Photo by: Bradley Cornelius Groot

The bleaching of the world’s coral reefs has been an increasingly concerning mystery in recent years.  Healthy corals harbor a host of zooxanthelae, colorful algae that live symbiotically within the coral tissue providing energy to the coral.  The coral in turn provides shelter, plenty of carbon dioxide for photosynthesis, nutrients, and protection.  When the corals are “bleached” these necessary algae are expelled leaving only the shell of the coral, its white, bleached skeleton.  Scientists for years have struggled trying to identify a cause for this. Climate change is still a major contender but National Geographic just came out with an article that suggests something else, sunscreen.

“Four commonly found sunscreen ingredients can awaken dormant viruses in the symbiotic algae called zooxanthellae that live inside reef-building coral species.

The chemicals cause the viruses to replicate until their algae hosts explode, spilling viruses into the surrounding seawater, where they can infect neighboring coral communities. “

Those four ingredients are as follows:

1. Parabens
2. Cinnamate
3. Benzophenone
4. “A camphor derivative” (likely methylbenzylidene camphor)

Parabens in particular are in all sorts of other products, even our food.  If they are the culprits in this fiasco we have a lot more to worry about other than just sunscreens. With growing concern around them I suggest reading all of your product labels and seeking out companies that are paraben-free. Even some main stream companies are transitioning over to paraben-free now so it should be getting easier in the near future.

The study is not the end all be all, it is just a step in the direction of possibly understanding this phenomena. It isn’t that hard to find a sunscreen that is made with physical sunblock rather than chemical sunblocks. Look for titanium dioxide or zinc oxide on the ingredient list and avoid the ingredients listed above.  If all else fails put on a long sleeved white shirt and a giant hat.. you may look silly but you won’t get burned and you just might make a difference.

Photo by Tim Hartlage

Many people turn to commercial air freshener sprays, reed diffusers, plug in fragrances, scented candles, and perfumes with the goal of creating a pleasant scent and atmosphere for their house. This is a huge money making industry and if you are concerned about how “green” your body products and home cleaning products are you really need to check your cabinets, wall sockets, and candles to see what you are releasing into your home environment.

Obviously, these products are fragrant so you and yours are breathing in what they are putting off and just what that is is not so clear. Because air fresheners and candles are not considered food, drug, or cosmetic they are not required to list their ingredients. If they do list what is in them often times there is the ever illusive label of “fragrance.” What does that mean? Technically a company can list “fragrance” in place of a slew of chemicals so you never really know what you are getting. I have seen people make quite the stink over lead in candle wicks, this is a huge deal, but what they do not seem to recognize is that it is not just the wick that is releasing fumes, it is the candle itself, the wax and whatever is used to scent it.

• Allergies: Have you ever walked by the perfume counter at your local department store and been overwhelmed and not felt well? That is “fragrance” at work. While most people are not aware of their allergies to the chemicals in the products there is a good chance that they give you a baseline irritation and make the symptoms of your allergies worsen. Headaches, sneezing, and itching or burning eyes can result.
• Asthma: These products are some of the main triggers for asthma attacks so in homes with any asthmatics they should be eliminated or reduced. Try natural alternatives when possible.
• Poison: The base for the reed diffusers that are all the rage right now is dipropylene glycol. This is the same ingredient that is considered the “less toxic” ingredient in antifreeze. While it is less toxic than its predecessors of methanol and ethylene glycol it is the sweet tasting component that is irresistible to critters and what kills your local cats and dogs when crazy people leave out anti-freeze. With their open tops these reed diffusers are a recipe for disaster if one of your pets or kids knocks this off the table. If you wouldn’t feel comfortable leaving an open container of antifreeze in your house please reconsider using these.

A better alternative - natural aromatherapy. There are some very simple things you can try to scent your house naturally without allergy or asthma triggers and without putting your furry family or little ones in harm’s way.

1. Boil aromatic botanicals on the stove. Try boiling some citrus peels for a fresh clean scent. Boil some cinnamon sticks or a blend of spices for a homey feel.
2. Heat essential oils or pure food grade extracts in boiling/simmering water on the stove. You can buy essential oils in most health food stores, health food sections of your regular grocery store, and online at places such as (my business) Strawberry Hedgehog. You only need a few drops and the scent will last and provide great aromatherapeutic benefits as the actual plant material and nothing else is used to create essential oils. Try a couple drops of lavender oil with a couple drops of good vanilla extract for a balancing, relaxing setting.
3. Get a tea light or electric diffuser to warm and distribute essential oils or food extracts. Be careful with the open flame as the oils and extracts are usually highly flammable.
4. Make your own “solar” aromatherapy diffuser by putting some water and essential oils or food extracts in a glass in a sunny window.
5. Look for essential oil based products - Aura Cacia has some great plug in essential oil based products available at Whole Foods, Sprouts, and probably several other health food stores.
6. If you want to neutralize odors leave a bowl of vinegar in the middle of the room for an hour or so. Try cleaning your surfaces with vinegar to help reduce odors all over.
7. Open your windows! Provided you are not in the middle of a dust storm as we often are here in AZ, it is a good idea to open your windows at night when the cool air can come in. Indoor air becomes highly polluted without circulation, more so than the outside air and this will save you on cooling costs in the summer.
8. Get a new air filter - this will help with your utility bill and clean the air of what ails you.
9. What is so stinky that you need to cover up anyway? Get to the source of it! If your garbage is smelly and bothering you perhaps you need a new container with a lid or you need to take it out more frequently. Is it that litter box that is such a stinker? Try changing it more often, the more often you clean the litter box the better you will keep the actual litter so you won’t have to spend as much changing the entire thing out and your kitties will be happier, too. It is better to have a clean smelling place without fragrance than masking the bad smells with perfume.

Whatever you do, just try to be more aware of what you are using and breathing in your home environment. Your home is your sanctuary! Don’t let it become polluted with dangerous, irritating unnecessary synthetic chemicals.

Click here for more tips on aromatherapy

Click here for more information on the dangers of artificial fragrance.

Bunna Coffee Tea & Market

7520 S. Rural Rd. Suite 12
Tempe, AZ. 85283
BunnaCoffee.com

Hopefully this will be the first of many reviews on AzSustainably of local restaurants that are trying to do their part to be ‘green.’ Although eating at home is probably the best way to eat ‘green’ (assuming you eat fresh and/or can get a hold of locally grown produce and you are not a tremendously wasteful person in the way you cook, etc) but eating out is fun! It is one of our main recreations (just ask our expanding waist lines and our thinning wallets). Finding a new and unique restaurant, coffee shop, or tea house just makes our day. What makes it even more exciting is when you can find all three in one shop and to top it all off they are independently owned and actually care about making a positive difference in the environment!

Besides being absolutely delicious, their wide variety of coffee and tea is organically grown and fair trade. We found Bunna on the Local First AZ website, saw what they were all about and convinced our friends Tori and Josh to meet us there. The brunch that they offer every weekend from 7am-2pm is made from as many locally grown and organic ingredients as possible and it was fantastic!! By purchasing their fresh produce locally they are avoiding the toll on the environment of transporting from across the globe as well as the energy and packaging that goes into frozen foods. Also, by going organic they are preserving the soils for future healthy agriculture along with avoiding all sorts of crazy pesticides and herbicides you would not want to be eating.

The atmosphere was relaxed and welcoming with cool artwork on the walls by local artists and a talented guitarist and singer playing. The seating was comfortable and the front counter was inviting, not at all pretentious as some cafes can be. It was not too loud to have great conversation and I can’t wait to go back again. They even have free wi-fi so if I need a place to get some work done online this is going to be the first place I head to.

I had the bowl of granola with strawberries and soy milk. They were extremely generous with the berries as most places really skimp on that and they are the best part! It was very tasty. I also had the jasmine green tea. I am a bit of a tea snob and with such a large variety of organic teas it was difficult to decide but I do adore good jasmine green tea. Tori ordered the White Peony tea and it was very tasty as well. I lucked out, again they were very generous with the tea. I loved that they had various sizes of mugs rather than paper, plastic or goodness forbid styrofoam cups. I had a large mug and there so many leaves in my bag I had four refills of hot water and it was still the perfect strength! James and Josh both expressed that the coffee was quite good, as well.

The boys, ironically, ordered the smallest portions with breakfast sandwiches that came on English muffins. They looked really yummy but for the price I would say try something else if you are coming with a big appetite. Tori had the veggie sandwich #2 and gave it two thumbs up. They have a ‘green’ outlook, amazing coffees and teas, good vegetarian options and everything was yummy. We would certainly return on a week day for some nearly guilt-free (in so far as it is organic and free-trade) teas and coffees and on the weekends for brunch. Go Bunna!

Happy weekend everyone, here’s another reason why Arizona rocks.

Copyright 2007 by Jim Frazier.

Mark Edwards, PhD, Arizona State University

Burning 100 million tons of our primary food for fuel is unsustainable and wastes non-renewable resources, especially water. Growing massive amounts of corn represents ecological suicide as it drains trillions of gallons of non-replenishable groundwater, spikes food and fuel prices, decimates food exports and threatens millions with starvation from a food cascade.

Biowar I inflicts costs, casualties and catastrophe in a magnitude far greater than a conventional war. Taxpayers are forced to pay $43 B annually to subsidize erosion and pollution of our air and water for a tiny, 2.4%, replacement of foreign oil. America has insufficient disposable cropland, water or energy to waste on a policy that fails its objectives.

Compared with biofuel alternatives:

• Corn requires more water, land, fertilizer, herbicides and pesticides

• Severely pollutes air, soils, rivers, lakes and well-water

• Degrades and erodes soils at the rate of 6 tons per acre

• Grows slowly and produces a low energy biomass yield, 3%

Corn ethanol is not sustainable. It consumes too much water, land, fertilizer and energy. The direct and indirect costs of the ethanol industry are neither sustainable nor sensible for farmers, consumers, taxpayers or food support recipients.

Biowar І offers sustainable alternative to corn ethanol, algae which does not compete for food cropland, uses 0.001 as much water and creates an ecologically positive footprint. Algae is over 30 times more productive than corn and can be made into higher value products such as jet fuel and green diesel. The coproducts from algae, proteins and carbohydrates, may have more value for food, medicines, animal feed and low energy input fertilizers than the oils used for making jet fuel. See more about Biowar І at www.biowar1.com .

• Biowar I Summary and FAQ