Having an Eco Friendly Green Valentine’s Day or any holiday, is more and more desirable these days. How can you green your Valentine’s Day?

• Instead of a Valentine’s Day card, send a virtual Valentine’s Day card
• If you must send flowers, try to purchase flowers that were grown locally to your area or ones that are fair trade certified
• Why spend a large amount of money and resources eating out, when a romantic dinner is even better?
• Buy your meats and vegetables for your big meal from a local farmers market or from local sources
• Buy any new garments from a high-quality used clothing store
• Utilize reusable bags to hold gifts
• Compost any meals leftovers, etc.
• Give out green oriented treats like handwritten poems, homemade scents, and handmade arts and crafts.
• Observe eco-friendly romantic relations

With a little preparation we all can make a difference, even on Valentine’s Day.

Eco Friendly Green Sex

We couldn’t believe that eco-friendliness has extended itself to another realm, sex. Eco Friendly Green Sex is described in the new book Eco-Sex: Go Green Between the Sheets and Make Your Love Life Sustainable.

The book covers eco-friendly alternatives to a wide variety of merchandise from bed sheets to mood lighting to fair-trade condoms to green dating sites to hair and makeup to lubricants to toys and romance. It also covers the resource usage results if you have children.

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1. Non eco Friendly Costco Effect – Rewards Card Fallacy
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3. How to have a Green Easter

Full Spectrum compact fluorescent light bulbs are now available.  These light bulbs produce a white light that produces a light spectrum similar to that of the Sun’s light. This type of light source has been use used to treat Sleep Phase Disorders, Seasonal affective disease or winter blues, and other conditions.

Look for bulbs with full spectrum on CFL bulb labels. They mimic daylight so they have a temperature rating of 5000K – 6500K.  Home Depot’s are called “Daylight Compact Fluorescent Light bulbs”. They do not cost much more.

What is Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)

This malady is finally getting more press. It is characterized by episodes of depression that usually occur during  a certain time of the year, usually during winter. If your location has long winter nights, with little sunlight, you might be affected. A recent article has additional tips on beating this syndrome. Light therapy, Dawn simulation, Negative Air Ions, Antidepressants, Behavioral Therapy, Vitamin D, Diet, and and Outdoor Exercise are therapies to help ease the Winter Blues.

Philips even has a new Wake-up Light with Dock for iPod

“Gradually wakes you up by light for a more pleasant feeling” – Anything that makes waking up easier sounds good to us and a lot of others!

Related posts:

1. Compact Flourescent CFL Sales Drop
2. Picking the best CFL Bulbs
3. Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs (CFL) Energy Savings

K3 Wind and Solar Mobile Charger generated clean energy and saves it to its internal battery.  It charges mobile phones, iPods/Mp3 players, PDA’s, GPS and Digital Cameras and a fully charged K3 will charge a Blackberry or iPhone 5 times.  At $89, it is an expensive way to go green.

One of the most interesting dad-endorsed gadgets is the Solar Powered Battery Backup by Scosche Solar Products. The device (no bigger than a cell phone) is equipped with a 1500ma lithium-ion battery that stores power for when you need it and recharges from the sun (or the USB cable included). Perfect for charging iPods, iPhones, Blackberry, and cellphones, use your existing USB cable to charge your devices. For less than $20, the battery backup also comes with a windshield cradle and universal carabiner mount.

Self Powered, Foldable, Green Powered Speaker

Origaudio makes a unique green self powered speaker that is foldable. No need for any batteries, ac adapters, etc! It is also made out of Recycled Materials, comes in a variety of designs, and costs less than $19.99.

Samsung Blue Earth Eco Friendly Cell Phone

Samsung launched a new eco friendly Blue Earth cellphone that is made from old water bottles and has a solar panel for charging it. It uses very little power and they use soy-ink on the packaging. Samsung Blue Earth is launching in Sweden in October and will soon launch in France, Germany, Austria, Italy, Portugal and other European and Asian countries.

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2. iPhone, Cell Phone, Portable electronics Solar Charger
3. Cell Phones Causing Honeybee Deaths?

You are interested in a new computer or new TV or new electronics gadget. Your old electronics have been recycled. You want to be green, to minimize the impact on our planet, and are recycling your old product. Very few people know how to judge the eco-friendliness of electronics. Hundreds of new products have hit the market with reduced power needs. Here are some criteria to judge new electronics on greenness:

Buy from a Green Company

Greenpeace has a ranking guide to the top 18 manufacturers. You can see which manufacturers are more serious about the environment. Select ones that are higher up the list. Nokia and Sony Ericsson rank well.

Computers and electronics

Energy Star rated products have their logo on them and use less energy. If all computer sold in the US had the Energy Star label we could save $2 billion on energy costs. They have certified everything from TVs, monitors, printers, computers to cordless phones. Desktop/integrated desktop and notebook computers, products must meet stringent TEC requirements for estimated annual energy consumption, power supply efficiency, and phantom power or vampire power.  Lawrence Berkley National Labs estimates that 10% of residential power use is wasted toward this as most homes have 40 products constantly drawing phantom power. Keep in mind that their testing has been called out of date, so you still need to follow techniques to save power.

RoHS logo is the European Directive on the Restriction of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances
in Electrical and Electronic Equipment, also known as the RoHS Directive. Examples of
materials restricted by RoHS include lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, and
the brominated flame retardants (BFRs) PBB and PBDE. Look for products with this marking.

DigitalTips has an Energy Calculator to show how much powering your electronics costs as well as how to find green electronics.

Computers – desktops, notebooks, and monitors

EPEAT is a certification that helps purchasers evaluate, compare and select electronic products based on their environmental attributes. It is based on the IEEE 1680 standard. Any computer that has an EPEAT rating is good. Ones with EPEAT Gold ratings are even better.

Televisions

Cnet has good reviews of flatscreen TVs that include power consumption. Newer LCD TVs will meet California’s low power guidelines. Newer sets draw less power when idle and when operating.  Some Flat Panel TVs have room sensors to turn off when you are not in the room. Optimize your TV with our LCD Flat Panel Power Saving Tips.

TVs made after May 2011 are required to have a EnergyGuide label that shows an estimated annual energy cost as well as cost for similar size TVs.

Cable set top boxes consume a lot of energy. Check with your local cable company to see if they have new energy efficient models that meet the Energy Star 3.0 standard, effective Sept. 1, 2011. A single whole house DVR may remove the need to have DVRs on every TVs

General Guidelines

Economically upgrade your current machine within reason to extend its life first.  Windows XP software tips to speed up and secure your computer.

The product should be made with as many recycled materials as possible. No toxic materials like mercury, brominate, PVC, or arsenic should be use. The product should be easily recycled when the its life has expired.

Electronics should draw as little power as possible especially when in standby mode. Do not assume that your product is completely optimized to save energy. Follow our techniques to save power using special power strips and power measuring tools to ensure phantom or vampire power is not being drawn.

Packaging

Look for minimal amount of packaging. The packaging should be made from recycled materials and should be recyclable with itself. Manuals should be the same.

Examples of Green Electronics

Sony VAIO notebook computer

D-Link wireless router

Amazon Green Electronics Section

Energy-Efficient TVs

Garmin Nuvi with eco-route fuel savings

Energy Efficient Notebook Power Adapter

Antec makes the new SNP90 Energy Efficient, slim, lightweight Notebook Power Adapter that supports a wide variety of notebooks including models from Dell, Toshiba, Acer, HP, Sony and more. It includes 7 detachable connectors for compatibility with nearly every laptop on the market. This power adapter has a minimum high-efficiency rating of 87% at full load, saving you money and energy. It is also energy Star certified.

Targus Spruce EcoSmart Backpack made from recycled bottles

It is great that recycled materials are getting more mainstream. The new Targus Spruce EcoSmart Backpack for 15.6-Inch Widescreen Laptops is a new green backpack is made of polyster fabric made from recycled plastic bottles. It also has no PVC and no nickel hardware. They also make a Spruce Toploading case and a Spruce Messenger Bag.

Ecogear also makes backpacks and other bags from recycled plastic bottles.

Be sure to read our article:

Extend Battery Life, Laptop Battery Life, iPhone Battery Life

Related posts:

1. New Amazon Green Electronics Section
2. Free Software saves Computer Power – Eco Button Green Computer Energy Saver – Printer Optimization Software
3. Eco Friendly Green Computing – Fixing a Slow Computer

PG&E has started installing Smart meters in many locations throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. These industry standard gas and electric meters measure a customer’s energy use. Electric meters read power consumption hourly, while gas meters record information daily. Both types periodically transmit your energy use information over a secure wireless network back to PG&E or your local utility company.

A wireless smart meter controversy has arisen stating that the meters are not accurate and customers are being overcharged. Hackers may be able to hack into your meter and there are concerns about wireless RF radiation. PG&E counters by saying that a rate increase occurred during the smart meter rollout. Third-party labs need to test the meter to verify accuracy. At the end of May, 2010 PGE finally responded with a report.  In early May 2011, PG&E finally admitted that some meters got to hot when internal temperatures past 100°, and misread electrical usage. Customers were overcharged due to this bug.

Health Effects

A small minority of people complain about headaches, insomnia, ringing in their ears, and other symptoms once SmartMeters were installed.  This is a deeply disputed area though.  PG&E has offered non-transmitting meters to these folks, but they content that the power switching device within these digital meters also causes symptoms. There will be a $75 one-time fee to switch to a non-SmartMeter plus a $10 monthly fee. The monthly fee would help pay for utility workers that manually read the meter’s numbers every month.

About 15 million customers Nationwide have these Smart meters, with more added daily.

The pluses of a Smart Meter

Utility companies could allow customers to see how much power, gas they are using.  San Diego Gas & Electric even supports Google’s PowerMeter. Microsoft Hohm uses Smart Meter data to help you save energy.

PG&E lets SmartMeter customers check their usage power, gas online.  You can see how it varies from day to day and compare your usage with others. Seeing your energy use and cost in real time allows you to adjust your lifestyle to reduce your power bill. Some PG&E smartmeters are made by Landis+Gyr. These show how much power you are using right now. SmartMeter technology can also give customers access to new electric pricing plans like the PG&E SmartRate summer pricing plan. If you use less electricity from 2-7 pm, on no more than 15 of the hottest summer days, you will be charged less.

A SmartMeter can alert PG&E or other utility companies if there is a power outage, so the power can be restored faster than before. In the future, a Home Area Network (HAN) will allow you to automate your energy use and take advantage of special variable time pricing plans to help you save money.

Power is measured in kilowatt hours (kwH). If you leave a 100 watt light bulb on for 1 hour a day, for 30 days, you will have used 100 watts x 30 hours = 3000 watt hours = 3 kwH.

In the San Francisco Bay Area most PG&E customers have tiered energy pricing (E1 Residential Pricing plan) that starts at 12 cents, but jumps to 14, 29 cents, 40 cents and 40 cents as you use more power.  With a smart meter you know how much you are using. You can sign up for alerts via phone or email that tell you when your are entering a more expensive energy tier.

Future of Smart meters

Smart meters could automatically adjust appliance power consumption during peak times, causing a reducing in power costs. Reliant Energy in Houston has 2 price levels for power in the winter, 3 in Summer. The highest prices are from 4-6pm in the Summer. Cook dinner after 6pm, or turn off the air conditioning for 2 hours, and you will save money.

In California, days that require the most power cause the least efficient and most polluting plants to have to be put online. PG&E has Critical Peak Pricing (CPP) where you pay less in exchange for higher prices 15 days a year.

One thing is for sure, the meters add another RF radiation source to our lives.

Related posts:

1. New Automated Wireless Water Meter
2. Free PGE Energy Efficiency Classes
3. PG&E Critical Peak Pricing (CPP) to Lower Energy Costs

Noticed a couple water delivery trucks on the street and wondered why people would waste money on Water Delivery services.  This is definitely a big business and generates lots of revenue for companies.  We have covered how unnecessary bottled water is in the past.

Water.com even touts how green they are: “And, with reusable recyclable bottles and hybrid vehicles in our delivery fleet, we make it easier for you to be environmentally-friendly.”

They even offer a Water Filtration system. – “If bottled water coolers do not fit your needs, we offer a variety of quality drinking water systems.”

Water delivery trucks use lots of fuel and generate pollution.  Plastic Gallon Water Cooler bottles require lots of resources to make and recycle.

Buying bottled water and schlepping it home is just as wasteful and costly. Paying $1 for a 20 oz bottle adds up fast.

Water Filters and Filtration Systems

Filtrete recently released an interesting Water Station that allows it to fill several water bottles at one time. Anything to get people off of bottled water is great to see.

Water in most locales is safe to drink.  Check the EPA’s site to verify. If your water has impurities that need to be removed for taste or chemicals like arsenic, lead, perchlorate, or atrazine, install a good water filter.  We have an Everpure water filter system that cost a couple hundred dollars and works well.  Just change its filter every so many months.

Everpure is only recycling their water filters in California.  Purcell Murray 800-892-4040 is coordinating the recycle program.  Hope fully they will extend this program nationwide.

Amazon sells low cost water filters from $15. Choose from pitcher style ones from Pur or Brita or faucet mounted models. Save hundreds of dollars over bottled water each year. There is no guarantee that the bottled water is better than filtered water you can generate. Environmental Working Group has a page on  helping you with filtered water tips.

Be sure to use a BPA Free water bottle to drink your water.

Save money by just saying NO to Water Delivery and Bottled water.

If you use a Brita water filter system, make sure you recycle the filter.

SteriPEN Handheld Water Purifier

Here’s a cool little tool. SteriPEN Handheld Water Purifier destroys viruses, bacteria and protozoa–including Giardia and Cryptosporidium–using ultraviolet (UV) light in 48 seconds. 90 seconds for 32 ounces of water. This is a great little tool for those traveling or camping in the wilderness. This might be useful for those with bad municipal water systems.

Make sure you use a BPA free water bottle.

Related posts:

1. Bottled Water Toxicity and Money Waste
2. BPA from Water Bottles
3. EWG Finds Toxic Hex-Chrome in 31 Cities Drinking Water

We have covered power use by technology products in the past, including use of a Kill a watt to measure power consumption.   Yes, just unplugging them or turning off the power strip they are plugged into will work.

New devices now come with power saving power bricks that were required July 1, 2006 by the California’s California Energy Commission or CEC regulation, as well as the federal government’s Energy Independence and Security Act of July 1, 2008.

You should see an “Efficiency Level IV” tag on the brick that have very low “no load power consumption”.  You could even replace old power supplies with these newer ones.  They should draw a maximum of 0.75 watts when in No Load mode.  Energy Star 1.1 requires minimum power efficiency of 80%, while a future 2.0 version will up it to 87%.

California 2012 New Energy Efficiency Charger Rules

In January 2012, California regulators passed a more stringent rules to ensure power chargers are more efficient.  The motivating factor was the fact that 66% of power chargers use is wasted aka vampire power.  Many chargers already meet this new rules. It is expected that $300 million will be saved by using the new products. The new rules take effect on Feb. 1, 2013, for chargers used with consumer goods, such as phones and power tools. Jan. 1, 2014, for industrial chargers, such as forklifts. Jan. 1, 2017, for commercial equipment chargers, including walkie-talkies for emergency personnel and portable bar-code scanners.

Be sure to read: What makes a Green Computer or Electronics Product?

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2. Free Software saves Computer Power – Eco Button Green Computer Energy Saver – Printer Optimization Software
3. California Flat Screen TV Power Guidelines

Reusable Shopping Bags & Types of Reusable Shopping Bags

Using disposable shopping bags means more trash for the nation’s already stuffed landfills. It takes valuable resources to produce these bags and if shoppers could stop using them, it would greatly help the Earth’s environment. As we have noticed in many parts of the World the use of reusable shopping bags is catching on.  Hopefully what this means in the future is that we may no longer have a need for single use paper and plastic disposable bags. One reason reusable bags are becoming more popular is because there are many types of them from which you can choose.  They are made from a variety of materials and come in many styles, colors and designs. Quite simply, using reusable bags is a simple and fashionable way to go green.

If you really want to be “super green”, choose an organic cotton reusable shopping bag. The cotton used for these bags is grown without the use of pesticides or other harmful chemicals or farming processes. The production of these bags has a low impact on the environment, as does the packing and transport of the bags. They come in a variety of sizes, styles and are a great material choice for a reusable bag.  The bags are strong and can hold more than plastic disposable bags, so you can use fewer bags. Every so often you will want to throw them in the washing machine and or hand-wash them, so they do not collect harmful bacteria and germs.  Basically though, they are easy to care for.

Canvas bags are another choice in reusable shopping bags. This type of bag is easy to clean and care for. This makes them a great bag for grocery shopping because you can throw them in the washing machine to make sure any drips from leaky meat packages are gone. You do not want to have bacteria lingering in your shopping bag that can your family sick. Many people use the canvas bags for a variety of uses, so this also prevents cross contamination of other items you choose to carry in your bag. Canvas is a durable material that can carry a lot of items.

Hemp is another option. Reusable shopping bags made from this material are incredibly strong and durable. The hemp bags are quite expensive because they are imported from the West. Laws and regulation in the United States concerning marijuana prevent the mass production of hemp products in our country. Hemp is easy to grow and can flourish in poor soil or in places with little water, so it takes little effort. The material is rot resistant and will outlast many other types of bags. It does not matter which type of bag you choose to use as long you use them regularly.

No Matter what reusable shopping bags that you decide on using, the bottom line is that one reusable bag can take 300-500 single use plastic and paper bags out of the grocery store!  As a nation of people who respect our Earth it’s a no brainer that we can now all safely “Ditch the Plastic & be Green-Tastic!”

Dangers in Reusable Shopping Bags

Center for Consumer Freedom has a report showing excessive lead levels in 16 of 44 organizations reusable shopping bags. National chains including CVS, Safeway, Bloom, and Walgreens were among those with the high lead levels.

Wall Street Journal has a good article about the reusable shopping bag. It tells us to consider the sources of these bags as many are made from China, the type of material the bag is made with, and the quantity of them you keep.

“Finding a truly green bag is challenging. Plastic totes may be more eco-friendly to manufacture than ones made from cotton or canvas, which can require large amounts of water and energy to produce and may contain harsh chemical dyes. Paper bags, meanwhile, require the destruction of millions of trees and are made in factories that contribute to air and water pollution.

Many of the cheap, reusable bags that retailers favor are produced in Chinese factories and made from nonwoven polypropylene, a form of plastic that requires about 28 times as much energy to produce as the plastic used in standard disposable bags and eight times as much as a paper sack, according to Mr. Sterling, of Natural Capitalism Solutions.”

A recent investigation found that many reusable shopping bags imported from China contain excessive levels of lead and heavy metals. Many of these were sold by national and regional retailers like Winn-Dixie and Publix. Some bags even contained fecal bacteria and E. coli. Be careful where you buy your bag.

The more elaborate the illustrations on the bags, the more likely they contained toxins. Yellow and green paint on bags is a common carrier of lead.

The takeaways:

1. Look for bags with recycled content, like those from Walmart, Staples, and Target. Best seem to be Walmart’s $1bag has 85% recycled content, the cheaper one has less.
2. Use the bag! Carry it in your car, leave it in your front seat, or by the front door.
3. A nylon bag sold by Target with almost no illustrations had almost undetectable levels of lead. Also, the simplest bags from Sweetbay, Walmart and Publix contained little lead.
4. The major danger of lead in reusable shopping backs is that they will someday end up in the landfill and wash lead into the environment.

Make sure the bag is sturdy and that you will actually use it.

Reusable Produce Bags

EcoSac GardenSac Reusable Produce Bags replace the wasteful plastic bags you have to use in the grocer’s produce section.  Hold your salad greens, fruits, and veggies in this reusable sack made of cotton. $5 for 2 at Whole Foods.

They state:  “Carbon-neutral shipping, no animal harmed, no animal testing, no animal ingredients, reusable.”

Amazon.com Green Products Section

Amazon.com has a new Green Products section with eco-friendly, safe, and healthy items. It is great that the Internet’s largest e-tailer is getting with the times. They cover eco friendly products from lightbulbs to push mowers to steel water bottles to laptops to solar panels.

Related posts:

1. EcoSac GardenSac Reusable Produce Bags
2. Recycling Plastic Bags
3. How to Recycle Ziploc Bags

How green is the their Natural All-Purpose Cleaner? They claim 99% all natural ingredients. MSDS sheet shows only hazardous ingredients as Alkyl polyglucoside (lowers water surface tension, enabling chemicals to spread and penetrate easily) and Ethyl alcohol. Clorox has said their alkyl polyglucoside comes from coconut oil.

According to Treehugger – “Preservative (Kathon) and colorant (Milliken Liquitint Blue HP dye and Bright Yellow dye X); — make up the circa 1% of the non-”natural” petroleum-derived portion of the cleaners (though Clorox says Kathon will biodegrade within 28 days.”

Kathon is not so harmless MSDS lists – “Irritating to skin. Risk of serious damage to eyes.May cause sensitization by skin contact. Harmful to aquatic organisms, may cause long­ term adverse effects in the aquatic environment.”

A similar Method cleaner’s ingredients shows soda ash and potassium hydrate (corrosive lye). You have to email them for MSDS sheets. Hmm.
The MSDS sheet does not list any hazardous ingredients. CHEMICAL FORMULA listed as “Proprietary Mixture”

Seventh Generation All purpose cleaner has 0.05% of the non natural preservative hexahydro-1,3,5-tris (2-hydroxyethyl)-s-triazine. The company is aware that this is not good for the environment and is looking for an alternative by the end of 2008. According to them “None of the preservatives we are testing at this time are natural because no natural preservative we have evaluated is safe and effective in our products.” MSDS

As we have seen there is no free lunch, tradeoffs are all over. Green Works is far better than the non ‘green’ cleaners that have 95% market share and it is distributed in main stream grocery stores where the masses can buy it instead of more toxic alternatives.

You could roll your own green cleaning solution with vinegar, baking soda, lemon juice, etc, if you are so inclined. Which most are unfortunately not.

Bottom line, I’d choose Green Works if I could not purchase Method or Seventh Generation.

Amazon carries brands like Method and has free shipping, so do not sweat over local availability. Method has soap, floor cleaner, shower spray, tube and tile cleaner, toilet bowl cleaner, laundry detergent, fabric softener, and more.

New Recyclable Cardboard Bottle

An innovative, new Recyclable Cardboard Bottle from Ecologic Brands is being used by Seventh Generation in their concentrated liquid detergent. The bottle this made from recycled newspaper and cardboard, a slim inner plastic pouch holds the liquid. You can wash the plastic pouch and recycle it like any #4 plastic. Their pouch uses up to 70% less plastic and the outer shell can be recycled or composted. Let’s hope more products use innovative packaging like this.

method ultra Concentrated Laundry Detergent – 8x

method ultra Concentrated Laundry Detergent is now available. The 20 ounce bottle is good for 50 loads of laundry. Smaller bottle = less cost, less 50% post-consumer recycled plastic, less fuel burned in shipment. They claim a 35% smaller carbon footprint than conventional 2x concentrated detergent. Dye-free, hypo-allergenic, and 95% plant based formula helps make it more green. method is open about the ingredients it uses, no need to do sleuthing to find the MSDS documents. The bottle is even recyclable. It is the world’s first Cradle to Cradle certified laundry detergent.

Method O Mop All Floor Cleaning kit

Method has a new O Mop All Floor care kit with compostable sweeper clothes and lemon-ginger all floor cleaner, $32.99 from Amazon. Ergonomic mop, corn-based sweeping clothes, reusable microfiber mop pad.

Got a Swifter? You could probably buy their $18 compostable, corn-derived sweeper dusters and use it with it. No need to buy the whole kit. You then have a more eco friendly alternative in duster clothes.

Related posts:

1. Clorox Green Works Laundry Detergent Deal
2. New Method Green Pouch packaging for Refills
3. Method O Mop All Floor Cleaning kit

photo credit: d_vdm

Consumerreports.org reports that some Protein Drinks like Muscle milk are contaminated with heavy metals such as arsenic, cadmium, lead and mercury.

“Our recent investigation—including tests at an outside laboratory of 15 protein drinks, a review of government documents and interviews with health and fitness experts—found that most people already get enough protein, and some of the drinks can pose health risks, including exposure to potentially harmful heavy metals if consumed frequently.”

Federal regulations do not generally require that these protein drinks and other dietary supplements be tested to ensure that they are safe and free of contaminants.

Cadmium is a carcinogen, lead is a toxic, as are the other contaminates.

Be careful and read up on the dangers, if you regularly drink these protein drinks.

Heavy Metals in Juice

They also conducted tests in 2011 on several samples of juice and found that several contained arsenic levels higher than Federal limits for bottled water. Lead Arsenate pesticides were once widely used in orchards, so residue is probably causing the issue.

Recommendation is to minimize the amount of juice drunken and to dilute it with water whenever possible.

Fungicide in Juice

Orange Juice from Coca-Cola and PepsiCo were recently found to have the fungicide carbendazim. They were imported from Brazil.  The EPA approved this chemical for orange use from 2002 to 2009. The companies claim the level of fungicide was safe.  We would steer clear of this juice ourselves.

Related posts:

1. Jewelry and Toy Lead Problem – Heavy Metals in Children’s Prodtucts
2. Healthy Food Options to Avoid Harmful Chemicals
3. BPA in Canned and Packaged Foods