Day 17body

Supported by

We want to give you the tools to live a more conscious life with ease, especially right now. A prize from Acure could be yours. Just post on Instagram about your participation in #TGClassroom. Check @TurningGreenOrg for details!

Overview

“Anybody can put anything in a bottle and call it natural. And they do.”  – Annie Leonard, Executive Director, Greenpeace

We talk a lot about what goes in your body, but it’s equally important to talk about what goes on your body. Although not able to control everything we come in contact with, we do have control over what we use on our skin each and every day. 

Ironically, many of the products marketed to keep our body “healthy” and “clean” actually do more harm than good. We all use shampoo, toothpaste, soap, deodorant and more daily, even multiple times per day, but these products are too often laden with toxic ingredients with potential, probably or known links to cancer, birth defects, reproductive harm, neurotoxicity and other negative health risks.

Think about the products in your bathroom. On most conventional brands, you’ll find a list of unpronounceable and untested synthetic ingredients. Just one chemical, “fragrance”, found in many body products, can contain hundreds of distinct chemicals that companies are not obligated to disclose to consumers as they are “proprietary”.. We expose ourselves to hundreds of individual chemical ingredients daily, many are toxic. So, with all of these products on the market, you might ask, who is at the front lines, ensuring they are actually safe for our humans?  

In the United States, no governing body conducts pre-market safety testing or reviews ingredients in cosmetics and personal care products, not even the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The federal law designed to ensure that personal care products are safe has remained largely unchanged since 1938. In contrast, Europe has banned nearly 1,400 harmful chemicals from cosmetic and personal care products, while the US has only banned 11.

The personal care industry also contributes directly to environmental degradation and climate change. The plastic used to produce, package, ship and store products ends up in landfills and contributes to an already enormous pollution problem. Chemicals in the products themselves make their way into waterways, further polluting natural resources, including the petroleum-based chemicals found commonly in personal care, which are harmful to people and the environment.When opting to buy safer, earth-friendly products, we still must become informed consumers. The claims on product labels don’t always match what’s inside. Without government oversight, words like natural, herbal, pure, and organic (unless it has a certified organic seal) are largely meaningless. This is called greenwashing, wherein a company markets products as natural or ethical, but ingredients and business practices tell an entirely different, conflicting, problematic story. To make sure products are truly safe, check for third party certified labels, such as the USDA Organic label, Non-GMO Verified, or the Leaping Bunny for Cruelty-Free products.