutants (POPs). These are chemicals like pesticides, fungicides, insecticides, and dioxins. Even though many of them have been banned, they're still dangerous because they stick around for a long time, both in the environment and in our bodies.

Scientists are doing a longitudinal study on how long these POPs stay in our bodies, and the latest news is actually good.

The baseline numbers for the study were measured on blood samples taken in 2001 and 2002, from nearly 2,000 people, ages 12 and up. Follow up samples, taken in 2003 and 2004 show a decrease in the level of 68 chemicals measured.

The good news is that the number went down, the bad news is, Yikes! Sixty-eight toxic chemicals?

Also, it's impossible to tell for sure if those numbers are really down, or if it's a blip in the data. Right now the researchers are analyzing samples taken in 2005 and 2006 to see if there is a trend.

So cross your fingers, and enjoy the ahi poké, at least until we have more data.

Spring is arriving in various parts of the country, which means the rest of you only have a few more weeks of cabin fever. If you've played every game, watched every movie and still are feeling restless, here are some simple, eco-friendly ways to beat cabin fever.

• Lighten up - open the shades and let that winter sunshine in. You will get some passive solar heating this way and being in a nice, bright room can do wonders for your mood.
  
• Go for a walk - even if it's short due to the cold weather, getting some fresh air is bound to make you feel better. And sending the kids out to play will burn off some serious steam and enjoying hot cocoa when they come in can become one of those happy childhood memories someday.
  
• Get your vitamins - make sure you are getting enough vitamin D and make sure that you are getting some good fruits and veggies in. Winter lends itself to heavier foods like potatoes and roasts but have some salads or lighter veggies and your body will thank you.
  
• Volunteer - whether it is shoveling an elderly neighbors walk, making a stop at the store for a single parent or serving in a soup kitchen or nursing home getting out and doing something for someone else will help them and beat your cabin fever.
  
• Plan for Spring - work on garden plans, look for barbecue recipes or whatever it is that you will be doing as soon as the warmer weather hits.
  
• Make a list - write down all the good things you can think of - from warm mittens to a pot of soup on the stove. Faced with a pile of good stuff, being stuck in the house for a few more weeks doesn't seem quite so bad.

The rage in lip adornment right now is lip stain, and learning this set off my green alert. If something will be bonding with the cells on my lips, I'd like to know it's safe for my body. History has already shown that lipsticks haven't been that good for us.

In 2007 the consumer group Campaign For Safe Cosmetics found that 60 percent of the 33 lipstick brands tested had traceable amounts of lead. A third of those were above the FDA standards for lead in candy. The FDA does not regulate lead in lipstick.

Most lipstick is made of various waxes and dyes with color and perfume, but oil is also part of the mix. Petroleum is one source for that; they call it mineral oil. Lip stains are newer, and while some of the ingredients are the same, some could raise concerns. Check your ingredients.

For example, Tarte's "Rise and Shine" lip stain and plumper claims to be mineral oil, pthalate and paraben-free. But the ingredients of the stain list propylparaben and methylparaben. Parabens have been linked in some studies to cancer. It's Lip-Enhancing Gloss contains both mineral oil and parabens.

While Urban Decay's Lip Envy is touting its infusion of antioxidents the lip stain itself is full of parabens: Butylparaben, Ethylparaben, Isobutylparaben, Propylparaben. It also contains Phenoxyethanol, a compound that is restricted in cosmetics in Europe and Japan. Animal studies have shown the compound can do nervous and reproductive system damage.

Sephora's Lush Flush Wine Lip & Cheek Stain looks like the safest bet that I've seen of mass-produced products. Sephora lists the products ingredients as Water, Glycerin, Optunia Streptacantha Stem Extract, Wine Extract, Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer, Sodium Hydroxide, Phenoxyethanol, Red 33, Blue 1.

If you really want to stain your lips, I suggest you find a cherry and rub it on your lips.

Does it strike you as a little disingenuous that meat advertised as "naturally raised" at the supermarket could come from animals raised in a cage, never exercised, and that have possibly never seen the light of day? It does to Steve Ells, CEO of Chipotle -- purveyor of the delicious gut-busting burrito bombs and apparent natural meat crusader. In an op-ed in the Denver Post, Ells says that under the latest standards, factory farms are getting the benefit of calling their meat "naturally raised." Even when it's raised in obviously supernatural unnatural conditions.

As Americans we tend to enter the next world with as much stuff as we played with in this one.

Every year over 800,000 gallons of embalming fluid goes into the ground along with our corpses. That typically means carcinogenic formaldehyde. And that's not all.

Our coffins are made out of plastic, metal, wood, paint and non-biodegradable fabric. Many cemeteries require a sort of concrete tomb that surrounds the casket. This is typically required to keep the ground from sinking around the casket. And since we bury our bodies so deep in the ground with so much other stuff to keep out oxygen, we don't decompose well. We actually leak methane instead of carbon dioxide. Methane is a more problematic greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.

Do I need to go on? Or are you thoroughly disgusted?

Let me tell you one more thing before we move on to the greener pasture. Cremation isn't much greener. To cremate one body a crematorium will use a mix of electricity and natural gas. It will produce 250 pounds of CO₂ per cremation. That's what the average American household puts out in six days.

But there are places and ways to rest in green.