Green Motivation Monday - Read Your Ingredients

This post is part of the Green Motivation Monday series. The purpose of these weekly posts is to offer motivation to take a small baby step in the green and eco-friendly direction. Of course, I will be taking the step right along with you. I will let you know how I did and I hope you let me know what you were able to accomplish.

Motivation: Pick one body product that you use on a daily or frequent basis and look it up in the EWG's Skin Deep Cosmetics Database. Spend a few minutes reading the information about the body product.

Companies that make cosmetics and personal care products are allowed to use any ingredient they want, no matter how toxic it is to human or babies. The government does not review the safety or toxicity of these products prior to being sold. Through my personal experiences, I have discovered that products touted as "all-natural," "non-toxic," "hypo-allergenic," "safe for babies," and so on, can still contain toxic chemicals. Similar to reading ingredients on food labels, if you cannot pronounce or do not know what the ingredient is on the back of your lotion or baby shampoo, then it is most likely not something you want to put on your skin. If the Cosmetics Database rates a product as yellow or red, I do not buy it.

The purple menu bar towards the top of the Cosmetics Database page has some links to items that are considered safe based on the ingredients. I especially like the 2011 Sunscreen Guide.

The Environmental Working Group (EWG) Skin Deep Cosmetics Database is my go-to resource for non-toxic body products. The Cosmetics Database gives you insight into every ingredient that is on the label of your body product so that you can protect yourself and your family from exposures to toxic chemicals. The Cosmetics Database consists of online profiles for many cosmetic and personal care products and ranks them based on their toxicity (green, yellow, red).

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