2 Baby Steps for Health + Suffering
Life is hard; food doesn't have to be #118 [vol4, 2.1]
We’re entering our 4th week of kitchen renovations and living in a construction zone. Anyone who has lived similarly knows how tiring it is to live in a mess. So when my husband suggested we go out to lunch Sunday, I agreed.
The rotisserie chicken restaurant we chose was next door was a laundromat. I saw people carrying baskets of clothes in the parking lot. However the implication of that sight knocked me down when we stepped inside the restaurant. The smell of fabric softener was overwhelming.
Sometimes fragrances give me headaches, especially strong ones like fabric softener when in enclosed spaces. I was hungry with no other plans for lunch so we stayed in line for chicken.
The food was fine. As is custom, I took my water glass to the car with me. We went home to take naps.
After napping I took a sip of water from lunch. It had a weird taste. What was that taste? I closed my eyes to try to put my finger on it…it was the fabric softener I smelled in the restaurant! Blech.
Baby Steps
If you haven’t already, may I recommend the baby step of removing fabric softener from your laundry? It is toxic on every level. Beyond that it creates a coating that can ruin your clothes over time. If you use a dryer your clothes will still be soft, I promise. I use wool dryer balls that seem to reduce drying times and static electricity. Our clothes are soft.
What’s wrong with fabric softeners?
Fabric softeners contain phthalates, which is a hormone disruptor. Hormones regulate so many bodily functions to include mood, thyroid and pituitary function, as well as weight gain or loss. Phthalates alter puberty, decrease testosterone, cause infertility, and have been linked to many kinds of cancer.
Phthalates are plasticizers found in anything with a fragrance, in plastic but also in personal care products (soap, shampoo, hairspray, make-up). Under current law, manufacturers don't have to list phthalates on product labels. Any item simply listed as fragrance in hair care products, usually contains phthalates. This is one reason I am targeting the removal of fragrances in my personal products. And burning beeswax candles (they actually purify the air instead of polluting it.)
Phthalates are also found in food, but especially packaging of fast food and convenience foods. [Life is hard, real food doesn’t have to be! Eat from scratch when you can + store food in glass.]
I will forever educate people on the need to read labels - both in food and personal products. One of the reasons I am an affiliate of Beautycounter is they do the hard work of vetting ingredients for me. They have a Never List which is 1,800 harmful or questionable ingredients they’ve identified that they will never use. But they’re not just cleaner ingredients. Beautycounter’s products are concentrated and are high performing. (How much money have I wasted trying cleaner products just to be disappointed? Bonus: Beautycounter has a 60 day money back return policy which is as easy as printing a shipping label.)
Reply to this email when you’re ready to make some swaps to safer ingredients. Anytime is a good time but in February first time customers get 30% discount with code CLEANFORALL30 — this is better than my discount.
Laundry Detergents Banned in NY State
The state of New York has taken steps to reduce chemicals in their water by reducing the amount of the chemical 1,4 dioxane that can be present in products. The EPA classifies it as likely to be carcinogenic to humans. You won’t actually see that on an ingredient label because it is a byproduct.
It is used as a solvent, especially in liquid laundry detergents.
The liquid detergents banned are from Tide, Arm & Hammer, and Gain.
1,4 dioxane has been linked to:
cancer
liver and kidney damage
irritation
miscarriages and stillbirths
transfers in breast milk
Keep in mind this synthetic chemical is not just in laundry detergents. It’s also found in shampoo, conditioner, water, soaps, skin care, adhesives, makeup, and more.
Read more here, here & here.
Laundry Detergent I Use
This letter is beginning to sound like gloom and doom. My hope is to NEVER put you in a pit without giving easy (easier?) solutions. Switching detergents is an easy baby step for healthier living.
After researching cloth diapers13 years ago I started using Charlie’s soap. All the diaper companies had disclaimers on their sites about which detergents to use (or not use = Free & Clear kinds or definitely not fabric softeners!)
I figured if Charlie’s was highly recommended by diaper companies then it would get our clothes clean. I have been buying from Amazon but an Instagram friend told me it’s cheaper through Azure, if you use that shipping option.
US Court Rejects Bankruptcy Strategy for Johnson & Johnson
For decades, Johnson & Johnson knew their baby powder tested for unsafe levels of asbestos in the talc. There’s a class action law-suit in process for women who have ovarian cancer. This week the courts rejected a common bankruptcy strategy for J&J. The high justice part of me turned a cartwheel.
When I shared the bankruptcy block in Instagram stories, someone commented that her cousin, who was only 29 died of ovarian cancer in 1982. The doctor said the ovarian cancer was likely from using baby powder in her underwear.
It matters what goes on our skin.
Suffering
I’ve been thinking about suffering lately.
This week my husband went to a funeral of a freshman boy who committed suicide, friends in Little Rock lost their 4th grade son, another family lost their son after years of physical disability, I know people who have lost their jobs, and then we could write tomes about friends and family with physical sufferings.
Suffering comes in many ways and waves. How, as people of faith, do we endure?
One way is remembering this world is not our home and Jesus is coming back.
A friend from seminary, who has experienced his own sufferings, wrote a short book on this very subject. Bright Hope for Tomorrow: How Anticipating Jesus’ Return Gives Strength for Today. Hope is fuel.
If you are in the midst of suffering - or think you will suffer again, read the first chapter of his book and see if it resonates. Or just buy a copy. There are questions at the end of each chapter to encourage reflection. It’s a great book to discuss in small groups (book club?!) because there’s a 13 part video study to accompany it.
Don’t just take my word for it. Here’s an endorsement from Tim Keller — note I have emphasized the practicality of this book. It’s not simply heady theology.
'Some years ago the church was awash in controversial books about the second coming. Each had an axe to grind for one of the theories about the nature of the millennium and about the exact order of last things. I was not sad to see those books fade away. But that left us without guides for how to use the doctrine of the second coming practically in our lives and hearts and practices. Chris Davis fills this gap wonderfully with the best practical pastoral book on the doctrine of the second coming written in years. Recommended!' —Tim Keller
Kondo Confession
Almost 10 years ago Marie Kondo wrote the bestselling Life Changing Magic of Tiding Up. We implemented some of her suggestions. In particular, the way she folds and stores shirts in drawers is magic. I’m not naturally a tidy person so a lot of her suggestions invoke shame in my brain. This week, I sighed a big relief to see she admits kind of given up on tidying up after having 3 kids. See also: make sure parenting books are written by actual parents.
Life is hard, food doesn’t have to be.
Julie
Baby Steps Recap
1/ stop using fabric softener or burning toxic candles 2/ start using cleaner detergents
Bonus: switch out some personal care products this month for 30% off with Beautycounter. Start with the things you use most frequently and/or sit on your skin the longest.