What does 'Natural' mean to you, when it comes to personal care?

Like to have your say about what constitutes a natural personal care product?

Burt's Bees (Natural personal care company from the US), have launched an Australian survey, so you can have your say. It is easy to complete and takes around 5 minutes or a little less. You'll find the link on the Burt's Bees home page. http://www.burtsbees.com.au/

Below is a little information from Burt's Bees on the Survey.

Burt’s Bees and Porter Novelli Adelaide have launched an online survey asking Australian consumers about their concerns and attitudes to ‘natural’ ingredients – what ‘natural’ means to them and what matters to them about ‘natural’ ingredients in personal care (meaning products for body, face, hair etc). Burt’s Bees has done a similar survey in the US but as far as we know, no-one’s done one here.

Essentially, we would like to invite you to take a look at the survey and help us encourage people to participate. If you would like to take it further, we are more than happy to set up an interview with Emma Atkinson, the GM of Burt's Bees here in Australia, to discuss in-depth the ideas behind the survey and the ultimate goals for the results.

The survey process itself is only five minutes long and is just a series of simple questions about/around natural ingredients and natural personal care products. We are aiming to gather as much feedback as possible over the next three months, and will be sharing the results with online communities and health and beauty media. Burt's Bees is committed to transparency about 'natural' in the industry, and was instrumental in the creation of a 'natural' standard in the US - now we're aiming high here too! I think that for many people this issue is confusing and frustrating, and I hope that we can achieve greater clarity for everyone interested in natural personal care.

Why are we doing this? Firstly, because we just don’t want to make assumptions about what Australians think and know about ‘natural’ in personal care. Obviously Burt’s Bees is a ‘natural’ focused company but this survey is about understanding what consumers actually want. All sorts of assumptions get made in marketing and both Burt’s Bees and Porter Novelli Adelaide have decided that’s not enough for us. So we’re asking. We’ve decided to approach online communities because we know connecting online is one way consumers can share their unfiltered views and concerns, and that’s what we want to hear. Yes, you will be talking to a PR company and a manufacturer in the industry - because we genuinely want to know what people are thinking.

We will use the results of the survey in the following ways: we will report back to the blogs and site communities that link to the survey on what we find, we will share the results with the health and beauty media in Australia and we will make the results available via the Burt’s Bees website. We hope the results will help address any concerns or confusions about what ‘natural’ means and how it is presented in Australia. (One result of a similar survey in the US was that Burt’s Bees joined together with other major natural personal care companies to develop a national standard for ‘natural’ via the Natural Products Association.)

The results will be available to you to use and we hope the whole process encourages conversation and education about the topic.

The survey is for Australian residents and will run from August 20 until November 14. You can find it here.

As the results of this survey will be featured in the media, this is a great opportunity for CleanLife readers to have their say about what 'Natural' means.

SIGG Bottles, not as safe as we have been lead to believe?

SIGG Replacement Bottles - Update

Thanks to a CleanLife reader and one of CleanLife's favourite companies, BIOME (www.biome.com.au) we have discovered a little more about the SIGG saga detailed below.

The really good news is that SIGG are offering to replace your bottles with their new BPA free version. You need only return your bottles by mail, free post and notify them of which bottle you would like for a replacement. Full details are below in an email sent to one of our CleanLife readers from the Australian SIGG distributor;

"Our company is distributing SIGG in Australia.
First of all we would like to take the opportunity to thank you for your loyalty and trust towards our products.
After headlines dominating some internet blogs over the past few days about “SIGG and BPA” we would like to clarify the situation with some firsthand information based on facts.
The former SIGG liner (applied until July/August 2008) did undergo regular tests, which were carried out under the watchful eyes of highly regarded, independent laboratories in Europe and the U.S.A. (to view the tests please log on to http://www.siggaustralia.com.au )
All of the test results show: No leaching of BPA! in the former SIGG liner. (BPA information for Australia and New Zealand are published under http://www.nzfsa.govt.nz/consumers/c...isphenol-a.htm http://www.foodstandards.gov.au/news...ndfood4218.cfm )
Based on these facts, we are confident, that the former SIGG liner is safe!
However, if you feel in any way uncomfortable with your SIGG bottles that still have the former SIGG liner, SIGG offers you to swap it for a new bottle with the new “EcoCare-Liner”, introduced in Summer 2008.
The new SIGG “EcoCare-Liner” is a powder-based, co-polyester that has been thoroughly tested and certified not only to be 100% BPA-free and as well free of phthalates, BADGE, BFDGE & NOGE.
Just log on to http://www.siggaustralia.com.au choose your favourite design, write the SIGG-Code on a piece of paper with your address details and send your old liner bottle to the address below:
SIGG Exchange Reply Paid: 86193 Werribee VIC 3030
All costs involved of handling/ postage goes on us.
We hope that you will continue to have confidence in the quality and safety of SIGG products. If you have any further questions please do not hesitate to contact us"

The other good news your retailer should also be able to issue a replacement free of charge, if you would like to deal in person. Additionally although it may not give you complete peace of mind, despite the epoxy resin previously used containing BPA, there has not been any evidence at this stage to suggest that it has leached into water contained in the bottles.

To find out a whole lot more about this story and to help you make your decision about your next reusable water bottle purchase, check out the 'accidental greenie' blog from BIOME founder Tracey Bailey. It is very open and honest about the whole saga.
http://accidental-greenie.blogspot.com/search/label/SIGG

For those of you looking for an alternative brand / type of drinking flask, a safe option is usually pure stainless steel. These are becoming readily available, but ensure you are not being exposed to nickel and other contaminants by choosing 18/10 or surgical grade stainless steel items. As Tracey rightly points out their are many cheap versions that are likely to be bulk manufactured and not the highest in quality.

Happy water guzzling

Gina




Previous blog on this topic.......................on 12/10/09

I am so sick and tired of companies telling blatant lies!!

The latest in this list of unethical companies is SIGG! Yes I was shocked too. These guys sell re-usable bottles that we greenies like to drink from so we avoid plastic and the potential BPA and other nasties that they can contain. There was murmurs some time ago that the epoxy resin used to line SIGGs bottles may leach a number of toxic compounds, however an 'independent' report was swiftly released (now I am wondering just how independent it really was), showing that their was no leaching of BPA into the contents (water) in bottles. The bottles were said to be BPA free! While it may (or may not) be true that the lining does not leach, the bottles (we now find out, thanks to the environmental working group) were made of BPA based epoxy resin as the lining, up until mid 2008, so many of us (including me) may still be using bottles containing BPA. The bottles are no longer lined with BPA epoxy resin, but they still do use a lining, and at this stage they won't reveal the contents of this lining.

In the US you can get a replacement, new bottle (if you want one!) from SIGG retailers, I am not sure of the situation in Australia, so you may need to contact the shop you purchased from.

Patagonia, who is in the green retail world, a GIANT, is now refusing to sell the bottles, so hopefully SIGG will suffer from this.

To any CleanLife readers who have been using these bottles, we are very sorry, we have been too!


Read the full report below.

http://www.ewg.org/kid-safe-chemicals-act-blog/2009/09/sigg-it%E2%80%99s-not-easy-not-being-green/

If you have news or updates on this story, please let us know.


Sick to the stomach

Gina

One CleanLife reader saving the world

The following blog entry is an extract from email we recieved from a CleanLife reader Marrhea. She has given us permission to reproduce it here, so if you need a little inspiration to get back to your green roots, read on;

I have already converted most of our garden into a vegetable patch. I am still new to vegetables, so it is more something I do enjoyably, and less productively so to speak. I started with the garden beds out the back, and my motto was, if you cant eat it we dont need it. Most of the plants came out, a few were left in, (mainly to placate my partner who was quite distressed at my ripping out all of his plants). I kept a bucket in the kitchen, and anything that could be composted, I dug directly into the empty beds, I was surprised and delighted by how much grew. It wasnt long before all of my garden beds were full, and I hadnt planted a thing.

I tried to put seeds into one bed, to be later transplanted into other beds, however, the cat thought this patch made a great kitty litter, so everything that started to grow got ripped out. Now I put seeds into trays, and transplant once they are bigger. The trouble I have with this, is finding a bed to put the seedlings into, as like I mentioned earlier, all my beds were full with plants self growing. So I started ripping plants from the front garden, so that I could plant the things I grew from seed.

We then purchased a worm farm, which I thought would help with my composting, as with little spare garden space, there was no room to dig buckets of vegetable scraps anywhere. Worm farms do not use as many vegetable scraps as I thought they would though, and so shortly after, we also invested in a compost bin. Our worm farm is situated near our front door, and along with all the vegetables now growing in our front garden, I have lots of conversations about vegetables with anyone who happens by our house, from neighbors and friends, through to door knockers and delivery people. I get two buckets of liquid fertilizer a week from the worm farm, with very little food scraps necessary.

I have also ripped up all the lawn from out the back under my clothesline, and am in the process of replacing it with creeping herbs, which smell delightful under my feet as I am hanging out the washing. Under the kids climbing frame, I am putting in a creeping flower, the name of which I do not know, which unlike grass, does not need mowing and whipper snipping, and is a lot softer if the kids should happen to fall or jump off.

The main problem I have found with growing vegetables (I do not have the verge problem, my partner will not let me go past the letterbox with my planting, still there will be plenty of room out the front once I get rid of all the other non productive plants) is watering. With only being able to use retic twice a week, alot of hand watering needs to be done. One of the ways I combat this, is by using recycled water. I have buckets in the shower, which catch the water before it heats up to temperature, and I leave these in while I am showering to see how much more I can save. I have also taught my children and partner to do this. As we only use organic body products, I do not have a problem with putting the water into the garden. The buckets I then empty out into the garden via watering can during the day sometime when I get a spare minute or five. I also have a bucket in my kitchen sink, which is always situated under the running tap, I was really surprised with how much water goes down the kitchen drain. I empty this bucket at least six times a day, note that I said at least. With all this recycled kitchen and bathroom water, I hardly ever need to hose water. My partner has suggested installing recycling drainage so that I do not have to haul buckets through the house, however, I find that emptying the buckets regulary through a watering can, gives me an opportunity to get rid of the weeds as they start to appear, and spot new seeds as they are starting to sprout.

I do not have any conventional vegetable patches throughout my garden, as most of it is grown of its own free will through my scraps. I merely plant any seedling in between what has decided to grow on its own. I have moved a few avocado trees begining to grow near the house to somewhere near the verge where there is a bit more room, although, I now have so many of them I can see I will need to start giving them away as presents. I have put in some herbs also, and have a list of more I would like to put in as well as fruit trees, and berries. Now that I am begining to see how growing vegetables works, I am starting to put a plan to the garden space we have, which includes the removal of all the grass on our block, except of course that on the verge. After all, I do need some grass clippings for the compost.

Another thing I found when planting vegetables, is that they do need work to get them going. Especially with the removal of weeds. Once I had established the vegetable beds, with the weeds firmly removed by the root, they were extremely easy to care for. The kids love to do caterpillar and snail patrol. I give them a bucket and let them see how much they can get. I did try putting these into the bin, but found they crawl back out, so unfortunately, these I do destroy. Maybe I could walk them around to the park and set them free there, however, at the moment I just dont have the time, and my neighbors dont want them in their yards either. I have not done well with store bought seedlings, and so tend to just grow from seed or scraps, and have found that my vegie patch has been achieved rather cheaply.

Well, that is what I have done so far with my garden, wish I could send you some pics, but like I said, it is still in its early stages, and there is so much I still need to do, that I do not have any for you at the moment. Oh yeah, my friends looked at me like I was some kind of weird freak when I first started ripping out plants, and putting in vegies, but now whenever they come over, I seem to be giving them tips on how to grow their own, and they always love to see what I have growing this time around.

If you have advice, information or inspiration about your own green projects, please share them with us!