KV Organics

seeking restoration of sustainable life... personally, professionally, & spiritually

Week 1: Ingredients

Fake Organics

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I stopped at Wegmans tonight on my way home from the day’s activities, just to grab something quickly. On my way toward the back of the store, I walked through the personal care/cosmetics aisle and, as I often do, took a quick glance at some of the ‘natural’ and ‘organic’ claims on the products.

One in particular jumped out at me this time. It was called ‘Organic Wear.’ When I turned it over it said that the ingredients were 100% natural and 16% organic. That’s right, just 16%. And they call it ‘Organic Wear’?

With food products, there is a required minimum of 70% organic ingredients in order to use even the phrase ‘made with organic ingredients’ on the product. To claim the product is ‘organic’ actually requires at least 95% organic ingredients. And this is what most people expect when they see ‘organic’ on any label. Not so with personal care and cosmetic products – they can and do get away with misleading labels all the time.

And the fact that the remaining 84% is ‘natural’ means very little when you consider the chemical processes that personal care and cosmetic companies can put their ‘natural’ ingredients through during formulation and still call them ‘natural.’  (see Part 2 of the 5-part report below).

The particular product I saw tonight was certified by Eco-Cert, which I have recently learned is the lowest and most permissive of the organic certification standards out there.  (see article below and Part 2 of my report for a general discussion on sub-par organic standards and ‘natural’ marketing terminology in general).

Free 5-part report on evaluating ‘natural’ personal care products.
Various ‘organic’ standards for personal care products.

Halloween Candy

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Last week, my daughter came home from school with a multi-colored lollipop. I looked for an ingredient list, but the wrapper is of course too small. Yes, I’m definitely a label-reader, but I’m also big on not becoming an emotional slave to the habit. She hadn’t eaten a lollipop in a while, so I let her have it.

Within an hour, she was acting like a total basket case. And sadly, not in the crazy, hyper, but funny sort of way. Rather, it was the total emotional meltdown, cease any kind of rational thinking, and get downright nasty sort of way. I couldn’t help but wonder if there were some artificial dyes in that lollipop. Must have been.

No matter how much I try to limit their exposure to candy by not bringing it into our home myself, it seems my kids are always getting a “treat” from somewhere at least 2-3 times per week. Every once in a while, my girls will independently say, “I don’t want that Mommy, because it’s not healthy.” But usually, it’s an exercise in creativity to get them to give it up willingly so that the times they do have it really are limited to the occasional treat instead of every other day or so.

And now, it’s Halloween season. Sigh…

My cousin shared the idea of handing out mini bags of pretzels (but check the ingredient lists as these can be highly processed depending on the brand/recipe), and my friend Sarah wrote an excellent article for natural moms on ‘Kicking the Halloween Candy Crisis.’ Check it out.

Halloween candy article
Great article on artificial dyes

Pinkwashing

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This post was inspired by a recent discussion with some other green-minded people about greenwashing and pinkwashing in the personal care industry.  Of course, both problems are found in virtually every industry these days, not just the personal care industry.

Many people have heard the term ‘greenwashing’ already.  It’s when a company markets its product or service as greener than it really is in order to capitalize on the growing interest in green living, rather than make clear and honest marketing claims motivated by a genuine desire to contribute to the overall health of people and the planet above their desire for profit.

However, not as many have considered the problem of ‘pinkwashing’ yet.  So, in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, I’d like to introduce you to the term.  The best definition I’ve found is this: “pinkwashing: a term used to describe the activities of companies and groups that position themselves as leaders in the struggle to eradicate breast cancer while engaging in practices that may be contributing to rising rates of the disease.”

A desire for profit is not necessarily the problem here; everyone needs to make a living through profits of some sort.  The problem lies in the ethical decisions and heart motivations behind the profit-making.  And these issues can only be unearthed by asking questions.  So, before you reach into your wallet to buy that next pink-packaged product to support the fight against breast cancer, you might want to do a little digging.  The simplest place to start if it is a personal care item: look at its ingredient list.

Where I found the definition above: http://www.pinkwashing.org
For info on personal care ingredients, see Part 3 of my free report.