PSE
The feasability study is available from the Skagit PUD! So far 79% of Skagitonians prefer local control of electric service. More information about the buyout and the latest news is available at SavePSE.
1,4-Dioxane
You may have read about the carcinogen 1,4-Dioxane being found in many organic personal care products and household cleansers. If you somehow missed the kerfuffle, you can read about it at the Organic Consumer’s Association website here.
Since so many dishwashing liquids were on the list, I thought I’d check with the fine folks at CountrySave to see if they used it. Well, 6 minutes after I emailed “info” this morning, I got a reply from President Kris stating that … well, let me just quote:
Saara - we have NEVER used that ingredient……in any product…….EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
have a nice day! If you go over to the detergent shelf in the store and pick up a box you will be able to read every ingredient. One update is that while the box says differently, as of May 1st we no longer use Coconut Diethanolimide in the formula and our boxes will reflect that on the next print run……
Does that answer your question …and more? Thanks
I’d say it does! I love dealing with local companies!
Mountain Loop Road
The Loop is re-opening! After being closed for nearly 5 years due to flood damage, there will be a tri-city celebration held in Darrington, Arlington and Granite Falls on the weekend of June 28th & 29th. The Loop would be a great driving and camping trip close by instead of venturing further afield. It’s exciting to have this beautiful drive back.
Filed under: household
Earlier I wrote about local kitty litter, but it’s taken me a while to find a local pet food. I finally found one although it’s local in the regional sense. The plant is located just across the Canadian border in Chilliwack, BC. FirstMate’s ingredients are sourced from Canada, the US and Australia. There is no wheat gluten from China or anything else suspect. The ingredients list is simple and, so far, it has gone over well with our taste tester!
Naturally, FirstMate also makes cat food and, a little more surprisingly, fish food. Diversification is good.
I found FirstMate at Walker’s Healthy Pet, but I’ve also seen it at other local independent feed stores. Here is a list of local suppliers.
If you’re curious I was feeding Canine Caviar before which is out of San Diego. Another good food with no imported ingredients. Also for those of you feeding raw, Raw Advantage is from Kettle Falls!
What does Washington have in common with Georgia? Peaches? Not really, Georgia may be the peach state, but it’s also the Kitty Litter Capital of America. But look out, Ferndale is poised to become the Kitty Litter Capital of the world!
Should we care? Possibly not, but this does mean that we can choose to use a safe, environmental cat litter made in Whatcom county instead of shipping mined clay all the way from Georgia just so Mittens can do his business.
Absorption Corp. of Ferndale, WA a subsidiary of International Absorbents, Inc. of Vancouver, BC states on its website:
Absorption Corp is engaged in the development, manufacturing, and marketing of proprietary, cost-effective absorbent products derived from reclaimed wood fiber (cellulose), a by-product of the pulp and paper manufacturing process.
The Company’s environmentally-safe, non-toxic, lightweight products are utilized in a broad range of industrial, agricultural and consumer applications. These applications include retail/commercial animal bedding and litter, oil and hazardous spill cleanup and control, oil/water filtration, hydro-mulch and packaging.
Look for Healthy Pet cat litter in the local pet stores such as Walker’s Healthy Pet and at Skagit (and Whatcom) Farmer’s Supply or Del’s Farm Supply. If you don’t see it in your local store, ask for it! There’s nothing more appropriate for your kitty’s waste stream than a recycled product that has been kept out of our municipal waste stream. 
And what if you’re in Georgia? Absorption Corp. has a plant there as well. That should make everyone purr.
Of course we’re all vacuuming and shoving life’s detritus under the bed to get the house ready for the big Local Thanksgiving 2007, but that’s not today’s topic. Besides all the baking and menu planning, this time of year brings more parties and night’s out. Some of us actually have to get out of the house clothes and look decent.
Many years ago, I more or less stopped wearing makeup, but every once in a while it’s fun to put on a nice dress and a little color on the cheeks. For me, this usually means buying new mascara since the old one is … well … old and sometimes dried up. As it happens as I was picking up some items at Super Supplements, a small Washington retail chain, I noticed an attractive wooden makeup display. Pots and tubes of testers allowed me to examine everything thoroughly and there were also ingredients lists
on all the items. Moreover, I could recognize and pronounce those ingredients!
I also recognized Bellevue! Gabriel Cosmetics, Inc. has apparently pulled it off. Makeup without bizarre, sometimes toxic, ingredients that actually works. Well, at least the mascara does. I’ll have to buy some of the other products to be sure, but mascara is the clincher product for me.
While I was there, I picked up some Uncle Harry’s tooth powder and some jasmine essential oil (used instead of perfume). Apparently health and beauty products are also being produced in Redmond. After I get my teeth cleaned in mid-December, I’ll report back on the success or failure of the tooth powder. I have a problem area back where my wisdom teeth were removed so, after reading many testimonials, I thought I could give the product a try. I’m using my usual fluoridated Tom’s of Maine toothpaste at night because the tooth powder doesn’t contain that useful ingredient (that I want in my toothpaste and not my water).
Anyway, I’d been meaning to post about these products and possibly others soon, but what prompted me to get on it was listening to Weekday’s show on KUOW yesterday Toys Aren’t the Only Thing That’s Toxic. Follow the other links at the bottom of Weekday’s page, but definitely visit the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics. You can check to see which companies have signed the Compact for Safe Cosmetics.
Another item that I picked up (at the co-op) recently is Suncoat Product’s All Natural Hairspray. Since it’s made in Ontario, it’s hardly a local product, but so far I haven’t been able to find anything locally made. I’ve used it once and it seemed to work well.
So that’s it for today’s testimonials. Hopefully, it helps make for a safer holiday season in all aspects!
Partially because of a disappointment with my web host and partially because Portland, OR is closer than Trumbull, CT, I am in the process of moving everything over to a new site called ThinkHost, Inc.
“Green web hosting powered by renewable wind and solar energy. Your carbon neutral account supports a more earth friendly future.”
So, please be patient while the new site propagates. The blog is on WordPress so the text will not be affected, but my photos are on my site so they may be temporarily unavailable. Once things get switched over, I’ll have more room to post higher resolution photos so that will be nice.
