Greening Our Way to Good Health

The Scarsdale Forum had a very full agenda for their June 2nd annual meeting. In addition to honoring Barbara Kemp and Linda Chayes who just completed six years on the School Board, the Forum also elected their new leadership and welcomed BK Munguia as President, Dan Hochvert as First Vice President, Robert Berg as Secretary and Robert Tucker as treasurer.

The Forum’s Sustainability Committee invited an expert group of panelists to discuss Greening Our Way to Good Health. The three women who spoke offered a wealth of ideas on how to make your home safer and greener and provided useful information on the dangers of the foods we commonly eat and cleaning products we use everyday.

Steve Frantz introduced the panelists, who are all leaders of non-profits with the goal of sustainability. At the table were Megan Klein of Earthjustice, Patricia Wood of Grassroots Environmental Education and Nancy Alderman of Environment and Human Health Incorporated. They each pointed out how individuals can make subtle changes in their lives that together will go a long way to safeguarding our health and our environment.

Klein advised that we consider the distance our food travels before it is eaten, saying that on average food travels 1,500 – 2,500 miles. She advocated buying locally grown and produced foods despite the fact that goods might cost more at the local farmer’s market.

She provided some additional tips to keep in mind for your own health and the good of the planet:

• Shop at farmers markets and join a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture)
• Eat what’s in season
• Don’t buy bottled water or soda
• Buy organic meat
• Eat vegetarian one day per week
• Don’t take the bag when you buy lunch
• Don’t consume high fructose corn syrup
• Buy organic goods in the supermarket
• Don’t eat any packaged foods with more than five ingredients

Patricia Wood addressed many of the environmental hazards that are common in our homes. She made recommendations on which products are safe to use for cleaning, how to care for your lawn and what to look for on labels when buying so called “green products.”

Among her recommendations were:

• Use an organic lawn care service – you can visit grassrootsinfo.org to find organic lawn care people in our area
• Compost yard waste and kitchen scraps
• Avoid pressure treated wood on playground equipment and decks as it contains arsenic.
• In schools, urge administrators not to use pesticides and toxic cleaning products --and prevent buses from idling.
• Inside your home, Wood claimed that Wifi is radioactive and suggested that you turn off your Wifi at night to reduce exposure
• For cleaning, she recommended usage of bio-based, non-petroleum products without fragrances
• Rather than use anti-bacterials that create antibiotic resistant strains, she recommended using thyme oil or grapefruit seed extract instead
• For personal care, Wood advocated the use of bio based personal care products that are derived from plant or marine materials.
• Last, she said that even the paint on our walls can be toxic and recommended the use of the Natura line of paints from Benjamin Moore, which are no-VOC paints.

Nancy Alderman also revealed more disturbing facts about toxic products and their effects.

She reported the following:

• The largest exposures come from vehicle exhaust and cleaning products we use at home. A study by the CDC found that over 90% of participants had chemicals in their bodies, which can be passed onto embryos via the umbilical cord that carries chemicals and pollutants to the fetus.
• Asthma rates have rising continually for the past 30 years and the incidence of peanut allergies has tripled in the past decade.
• Contributing to toxins in the environment are air fresheners that contain toxic chemicals.
• Fire retardants that are present in carpet, household fabrics and sleepwear are another environmental hazard.
  

Together, the three women made a very convincing case for rethinking your buying and eating habits. You can learn more at www.grassrootsinfo.org and at www.sustainable.org. Thanks to the Scarsdale Forum and the Sustainability Committee for putting together this enlightening session.

Pictured at top: (top row from left ) Bruce Wells, Steve Frantz, Dan Hochvert
(bottom row from left) Megan Klein, Patricia Wood, Nancy Alderman