What Monarch Butterflies Can Tell Us About Climate Change
Winter in Santa Barbara—the time of year where butterfly pictures can take over your Instagram feed. They may be comfortably sitting on your friends’ noses or turning a eucalyptus branch to a bright orange color. Yet, seeing the thousands of butterflies in person is a much more overpowering experience than any picture could create. Every year at the City of Goleta’s Ellwood Butterfly Grove, Santa Barbara’s close neighbor, the monarchs fill the sky and group themselves on tree branches by the thousands, gathering the community to enjoy their beauty and learn about our environment.
These delicate insects create a winter refuge for themselves in Goleta’s Ellwood Grove from November through February, bringing approximately 85,000 visitors from all over the world to admire their majestic colors. Whether it is students taking a break from midterms on a Sunday morning, children learning about ecology on field trips, or tourists stopping by on their coastal road trip, the butterflies create a tranquil space for recreation that brings together all members of the community, while helping us learn about nature’s wonders.
The Santa Barbara Land Trust maintains the 9.3 acres known as the Coronado Butterfly Preserve, which serves as a gateway to Elwood Mesa, 137 acres of coastal open space in the City of Goleta. The Land Trust is safeguarding their property and establishing a habitat the butterflies need to thrive by collaborating with wildlife experts and volunteers to plant native flora – conserving the land for the benefit of the community and the thousands of butterflies that visit each year.
The monarch populations were first documented in the California coastline in the early 1900s. Ellwood Cooper, a local horticulturalist, brought eucalyptus trees over from Australia in 1870 and planted them throughout the state in hopes of using them as a renewable wood source. But the trees became too frail from the California weather, and instead developed into a hub for thousands of butterflies that began migrating from northern climates towards milder temperatures and shelter from the wind.
The newly introduced trees brought monarchs to over two hundred sites across the state. The sites of Natural Bridges State Beach in Santa Cruz also create a shelter for butterflies each winter as up to 100,000 monarchs stop here along their migration from the west side of the Rocky Mountains.
Although fairly new to California, the monarch butterflies have been documented to migrate south to Mexico for over two thousand years. Many monarchs coming from the east of the Rocky Mountains congregate at the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve World Heritage site, located 100 km away from Mexico City, after migrating up to three thousand miles. Millions of butterflies gather in these pine forests along their migration pattern, making this the largest monarch preserve in the world, and bringing in thousands of visitors every year.
Aside from bringing joy and allure to select communities across North America, the monarchs provide us with a deeper understanding of the natural world as their migration patterns and ecological responses can help us better understand climate change. Brian Haggerty, a PhD candidate in the Ecology, Evolution & Marine Biology Department at UCSB, explains that climate change has many implications that could disturb monarch habitats, including, but not limited to, temperature, precipitation, and drought. Haggerty explains a few potential impacts climate change can have on these fragile insects. “Climate change can have direct effects on butterfly populations and indirect effects mediated through their host plants. Warmer temperatures as a result of climate change might speed up development rates in their larval stage, which would lead to an earlier appearance in butterflies. As their habitat is on edge due to the drought, host plants are themselves stressed, resulting in fewer green leaves and healthy branches for the butterflies to rest on.”
Lynn Kirby, a docent for the City of Goleta Ellwood Butterfly Grove, has a similar explanation as to how the current drought is affecting the monarchs. She explains that the eucalyptus trees are currently very stressed, and the severe winds last Christmas caused butterflies to fall from the frail trees. Prey such as rats and birds snatch those butterflies that survive the fall. For these reasons, Goleta’s monarchs are declining in numbers and are more congregated in one particular area of the grove this year.
Butterfly ecosystems are as fragile as the insects themselves, and vulnerable to human impacts. Monarch populations throughout California have been on the decline due to habitat loss through development and agricultural practices. Herbicide used in agriculture led to a decrease in their host plant, milkweed, which the monarchs depend on to lay their eggs, drink nectar as an adult butterfly, and ingest as a toxin that protects them from natural predators.
Protecting the monarch overwintering sites is crucial in maintaining their populations. Luckily, at Goleta’s butterfly grove, the community was able to protect them when threatened by development. Kirby states, “I am proud of the City of Goleta and our community and how we came together to save the Ellwood Grove from developers. At the time the acquisition of the Ellwood site took place (2005), the developer agreed to move the building site to another less environmentally sensitive area of the Mesa.”
Pollinator garden provides nectar and pollen for the insects to feed on. Signs provided by the Xerces Invertebrate Conservation Society share your message of helping the pollinators and engage the community into doing the same. Photo by the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation
There are things we can do in our own backyards to further increase monarch populations. Gardening for pollinators is a rather recent phenomenon, which involves planting nectar sources and native milkweeds in school or home gardens for pollinators to feed on. These host plants feed the adults and breed the larvae. The monarchs, in particular, need milkweed to breed future generations along their flight path through the United States. For this reason, planting milkweed in gardens can be very beneficial to butterfly populations and can benefit pollinators throughout the world.
Monarchs not only provide a natural beauty for us to enjoy, but serve irreplaceable roles for our planet and our people. Pollinators are of great economic value as they help us with agriculture, especially in fruit and root crop production. Ecologically, and through their food-chain relationships, they maintain many plant communities, which in turn provide us with services like water filtration, carbon sequestration and erosion control. Lastly, the monarch butterflies offer us a sense of wonder about the natural world, encouraging us to cherish our planet and value its resources.
Make sure to check out the monarchs as they fill the sky and tree branches at the City of Goleta’s Ellwood Grove. Just don’t forget to tread lightly…it’s an enchanting and sensitive place.
Click to view post on the LoaTree Website
These delicate insects create a winter refuge for themselves in Goleta’s Ellwood Grove from November through February, bringing approximately 85,000 visitors from all over the world to admire their majestic colors. Whether it is students taking a break from midterms on a Sunday morning, children learning about ecology on field trips, or tourists stopping by on their coastal road trip, the butterflies create a tranquil space for recreation that brings together all members of the community, while helping us learn about nature’s wonders.
The Santa Barbara Land Trust maintains the 9.3 acres known as the Coronado Butterfly Preserve, which serves as a gateway to Elwood Mesa, 137 acres of coastal open space in the City of Goleta. The Land Trust is safeguarding their property and establishing a habitat the butterflies need to thrive by collaborating with wildlife experts and volunteers to plant native flora – conserving the land for the benefit of the community and the thousands of butterflies that visit each year.
The monarch populations were first documented in the California coastline in the early 1900s. Ellwood Cooper, a local horticulturalist, brought eucalyptus trees over from Australia in 1870 and planted them throughout the state in hopes of using them as a renewable wood source. But the trees became too frail from the California weather, and instead developed into a hub for thousands of butterflies that began migrating from northern climates towards milder temperatures and shelter from the wind.
The newly introduced trees brought monarchs to over two hundred sites across the state. The sites of Natural Bridges State Beach in Santa Cruz also create a shelter for butterflies each winter as up to 100,000 monarchs stop here along their migration from the west side of the Rocky Mountains.
Although fairly new to California, the monarch butterflies have been documented to migrate south to Mexico for over two thousand years. Many monarchs coming from the east of the Rocky Mountains congregate at the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve World Heritage site, located 100 km away from Mexico City, after migrating up to three thousand miles. Millions of butterflies gather in these pine forests along their migration pattern, making this the largest monarch preserve in the world, and bringing in thousands of visitors every year.
Aside from bringing joy and allure to select communities across North America, the monarchs provide us with a deeper understanding of the natural world as their migration patterns and ecological responses can help us better understand climate change. Brian Haggerty, a PhD candidate in the Ecology, Evolution & Marine Biology Department at UCSB, explains that climate change has many implications that could disturb monarch habitats, including, but not limited to, temperature, precipitation, and drought. Haggerty explains a few potential impacts climate change can have on these fragile insects. “Climate change can have direct effects on butterfly populations and indirect effects mediated through their host plants. Warmer temperatures as a result of climate change might speed up development rates in their larval stage, which would lead to an earlier appearance in butterflies. As their habitat is on edge due to the drought, host plants are themselves stressed, resulting in fewer green leaves and healthy branches for the butterflies to rest on.”
Lynn Kirby, a docent for the City of Goleta Ellwood Butterfly Grove, has a similar explanation as to how the current drought is affecting the monarchs. She explains that the eucalyptus trees are currently very stressed, and the severe winds last Christmas caused butterflies to fall from the frail trees. Prey such as rats and birds snatch those butterflies that survive the fall. For these reasons, Goleta’s monarchs are declining in numbers and are more congregated in one particular area of the grove this year.
Butterfly ecosystems are as fragile as the insects themselves, and vulnerable to human impacts. Monarch populations throughout California have been on the decline due to habitat loss through development and agricultural practices. Herbicide used in agriculture led to a decrease in their host plant, milkweed, which the monarchs depend on to lay their eggs, drink nectar as an adult butterfly, and ingest as a toxin that protects them from natural predators.
Protecting the monarch overwintering sites is crucial in maintaining their populations. Luckily, at Goleta’s butterfly grove, the community was able to protect them when threatened by development. Kirby states, “I am proud of the City of Goleta and our community and how we came together to save the Ellwood Grove from developers. At the time the acquisition of the Ellwood site took place (2005), the developer agreed to move the building site to another less environmentally sensitive area of the Mesa.”
Pollinator garden provides nectar and pollen for the insects to feed on. Signs provided by the Xerces Invertebrate Conservation Society share your message of helping the pollinators and engage the community into doing the same. Photo by the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation
There are things we can do in our own backyards to further increase monarch populations. Gardening for pollinators is a rather recent phenomenon, which involves planting nectar sources and native milkweeds in school or home gardens for pollinators to feed on. These host plants feed the adults and breed the larvae. The monarchs, in particular, need milkweed to breed future generations along their flight path through the United States. For this reason, planting milkweed in gardens can be very beneficial to butterfly populations and can benefit pollinators throughout the world.
Monarchs not only provide a natural beauty for us to enjoy, but serve irreplaceable roles for our planet and our people. Pollinators are of great economic value as they help us with agriculture, especially in fruit and root crop production. Ecologically, and through their food-chain relationships, they maintain many plant communities, which in turn provide us with services like water filtration, carbon sequestration and erosion control. Lastly, the monarch butterflies offer us a sense of wonder about the natural world, encouraging us to cherish our planet and value its resources.
Make sure to check out the monarchs as they fill the sky and tree branches at the City of Goleta’s Ellwood Grove. Just don’t forget to tread lightly…it’s an enchanting and sensitive place.
Click to view post on the LoaTree Website
Coffee: the Grounds for a Heated Discussion
College is the time when most people experience a big life change—their coffee intake. Overwhelmed by school, work, and deadlines, coffee is often just the thing to keep a student powering through an exhausting day. That has definitely been the case for me. Yet, as an environmental studies major and coffee consumer, I began to hear about the implications of coffee production and developed a desire to know more.
Coffee is second to gasoline in the list of most traded things in the world. Such high coffee demand and consumption has serious implications. As a society of coffee drinkers, we must wake up to the negative impacts of our consumption, usually with respect to coffee growers and the environment.
Brewing Controversies
Much of the problem with coffee stems from its distribution system. Many small farmers that depend on coffee production for their income and wellbeing have little access to markets, and are therefore forced to sell to a middleman. This middleman pays them a small percentage of the market price for their product. Their coffee can go through as many as twenty middlemen, who each take a large percentage of the profits from the farmers.
On many large coffee plantations, farmers are paid the equivalent of sweatshop wages. According to Roast Magazine’s Daily Coffee News, a case documented in Nicaragua showed wages to be as low as $2-3 per day, with no overpay or benefits required by law. In addition, children are often brought on these farms to increase supply in cheap ways, and, as they are not legally employed, they don’t fall under labor protection laws.
These coffee farms also create a large environmental impact. In many parts of the world, including Mexico and Latin America, traditional shade grown coffee has been replaced with mono-cropping. These large parcels of sun grown coffee have been introduced to increase supply and create large profits at a high cost to our environment. According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, traditional shade grown coffee is highly beneficial to biodiversity in tropical forest ecosystems in Latin America, supporting at least 180 species of birds as well as other tropical forest species. In addition to loss of forests and habitats for many species that thrive in traditional shade grown coffee environments, sun grown coffee is linked to increased pesticide and fertilizer use, causing river pollution and decreased soil quality.
Coffee production is at risk due to the effects of climate change, which can threaten a lot of coffee crops in large producing countries. High temperatures, drought, excess rainfall, or pests, all attributed to climate change, contribute to lower yields in crops world wide.
In an attempt to address these important issues, many buzz words and certification stamps are being placed on coffee sold today. Words like “fair trade,” “organic,” or “shade grown” are used to help consumers find more sustainable choices, each aiming to address specific issues of coffee production.
The Fair Trade certification simplifies the buyer and producer supply chain and helps farmers get rewarded for their production, USDA organic coffee tries to eliminate substances like pesticides and fertilizers, while Rainforest Alliance and shade grown coffee are meant to protect the land and wildlife around it.
Yet, although these certifications have good intentions and can be a great way to get consumers to think about important issues, they often don’t offer a lot of transparency. For instance, according to theInternational Cocoa Organization, in order to gain a Rainforest Alliance certification, only 30% of a coffee bag has to be grown under the Rainforest Alliance criteria, while the source of the rest is often unknown. Similarly, the Fair Trade certification system includes flaws, as retailers, rather than producers abroad, can capture the extra revenue from the products.
With such a complex supply chain, it can be difficult to know the exact standards and regulations involved with getting our coffee from the farmer and into our cups. The best way to ensure environmental and social integrity is by knowing where our coffee come from.
By eliminating some of the players in the supply chain, and connecting to the farmers that grow it, we can find out if our coffee was produced responsibly. This is what the third wave coffee movement is attempting to achieve.
Third Wave Coffee: From Farm to Coffee Shop
Third wave coffee is an emerging movement, in which high quality coffee is produced and treated as an artisan or craft beverage—such as wine. This new crusade follows second wave coffee–the first attempt made by consumers to connect with the origins of their coffee and improve its quality.
In addition to offering an alternative drinking experience, in which coffee is treated with much attention and care, this new coffee crusade is attempting to bridge the gap between consumers and producers. Certified or not, this type of coffee can improve transparency through building direct relationships between the shop and the farm.
Portland, Oregon is one of the biggest third wave coffee locations, with companies such as the original Stumptown Coffee and Case Study Coffee. The emerging third wave movement in Portland also includesThird Wave Coffee Tours, meant to get consumers involved in the coffee making process with tours of the city’s best roasters and coffee shops.
The third wave coffee movement is also emerging in Santa Barbara, California, with companies like the French Press and Castle Coffee Roasters, their sister company, as well as Handlebar Coffee Roasters. These companies are dedicated to roasting high quality coffee that has been sourced from environmentally and socially friendly farms.
Coffee Farming in CaliforniaSurprisingly enough, our own backyard can be an ideal location for coffee production. Jay Ruskey, an experimental farmer and owner of Good Land Organics, believes that Southern California is the next new capital for specialty coffee. Ruskey explains that the low maturation period, or the time from flowering to the harvest, in California’s shady mountains is similar to that in tropic areas where high quality coffee is produced. Good Land Organics uses latitude to replace the altitude necessary to produce coffee in many tropical areas.
Coffee grown next to avocados on Jay Ruskey’s farm, Good Land Organics, in Goleta, CA. Ruskey grows avocados and coffee beans together in order to conserve water.
Ruskey is implementing another important aspect into coffee production: education. Ruskey’s farm incorporates a Seed to Cup educational program and tours of the coffee farm; these programs bring people together in order to learn about the complex coffee making process, creating a greater appreciation for coffee, as well as an opportunity for consumers to understand how coffee is grown responsibly.
The Future of Coffee
According to Ruskey, the future of coffee looks promising and is heading from third wave coffee to an even more transparent system. “I think there will be a huge change in where coffee is bought,” Ruskey mentions. “In the last seven to eight years, coffee has been going from farm to coffee shop. Now, we are trying to specialize coffee and create a new system to ensure that farmers get rewarded for the quality of their coffee.”
Ruskey believes that the best thing consumers can do in ensuring social and environmental responsibility of coffee, is to inquire. Many third wave coffee shops can educate consumers about the sources of the coffee and the production process. When buying coffee at the store, read the packaging, and do additional research on the particular farm it came from. You don’t have to be an expert on coffee, but find out more about how it was grown and the farmers that produced it.
The good news is that, if you need that extra energy boost in the morning, there are things you can do to make sure you are getting it in a sustainable way, which does not negatively impact the coffee growers and the environment. The key is doing our research to ensure that the quality of our coffee, along with our treatment of the people growing it and our environment, is met.
For more information on coffee production in California visit https://munchies.vice.com/en/videos/munchies-la-coffee
Click to view post on LoaTree website
How Our Toiletries are Impacting Our Oceans
Blog Post • LoaTree Blog • Spring 2016
Click to view post on LoaTree website
Click to view post on LoaTree website
We live in a world surrounded by plastics—but did you know they are also in our toiletries? Plastics and industrially produced synthetic chemicals have found their way into the products we use for self care. When washed down the drain, these products can have detrimental consequences in aquatic ecosystems.
According to Statista, the global skincare market will increase from 121 billion US dollars in 2016, to 154 billion in 2021. And our increased consumption of these products also means an increased environmental impact, as we are continue to pollute the environment at the expense of our personal care.
Microbeads and Macro Problems
In recent years, a large environmental problem with our toiletries has been emerging to the surface—and fortunately so. The discussion is around the production and sale of microbeads, the small plastic beads we find in your body and face scrubs, deodorants, toothpaste, and many other products.
When these beads were first invented, they appealed to many companies as they were cheap to manufacture, but also provided a nice exfoliating feel to the consumers. Their perfectly round shape are more gentle on skin than other natural products previously used for exfoliation, such as walnut shells. They come in many different shapes and sizes, some even less than 5 micrometers.
The problem with the beads is the way they travel from our sinks to our oceans, and the damage they pose on aquatic ecosystems once they get there. Once down our drains, many of these beads are too small to be decomposed by wastewater treatment plants, and are therefore emitted via raw sewage, applied on agricultural land, landfilled or dumped in our oceans or lakes. According to the Environmental Science and Technology Journal, enough microbeads to cover 300 tennis courts are emitted into oceans and lakes every day.
Once in an aquatic ecosystem such as an ocean or lake, the microbeads do not biodegrade. Fish, turtles, seabirds and other wildlife mistake the beads for food. The beads are then lodged into the stomachs and intestines of the animals, causing them to die of starvation. After ingested by fish, these small plastics then make their way back into our plates as seafood.
Fortunately, the environmental disaster created by microbeads has been widely advocated through organizations such as Beat the Microbead campaign, and 5gyres, leading the efforts to research the dangers of the particles and advocacy. Due to the efforts of these companies, there has been a large movement to stop the sale and production of microbeads nation wide. In fact, President Obama has signed the ban on microbeads in December 2015, but these organizations and many consumers are worried that companies will replace the beads with ones labeled as “biodegradable.” This alternative is a loophole that does not necessarily mean less plastic.
Ecosystem Damage is in Our Hands
An antibacterial chemical found in toothpaste and soaps, triclosan (sometimes referred to as TCS) has been known to also cause environmental disasters. This chemical finds its way into our environment in a similar way as microbeads—through our wastewater.
According to the Environmental Working Group, once in an aquatic environment, triclosan accumulates into the muscle tissues of many wildlife species. In rivers and streams, triclosan accumulates in algae, snails, fish and amphibians, as well as worms and mussels. For many larvae species in these ecosystems, triclosan affects their feeding, their most sensitive stage, and causes developmental and anatomic changes in these organisms.
A study done by the American Medical Association showed that antibacterial soaps are not more effective against germs than regular soaps, making us question the purpose of this harmful chemical altogether.
Change to Environmentally Safer ProductsAs consumers, there are things we can do to make a change in the use of these harmful products. The first step is buying products made from natural materials. But do be mindful that many products today are advertised as “natural”—a greenwashing method implemented by many businesses to make us feel as though we are good consumers and persuade us to keep buying their product. Therefore, we must do more than just read the package and do extra research on the product we are buying.
To avoid plastics, look for words such as polyethylene, polylactic acid (PLA), polypropylene, polystyrene, or polyethylene terephthalate—the materials that make up microbeads. Also look for ingredients such as triclosan when purchasing a product.
To help us make educated choices, the Beat the Microbead Campaign, created by the Plastic Soup Foundation, has developed an app, in which consumers can scan a barcode, or search from a wide range of brands, to find out if a specific product is safe from plastics.
In addition, find companies that put value into our oceans and ecosystems. Luckily, a lot of environmentally conscious cosmetic companies are emerging. LUSH has been heavily involved in anti-microbead campaigns and follows environmental principles when it comes to less packaging and water. RMS Beauty follows similar principles as they use only raw and non-processed materials. Try to support these companies and those that you know are making a difference in the industry.
To go above and beyond, you can find DIY, or Do-It-Yourself, options. This way, you can be absolutely sure chemicals are not being added to your toiletries. Check out Lauren Singer, of Trash is for Tossers, and her recipes for toothpaste and deodorant if you are feeling extra inspired. Fixit.com also has recipes for healthy DIY options, and some can be quite easy to make.
There is a lot we can do at the consumer level to ensure environmental integrity in our products. Purchase products that are free of microbeads and other toxic chemicals. By doing so, we are not only helping our environment directly in a small way, but we are also demanding change in the way our toiletries are made.
For alternative and reusable products to decrease your toiletries waste check out http://www.lifewithoutplastic.com
Click to view post on LoaTree website
According to Statista, the global skincare market will increase from 121 billion US dollars in 2016, to 154 billion in 2021. And our increased consumption of these products also means an increased environmental impact, as we are continue to pollute the environment at the expense of our personal care.
Microbeads and Macro Problems
In recent years, a large environmental problem with our toiletries has been emerging to the surface—and fortunately so. The discussion is around the production and sale of microbeads, the small plastic beads we find in your body and face scrubs, deodorants, toothpaste, and many other products.
When these beads were first invented, they appealed to many companies as they were cheap to manufacture, but also provided a nice exfoliating feel to the consumers. Their perfectly round shape are more gentle on skin than other natural products previously used for exfoliation, such as walnut shells. They come in many different shapes and sizes, some even less than 5 micrometers.
The problem with the beads is the way they travel from our sinks to our oceans, and the damage they pose on aquatic ecosystems once they get there. Once down our drains, many of these beads are too small to be decomposed by wastewater treatment plants, and are therefore emitted via raw sewage, applied on agricultural land, landfilled or dumped in our oceans or lakes. According to the Environmental Science and Technology Journal, enough microbeads to cover 300 tennis courts are emitted into oceans and lakes every day.
Once in an aquatic ecosystem such as an ocean or lake, the microbeads do not biodegrade. Fish, turtles, seabirds and other wildlife mistake the beads for food. The beads are then lodged into the stomachs and intestines of the animals, causing them to die of starvation. After ingested by fish, these small plastics then make their way back into our plates as seafood.
Fortunately, the environmental disaster created by microbeads has been widely advocated through organizations such as Beat the Microbead campaign, and 5gyres, leading the efforts to research the dangers of the particles and advocacy. Due to the efforts of these companies, there has been a large movement to stop the sale and production of microbeads nation wide. In fact, President Obama has signed the ban on microbeads in December 2015, but these organizations and many consumers are worried that companies will replace the beads with ones labeled as “biodegradable.” This alternative is a loophole that does not necessarily mean less plastic.
Ecosystem Damage is in Our Hands
An antibacterial chemical found in toothpaste and soaps, triclosan (sometimes referred to as TCS) has been known to also cause environmental disasters. This chemical finds its way into our environment in a similar way as microbeads—through our wastewater.
According to the Environmental Working Group, once in an aquatic environment, triclosan accumulates into the muscle tissues of many wildlife species. In rivers and streams, triclosan accumulates in algae, snails, fish and amphibians, as well as worms and mussels. For many larvae species in these ecosystems, triclosan affects their feeding, their most sensitive stage, and causes developmental and anatomic changes in these organisms.
A study done by the American Medical Association showed that antibacterial soaps are not more effective against germs than regular soaps, making us question the purpose of this harmful chemical altogether.
Change to Environmentally Safer ProductsAs consumers, there are things we can do to make a change in the use of these harmful products. The first step is buying products made from natural materials. But do be mindful that many products today are advertised as “natural”—a greenwashing method implemented by many businesses to make us feel as though we are good consumers and persuade us to keep buying their product. Therefore, we must do more than just read the package and do extra research on the product we are buying.
To avoid plastics, look for words such as polyethylene, polylactic acid (PLA), polypropylene, polystyrene, or polyethylene terephthalate—the materials that make up microbeads. Also look for ingredients such as triclosan when purchasing a product.
To help us make educated choices, the Beat the Microbead Campaign, created by the Plastic Soup Foundation, has developed an app, in which consumers can scan a barcode, or search from a wide range of brands, to find out if a specific product is safe from plastics.
In addition, find companies that put value into our oceans and ecosystems. Luckily, a lot of environmentally conscious cosmetic companies are emerging. LUSH has been heavily involved in anti-microbead campaigns and follows environmental principles when it comes to less packaging and water. RMS Beauty follows similar principles as they use only raw and non-processed materials. Try to support these companies and those that you know are making a difference in the industry.
To go above and beyond, you can find DIY, or Do-It-Yourself, options. This way, you can be absolutely sure chemicals are not being added to your toiletries. Check out Lauren Singer, of Trash is for Tossers, and her recipes for toothpaste and deodorant if you are feeling extra inspired. Fixit.com also has recipes for healthy DIY options, and some can be quite easy to make.
There is a lot we can do at the consumer level to ensure environmental integrity in our products. Purchase products that are free of microbeads and other toxic chemicals. By doing so, we are not only helping our environment directly in a small way, but we are also demanding change in the way our toiletries are made.
For alternative and reusable products to decrease your toiletries waste check out http://www.lifewithoutplastic.com
Click to view post on LoaTree website