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The Bad News

Simply because a product is sold at a co-op or because it has a pretty picture of the earth on the label with the word “natural” does not mean the product is non-toxic or environmentally-friendly. A recent study by the Organic Consumers Association, Dr. Bronner’s Soaps, and environmental journalist David Steinman found the toxic chemical 1,4 dioxane in a variety of leading personal care products that claim to be “natural” and “organic” and only products with the USDA Certified Organic Seal tested clean. It’s another eye-opening moment reinforcing what Healthy Child has long proclaimed: know how to read a label and research your purchases.

It’s no revelation that some products you find in health food stores or co-ops have less than desirable ingredients. Steinman’s book, The Safe Shopper’s Bible, published back in 1995 (an indispensable guide I still refer to on a regular basis), found many “natural” products that had questionable chemicals in them. It also recommended some products that by today’s standards, with our growing understanding of chemicals, perhaps shouldn’t be recommended any longer (for example, those that contain parabens).

Buy this. Don’t buy that. Tomorrow you should quit using what we told you to use yesterday. It’s more than a bit confusing. It’s downright frustrating. Who can you trust? What do the studies say today? What’s the right thing to do? For many sleep deprived parents, it’s too much to have to think about, too much to try to keep up with, a seemingly un-winnable battle. But let’s zoom out on a bigger, brighter picture…

The Good News...

For the most part, the products you buy at co-ops and natural food stores are oodles better than their conventional counterparts. Don’t let this new study scare you away from investing in green products. It is still very worthwhile.

The quality of natural products is increasing every day. Scientific innovation is an evolutionary process. Things don’t change overnight. We want products that are safe, but we want them to work, too. So, we have to wait sometimes while manufacturers experiment with different natural components that can replace the synthetic chemicals that make a product work.

The availability of natural products is expanding every day. It’s simple supply and demand economics. We demand it, they supply it. Since demand for green products has increased, more companies are supplying them. The bright side of “greenwashing” is that it means that companies recognize there’s a buck to be made. Even if some are kind of faking it right now, with consumer pressure and more studies like the OCA report, they will comply.

The internet gives parents enormous power as consumers and businesses are responding to that power. We can instantly indict wrongdoers through viral emails, blogs and even text messaging on cell phones. While corporate misdeeds used to be easily hidden from the public eye, increasingly companies are cringing in the wake of grassroots power. Such is the case even with this latest report. It’s being blogged about all over and it’s impacting the business bottom line. Again, it won’t be long before these companies comply.

What to do now

The world is changing for the better because of the small acts of people like you. We can’t buy our way out of our problems, but our purchases do count and our opinions do matter. Did one of your favorite brands end up on the list? Call the company and ask why and what they’re going to do about it. One of our favorites ended up on the list and that’s exactly what we did (see our post “In Defense of Seventh Generation”).

Read your labels, research your purchases, email or blog us with questions.

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