Thursday Thirteen Things You Should Know About Product Labels (#21)

The source of my green educational Thursday Thirteen this week is Crissy Trask’s It’s Easy Being Green.

Thirteen Things about N. Mallory

1. Biodegradable: The Federal Trade Commission defines “biodegradable” as a substance that has been scientifically proven to break down entirely and return to nature within a reasonably short time after disposal. However, because most detergents and soluble chemicals degrade in wastewater systems, they don’t always completely break down into eco-friendly substances. Read the label carefully to make certain the product is made up of nontoxic, renewable ingredients.
2. Cage Free: While this label guarantees that chickens weren’t raised in cages, it doesn’t guarantee they spent any part of their lives outside.
3. Free Farmed: This label is administered by the American Humane Association and testifies that dairy cows, chickens, cattle, and hogs are raised humanely and under healthy living conditions.
4. Free Range Chicken: Legally, this label only requires that poultry producers allow their poultry access to the outdoors for an unspecified amount of time each day — ie. leave the door open. It does not guarantee that the chicken ever made it outside.
5. GMO Free: Genetically Modified Organisms or, rather, genetically modified plants are the product of scientific genetic manipulation involving introducing unnatural but supposedly “desirable” gene characteristics into plants — ie. animal traits into tomatoes. Some scientists are worried such manipulation could ruin the ecosystem and contaminate the food supply.
6. Green: This hasn’t been defined in standard manufacturing terms. Call the manufacturer and ask them what they mean by it.
7. Natural: Except where beef or chicken processing is concerned, this term is meaningless in legal terms. To qualify for beef or poultry processing, the USDA requires that there be no artificial ingredients and no food coloring.
8. Nontoxic: “Toxic” means poisonous. Chemicals that are Persistent, Bioaccumaltive, and Toxic (PBTs) do not readily break down in the environment and accumulate in the tissues of animals and humans.
9. Organic: Food and fiber grown or produced in accordance of the National Organic Standards Act without toxic pesticides and fertilizers, synthetic hormones, antibiotics, sewage sludge, GMOs, or irradiation.
10. Pesticide Free: There’s no standard definition for this. This label could mean the grower didn’t use pesticides in growing the produce or that there was no detectable pesticide residue when tested. You’d have the grower to be sure.
11. Recyclable: A recyclable material or product is one that, after its useful life, can be manufactured into another useful material or product, therby keeping it out of the waste stream.
12. Recycled Paper: If the three chasing arrows on your product are white on a black background, it means the paper is made from 100% recycled content. However,if the arrows are black on a white background, it is made up of recycled and virgin fiber and the manufacturer is required to note what percentage comes from the recycled fiber. But, wait…there’s more…you also have to consider the source of the recycled content. Paper made from wood shavings from a lumber mill, labeled industrial waste, can be labeled recycled, but buying this type does nothing to help support consumer recycling programs. Look for paper marked “PCC” or “PCW”, which stands for post-consumer content or post-consumer waste, respectively.
13. Sustainable Fishery: A sustainable fishery (a species or stock of fish) is one that has not been depleted or harvested in ways that harm the ocean ecosystem.

Tags: green living, recycle, biodegradable, animal rights, organic, humane, waste, Thursday Thirteen, bloghopping, memes

Free Vegetarian Starter Kit

O.K. This is interesting.

I’ve always recommened The Gradual Vegetarian for anyone interested in becoming a vegetarian. It’s an excellent book and I wish I’d had it when I tried the whole 100% Vegetarian lifestyle thing cold turkey (so to speak) back in the early to mid-90’s when it was almost impossible to find good meat substitutes in regular grocery stores and health food stores were hidden away in secret parts of town like Diagon Alley.

Really now there are so many more choices for people and a lot more reasons to go vegetarian than just moral and religious.

But that said, back to the “O.K. This is interesting…” One of the RSS feeds I read, provides links to “free” things and one of those free things today is a “free vegetarian starter kit”. I’m not sure what’s in it and it’s obvious that this particular site is an animal rights website so I’m sure the literature will be associatiated with the whole moral aspect of not eating meat because it’s wrong to kill and the mistreatment of animals. However, if you’re interested in getting the kit, click here.

If you just want the link to the website with the links to free stuff, click here. (I’ve only gotten about 5% of the free stuff I’ve filled out my name and address for. So far, the free Tyson chicken was the best.)

Update: I sent off for the free kit to see what was in it. I do not recommend it to anyone with a weak stomach. The materials contain color photos of butchered animals. Glancing through the materials, I feel that if you want information on how to eat in a balanced, healthy way as a vegetarian, you are better off purchasing something like The Gradual Vegetarian: The Step-by-Step Way to Start Eating the Right Stuff Today or Being a Vegetarian For Dummies.

Tags: free, vegetarian, animal rights