Because these specific waxes are so costly, it’s unlikely you’d be using them unless you had cash to spare or happen to be an advanced or pro ski racer. Still, since wax rubs off onto snow, which then melts; the chemicals end up in everyone’s water supplies. Lastly, these aren’t chemicals that ever go away. PFOAs just continually build up in your body according to the EPA. There’s not much of a solution here, other than banning PFOAs, which the EPA has failed to do.

The best thing you can do is wear a face mask when coating your own skis – there have been documented cases of folks falling ill from the wax fumes. After that, well, we’re back to the ban. Unless of course you’d like to quit drinking water and playing in the snow at the mountain.

Read the whole story.

Post from: Tree Hugging Family

The goal of the Children’s Centers is to address the fact that children are extra vulnerable to the negative effects of environmental exposures. Each of the current centers researches environmental risks along with how to reduce that risk. Some centers are funded in part by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) while a couple are funded in full by the EPA.

Why do the Centers matter to you and your family? Each of the centers looks at exposure issues that can harm your children such as lead, pesticides, mercury, PCBs and more. The centers compare these risk’s roles in childhood disorders like autism, learning disabilities, and asthma. The centers go in-depth as explained by the EPA:

“The Children’s Centers employ integrated multidisciplinary approaches to understand the complex risk factors that impact children’s health from the molecular and cellular level up to the systems level. Several of the Centers are conducting pioneering research investigating the role of gene-environment interactions in childhood diseases. The Centers are also developing innovative ways to investigate the role of environmental stressors. Most of the Centers focus on economically disadvantaged populations and communities of color.”

If you’re interested in how your child’s health is affected by environmental pollutions than the centers should be on your frequent reading to-do list. Right now at the center’s main site you can find an immense amount of research plus a news section that’s updated semi-often; although some of this news seems to be routed to the EPA’s homepage. You can also visit each of the centers individually for center specific news.

Coming up later today — more resources that combat environmental risks for kids and the winner of the Downsizing Your Home With Style Contest.

Coming up in December — Lifestyles Channel-wide events and more green winter fun.

Post from: Tree Hugging Family

For both work and home these new greener computer choices are clearly advantageous both to our budgets and the earth. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA):

“If every U.S. household and business replaced old computers with new Energy Star qualified models, we would save more than $1.8 billion in energy costs over the next five years and avoid greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to more than 2.7 million cars.”

Even if you think “To heck with green” but run a business, the new computers will still benefit you. Replacing 100 computers at a business with Energy Star specified computers will save more than $670 over the life of each computer and save around $175 per year in energy costs.

Some of the required specifications include:

• Efficiency requirements that ensure energy saving in ALL modes of operation even standby and when applications are running strong.
• Internal power supply that’s 80% efficient.
• Only the most energy efficient can earn the new Energy Star label which makes choosing easy — no question — if you get a sticker you get an energy efficient machine.

See which computer equipment has earned the ENERGY STAR rating.

Post from: Tree Hugging Family