Oh America...

I'm not usually the type of person to follow trends. I really thought that all this recent "green" business was ridiculous. Of course, I make an effort to not pollute and I thought I made pretty responsible choices. I even bring my own bags to the grocery store. The rest of it all I just assumed was a flashy trend and I was not about to start using all-natural deoderant, slip on some birkenstocks and head to whole foods for over-priced groceries.

Then I read this book called "Not just a pretty face, the ugly side of the beauty industry". It was terrifying. The lack of standards for American products is crazy. And what blows my mind is that companies will throw all kinds of toxins into OUR products, and then make the same exact products for other countries without the toxins. All because other governements decided to stand up for people's health instead of big business. It's sad to think that a product can be sold to me, the company assures that it is safe, but using it can affect my children before they are even born. If I decide to have children, I want them to have every possible chance at a healthy life. I don't want toxins in my body that can cause them neurological problems, cancer, learning disabilities, etc.

I've been living on safecosmetics.org for the last few days, trying to find better products for my household. The book I read focuses on cosmetics, shampoos, soaps, and other personal items, but it has definitely opened my eyes to the variety of chemicals I use in my home every day. So, I guess I'm going to be slightly trendy because I don't feel like I have the option to ignorantly continue down the path I was on before reading this book.