Women pay attention…men…trust me you’ll want to look away!  I have finally started using a product that helps make those special few days each month eco-friendly. Know what I’m talking about? Yes each month us women folk have the pleasure of dealing with our menstrual cycle, but now thanks to a product known as The Diva Cup©, that too can be handled in an environmentally conscious fashion.

The idea for a menstrual cup came about in the 1930’s and were very popular.  Management issues caused them to disappear until 15 years ago when creator’s Francine and her daughter Carinne decided to resurrect it in the form of The Diva Cup© as a reliable alternative to disposable menstrual products (ex. Tampons and pads).  In 2003 they implemented a modern design by replacing the rubber/latex version with a non-irritating, top-quality silicone version instead.  They take pride in producing BPA-free, Rubber and Latex-free products for women worldwide.

So basically it is a flexible cup that holds 30ml (the average monthly flow) which is folded and inserted.  It has tiny holes on the rim which allow it to suction to the walls of the cervix preventing leaks.  Once it is in place, it can be left for up to 12 hours making it ideal for overnight use.  There are two different types: Type 1 is for women under 30 and Type 2 is for those over 30 (child birth).  When removed it should be washed using The Diva Wash© or a scent free, pH balanced soap.  It should also be boiled every couple months to keep it sterile and stored in a cotton bag to prevent moisture build up.

At first, despite my natural pull towards eco-friendly products, I was skeptical about the Diva Cup… it seemed weird.  But following in line with my eco-conscience, I knew this was the right choice so I bought one and have to say am I ever glad.  To be perfectly honest, this cup makes me forget that I have my period all together.  My first time using the product was interesting, I made sure I followed the steps correctly like washing my hands before use, folding it properly, the angle of insertion, etc.  This first time I only changed it at home because you can take the time to make sure you’re doing it right.  It leaked the first time because I inserted it wrong, but now, after more practice, I’m a pro!

I know the most common question is “Isn’t it gross when you take it out?”, but to be honest… not really.  You remove it and empty its contents, yes some gets on your hand, but you immediately wash it off in the sink so it’s not a problem.  I was more concerned with the potential smell…But there was LITERALLY NO smell at all.  Also, since it can stay in so long, it is unlikely that you would need to change it in a public washroom, but if the need arises, you just wash your hands before entering the stall, and when you remove it you just wipe the cup and your hands with toilet paper or rinse with a water bottle, re-insert it and wash your hands when you’re done.  Easy peasy!

To the average consumer, the main pull for this product is that it will save you money in the long run because you won’t need to purchase tampons and pads every month.  For most, hopefully the motivation is also the fact that you are being more eco-conscious by reducing your waste each month.  Tampons and pads contain harsh bleaching chemicals that are released into the environment as they decompose.  In 1998, roughly 12 billion sanitary pads and 7 billion tampons were dumped into the North America environment and more than 170,000 tampon applicators were collected along U.S. coastal areas.  Therefore do yourself and the ENVIRONMENT a favour and purchase The Diva Cup©, your vagina will thank you!

For more details, visit:  http://www.divacup.com/

Working for you and the environment <3

–Love the Label

As an advocate for safe cosmetics and personal care products, I could not shy away from blogging about the toxic reality of tanning lotions and tanning beds. It has developed over the past few years into a booming industry, and the key to its success is clever, clever marketing. Tanning salons are practically everywhere, and within them lies a strong attitude that ‘tanning is healthy because our bodies’ need Vitamin D and a healthy, bronzed glow.’ One of these things is true: our bodies do need vitamin D, especially in more Northern parts of the country. However, vitamin D can be acquired in sufficient amounts by exposing ourselves to about 15 minutes or less of natural sunlight, and including vitamin D supplements in our diet. Case in point, you don’t need a suntan to get sufficient amounts of vitamin D.

What about that ‘healthy, bronzed glow’? That, my friends, is an incredible myth! Once again, the cosmetics industry is hinting that a bronzed body is the look to aim for. Along with this lie comes a variety of tanning lotions available for purchase sometimes for copious amounts of money! I have seen tanning lotion go for $80 a bottle, and believe me there is nothing natural about them. The ingredients of these lotions are quite possibly some of the worst I’ve seen. Not only are they directly linked to cancer, but to hormone disruption, developmental toxicity, allergies, and immunotoxicity. Here is a link to “Banana Boat Deep Tanning Lotion with Green Tea, SPF 4” on the Skin Deep Database. The most active and dangerous ingredients are “Oxybenzone” and “Fragrance.” Further on in the list includes parabens, PEGs (contaminated with 1, 4 – dioxane), triethanolamine, phenoxyethanol, and petrolatum to name a few! This product in particular is rated an “8” in the High hazard zone. The reality is this: you are spending time lying in a bed that is already radiating harmful and condensed UVA/UVB rays AND you are lathered in a toxic blend of chemicals that have seeped into your bloodstream… all of this for “beauty”?

I know about the tanning experience because about 3 years ago I lived with roommates who frequented the tanning salon often, and one day I decided to join in. Not knowing too much about it, I was told I should purchase a tanning lotion so that my tan would be ‘even.’ I proceeded to the tanning bed, shut my eyes tight, and for 10 minutes experienced possibly the worst ‘sun’ burn of my life. Of course it got better, and I definitely got more tan, but after doing some thorough reading, I discovered that sunless tanning is basically skin cancer that you get charged for. Nothing more, nothing less.

What is of most concern is the wide unregulated nature of tanning salons. The salon workers are the ones telling us that tanning is safe, and yet we know that UVA/UVB rays actually cause skin cancer. Nothing is done to measure whether these rays are being used in safe amounts. Not only that, but a survey done by the Canadian Cancer society found that 50,000 young Ontarians were exposing themselves to sunless tanning beds and tanning products. Studies have shown that the risk of developing skin cancer is greater if a person is under 18. This is obviously unhealthy on all levels; including the message these young minds are receiving about what “looks good.”

If you are an avid artificial tanner and choose not to hear these words, there is really nothing more that can be done. The science of sunless tanning is legitimate. The message that being tan means being beautiful is faulty. The foundation of the entire fake tanning process is based upon getting YOUR money. And in the end, you’ll be wanting to keep this skin forever, so why not avoid premature aging, skin cancer, and eye problems altogether by:

1. Staying mostly in the shade and wearing a hat when you go to the beach
2. Wearing all-natural sunscreen
3. Drinking lots of water
4. Taking vitamin D supplements
5. Looking in the mirror and LOVING what you see
6. Checking out Cheeky Cosmetics or Make Your Cosmetics for an all-Natural bronzer

For the science behind sunless tanning, please check out these links!

• Canadian Cancer Society
• World Health Organization
• Health Central
• The Dangers of Tanning Beds
• American Academy of Dermatology: Darker Side of Tanning

Learn the Label, Love the Label .. xo

From a small University in Northern Ontario comes a campaign with big goals … and big questions. The Love the Label campaign was launched on campus at Nipissing University in North Bay, ON this year to help promote awareness about the toxins and noxious ingredients in our cosmetics and personal care products.

Our daily beauty and health care regimens expose our bodies and the environment to chemicals that can act as hormone disruptors, allergens, lung irritants, and carcinogens.  Each of us use products like shampoos, body washes, deodorants, hair spray, toothpastes and more that are absorbed by our skin and released into the environment.  Consumers have the right to make well-informed choices based on their knowledge of the contents of various products: this is the mission of Love the Label.

How did this campaign begin?

The seed was planted for it earlier in 2010. My younger sister Lucia is enrolled in environmental biology at Nipissing U. After a particular class, she began criticizing my favourite hairspray and perfume. When I put on nail polish, she’d walk out of the room almost mad. I thought she was just being annoying, until she showed me a website called “Skin Deep.” The Environmental Working Group out of the USA has tested over 60,000 name brand products that we buy and use everyday and put all the information they’ve discovered into this database. Lucia told me to check my favourite shampoo; Herbal Essences. It was a 6! I couldn’t believe it. I ended up checking and numbering my entire makeup bag and then subsequently throwing it all out! I decided that there was something terribly wrong about this broken-down system.

We, as consumers, trust our products. And all of a sudden, the world that I consumed, the images of beauty – ultimate lashes and entrancing perfumes – was literally washed down the drain (into our waterways no doubt) and I simply couldn’t stand for a world where the decisions for safe products are being made by the industry that profits from it! Love the Label started soon thereafter. I assembled a team, a design, and our overall educational construct. I began contacting various organizations around Canada and the USA asking for advice on how to develop a grassroots campaign. Our team spent most of the summer contacting organic companies around Canada buying natural products, asking for samples and business cards so that we’d be able to better prepare our students with safe alternatives!

We set up our booth filled with our campaign colours, our banner, our products on trial display, petition postcards, information pamphlets from the David Suzuki Foundation, Environmental Defence Canada, Femmetoxic, BCAM, and the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics in the USA. The responses on campus were unreal. Our “products on trial” display features high, moderate, and low hazard products that have all been tested on the Skin Deep Database. Students would come by and ask why their favourite perfume was rated “high hazard.” We would then flood them with information, and hand out our tipcards that contain chemicals to avoid in daily products. Girls, guys, professors were all blown away.

The first four months of Love the Label has been extraordinary and we know there is still so much to accomplish! We spent a few days touring around the North Bay Youth Centers and After-School programs doing presentations to children under 14 in November. We plan on visiting some highschools to help spread the word! Love the Label will be presented at a Don Conference at Queen’s University in January 2011, with our goal being for Don’s to collect information from our booth and present it to their respective Universities. We are also in the midst of planning our Youtube video series, which will create a constructive way to choose and find all natural products and how to understand ingredient labels. We also hope to do more Nipissing University presentations.

I encourage everyone to become skeptical consumers! Read labels, and if you don’t love the label, don’t buy the product!!

Love the Label .. xo

Advocates for Truth and Nature