green media and news

Bona Fide will post local, national, and world news of all types pertaining to the environment on this page. If you would like to share an earth-related news item with us and the online community, please email the information to info@bonafidegreengoods.com and we will do our best to include it.



 Scented laundry products emit hazardous chemicals through dryer vents: August 24, 2011: Findings, published online this week in the journal Air Quality, Atmosphere and Health, show that air vented from machines using the top-selling scented liquid laundry detergent and scented dryer sheet contains hazardous chemicals, including two that are classified as carcinogens.


 Raising Awareness of Plastic Waste: August 14, 2011: Most people are familiar with the concept of a carbon footprint. Many may also know there is such a thing as a water footprint. But whoever heard of a plastic footprint?


Under Pressure, Manufacturers Removing Chemicals from Car Seats: August 5, 2011: In the last few years, child car seat makers have made a big shift in which chemicals they use in their products, a change brought about by consumer pressure and legislation cracking down on toxics in other goods.


 5 Years Later, Scientists Still Puzzled by Honeybee Decline: July 28, 2011: What agriculture and scientists continue to fear is what they call colony collapse disorder, or CCD, will remain unchecked, unsolved and destructive.


 5 Reasons Why the Safe Cosmetics Act Makes Sense for Small Business: June 24, 2011: Most people assume the government, in this case the Food and Drug Administration, regulates cosmetics the same way it does food and drugs to ensure they are safe. In reality, cosmetics are one of the least regulated consumer products on the market today.


 Zero-Packaging Grocery Store to Open in Austin, Texas: June 24, 2011: In.gredients promises to be the country's first ever "package-free, zero waste grocery store."


 A Brief History of Plastic's Conquest of the World: May 29, 2011: The Stone Age craftsman who made the oldest known comb--a small four-toothed number carved from animal bone some eight thousand years ago--would have no trouble knowing what to do with the bright blue plastic version sitting on my bathroom counter.


 First signs of ozone-hole recovery spotted: May 16, 2011: The hole in the ozone layer over Antarctica is starting to heal, say researchers in Australia.


High Levels of Flame Retardants Found in Dogs: April 27, 2011: Researchers at Indiana University have found flame retardants in the blood of pet dogs at levels five to ten times higher than typically found in humans. Could dogs be the canary in the coal mine for how accumulating polybrominated flame retardants will affect humans?


 The Ice Man Drilleth: April 25, 2011: Climate science research often involves a little derring-do mixed in with a lot of tedium. Some scientists scramble up equatorial peaks to measure melting glaciers; others scour dry African lakebeds for sediment that reads like a talking science book.


Are plastics polluting your home?: March 27, 2011: It's virtually impossible to go through a day without coming into contact with plastic. Take a second to think about everything plastic you touch each day. It could be your toothbrush, remote control, food containers, toys, pens, debit card, cell phone, and laptop.


 How to Color Easter Eggs with Natural Dyes: March 1, 2011: After years of dyeing eggs using a wide range of botanical sources, Jody had streamlined the dyeing procedure. She had narrowed the necessary ingredients down to three -- fresh red beets, yellow onionskins and frozen blueberries.


 Tree Planting Record Broken In Philippines: February 27, 2011: Speedy tree planting may be the answer to the world's dwindling forest problem. This past Thursday, over 64,000 trees were planted in 15 minutes, breaking the world record for the most trees planted simultaneously.


 Mothballs warning sounded by experts: February 7, 2011: A TEAM of paediatricians has called for a ban on naphthalene, used in mothballs, after the death of a baby and catastrophic brain injuries to two others.


 Special report: Catastrophic drought in the Amazon: February 4, 2011: A widespread drought in the Amazon rainforest last year caused the "lungs of the world" to produce more carbon dioxide than they absorbed, potentially leading to a dangerous acceleration of global warming. Scientists have calculated that the 2010 drought was more intense than the "one-in-100-year" drought of 2005.


 De-icing dilemma: Do streets need salt?: January 19, 2011: Salt saves lives on icy roads, but it can have the opposite effect in nearby ecosystems. Here's a look at the pros and cons of it and other de-icers.


 California Votes No on Prop 23: November 3, 2010 - "Defeat of Prop 23 signifies the largest public referendum on clean energy legislation."


 Canada Becomes First Nation to Officially List BPA as Toxic: October 13, 2010: Effective immediately, the chemical Bisphenol A is officially considered toxic in Canada. BPA, as you're likely aware, is a chemical commonly found in plastics, food cans, water bottles, and paper receipts. BPA mimics the hormone estrogen and has been linked to a number of severe health woes, including breast cancer and early puberty in women.


Federal Trade Commission Proposes Revised "Green Guides": October 6, 2010 - Something that Bona Fide has been doing for 3 years, so we are glad to hear that things are moving main stream. "The Federal Trade Commission today proposed revisions to the guidance that it gives marketers to help them avoid making misleading environmental claims. The proposed changes are designed to update the Guides and make them easier for companies to understand and use."


BREAKING: Putting Solar on the White House!: October 5, 2010 - "Just in time to give the Global Work Party a White House-sized boost, the Obama administration announced this morning that they are going to put solar panels on the First Family's living quarters, returning to a tradition begun by president Jimmy Carter and abandoned by Ronald Reagan."


 Discovery News - "Giant Greenland Glacier Cracks Open Overnight": July 13, 2010 - "It appears that the record retreat of Jakonbshavn may have been helped by an exceptionally warm winter, which prevented sea ice from forming in front of the glacier."


 Gaurdian - " Paradise found: Water and life return to Iraq's 'Garden of Eden'": July 9, 2010 - "One of Saddam Hussein's greatest acts of ecological destruction - the draining of the Mesopotamian marshes - has been reversed as birds and rivers return to the region."


 Daily Mail - "Revealed: Shocking satellite images of lakes show extent of man's impact on world's water supply": July 3, 2010 - "The expanse of water, like several others across the globe, has been reduced to worryingly sparse levels. In April the situation at the Aral Sea was described as 'one of the planet's worst environmental disasters' by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon."


Huffington Post - "Our Patience Has Run Out: NRDC Sues FDA for Failure to Regulate BPA": June 30, 2010 - "Today, NRDC filed a lawsuit against the Food and Drug Administration for its failure to act on a petition to ban the use of bisphenol A (BPA) in food packaging, food containers, and other materials likely to come into contact with food."


 Daily Climate - "New England's stately trees give way as the region warms": June 22, 2010 - "Scientists see a fingerprint of climate change in the denuded branches, and a pattern of things to come. The effects of climate change, they say, are unlikely to be gradual or predictable. Warming winters will throw into confusion old orders of species, nurturing unexpected predators and weakening age-old relationships that helped form forests."


 Manila Times - "EcoWaste warns of toxic school supplies": June 7, 2010 - "Phthalates are toxic industrial chemicals commonly used to make plastics, like polyvinyl chloride (PVC), more flexible, softer or durable. Because of health concerns, the European Union (eu) and the United States have banned the use of some phthalates in plastic toys and other products for children."


 Environmental Health News - "Dream of plastics from carbon dioxide is a reality": June 1, 2010 - "Chemists have made progress in finding environmentally friendly ways to capture and reuse carbon dioxide (CO2), according to an article that reviews recent research in this field. Specifically, significant new advances have been made in the ability to absorb CO2 from the atmosphere and incorporate it into new raw materials - which may include benign alternatives to BPA-based plastics."


 Scientific American - "Green Chemistry: Scientists Devise New "Benign by Design" Drugs, Paints, Pesticides and More": May 28, 2010 - "Chemists are usually asked to invent a solution, but without considering hazardous by-products. Green chemists now are doing both with success, but will it take regulations to enforce the approach broadly?"


 CBC News of Canada - "Disposable diapers: Are they dangerous?": May 28, 2010 - "New Pampers diapers, which include Cruisers and Swaddlers, have been the subject of the two U.S. lawsuits. Specifically, the product's Dry Max Technology has been blamed for serious diaper rashes, likened by some parents on Facebook to chemical burns."


USA Today - "2010: Warmest year on record": May 17, 2010 - "Two separate sources of temperature data - the National Climatic Data Center and NASA - report that, through April, 2010 is the warmest year ever recorded."


 Wall Street Journal - "Can Dirt Do a Little Good?": May 17, 2010 - "We seem to be healthier, but we have traded one problem for another problem."


 Boston Channel - "Town Bans Bottled Water Sales": April 30, 2010 - "The measured passed by Concord would allow the sale of refillable containers of water, which could still be sold and delivered in town. Only plastic bottles that companies cannot reuse would be banned."


 Time - "Environmental Toxins": April 1, 2010 - "On the first Earth Day, celebrated 40 years ago this month, the U.S. was a poisoned nation. Dense air pollution blanketed cities like Los Angeles, where smog alerts were a fact of life. Dangerous pesticides like DDT were still in use, and water pollution was rampant -- symbolized by raging fires on Cleveland's Cuyahoga River, captured in a famous 1969 story for TIME."


 SMH - "A crippling drought is over and a surge of optimism flows": March 27, 2010 - "Seeping rather than surging, the big dump of rain that flooded Charleville and Roma in central Queensland at the beginning of the month is spreading its way across a series of enormous flood plains stretching virtually from the western edge of the Great Dividing Range right across to central Australia, bringing with it the promise of regeneration and renewal."


 Environmental Health News - " Pet flea treatments can be dangerous, more safety steps in the works, EPA says": March 18, 2010 - "Warning that the powerful poisons can endanger some dogs and cats, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will require new instructions and labeling for on-spot flea products. The EPA began investigating the products, which include the popular Frontline and Advantage brands, after discovering a sharp rise in the number of dogs and cats reported to be sick."


 Planet Green - " A Deforestation-Based Diet: Seven Foods That Are Destroying the World's Forests": March 10, 2010 - "We hear a lot about the importance of eating organic and eating local, but left out of the conversation are the growing methods of some of our staple foods, and how much forest land has been lost to grow (or raise) products like beef, rice, and palm oil--the latter of which is in more foods than you might realize."


 EarthWISE: Leading the Way to a Low Energy Future: March 10, 2010: "What have these early adopters done in response to these threats? More than two-thirds of survey takers said they cut purchases, bought more local goods and services, conserved energy in their homes and put in a garden. One-sixth have started new careers, such as a truck driver who became a permaculture teacher."


 LA Times - "Afghan government moves to protect newly-discovered population of large-billed reed warbler": March 1, 2010 - "Afghanistan's fledging conservation agency moved Sunday to protect one of the world's rarest birds after the species was rediscovered in the war-ravaged country's northeast."


 NPR - "Get This: Warming Planet Can Mean More Snow": February 15, 2010 - "The fact that the oceans are warmer now than they were, say, 30 years ago means there's about on average 4 percent more water vapor lurking around over the oceans than there was, say, in the 1970s. Warmer water means more water vapor rises up into the air, and what goes up must come down."


 Scientific American - "Romanticism undone: Invasive species, global warming taking toll on plants at Thoreau's Walden Pond": February 10, 2010 - "Henry David Thoreau famously catalogued the plants around Walden Pond more than 150 years ago, and the information he gathered then is helping to illustrate the effects of invasive species and global warming on the area today."


 AOL - "That New-Car Smell, Intoxicating...and Toxic?": January 24, 2010 - "For many, the new-car smell is a bonus that comes with buying a new vehicle -- an olfactory reward to enjoy each time the owner slides behind the wheel. That smell, however, also could make them -- and their passengers -- sick."


 JS Online - "FDA says it's unable to regulate BPA ": January 17, 2010 - "U.S. Food and Drug Administration officials say they are powerless to regulate BPA, although they have declared the chemical to be a safety concern for fetuses, babies and young children. A quirk in the rules allows BPA makers to skirt federal regulation."


 JS Online - "FDA does about-face on exposure to BPA": January 15, 2010 - "The agency said it would work to reduce exposure to the chemical, which is found in the urine of 93% of Americans tested. But it stopped short of a ban, saying more studies are needed to better know the chemical's effects."


 Beyond A Garden - "How To Make Cupcakes In Orange Peels": January 9, 2010 - "Orange peels have so many uses and can be composted. Trying to decided what to do with the ones I just squeezed and in a baking mood, I went to the local grocer and purchased an organic cake mix and cage free eggs."


 Helena IR - "Will the real health advocates please stand up?": January 3, 2010 - "A couple of weeks ago in Helena, a table was set up in the Capitol by a group called the Coalition for Chemical Safety. The coalition said they were troubled with the current federal toxic chemical law, and were recruiting new concerned citizens. All pretty normal, except that just last month this coalition was discovered to be a front group for the chemical industry."


 Telegraph - "Copenhagen climate summit: history of climate change": December 4, 2009 - A concise timeline history of climate change is summarized in this article beginning in 1824 when the "greenhouse effect" is first described, and finishing with the 2009 Copenhagen negotiations.


 Environmental Health News - "Pesticides that kill rodents also poison owls": November 23, 2009 - "Wild owls are accumulating lethal levels of pesticides that are used to control rodents. The chemicals used to control mice and other rodents are being found in the livers of wild owls and causing some to die."


 Organic Consumers - "Maine Organic Milk Producers Form Company to Save Farms": October 10, 2009 - "Through a cooperative agreement among the farmers, private investors, Smiling Hill Farm in Westbrook, Oakhurst Dairy in Portland, the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association, the Maine Farm Bureau and the Maine Department of Agriculture, a new company has been launched: MOOMilkCo., short for Maine's Own Organic Milk Co."


 C&EN - "Nanosilver In The Wash": October 2, 2009 - Nano silver particles are creeping into ordinary products even before they are regulated. Here is the first of what we hope will be many studies on the reality of these new-fangled nanos.


 USA Today - "Leaders warn time running out for climate deal": September 28, 2009 - "Negotiations on a new U.N. climate pact have been bogged down by a broad unwillingness to commit to firm emissions targets, and a refusal by developing countries to sign a deal until the West guarantees tens of billions of dollars in financial assistance -- something rich countries have so far refused to do."


 DC Bureau - " Fish and Paint Chips Part I: The Science of Trash": September 23, 2009 - There's not just one disgusting plastic ocean gyre... and not just 2 ...nope, not 3 or 4... but 5 huge floating gender-bender fish eating plastic gyres in the world.


Treehugger - "5 Ugly Truths You May Not Know About the Beauty Industry": September 10, 2009 - Big Beauty Companies continue to use some really nasty chemicals. But the biggest kicker of all is that some companies who make large donations to Breast Cancer Research continue to have cancer causing ingredients in their products, even chemicals the Breast Cancer Fund has denounced.


C&EN - "Chemicals Leach From Packaging": August 30, 2009 - We used to think that food packaging didn't leach. But think again...


 JS Online - "BPA Industry Fights Back": August 22, 2009 - "For decades, the chemical industry has been able to control the debate on whether BPA is harmful to human health. Now the Food and Drug Administration, which had relied on industry-financed studies to declare the chemical safe, is reconsidering its determination."


 US-EPA Press Release - "A Record 150 New England Communities Take Steps to Save Energy and Money": August 19, 2009 - "Reflecting a growing national interest in greening local government, municipalities that join EPA's Community Energy Challenge pledge to reduce energy consumption in their municipal facilities by at least 10 percent. Collectively, the communities participating in the Community Energy Challenge represent more than 30 percent of New England's population."


Science Daily - "Increased Ocean Acidification In Alaska Waters, New Findings Show": August 14, 2009 - "The same things that make Alaska's marine waters among the most productive in the world may also make them the most vulnerable to ocean acidification. According to new findings by a University of Alaska Fairbanks scientist, Alaska's oceans are becoming increasingly acidic, which could damage Alaska's king crab and salmon fisheries."


 Winniepeg Free Press - "'BPA-Free' bottles leach chemical: study": July 30, 2009 - "Manufacturers are questioning test results that found bisphenol A in baby bottles that are being marketed as free of the chemical, which Health Canada has banned for use in bottles intended for infants." This is just one more reason to go plastic-free!


 Planet Green - "75 Things You Can Compost, But Thought You Couldn't": July 30, 2009 - This list of "75 things you didn't know for sure that you could compost - but can" - will help save on "trash" that was headed for the landfill, and yes that includes pet fur, toothpicks, cellophane, and much more...


Bangor Daily News - "State identifies toxic chemicals": July 18, 2009 - "The Maine Department of Environmental Protection and the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday released a list of about 1,700 "chemicals of high concern" - substances that pose a significant risk to human health that also are used in manufacturing common consumer goods."


 Seventh Generation - "The Leachin' Teach-in: A Guide to Safe Plastics in the Kitchen": June 18, 2009 - A brief look at Plastics # 1-7, their common uses and chemical safety.


Planet Green - "No Compost Required: Instantly Fertilize Plants With These 3 Kitchen Scraps": May 20, 2009 - "Indoor and outdoor plants will thrive with these natural, soil-boosting fertilizers commonly found in the garbage cans of compost-free homes"


 Journal Sentinel - "Use of plastic bottles increases BPA in study": May 16, 2009 - "Drinking cold beverages out of polycarbonate bottles significantly increases the concentration of bisphenol A found in a the body. Researchers from Harvard University and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found a 70% increase in the amount of BPA detected in the urine of college students who drank from plastic bottles made with BPA."


 Mercola - "How To Avoid MSG": April 21, 2009 - "Monosodium glutamate (MSG) is one of the most common and hazardous food additives on the market. MSG is reportedly more toxic than alcohol, tobacco and many drugs. MSG is an excitotoxin, so it tricks your brain into wanting to eat more and more foods containing the ingredient, even if you are already full."


 Washington Post - "EPA Proposes Regulating Greenhouse Gas Emissions": April 17, 2009 - "The Environmental Protection Agency issued a proposal today finding greenhouse gas emissions pose a danger to the public's health and welfare, a determination that could trigger a series of sweeping regulations affecting everything from vehicles to coal-fired power plants." This is a very significant break through, lets all hope the support will come within congress.


 Canwest News Service - "Health Canada makes it official: BPA is health hazard": April 14, 2009 - One year after taking BPA into consideration and six months after officially banning the subtance, Canada, the first country in the world, has made it official, BPA is hazardous to human health. The U.S. FDA still considers BPA safe for food storage. Do you?


 CBC News of Canada - "Product bans: What do you think should be next?": April 22, 2008 - "The federal government announced that Canada will ban the import and sale of polycarbonate baby bottles containing bisphenol A (BPA)."


 Associated Press - "EPA toughens smog standards; 1 N.H. county now in violation": March 13, 2008 - "The federal government says the air in (New Hampshire's) Hillsborough County is simply too dirty to breathe."


 Concord Monitor - Solar energy firm leaves waste behind: March 11, 2008 - "We didn't know how bad it was until things started dying."


 Concord Monitor - "Getting fuel from a bug?": March 11, 2008 - "It eats what nobody else will eat- cornstalks, leftover chaff from hay or whatever - and can turn it into ethanol."


 Concord Monitor - "Pharmaceuticals in drinking pose long term risk": March 10, 2008 - "Even users of bottled water and home filtration systems don't necessarily avoid exposure. Bottlers, some of which simply repackage tap water, do not typically treat or test for pharmaceuticals."


 Concord Monitor - "Scientists warn of reproductive harm from plastics": August 5, 2007 - "So far, no governmental agency here or abroad has restricted its use."