Benefits of Forest Bathing and Taking a Walk in the Woods

One can easily enough imagine a walk in the woods as peaceful and promoting a feeling of well-being. The Japanese, having acknowledged the therapeutic benefits of such time, even have a word for it – Shinrin-Yoku – forest bathing.

Immersing oneself in nature is such an inherently wise idea for those of us who are in urban or suburban dwellers. The benefits of forest bathing are more than psychological, more than simply being lovely and restful.

Trees and other plants give off phytoncides, antimicrobial substances that protect them from bacteria, fungi and insects. We breathe these in while we walk among the trees, and they protect us as well. Studies have shown that NK cells (natural killer, a type of white blood cells) and other biological immune indicators increase after periods spent in the woods. A more recent study even employed the vaporized phytoncides in a hotel room with similar effect. Homeopathic medicine and aromatherapy have been using similar substances for ages, so many would not be surprised to learn of this scientific proof.

Be a Good Steward of the Forest

It feels good to know that the human body is so fundamentally connected to the ecology of the plant world, other than just through eating them. A walk in the woods satisfies our entire self: body, mind, and spirit. This is one more reason for us to serve as grateful and graceful stewards of our forests and other natural spaces.

Barbara Hirsch

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The Green Yogi

It’s a tiny detail of everyday life: the packages things come wrapped in, and the ones we buy for putting them inside. If you take a trip to a big box store, or to shops that sell items in large quantity … or, well, any supermarket, drugstore or hardware store … okay, almost ANY store – and look around with plastic-seeking eyes and consider the billions of people doing the same thing…wow, that’s a lot o’ plastic.

All of that plastic is made with oil (close to one gallon per week for each of us). It is not biodegradable, it is toxic when burned, and when sitting in landfills, it leaches into soil and groundwater (excepting the small amount that is actually recycled and often made into products that probably will not be recycled). Approximately one-third of municipal waste is packaging.

This is a sad state, even if a tiny one, in the big country of life.

Some companies understand that consumers might be interested in considering packaging materials. Think of chip bags (billions) made of plastic and (mined) aluminum foil. Sun Chips from Frito Lay are now being produced in bags that are truly compostable under the right conditions, fashioned from the biopolymer Ingeo made from corn. “So you eat the chips. The earth eats the bag.”*

Naturally Iowa is one of a few small companies selling water in bottles also made with Ingeo. Stahlbush Island Farms in Oregon is using compostable packaging for frozen fruits and vegetables. More importantly, large plastics suppliers like Cargill (Natureworks), Cereplast and BASF and Asian suppliers are all working on non-fossil fuel-based plastics.

What about packaging we buy, for things like school and work lunches? Fortunately there are more choices than petroleum-based Tupperware and Ziploc plastics.

First, reuse bags whenever possible. Bags that held dry foods (such as cereals or grains) may not even need washing. While washing plastic bags is an okay solution, it can be water intensive and may require inconvenient amounts of space to dry properly. Other bags such as shopping or newspaper bags can be used if food is wrapped (in paper or cloth) before being placed inside.

Other alternatives include readily available wax paper bags. The small amount of wax in Natural Value bags is petroleum-based paraffin. If You Care makes soybean-based wax paper and natural kraft paper sandwich bags (found at Whole Foods). Two cool old-fashioned alternatives may need to be purchased online: Glassine bags are made of very fine paper, usually bleached; and true cellophane bags are made from wood pulp.

News flash: a new San Francisco company, Green Genius, makes biodegradable plastic zip-close bags for sandwiches and freezing. These contain recycled plastic and organic nutrients that feed on the plastic in the landfill, rendering them into biomass, CO2 and methane (true, we don’t need more of it, but that’s what waste does).

Choosing washable containers uses fewer resources. Reusable stainless steel food containers might be a better alternative to both plastic, which can contain BPA and other leachable chemicals and heavy and breakable glass. These are made by, among others, Lunchbots, Happy Tiffin (pictured), To-Go Ware and Thermos.

Soon, plastics may not be made from oil. While that is great, we need ask: Will there be enough other resources to produce the use-once-and-toss items we now demand? Or will that model, so twentieth century, also get tossed?

References
worldcentric.org

excellentpackaging.com/pages/1/EPSContact.html

nashvillewraps.com/foodpackaging/bakery-bags/c-049793.htm

Barbara Hirsch

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Perhaps you have wondered (I certainly have), about the environmental impact of bleach – does it pose a danger to the environment and is it okay to use? We’re talking about household bleach, usually with the name Clorox on the bottle, virtually always seen as a gallon jug. This stuff is used in large quantities because people like things to be disinfected and white.

Household liquid bleach is water and approximately five percent sodium hypochlorite; the powdered stuff, like Comet, is calcium hypochlorite; the gas, produced for industrial uses or resulting from mixing bleach and other chemicals, is chlorine.

Sodium hypochlorite (household bleach) mostly breaks down in the environment. It can be used for emergency water purification for drinking (a drop or a few per quart). Household bleach is dangerous when mixed with ammonia, acids or many of the other ingredients found in cleaning products – producing toxic chlorine gas or volatile organic compounds. Bleach should also be highly diluted for cleaning and disinfecting, for example: one part bleach to fifty parts water, and used in a well-ventilated area

Industrial chlorine has many industrial uses and is another story. The gas produced for industry has a variety of uses. The most common use is in the highly toxic production of PVC (polyvinyl chloride) plastics and pesticides, or in the bleaching of paper and textiles. Organochlorines are the chemicals produced when organic materials (carbon based) come in contact with chlorine. More than 11,000 are made purposefully and even more are environmental byproducts. These chemicals persist in the environment, and bioacccumulate in animal (including human) fat tissues. DDT, outlawed in most countries, is one of these.

While bleach can be a useful in the home and beneficial when used sparingly, overall, chorine bleaches are not very friendly substances, particularly when compared to alternatives such as “oxygen” bleach (hydrogen peroxide, a stronger solution than the stuff in the brown bottles) or percarbonate bleaches which are effective clothing whiteners that are less damaging to fabric than the chlorine variety.

Other non-toxic alternatives to bleach that work as household cleansers include:

> Lemon juice and peroxide mixed together.
> Baking powder for scrubbing.
> Vinegar for cleansing and disinfecting (vinegar kills most bacteria, mold and fungi and other microbes)
> Tea tree oil for disinfecting.
> Borax for cleansing, whitening and disinfecting.

And anyway, why does everything have to be so WHITE?

epa.gov/chemfact/f_chlori.txt

corpwatch.org/article.php

bt.cdc.gov/disasters/bleach.asp

thegoodhuman.com/2009/07/22/eco-friendly-alternatives-to-bleach

Sign up to receive a short and sweet weekly ecofact: sustainability.ucsb.edu.

Chlorine-free nontoxic bleach alternatives.

These can be used for household cleaning and laundry:

Bi-O-Kleen Oxygen Bleach Plus’ active ingredient is sodium percarbonate with degrades into environmentally-friendly oxygen, water and natural soda ash: biokleenhome.com.

Oxo Brite Non-Chlorine Bleach by Earth Friendly Products is made up of sodium percarbonate and sodium carbonate. Petroleum-
free: ecos.com.

Ecover Non-Chlorine Bleach, approved by the Vegan Society, made of percarbonate (salt, limestone and oxygenated water): ecover.com.

Seventh Generation Chlorine Free Bleach, one of the primary ingredients is oxygen safe bleach: seventhgeneration.com.

Thanks to the Good Human for these suggestions.

Barbara Hirsch

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Our skin, our largest organ, absorbs everything we directly apply to it. We also absorb the residues of the soaps and detergents used to clean the clothing, towels and sheets with which we have constant contact. These chemical soaps and detergents also affect the Earth’s largest organ (its bodies of water) when they go down the drain, where their effects are far from cleansing. Phosphates, petroleum-based surfactants, brightening agents, bleach, chemical fragrances and dyes can all be unhealthful in the environment.

Phosphates, though not toxic to us, are a leading cause of dead zones, which are areas in lakes and oceans devoid of oxygen and life. Fertilizers and detergents have been the primary carriers of phosphates into the Earth’s waterways. Due to these environmental problems and the public outcry, the amount of phosphates used in detergents has been steadily decreasing over the years, but they still exist in laundry products and in even higher concentrations in automatic dishwashing detergents. This year, Canada and many US states will further limit phosphates. Accordingly, it looks like the European Union will eliminate them entirely in the near future.

Perhaps because “seeing is believing,” we have felt suds are good, and their absence means whatever we’re washing is not being cleansed as well. In the middle of the twentieth century, manufacturers increased sudsing agents and suds marketing to appeal to our desire for clean. Homemakers – and our waterways – responded. Detergent foam rose to levels eight feet high at the foot of Niagara Falls. You’ve probably noticed some of the washers in Laundromats: when you look, their windows are positively white with suds! This is scary, especially in light of the following amazing fact. Apparently, suds have little or nothing to do with cleaning ability. Remember this.

Some of the less kind ingredients in detergent are used to tame hard water. In order to clean well, hard water needs more detergent, or more chemicals, than soft water. One solution is to use washing soda (related to baking soda, but washing soda is harsher, so don’t eat it). Nontoxic alternatives include baking soda, borax and vinegar; these are boosters and softeners that can be used when needed along with an eco-friendly detergent. Vinegar also improves the final rinse.

Other questionable detergent ingredients are fragrances, whose presence lingers on long after fabrics have been washed and dried. These unidentified chemicals, part of an unregulated industry, made with secret formulas are identified simply as “fragrance.” These chemicals can trigger eczema, allergies, asthma and headaches and have been found in breast milk. We may wonder what effects they will have on fish and other animals when they end up in our waterways. For a truly natural and fragrant alternative, environmentally-friendly cleaning products often use botanicals or pure essential oils.

As for bleach, more environmentally-friendly alternatives to chlorine are readily available now; a good one is hydrogen peroxide. Without chlorine, your clothes will last longer too.

If you had a gray water system in your home, you would have to consider everything that goes down the drain, as it would end up (after some filtering) watering your yard. On a larger scale, this is what happens on the planet. Commercial wastewater facilities can do only so much to counteract the myriad chemicals in our household and personal care products.

A Procter & Gamble soap ad from 1909 states, “Pure is defined as ‘free from that which harms, vitiates, weakens or pollutes’.”

Let’s go with pure, for us, and for our environment.

Responsible Laundry Tips:

• Use concentrated (carefully chosen) detergents = less packaging and weight for shipping
• Use less soap and add innocent boosters like baking soda, borax or vinegar
• Larger loads = greater efficiency with energy and water
• Cold water = energy savings.
• Wearing clothes more than once = less detergent, water and energy used
• Line drying when possible = longer lasting clothes, fun in the sun!
• Many cleaning products including detergents and dishwashing liquids are listed as “do not landfill.” To me, this translates as “do not use.” Check out this household products database published by the government: householdproducts.nlm.nih.gov

Clean Up Your Laundry
By Angela Orecchio & Barbara Hirsch

Ecover
Fresh fragrances are derived from plant-based ingredients. Detergent is color-safe and cleans clothes thoroughly: ecover.com

Seventh Generation Free & Clear
Removes tough stains. The nontoxic liquid and powder detergents have a low price and vegetable-based ingredients:
seventhgeneration.com

Mrs. Meyer’s
Biodegradable and phosphate-free, pure essential oils provide aromatherapeutic scents including basil, lavender, geranium, lemon verbena and scent free: mrsmeyers.com

Oasis
These concentrated cleansers go the next step and are actually biocompatible, which means that they break down into plant nutrients: bio-pac.com/cleansers/oasis

Natural Choices Home Safe Products
Sells Oxyprime, a nontoxic laundry detergent and Allergy Free, a detergent for people with chemical sensitivities: oxyboost.com

Biokleen
Chlorine-free bleaches with oxygen and orange peel extracts are features of this gentle line of skin-friendly detergents: biokleenhome.com

Mountain Green Skin Sensitive Free & Clear
All Natural Ultra Laundry Detergent removes tough stains without harsh perfumes, alcohols or dyes: mountaingreen.biz

Sun & Earth
Offers a “Deep Cleaning Formula” laundry detergent which removes odors, stains and dirt. It is hypoallergenic, biodegradable, nontoxic and free of allergens, dyes, perfumes and petroleum-based solvents has a light, clean scent. A little goes a long way: sunandearth.com

Soap Nuts
Dried fruit of the Soap Berry Tree, eco-friendly, biodegradable, hypoallergenic, unscented and highly effective: almawin-usa.com

Barbara Hirsch

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When considering the plastic, for example, imagine the amount tossed on a daily basis. Some is recycled, although plastic bags and bottles do not get made into more of the same, they are usually “downcycled” into lower quality products such as road markers or plastic lumber. When these reach the end of their useful life, these would then probably not be recycled. There is no reason for the cycle to (constantly) end in the landfill. We have enough of them, and landfills are not healthy places.

In nature, waste does not exist. All that dies, simply changes form, becomes food for more life. Could such a change of form and lack of waste happen in human society? In the book Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things, authors McDonough and Braungart use the term “upcycle” and refer to technical and biological nutrients. They state that all nutrients, whether biological or manufactured, should be part of a closed loop system. Technical nutrients, things like circuit boards, steel parts, wiring and equipment cases, could be returned to the industrial loop from whence they came.

If more materials could be like glass and aluminum in that they are remade again and again into products of equal or even greater value, fewer resources would be extracted and hence fewer ecosystems damaged. Less water and energy would be used in production, and fewer toxins would be produced too. Sounds great, doesn’t it?

We are at least flirting with going in this direction, as some resources are becoming less available and more expensive. More businesses and consumers are interested in upcycling and true REcycling. One can now find products made from other things that were discarded, such as doormats made from recycled flip-flops or plastic bags being woven into strong tote bags. Patagonia, a pioneer in this field, uses some fabrics for their clothing made of 100% recycled materials, including plastic bottles and used clothing. Another pioneer is the carpet company Interface, whose product can be continuously recycled into new carpet. They both offer take back programs to reuse their materials as feedstock for new ones. A company called Terracycle works with manufacturers and consumers to collect packaging that is then made into other goods. They are working with Scotch to recover plastic tape dispensers and cores that will be used again. They make flower pots out of crushed computer housings. Now there’s a nice metaphor for life….

Common Threads Recycling Program

Patagonia accepts old Patagonia clothing for recycling at any of their retail stores. If you’re not near a physical location, you can also send them in to: Patagonia Service Center, ATTN: Common Threads Recycling Program, 8550 White Fir Street, Reno, NV 89523-8939.

Revenge Is Shirts

Revenge Is…

Going green. The LA-based company Revenge Is produces shirts (with progressive messages) made from a combination of recycled plastic bottles and organically grown cotton. It’s truly upcycling and a fashion statement as well. All Love is Equal supports the organization Love Honor Cherish and marriage equality. Check out their full line at: revengeis.com.

Rebagz

Rebagz

RebagzTM creator Marty Stevens-Heebner believes in recycling, so much so that she designed a line of bags from clutches, wallets and eyeglass cases to messenger bags and more made out of rice bags, juice containers and more. Made under fair labor conditions, many of the designs (from the Statement Markers line) support organizations such as Greenpeace and the Breast Cancer Emergency Fund. To see their full line of the ultra-chic, visit: rebagz.com.

References:
Plasticsrecycling.org

Barbara Hirsch

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