How Planet-friendly is Your Kitchen?

Written by Jenny Catton

 

If you’re trying to be more ecologically aware at home, then the kitchen is a good place to start. Of all the rooms in your house, the kitchen is perhaps the one where you can make the most changes. From electrical equipment to detergents, there are plenty of ways to turn your kitchen from an eco-disaster zone into a planet-friendly space.

 

Here are some ideas:

 

Oven

Avoid heating up the oven just for one small dish. Instead, cook several things at once to make the most of the heat created.

 

Fridge

Fridges are most energy-efficient when they are full or nearly full. So if your fridge is looking a bit bear try filling empty shelves with cans or bottles that you might have stored elsewhere. Alternatively, fill pitchers of water to fill the space and you’ll have easy access to a cold glass of water anytime.

 

Dishwasher

Only turn your dishwasher on once it is full. Running half loads is incredibly inefficient. Check that your detergent is eco-friendly and when buying a new dishwasher (or washing machine), choose an energy-efficient model.

 

Recycling

Pretty much all kitchen waste from tin cans to plastic bottles can now be recycled. Keep recycling bins to hand so that you remember to recycle as much as possible. If you have a garden, you might want to invest in a mini composter for your fruit and vegetable peelings.

 

For more ways to reduce your carbon footprint around the home, visit carbonfootprint.com

Categories: Bottles, dishwasher, energy efficient, friendly, kitchen, nbsp, planet friendly

Water on the Go

 

Written by Jenny Catton

 

Whether at work, travelling, or exercising, many of us reach for a bottle of water to stay hydrated when on the move. And whilst it’s vitally important to stay well-hydrated in order to maintain good health, our thirst for bottled water may be bad news for the planet. Billions of bottles of water are produced each year and the manufacturing process, transportation process, and waste all take their toll on the environment.

 

Bottled water is also expensive and if you’re buying several bottles a week, the cost can mount up.  It therefore makes sense to seek out alternatives to bottled water that will keep us healthy and hydrated without damaging the planet or our bank balance.

 

The obvious choice is tap water whenever it is available. If you find that the taste of tap water isn’t as nice as bottled water, try using a water filter.

 

In the office, invest in a water machine – but forget disposable paper or plastic cups; use a glass instead.

 

Most gyms have a water machine or water fountain so make the most of these rather than taking bottles of water with you.

 

When you’re travelling or don’t have access to tap water, invest in a reusable bottle that you can wash and refill. Choose ones that are labelled as BPA-free as this substance has been linked with some recent health scares.

 

For reusable water bottles that help fund sustainable clean water projects in developing countries across the world, visit:www.frankwater.com

 

Categories: bottled, bottled water, Bottles, catton, hydrated, jenny, nbsp, tap water, Water, water machine, written

Could Water in Plastic Bottles Be Damaging Your Health?

We’ve all heard the warnings about how fizzy drinks can damage our wellness and wellbeing, and so it’s no surprise that many of us are looking to bottled water to provide a better alternatives. Even traditional soda companies like Coca Cola, Nestle and PepsiCo are cashing in on this by producing water and marketing it as a healthy alternative.

 

This has directly lead to the United States consuming more bottled water than any other country (despite having a natural abundance of clean drinking water coming straight out of the taps!) and this in turn leads to serious environmental problems. Every 27 hours, the US throws away enough empty water bottles to run, end to end, around the circumference of the equator.

 

If it were vital for our health, then perhaps the environmental toll would seem more worthwhile, but in truth, bottled water could be doing more harm than good. Marketers use words like ‘fresh’, ‘pure’ and ‘pristine’ to sell this bottled water, and try to undervalue the health benefits of tap water. At the same time, issues with contamination have led to over 100 different recalls of bottled water batches in recent years. Tap water is tested hundreds of times every day and is constantly monitored, whereas bottled water manufacturers are not required to test the water at all. This is completely unregulated and the FDA has no jurisdiction over the quality of the bottled water sourced.

 

Some of this water is even the exact same water that comes out of your taps – mined and bottled in the same state where you live, and then sold back to you at a hugely inflated price.

 

Not only that, but small towns across the United States and the rest of the world are being exploited due to their water resources, feeding the demand of giant corporations and selling public water to make a profit. Poor neighborhoods are even being poisoned by the toxins involved with manufacturing the plastic bottles.

Categories: bottle, bottled, bottled water, Bottles, health, nbsp, plastic, plastic bottles, tap water, united states, Water

Warning: Plastic Could Put You at Risk of Getting Cancer

The environmental health risks associated with plastic are not new, but there is a lot of confusion surrounding them. Many people are unsure about whether or not plastic genuinely poses a risk to their health, but the latest reports seem to indicate that there could actually be quite a strong link between plastic bottles and cancer.

 

According to many toxicology experts, water bottles that are made from the hard and clear kind of plastic contain a chemical called Bisphenol A, otherwise called BPA, which may be a danger to human health. Studies have been carried out on animals, showing that BPA can be absorbed into living tissues and can then increase the rate of growth of the prostate, leading to prostate cancer. In addition to this, some studies have shown an apparent link between BPA and the onset of early puberty and the development of breasts in girls. This is thought to be a risk factor in the development of breast cancer.

 

The FDA, Canadian government and UK government have all now banned the use of BPA in baby bottles. The National Toxicology Program has been less clear in its recommendations, first expressing concern about the use of BPA in bottles and other packaging and then later redrafting the report and changing the terminology to express ‘minimal’ concern. Some sceptics believe this is because the plastic industry is huge and that big grocery chains have also been instrumental in defending BPA as they stand to lose personal profits if it is banned.

 

Other studies carried out recently have also linked BPA to a plethora of other serious health problems, including to abnormalities with liver enzymes, and to a link between poor cardiovascular health and BPA.

 

BPA water bottles are now available, and the general recommendation is to replace all your bottles with the new versions.

Categories: Bottles, cancer, cancer nbsp, Environmental, health, nbsp, plastic, water bottles

Erectile Dysfunction due to BPA in Plastics

Bisphenol-A (BPA) is a chemical found in hard, clear plastic used to make everything from baby bottles to food packaging, may increase the risk of erectile dysfunction and other sexual problems in male factory workers exposed to large amounts of the substance.
The health effects of BPA are risk of brain damage, birth defects, hyperactivity, heart disease, early puberty, obesity, and prostate cancer.  Low level of exposure from plastics doesn’t pose a health risk to adults.
The potential health effects have caused some baby-bottle and water-bottle manufacturers to stop using the chemical, at least in part because of public concern. BPA is not found in soft, pliable plastic used in most water bottles.
Among the men who work with BPA, the risk of having difficulty ejaculating was seven times greater than it was among the non-exposed group, and the risk of erectile problems was more than four times greater. The BPA-exposed workers have higher rates of low sex drive and lower overall satisfaction with their sex lives.
Epoxy resin (which contains the chemical) is used in the lining of canned foods and is another potential source of BPA in addition to hard, clear plastic.
The greater a worker’s exposure to BPA—which was measured using spot air and urine samples—the more likely he was to have sexual dysfunction.
It’s not cause and effect, but when you have the kind of ambient air quality assessment that they made, it comes pretty close to cause and effect.”

 

When BPA enters the body, it can mimic the effects of estrogen and may block male sex hormones, including testosterone. The study has implications beyond male sexual dysfunction, however, since sexual dysfunction is often associated with broader reproductive health problems.
It’s unclear, for instance, whether the everyday exposure to BPA that people receive from food packaging and other plastics is significant enough to produce the sexual dysfunction seen in workers, who were inhaling the chemical all day.
The BPA levels measured in the study are “extraordinarily high,” and they may have little or no relevance to “somebody drinking water out of a bottle.”
You need to be prudent and cautious about whether this chemical actually is impacting reproduction. You have to stop and say, ‘Whoa, now you are starting to get data in animals, which are manifested in humans.’”
FDA report, expressed  ”some” concern about the potential effects of BPA on the brains, behavior, and prostate glands of fetuses, infants, and children, as well as “minimal” concern about earlier puberty for girls.

Erectile Dysfunction due to BPA in Plastics

Categories: Bottles, Dysfunction, Erectile