How ecologically intelligent are you at consuming?
By Dorret Groot Wassink

Daniel Goleman’s new book Ecological Intelligence showed me how little I really knew about living ‘ecologically intelligent’. Some of the facts: 

Are you aware that:

• most normal plastic bottles contain materials that cause cancer or that loads of normal everyday cosmetics, from shampoos to advanced slimming lotions contains numerous toxic hazardous substances that increase the risk not only of cancer but of autism, auto-immune and nervous system diseases? 

• even ‘green’ labelled products have ‘carcinogenic’ ingredients in them, the substance that is known to raise risks of cancer in people. 

• how unhealthy ‘trans-fats’ and many ‘e number’ dyes in foods really are? 

• many chemicals in food have actually never been tested, they were actually ‘grandfathered in’ by American law back in the 70-ties (automatically approved)?

• that certain types of microwavable butter flavoured popcorn can cause serious lung disease? 

• how  and where the clothes you wear have been produced, if child labour or bad working conditions were involved? 

• if the companies producing and transporting your goods have a track record of polluting the earth? 

Do you even consider the carbon footprint of the goods you consume before you buy them? Or do you select them based only on price?

If you can answer yes to most of these questions, great, congratulations. You are well informed and consuming with ecological intelligence. If the answer to most questions is no (I know mine were)…  

Recycling and reusing is one thing, being ecologically intelligent requires a further step.

So it’s label reading time. Check your cupboards to find out what risks you are putting yourself and your family through without knowing before it is too late. 

For young (grand)parents: plastic bottles for baby food might put your child at risk! From the website MomLogic.com, Dr. Cara Natterson writes:

The most publicly controversial of all plastics is bisphenol A, also known as BPA. BPA is a chemical found in hard, clear polycarbonate plastics. It has been used by the plastics industry since the 1950s to make products like sports equipment, medical devices, CDs, and home electronics; it coats the inside of some canned goods; and of course, it is used in the manufacturing of water and baby bottles.

As these plasticized products have become a ubiquitous part of our society, BPA exposure has multiplied. In fact, recent studies in the US demonstrate BPA in the blood or urine of 95% of all people tested. BPA falls into the category of “endocrine disruptors” (EDs), chemicals that appear to interfere with hormones and other signaling systems in the body. Specifically, BPA is accused of mimicking the effects of estrogen.

There is certainly data damning BPA. Studies have shown that exposure to high levels of BPA does cause increased risk of uterine fibroids, endometriosis, and breast cancer; it lowers sperm count; and it increases the risk of prostate cancer. The effects of BPA in the body are not limited to estrogen-imitation. There is emerging data that it may be related to obesity as well. In studies done on mice, BPA was found to cause insulin esistance. Insulin is the chemical in the body responsible for helping glucose (sugar) get into the body’s cells so that it is can be used as energy. When the cells become resistant to insulin, they cannot take in glucose. The glucose sits around in the bloodstream, building up to excessive levels. High blood sugar = diabetes.

And since you are at it, start checking the credentials of the companies you are buying from, you might have inadvertently just sponsored: 

• child labour, 
• cruelty to people and/or animals or 
• polluting the earth. 

If you don’t care about other people, then consider the fact that companies that don’t follow the rules when it comes to their people also don’t follow the rules when it comes to using poisonous/dangerous substances that might be in your product or safety regulations. 

Think of the scandal lead paint in baby toys originating in China, the glass shards found in baby milk scandal, tainted baby formulae with carcinogenic chemicals… When it comes to safety, do you want risk your own family’s safety just because the product was cheap? 

We had an incident where moving a partially assembled trampoline caused it to bend into a potato chip or crisp shape, because of a malfunction in the design. Luckily for us it happened during construction and not whilst our children were jumping on it. We had no one to blame but ourselves for buying the cheapest product instead of ensuring it was the safest product, even with a slightly higher price. Once again, it confirmed to us that going for the cheapest and ecologically unintelligent purchase is a stupid and short-sighted thing to do.

And yet we all every now then fall for the trap because our embedded instincts tell us, ‘go for more now, don’t care about later’, yet it mostly turns against us either by impacting us directly by product: toxicity, danger, low quality or impacts us more indirectly by affects on the environment. It’s time to silence that primitive instinct and buy smarter.

Where to start you might think? Check out these two websites: Good guide and Skin deep. 

A good read on the subject ‘Ecological Intelligence’ by Daniel Goleman and a good read on how to live on more on less stuff is ‘Enough’ by John Nash. Click on our Amazon.co.uk store on this page to purchase them both.

If you are a business owner, the ‘Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs)’ of many products are available online from many sources showing: the ecological footprint, insight into where products originate and how they were produced.

It is better to be safe than sorry on these issues. Know what you put into and onto you body. Know what you surround yourself with and know what you are contributing to by buying it. 

Vote with your money by buying what is safe and what it safe for others. I will keep you informed with my discoveries.