The recent recall of half a billion eggs from 2 large farms in Iowa is shining a spotlight on our food chain. Are factory farming practices of increasing profits by squeezing hens in close quarters causing these problems?  Having just a handful of food producers due to industry consolidation add to the problem.  California has new regulations taking in effect in 2015 requiring cage-free treatment of hens.  It also bans all eggs coming from outside the state that fail to comply with this battery-cage rule.

Confusing Egg Terminology

Cage-free - Most cage-free hens live in very large flocks that can consist of many thousands of hens who never go outside. However, unlike battery hens, cage-free hens are able to walk, spread their wings and lay their eggs in nests.

Organic - As certified by the USDA, this label requires some outdoor exposure.

Pasture-raised - This and other classifications indicate outside forage on vegetation and insects.

Certified humane - Endorsed by the Humane Society, this does not require access to the outdoors but has standards for air quality and lighting.

Organic Eggs

Organic Eggs have better flavor and the chickens laying them have been feed organic feed. Eating them is a good way to  help minimize risk of exposure to antibiotics, or synthetic hormones and pesticides while obtaining a healthy dose of nutrients.  We could not find studies that validate these suggestions though.

Egg Cooking Tips

Eggs need to be fully cooked properly to prevent food poisoning and salmonella contamination. Bacteria can exist inside an uncracked, uncooked whole egg. Avoid eating raw cookie dough with egg or making ice cream with egg or Caesar salad dressing with raw eggs. Cook eggs until the egg yolk and the egg white are firm. Cook egg custard used in eggnog, homemade ice cream, and quiches to at least 160 degrees. Bake egg meringues at 350 degrees for at least 15 minutes on the lower rack of your oven.

Be sure to read our Healthy Food Options to avoid Chemicals

Summer vacation? Traveling on a plane or car?

A recent article analyzed the fuel efficiency of airlines and found they get 60 to 75 seat miles per gallon of fuel in 2009.  Better than the 50 mpg of a Toyota Prius hybrid automobile. Alaska, JetBlue, Southwest, and Continental were best.  The most fuel efficient planes were the Boeing 777-200ER wide body at 82 mpg and Boeing 737-900 at 99 mpg.  The Airbus A320 at 77 mpg is their best.

Want to go a step further? We noticed a Climate passport kiosk in the airport.  You can pay to offset your airplanes emissions. A 2,000 Miles (4 hr flight) generates 1,869 lbs of  CO2, and costs $11.44 to offset.  The money goes toward:

“The Carbon Offsets purchased through the Climate Passport Carbon Footprint Calculator are sourced from the Garcia River Forest, a conservation-based forest management project located in Mendocino County, California. The project achieves multiple goals including: increased sequestration and storage of carbon in native redwood forests, wildlife habitat restoration, and a sustainable supply of certified wood products.”

Tripbase has a CO2 Emissions Calculator that’s been made to help people out with being a bit more green and socially responsible when it comes to flying.

photo credit: goldberg

Back to school… Having Lice in your hair is not fun.  Schools encountered kids with this problem all the time because Lice can easily spread in schools. To remove the lice, most people essentially use toxic pesticides in their kid’s hair which include Permethrin, Pyrethrum, and Lindane.  Hair lice has slowly become resistant to these chemicals.

We found a non toxic product called Licefreee! that uses the naturally occuring mineral Sodium Chloride USP to kill lice.

You can whip up your own Pediatrician’s home remedy using 2 ounces of vegetable oil with 20 drops of 100 percent tea tree oil and 10 drops of essential oils of rosemary, lavender and lemon. (Apply to the inner arm for about an hour to test for hypersensitivity first.) Rub oils into scalp and hair and leave for one hour covering with a towel. Comb out nits with a nit comb and use a hand-held blow-dryer for 10 to 15 minutes, before washing out oils. Repeat in seven to 10 days.

Other suggestions include:

1. Covering hair with a show cap and heat with a hair dryer.
2. Soak head in salt water for a few minutes or swim in the ocean
3. Apply olive oil in your hair for about 30 minutes

Here are some non obvious recycling tips from our local garbage carrier, Allied Waste.  Check with your local company to verify how they handle recycling.

1) Rinsed coated milk and juice cartons. Plastic caps and plastic pour spouts must be removed before recycling.

2) No Pizza boxes

3) No black plastic (any type)

4) No nursery plant containers – See Recycle Plastic Nursery pots

5) No Toys

6) No Plastic Clam shells. Tetra Pak can be recycled.

7) Cardboard boxes like detergent ones cannot be recycled unless they are thoroughly cleaned.

Allied Waste recycles single use batteries if you place them in a plastic bag on top of recyclables.  Best Buy has recycling bins for rechargeable batteries. Earth911 can help you find local battery recycling.

Harder to Recycle Items

Most supermarkets have bins that recycle plastic bags. Recycle Wine Corks.

Recycle CFL – compact fluorescent light bulbs at Home Depot.

TerraCycle makes affordable, eco-friendly products from a wide range of different non-recyclable waste materials. Capri Sun – Honest Kids juice pouches can be recycled at Terracycle as Candy Wrappers, Starbucks Coffee bags, Zip Loc Bags, Cookie Wrappers, Colgate toothpaste, and more.

Recycling styrofoam is a challenge. Recycle Tyvek Envelopes. Recycle Shrink Wrap. Recycle Gift Wrap and Holiday Cards. Recycle Gift Cards.

Recycle Bike Tires.

Recycle Clothes. Recycle Eyeglasses

Recycle Carpet.

Cell phones and Electronics can be readily recycled or donated. Recycle Appliances.

Earth911 has recycling options for other products. Get paid to recycle.

Be sure to donate unwanted items.

We recently traveled to Asia and needed to find a reliable, yet safe insect repellent or natural mosquito repellent. DEET is a strong effective repellent but looking at a toxicology report on DEET makes one squirm and the NRDC has some warnings on it. Recent research shows that DEET is a neurotoxin and could have long-term effects. Moreover, DEET may increase the toxicity of other chemicals to which people are exposed. EPA lists it in Toxicity Category III for eye, dermal and oral.

If you must use a DEET containg Insect repellant  choose one containing 30% of DEET. The protection afforded by 30% is sufficient for almost all circumstances. In Canada, 30% is their legal limit.

Another alternative is Picaridin, also known around the world as KBR3023, or Bayrepel (trademark of Bayer AG). It was developed by Bayer. EPA ranks its toxicity as Toxicity Category III for acute oral and acute dermal. Toxicity Category IV for primary eye and skin irritation.  Several insect repellents use this chemical.

We choose to use Burt’s Bees Herbal Insect Repellent as or Natural mosquito Repellent. Rosemary, Lemongrass, and Citronella oils mix with 5 other oils that bugs hate. The proof was that it worked well on our trip and prevents all the bug bites our fellow travelers got.  Different insects work in alternate ways, so this may not be potent in other regions.