TIGI Catwalk Curls Rock Amplifier

For some of you that know me, I have naturally curly hair. If the hair has no product in it, well then it looks like I have come out of the 80's. Now, don't get me wrong, I like the 80's era, however the frizzy hair is not really in "style" anymore. In class, we were to pick a product that we use frequently and go to the Environmental Working Group online and check the toxicity of our particular product. I chose the TIGI Catwalk Curls Rock Amplifier, because I tend to use this product more often than not. I was a little worried about this product being high in toxicity because of the smell and the texture of it. Well, come to find out, it ranks a 5 out of 10 which means that it is moderately hazardous. This was much better than what I was originally afraid of.

There were two ingredients that were the most toxic which was the fragrance and the Methylchloroisothianzolinone. Some researchers say that this ingredient causes cancer, and some say that they have no evidence that it does in fact cause cancer. This ingredient/chemical can burn skin when it is in its pure form, and since it is not in pure form and there is minimal amounts of it in the product, I am not too worried about it burning my skin.

I am going to continue to use the product, because it gives me the results I want. It has been very hard to find a product that actually works and will continue to give me results. I think that if it were higher on the hazardous scale, I would chose a different product that is safer. Until then, I am going to continue to use this product, however I will continue to use it in very small amounts.

Here you can find the results from the EWG website: http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/product/128682/TIGI_Catwalk_Curls_Rock_Amplifier/

Ecological Footprint Reduction Update

Well so far in my attempt to reduce my ecological footprint, I have done pretty well, however I still have definite room for improvement. I have been turning off all the lights and turning off power strips at night as well as unplugging things in my room when they are not in use. I have also unplugged all of the appliances in the kitchen when we are not using any of the appliances. The laundry issue has been a work in progress. Living with 4 others girls, it has been hard to minimize the amount of loads we have been doing, however I have switched to washing my clothes on cold rather than on hot. I think we still need to come up with a number of loads per week to do rather than each person doing small loads every week. Another area I also have not been doing very well on is using the reusable grocery bags. I think I need to just leave them in my car rather than on the kitchen table, because clearly that is doing me no good. I also have yet to purchase fruits and vegtables from the local farmer down the street, so hopefully soon I will walk down there and buy them! I am going to make more of an effort these next couple weeks to really focus on completing my tasks and continue to reduce my footprint!

Puma Unveils New Sustainable Bag Design

http://www.design-training.com/news/20100414/546/puma-unveils-new-sustainable-bag-design.html

In the above article, Puma has made an effort to adopt more eco-friendly practices by launching a new line of packaging that can be used to reduce the company's carbon footprint. They are coming out with a bag that can be used for both a shoebox and a carrying case. This will reduce the amount of waste as well as the C02 emissions that goes into making the cardboard shoeboxes. Over the course of the next 5 years, the retailer hopes to reduce their amount of waste and their carbon footprint by at least 25 percent.

Trader Joe's Sells Sustainable Fish

http://www.dailynexus.com/article.php?a=20543

In the above article, by the end of 2012, Trader Joe's will now give what the customers believe in and want, which is sustainable fish. They have been working to ensure that all frozen, fresh, and canned fish sold in stores will be from a sustainable source. Many supervisors say they are very excited to be selling and making the transition into the more sustainable environment.

Carly's Ecological Footprint

If everyone were to live like me, it would take 4.1 planet earths to provide enough resources! In a sense, I am very astonished with the amount of resources I consume, however I think about my daily life schedule and I rely on a lot of these categories to get me through my day. I do think I could become much more conscious of the amount I consume.

I rank relatively high in the goods and services categories, due to my job which requires working on a computer an average of 25 hours a week; driving to the places I need to be in a timely manner; let alone flying to my favorite destinations for vacations. I am aware of how much energy I use in a single day (due to living with four other girls and our energy bills tend to be on the higher end), although not until my planet earth count kept rising during the quiz, did I realize that maybe I should perhaps try to find a way to cut down on my energy intake. You would think that after having a couple fuses blown in our house that maybe us girls would cut back on the hair dryers, straighteners, curling irons, computers, lamps, the continuous laundry machine running. Therefore I would like to make a commitment to myself to take a minimum of at least three actions to reduce my carbon intake.

I commit myself to:

1. Turn off my laptop at night and during the day while at school, and to unplug my work computer at nights and on the weekends.

2. Bag my own groceries at the store with a reusable bag, rather than use plastic bags

3. Try to cut back on the amount of laundry, in hopes that my roommates will as well. Maybe talk to them and figure out a schedule to minimize the on-going running machines.

4. Now that it is spring, I would like to buy more fruits and veggies from local markets rather than those that have been shipped in over 200 miles away.

5. Unplug appliances in the kitchen when they are not in use. (i.e., the toaster, microwave, coffeepot)