Green is such a diverse industry with many niches within the niche – carbon footprints, eco-travel, fair trade, clean energy, pollution, green investing, and recycling – to name a few. Let’s pay homage to the underrepresented aspect of eco-friendly that is directly linked to going green for your health and the health of the environment simultaneously.

This is not an absolute truth, however; as anything you do to protect the environment ultimately produces positive effects on human health. Nonetheless, there are several green habits just 1° of separation from protecting your body and the earth.

1) Got Mercury? Mercury, a neurotoxin, is extremely hazardous to human health especially in children and developing fetuses. Use this calculator to make healthier seafood choices and AVOID mercury.

2) Pollution in my Neighborhood? It may be easier for you to take action if you understand just how bad pollution is on your street. Scorecard.org allows you to put in your zipcode to determine:

• Toxic Chemical Levels
• Air & Water pollution
• Companies that are the biggest environmental offenders

Don’t underestimate the impact of toxic substances (like lead), air and water pollution and their effects on your health. More importantly, don’t underestimate the health effects of all 3 of these combined!

3) Skin Deep Cosmetics Database. Chemicals are in virtually all cosmetics and body care products even some of the ones claiming to be natural (exceptions exist only for a handful of truly Green beauty companies). These chemicals have been linked to cancer, birth defects and several other health problems. Consumers can search based on ingredients, cosmetic company and product name to determine potential toxic exposure. (Check out our post on this subject: Chemicals in your cosmetics)

4) What’s on my food? This is a very profound, even prophetic question. If you are jaded about the organic revolution then run your conventional foods through this calculator and you may have a change in heart. The fact that a tool had to be developed to actually quantify pesticide levels along with listing the specific contaminants is a reality check of how far off balance we have become in producing pure foods – a master key for creating health.

5) Healthystuff.org has widgets to guide you when shopping for kids toys and other products so you won’t choose ones that are manufactured with high levels of lead, arsenic, PVC, cadmium, mercury and other chemicals (Kids Stuff & Chemicals). Needless to say, removing these chemicals from a child’s environment is a powerful green choice to make.

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