Bamboozled Bamboo Fabric a Product of
Greenwashing
At least one dealer in sustainable products has taken a stand against bam- boo fabric, which most people associ- ate with bamboo lumber, a rapidly renewable resource that requires fewer pesticides to grow than other crops.
Laura Mathews, of Eco Promotional Products, Inc., in Washington state, cites the Federal Trade Commission’s report: “The truth is, most bamboo textile prod- ucts, if not all, really are rayon, which typically is made using environmentally toxic chemicals. While different plants, including bamboo, can be used as a source material to create rayon, there’s no trace of the original plant in the fin- ished rayon product.” Mathews says that her company has discontinued selling bamboo clothing and all other items made from bamboo fabric. She notes, “It’s the responsibility of everyone to vet these and other similar terms to ensure that the eco-friendly product you’re putting your purchasing power behind is actu- ally eco-friendly.”
Source:
EcoPromotionsOnline.com
ecotip
Digital Detox Unplug to Cut Stress, Up Success
Whether it’s extreme texting, tweeting, Googling, posting or blogging, the phenomenon of being caught in the web of the Web is real. Rationalizations range from coping with today’s information overload to fear of missing out (FOMO). Yet, detriments of such continual digital connectedness range from the stifling of family and social bonds to a lack of life skills that only face-to-face communication fosters. In 2011, The New York University Child Study Center re- ported that 8-to-18-year-olds average more than six hours of daily media use and that school grades of a surveyed group that considered themselves “heavy” users were con- siderably lower than their “light” use counterparts. Stanford Communications Professor Clifford Nass, author of The Man Who Lied to His Laptop, remarked in a 2013 NPR interview that people that do extensive media multitasking “can’t filter out irrelevancy, can’t manage memory and are chronically distracted. They say they are productive and can ‘shut it off’, but can’t keep on task and focus on one thing.” Fortunately, programs to unplug are catching on. More than 400 middle and
high schools in 20 U.S. states plus Canada took a Digital Blackout Challenge to refrain from using electronic devices for one week during the 2012-2013 school year (
DigitalBlackout.org). From Chief Sealth International High School, in Seattle, Washington, senior Marissa Evans says the experience informed her “there’s a bal- ance between ‘too much’ and ‘just enough’” in being connected, and classmate Alex Askerov terms the Challenge “a breath of fresh air.” For the 2013 documentary film, Sleeping with Siri, Seattle-based journalist
Michael Stusser underwent a one-week, self-assessed “techno gorge”, followed by a digital detox of the same duration. During stage one, he said his blood pres- sure went up 40 points after four days. He found, “You’re always waiting for a response.” He subsequently enjoyed being disconnected. Foresters, a Toronto, Ontario-based life insurance provider, asks families to
take a Tech Timeout pledge for at least one hour every day and make Sundays entirely non-tech, packed with family activities and socializing.
Learn more at
TechTimeout.com.
natural awakenings
November 2013
27
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