Essential Safe Products Exhibiting at Wyland Living Green Fair in Boca Raton, FL, November 5-6, 2011

LiveESP.com

We hope that while exhibiting at the Wyland Living Green Fair, ESP can make a difference and have a positive influence on families looking for a safer and healthier lifestyle in their home.

 

Plantation, FL (PRWEB) October 27, 2011

On November 5-6, Essential Safe Products (ESP) will be exhibiting at the annual Wyland Living Green Fair in Boca Raton, FL, to help spread awareness about hazardous chemicals and assist in prevention through the sale of non-toxic kitchen and on-the-go products.

“We are always looking for ways to help spread awareness about the dangers of hazardous chemicals in our everyday kitchen and on the go products. So, when we heard about the Wyland Living Green Fair taking place just around the corner from us, we knew this would be a great opportunity to educate families,” says Hannah Masimore, President of ESP.

Attending the Wyland Living Green Fair is a great way for ESP to spread awareness outside of the web. Families from all over South Florida are expected to attend the fair, and ESP their message of a safer and non-toxic lifestyle resonates with visitors to their booth. ESP will also be selling bpa free water bottles from Lifefactory and Takeya and stainless steel food containers at their booth.

Susan Masimore adds, “We hope that while exhibiting at the Wyland Living Green Fair, ESP can make a difference and have a positive influence on families looking for a safer and healthier lifestyle in their home.”
ESP’s “Learn” section of their site LiveESP.com is a product of their continuous efforts to help educate and promote awareness about dangerous chemicals. LiveESP.com goes into detail about the different types of toxic chemicals found in kitchen products and gives tips and tricks on how to avoid exposure to hazardous chemicals. The information provided is incredibly useful for families who are learning about or want to know more about BPA, lead, PFCs and other chemicals.

Coupled with their “Learn” section is a “Shop” portion of their site where families can purchase safe cookware, bpa free bottles, bpa free food storage, cast iron cookware and other great non-toxic kitchen and on-the-go products.

The Wyland Living Green Fair was started by David Etzler, an event planner and eco-enthusiast who wants to help educate communities on living a greener, healthier and more environmentally sustainable lifestyle. This year, the Wyland Living Green Fair is expected to bring in over 10,000 attendees—making it the largest Green themed event in South Florida.

About liveESP.com LiveESP.com is a website dedicated to encouraging and helping people learn about hazardous chemicals and make healthier decisions for a safer and chemical-free lifestyle in the kitchen and on-the-go. LiveESP.com is a great site where people can both learn about the dangers of harmful chemicals and purchase products that are non-toxic and human safe. Through ESP, founder Susan Masimore and her oldest daughter Hannah hope to have a positive impact in the lives of others. LiveESP.com was founded in 2011 in Plantation, Florida.

BPA and the Long Term Behavioral Effects on Unborn Girls

Not to our surprise, the plot surrounding BPA and the ways it affects our health thickens.  A new study came out this week with some interesting results.  A group of scientists measured the BPA levels in urine from several hundred pregnant women, and over the course of several years they measured the BPA levels in urine of the women’s children.  BPA has already been linked to obesity, neurological diseases, thyroid disease, and cancer; and this new study has added another bullet point to the laundry list: BPA may even affect behavior.

BPA is a common additive in many plastics that can mimic some hormones in the body.  For this reason BPA is especially harmful during the prenatal stages of life and during early childhood development.  Of the 244 women in the study who had high levels of BPA in their urine during pregnancy, scientists found that their 3-year-old children were more likely to have behavioral issues such as hyperactivity, aggression and depression.  This was especially true for girls. BPA levels in children after birth were not found to be linked to these increased behavior issues, so it seems that this finding is particularly significant for pregnant women.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, along with other experts, has made the following suggestions to help reduce the level of BPA we are exposed to:

·         Choose stainless steel water bottles or glass water bottles.

·         Use glass containers in the microwave rather than plastic containers.  Heating up plastics increases the chances that BPA will be released into your food.

·         Cut back on buying and eating canned foods, which also may contain BPA.  Go for fresh fruits and vegetables instead!

~ Jessica

Resources:

NPR

The Charts

Reusable Bags...a storage place for bacteria!?!?!

A study recently published in Food Protection Trends by Dr. Charles Gerba, found that reusable shopping bags contain bacteria and 8 percent contained E. coli.  The bacteria grow when meat juices were placed in the bags, then kept in the trunks of cars—causing bacteria growth to increase tenfold. Plus, think about how many different things you store in the reusable bags…from those meats to unwashed fruits to sometimes even gym clothes!

But there’s good news: if you wash your reusable bags, you can help reduce bacteria by almost 99.9%. Easy as that! So for a couple tips:

-          Wash your bags regularly and dry them on high heat or in the sun, if possible, to kill germs.

-          Use bags for food only…or at least designate which is for food and which is for gym clothes!

When heard this news I was (a) surprised and (b) not really surprised. Kind of a mix of feelings, I know, but that’s truly how I reacted! I mean, I was surprised because I never even thought to think about how easily bacteria could accumulate in the reusable bags that I use for more than just groceries. And I was “not really surprised” because it makes total sense! I use my reusable bags like they are meant to be used- I reuse them and reuse them for groceries, carrying clothes, sometimes holding gym clothes, helping me move items from point A to point B, and so on.  They are great and multi-functional.  But now, I’m rethinking my reusable bag use and about to head home today and wash them all inside and out.  Pretty sure I don’t want E. coli or other bacteria in proximity any longer.

More info: http://www.environmentalleader.com/2011/10/11/bacteria-rife-in-reusable-bags/

The Growth of Green Gaming

Back in the 80s, when our hair was teased and scrunchies were more than just hair ties—they were bracelets too—going green was somewhat of an afterthought.  As for green gaming, the “green” afterthought wasn’t much different, and in 1989, SimCity was at the forefront of the green gaming movement, dropping environmental underpinnings throughout the gaming experience.  Fast forward twenty something years and the video gaming industry has taken these environmental undertones and made them the solid focus of multiple games now available. No more “hints.” We now see video games, computer games and Smartphone apps focusing entirely on environmental consciousness, an issue that resonates especially with younger generations. 

According to an article published by USA Today on August 17^th, 2011, green games are quickly moving up to top the list of in-demand games available for consumers.  Personally, I think this is great! It’s a strong and seemingly effective way to increase awareness in children and adults about challenges we face in the environment today and how they will affect our future and the future of generations to come.

What green games can you buy and what green games can we buy in the future? Thanks to the USA Today article, we have the scoop on a handful of green games you can now purchase and look forward to.

Video Games:

Fate of the World: As heads of a fictitious global environmental organization, players confronted with the challenge of managing sociopolitical, energy consumption, population growth, food production, and natural disaster issues in order to improve our environment for the next 200 years.

FLOwer: Released in 2009, this video game lets players control wind and blow petals across various landscapes.  Players transform the environment presented to them which elicits a deeper green message that illustrates harmony between rugged industrialism and the aestheticism of nature.

Recycling Mobile APS:

Face the Waste: Players sort trash into the appropriate recycling bin while Toxic Tim, the villain, tries to stop them. 

Eco Mania: Players match items on a conveyer belt to the proper recycling bin—a great way to help consumers understand where and what can be recycled.

Web Games:

Yard Sale: Players clean a house and resell the items no longer needed at a virtual yard sale.

The McDonald’s Game: This satirical game educates players on the behind-the-scenes of the fast food industry that have a negative impact on the environment.  Issues include clearing rainforests, killing sick cows and marketing fast food to children.

Downloadable Games:

Okab: Similar to the concept of FLOwer, this game has a sort of Avatar feel to it where players help a race akin to nature fend off the terrors placed on them by an environmentally-threatening race.

While we have no played any of these games, we are interested to hear your feedback!  Have you played any of these green games? Will you? Let us know!

Resources:
USA Today

New Study: Packed Lunch Bags Foster Bacteria Growth

On Tuesday, August 9, 2011, a study found that bag lunches may foster bacteria growth in perishable foods, even if the bags are insulated and/or contain multiple ice packs.

Eight scientists from Texas set out to study bacteria growth in lunch bags to evaluate the risk of germs inhabiting our food.  Because children have a higher risk of developing food borne infections, they conducted the study at nine private child-care centers.  An electronic temperature gun was used to measure the temperature of packed lunch items, which were checked at random three different times. To help determine the risk of germs, a food’s temperature was considered unacceptable if it fell between 4° and 60° Celsius (39° to 140° Fahrenheit).

The results of the study had astonishing outcomes:

-       Out of 618 perishable foods packed in a lunch bag with just one ice pack, only 14 of the food items were considered acceptable 90 minutes prior to consumption. (About 22.7% acceptance)

-       Out of 61 perishable foods packed in a lunch bag with multiple ice packs, only 5 of the food items were considered acceptable 90 minutes prior to consumption. (About 82% acceptance)

-       Some lunches that were placed in a refrigerator were also deemed unacceptable.  This could have resulted from several factors: the type of lunch bag, the internal temperature of the refrigerator, and/or the amount of time the lunch was at room temperature before being placed in the fridge.

What can we take from these findings?

-       It’s safer to pack a lunch bag with multiple ice packs than just one.

-       Try freezing food the night before and placing it in a lunch bag…in addition to multiple ice packs.

-       How about freezing a juice box? That can add to the insulation in your lunch bag…oh, and add multiple ice packs.

-       Avoid leaving foods out for prolonged periods of time.  Pack it at the last minute possible…with multiple ice packs.

Notice something? Ice packs, ice packs and more ice packs!

Personally, I have always thought one ice pack was enough, or I have packed my lunch and left it out for a while before realizing I had forgotten to place it in the fridge. Time for me to re-think my packing skills!

~ Hannah

Resources: Science News