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• Craving fast food, but not the chemicals, salt, and fat? Check out Greenopia’s recipes for Favorite Fast Foods Made Organic.
• It can be overwhelming trying to figure out how to store food without using plastic baggies, plastic wrap, and plastic containers. Check out Sustain Lane’s tips for Wrap’n, Store’n, and Freeze’n Food Without Plastic.
• Paring down unused kitchen appliances could help reduce energy bills and conserve energy. Planet Green has some suggestions on what to keep and what to donate. If looking to relinquish a larger appliance, try the Database of State Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency for cash incentive programs.
• Chances are if you have a printer at home or in your office you purchase paper from time to time - even if your primary communication is electronic. Here are some helpful tips on how to select the most eco-friendly paper.

Recent Research

• Over 25% of American children suffer from a chronic health condition. Birth defects, infectious diseases, and accidents of the past have been replaced by asthma, obesity, and mental and behavioral disorders. Dr. Neal Halfon, director of the UCLA Center for Healthier Children, Families and Communities, states that “the kinds of environments in which children are growing up” is partially to blame. Chronic conditions increased from 12.8% in 1994 to 26.6% in 2006. Dr. Jeanne Van Cleave, a pediatrician at MassGeneral Hospital for Children in Boston and the lead investigator of the study, believes that "with good treatment, a lot of these conditions will go away", but as healthcare costs raise and system reform seems unattainable the outlook is not reassuring.
• Health effects of cell phone use will be reviewed by the International Agency for Cancer Research, a branch of the World Health Organization. The study will look at research from 13 countries determining if radio-frequency radiation, which is emitted by cell phones increases cancer risk. The United States government is currently spending $25 million dollars on their own 10-year study. Mixed results of previous studies and the increase of younger users have prompted many policymakers to push for warning labels on cell phones.
• New research suggests maternal iron-deficiency may increase mental disorders in offspring. Iron is necessary for the production of hemoglobin, the protein which distributes oxygen throughout the body. Research suggests that a failure to meet iron demands of a developing brain could heighten a child's vulnerability to disorders such as schizophrenia. Pregnant women typically carry 50% more blood, extra iron is needed to ensure that enough oxygen moves around. The study’s lead researcher, Dr. Holger Sorensen of the University Hospital of Copenhagen in Demark, states prevention and treatment of maternal anemia “is relatively simple.”

Other News

• United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) reforms safety measures on food for school lunch program. Prompted by reports of substandard quality and a lack of testing of beef products, the USDA will commission research from the National Academy of Sciences to ensure testing standards meet those of selective buyers. Suppliers who fail to meet new standards face expulsion from the program. Beef Packers, owned by Cargill, which was involved in a massive recall last year for contaminated beef, sold the USDA 450,000 pounds of beef intended for schools in the mist of the recall. Each day the school lunch program feeds 31 million students.
• Household disinfecting products made with thymol, oil derived from thyme, released by Seventh Generation. Powerful enough to kill germs (such as the flu virus), but safe enough that the Environmental Protection Agency is not requiring lengthy warning labels. Martha Stewart is also releasing a line of cleaning products, without fragrances or artificial colors. Noting her toughest hurdle is to “break the habit” of the American public that chemical and artificial scents mean clean. Eco-friendly products are more readily available at retailers across the country. Less than a year ago, S. C. Johnson & Son, the maker of products Windex and Drano, agreed to disclose ingredients in its products. Other manufacturers may soon be forced to do the same with a pending lawsuit.

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