Phthalates have met their match!

Do you follow TED? There was a link in my FB feed last week about these two brilliant teenagers who in 2013 presented on bacteria that can break down plastics! Amazing. Watch here.

My favorite comment on the video is someone who wrote, "where are the trumpets?" Seriously, these girls deserve a LOT of attention for their findings and for the notion that we have the intelligence to put people into outer space, breed wolves into thousands of different versions of a different species, and see through sh*t with x-rays and ultrasound and infrared. But we can't figure out the plastic problem?

Poised and informed, these ladies could probably take their solution pretty far, reducing waste and even applying their science to recycling processes. Who else wants them to save the world? Who's supporting their work (besides their parents)? Isn't in time to stop whining about the damage we're doing to this planet -- and by extension, ourselves -- and take some real action?

In the meantime, phthalates can suck it.

Yours,
Jazzy

Happy Friday!

It's Friday! Holiday crunch time. I'm working on a couple product reviews, but they're taking a while because I want proper before/after photos and I'm a loser who can't manage to carve out the time I need to do it right.

In the meantime, I leave you with this look at the toxics lurking in your holiday decorations. Read it first, THEN decide how much you hate me. And for the record, it's not easy, being this much of a Scrooge. But I do it with love.

Happy weekend,
Jazzy

Early delivery

There was some pretty good news activity this week regarding a possible link between phthalate levels in pregnant women and premature birth rates. JAMA Pediatrics published a study to its website Monday that identified higher levels of phthalates -- the chemicals that make plastics flexible -- in women who delivered their babies before 37 weeks. 

Reuters Health picked up the story later Monday, and then HuffPo and NBC News followed suit, both running coverage from LiveScience. CBS News did some original reporting Monday evening, going so far as to write "The Food and Drug Administration states that the effect of phthalates on health remain not well-defined."

Isn't that interesting! The FDA can't tell us if a pervasively-used chemical is safe or not!

Here's what the medical expert CBS News talked to had to say:

"Dr. Stephen E. Welty, the chief of the neonatology service at Texas Children's Hospital in Houston, told CBSNews.com that he considered the association between preterm birth and phthalate exposure to be strong. 

He admitted it would be impossible to avoid phthalates completely, but said there are some things people can do to reduce their exposure. He suggested not eating or storing food in plastic containers, because phthalates are known to leech into food items. Welty also said to be careful to use cosmetics that have even low levels of phthalates."

I added the bold type there for emphasis. Because, please tell me, where does one find food NOT packaged in plastic? Everything in the grocery store comes in a bag. Or some other type of flexible plastic something. So even if I use nothing but glass and ceramic food storage at home, my food spends its journey to my kitchen in nothing but plastic. 

It's worth the read, even if you're not big on learning about things like phthalates. Which I totally get, because it's not the most uplifting news. But if you know someone with child, this may help her and that little bean inside her have a better, lower-phthalate chance at a healthy, full term delivery.

-- Jazzy

Avon's trying

I just read about a grant that Avon awarded last May to researchers at Tufts University in Boston (original news brief here). Drs. Ana Soto and Carlos Sonnenschein received a grant of $450,000 towards their breast cancer research, which focuses on the role of natural hormones and environmental chemicals in the development of the disease.

Here's the twist: Soto and Sonnenschein were the first to shine a spotlight on the estrogen-mimicking compounds in household plastics. Back in the 1980s. Fast forward 30 years, and now the team studies how sex hormones regulate cell proliferations and how environmental contaminants may screw up the process.

So I like that the Avon Foundation is supporting research that may ultimately impact Avon's own product development. The grant was almost a quarter of the nearly $2 million that the foundation awarded to nine Boston-area research organizations following the city's annual Avon Walk for Breast Cancer. That's good. 

What's not so good is that in the THREE DECADES since Soto and Sonnenschein first noticed a link between the chemicals leaching from plastic and cell growth, not a whole lot has changed. Plastics manufacturers have been slow to remove questionable chemicals from the material and consumers have been slower to respond to this blatant complacency.

It took the US less than a decade to plan and execute a successful mission to the moon. But there is no urgency to finding the solutions to preventing environmental cancers. According to the Silent Spring Institute, rates of breast cancer rose 40 percent in the last quarter of the 20th century. When will we, as a nation, put brain power towards halting the incidence of the disease?

-- Jazzy

Against the grain

Eliminating some plastic from your life is an easy, quick way to reduce your 'chemical load' (that's a catch phrase from the film The Human Experiment...catchy, isn't it?) Plastic has its merits, for sure -- the collision that totaled my car last year comes to mind -- but I just don't need that much of it, day in and day out.

One of my errands last week was to bring our more frequently-used knives to be sharpened. I've never sharpened them myself, for fear of ruining them, so I let the professionals do it. There's a great, locally-owned cutlery shop in my town, and I feel great about supporting a small business.

My small talk with the owner went something like this: my knives need sharpening because I'm too chicken sh*t to try it myself at home; what else should I be doing to take care of them; whadaya mean, plastic cutting boards are bad for cutlery?

Did you know that? I didn't. Maybe I'm a sucker, and he saw a chance to sell some swampland in Florida. Maybe he caught me during one of those moments (and I have a lot of them) when I still don't yet feel like a real grownup but I play one on TV so I'll just go with whatever seems like the grownup thing to do.

Or maybe I saw an opportunity to do something that was good for my home and me. Replacing plastic cutting boards with wooden ones will keep those knives from dulling and keep a little bit of plastic out of my life (and my dinner).

The debate between plastic and wooden boards often comes down to food-borne bacteria. Those plastic boards may dull your knives, but they'll never make you sick. Or will they? If I'm not supposed to do anything to heat a plastic water bottle (because hot water would make chemicals leach out of the plastic), then shouldn't the same logic apply to carving an oven-fresh (and blazing hot) piece of meat on a plastic board?

I picked up a cute 10x10 Boos Block, figuring it was a good gateway piece to some bigger, higher-quality butcher block-style cutting boards. Getting into the habit of using it will be a good step towards replacing all the plastic boards with a nice collection of wooden ones.

And I'm going to use some good old fashioned common sense. I'll continue to wash fruits and vegetables thoroughly before prepping. I'll never use the wooden board near raw meat or eggs. I'll protect the wood with mineral oil, to build up a moisture barrier that will keep out funky things that would eventually damage the board. And I will continue to find ways to get some plastic out of my life.

Yours in the kitchen,

Jazzy

Fizzy Friday

Y'all have a SodaStream out there? I got one as a birthday gift a few years back, and I pretty well love the thing. I started drinking seltzer as an adult, only flavored, but now freshly carbonated plain seltzer from my SodaStream is easily one of my favorite refreshing drinks.

We still use the original bottles that came with the carbonator, each of which carry this warning: "UNSAFE IF CLEANED IN DISHWASHER." And "Not Dishwasher Safe! Do Not Use After 9/2013."

Why is that? The cynic/skeptic that I am these days needed to find out.

Here's what the SodaStream website says about the bottles:

"SodaStream produces and markets specially designed, high pressure-resistant bottles for use with our drink makers. Our long-life reusable bottles have a lifespan of 3 years. The bottle’s hermetically sealed cap keeps carbonated soft drinks fresh and fizzy longer than store-bought carbonated beverages. Our latest SodaStream bottle developments include the dishwasher-proof PEN bottles and an attractive glass carafe.SodaStream bottles are BPA-free and do not use any polycarbonate materials or materials that produce phthalates or PCBs, ensuring an eco friendly drinks maker."

Sooooo, by 'specially designed' you mean a gimic, right? Maybe not, since the bottles withstand repeated pressure from the carbonator. BUT! What is it that makes the bottles unsuitable for dishwasher cleaning?

Alicia over at TheSoftLanding looked into the very same issue, and it turns out that the bottles are made from PET. Yup, the same plastic as single-use water and soda bottles. And Lipton's stupid pyramid tea bags. Huh?

Pretty ironic for a company that does a lot of plastic bashing. Right at the top of the SodaStream website is this wonky ticker thing that counts off how many bottles from which the company is saving the world. As of this writing it was claiming to have saved the equivalent of more than 3 billion plastic bottles. Where do they come up with this stuff?

SodaStream's anti-plastic bottle message isn't well-received everywhere. Earlier this year, the company caught some heat from none other than PlasticsNews.com, which was all too happy to throw SodaStream under the bus for knocking its plastic bros. Drama!

SodaStream now offers dishwasher-safe plastic bottles and glass carafes. I'll check them out next week, since my bottles will turn into pumpkins at 11:59 on Sept 30.

Have a GREAT weekend!!

-- Jazzy

Lipton's Canned Response

Last week I decided to open up a can of whoop-ass on Lipton for making tea bags out of plastic. If you didn't see it yesterday, you can read the text of my complaint here.

So whaddya know, Lipton got back to me very promptly. On the weekend no less! Here's what they said:

"Thank you for contacting us. 

We do apologize for the experience you reported concerning our Lipton Tea Tea Pyramid.  

When developing our packaging, many factors are taken into consideration, including ease of use as well as overall economic and environmental benefits. We design our packages to provide safe, convenient and attractive protection.

Our goal is to create all of our packages to meet or exceed consumer expectations for both performance and quality. Any changes in our packaging are based on extensive consumer research.

Please be assured that we value your comments and will pass them along to the appropriate staff. We sincerely appreciate your taking the time to contact us and we are sending a complimentary coupon flyer to you via US Postal Mail which you should receive within 7-10 business days. 

Sincerely,
Your friends at Lipton"

First, does anyone else feel like they've just had a lobotomy, or is it just me? That corporate verbiage is just awful. Second, what's with the line about "...safe, convenient and attractive protection." Protection from what, exactly? The tea?!?!?! Sounds like something you'd hear from Trojan, not Lipton.

And, uh, last time I checked, there were absolutely ZERO environmental benefits to converting a previously biodegradable product into a plastic one.

I don't know about you, but I have absolutely no tolerance for this kind of bullish*t. Lipton is STUPID.

But you know what? It's hump day! Halfway to the weekend!
-- Jazzy

Complaint Dept

If you haven't checked it out, the 'Smack Back!' tab lists consumer relations contacts and links for many major retail brands. I encourage all SMACK! readers to, at one point or another, pen a letter of complaint or support to a business about their products or services. Even if you never send the letter, it's a great exercise in putting a voice to your solid instincts and opinions.

So I took my own advice! Friday's column was heavy on the 'tude over these stupid little tea pyramid things that Lipton makes out of PLASTIC. I decided to channel my anger -- the pen is mightier than the sword, as they say.

Frustrated Friday

Sorry for the late post. A little tense today. I could really use an hour of yoga, high dose of dark chocolate, a roll in the hay? all of the above? Something, ANYTHING for stress relief.

The future...tastes like bananas?

Flashing my inner geek here with some news about a teenager who's developing a bioplastic made from old banana peels.

Last month, 16-year-old Elif Bilgin was awarded the 2013 Science in Action Award at the third annual Google Science Fair for her 2-year-long effort to turn discarded banana peels into plastic.

Jazzy, WHY are you making us read about 3-week-old news?

Because plastic is EVERYWHERE. Literally. It's time to find a better version that gives us what we need from the material without all the toxic business. Aren't we smart enough to do that?

Bilgin told Scientific American, "For me, this means that my project actually has a potential to be a solution to the increasing pollution problem caused by petroleum-based plastic."

Wow, she GETS IT.  What were you doing when you were her age? I was in the marching band and spent a lot of time whining to my parents to take me to Gap. I loved physics, but chem was NOT my thing. This girl's changing the way we look at chemistry, with super far-reaching implications across so many industries. She rocks, and deserves all the attention she can get!!!

Read about Elif's work and award here, and check out Wikipedia's page here to polish your bioplastics acumen.

-- Jazzy

How do you say 'awesome' in French?

I'm in the market for a housewarming gift for some friends, which made me think about a housewarming gift that we received after we bought our house. One of my husband's groomsmen got us a set of these glasses that are nearly indestructible, from Duralex. They're made in France, in cafe-inspired classic shapes and sizes and they rock!! I love them so much that I snatched up an extra set that I saw on One King's Lane last year. 

Picardie tumblers by Duralex

Fast forward a bunch of months and I'm having breakfast with a couple friends and I remark to my hostess that she has what appear to be miniature versions of the same glassware I have. Mais bien sur, she says (well, not really, but how cool would that have been, to break out in spontaneous French?), that's the tableware I bought for my kids.

Wha??? Duralex makes kids' stuff, too? C'est magnifique!

How stinkin' cute are these!!

Her daughter has many, many allergies and sensitivities. She wanted to reduce their exposure to plastic, and found the tableware lines at Duralex for Kids as a great solution.You may remember that I have a problem with itty bitty things...my problem being that I freaking love them!! 

Duralex for Kids is no exception. Cute little glasses, matching lunch plates and cereal bowls, OMG it's too much. I might have to plan a picnic.

So go, GO, buy some Duralex for you and yours. Ditch some of the plastic in your kitchen. And then serve some fancy French food to go with.

A bientot,
-- Jazzy