CONTENTS
1) Editorial
2) Feature: 15 Water-Saving Ways for Home
3) Issue Updates
--Government Writes Another Blank Cheque to Nuclear Industry
--US Government Asked to Evaluate the Cancer-Causing Potential of Fluoride in Tap Water
--Canada’s New Online Database of Health Product Adverse Reactions
--Coming Soon in Canada: Mandatory Reporting of Adverse Drug Reactions
--Greening Your Lawn--Naturally
4) Media Watch
-- More Studies Link Painkillers to Heart Problems
--Study Shows Fertilizer Harms Freshwater Lakes
--Ontario to Slow Phase-Out of Coal-Fed Power Plants
--Consumer Group Wants Warning Label on Potato Chips
--Obese Kids’ Extra Pounds Makes Exercise Tough
--Exercise Boosts Sex Life in Men With Heart Failure
--Calcium and Vitamin-D Rich Diets Could Reduce Risk of PMS
--Diet Sodas Could Lead to Weight Gain
--Cauliflower Juice a Weapon against Breast Cancer
--Lifelong Friends Make Life Longer
--US Report Says North American Agriculture Moving Toward Single Trade Market
--PEI Gets Top Marks from Sierra Club
--Wheat Board Changes Organic Wheat Program
--Aspartame Consumption Strongly Associated with Migraines and Seizures
--Independent Science Panel to EPA: Teflon Chemical is ‘Likely’ Human Carcinogen
--Study Shows Radiation Causes Cancer but Rarely
5) Calendar of Events
--Herbs: How to Know Them and Use Them
--Small Scale Seed Production for Organic Farmers Workshop
*********************
1) EDITORIAL
Hello HANS Members & Friends;
When Bayne Boyes, HANS president, and I went to Ottawa this spring to present our support for Bill C-420, which would regulate vitamins as foods, we realized one thing very clearly. Not everyone thinks alike, and the only hope we have to wade through the current upheaval in our health food industry is to collectively present information, and to strive to be clear-headed.
Our hope is that Canadian Health Food Association and others who have strong opinions on the pros and cons of Bill C-420 will go to the Discussion Forum on our website at www.hans.org, and share. Our hope is that you will go there, too, and read these comments carefully.
In the end, I think we all want much the same thing--our natural health products in the quality they have been, in the quantities they have been, at the prices they have been.
Join us online, ok?!
All the best,
Lorna J Hancock
Founding Member & Director
*********************
2) FEATURE: 15 WATER-SAVING WAYS FOR HOME
by Greg Seaman
Even in areas where water seems abundant, water conservation is important. Although it’s tough to see the connection, you can help improve water quality just by conserving at home. In addition to saving money on your utility bill, water conservation helps prevent water pollution in nearby lakes, rivers and local watersheds.
If you’re on your own septic system, conserving water can extend the life of the system by reducing soil saturation, and can reduce any pollution due to leaks. Overloading municipal sewer systems can also cause untreated sewage to flow to lakes and rivers. The smaller the amount of water flowing through these systems, the lower the likelihood of pollution. In some communities, costly sewage system expansion has been avoided by communitywide household water conservation.
In the home...
1. Check for hidden water leaks
Read the house water meter before and after a two-hour period when no water has been used. If the meter does not read exactly the same, there is a leak.
2. Check your toilets for leaks
Put a little food coloring in your toilet tank. If, without flushing, the color begins to appear in the bowl within 30 minutes, you have a leak that should be repaired immediately. Most replacement parts are inexpensive and easy to install.
3. Don’t use the toilet as an ashtray or wastebasket
Every time you flush a cigarette butt, facial tissue or other small bit of trash, five to seven gallons of water is wasted.
4. Put plastic bottles in your toilet tank
To cut down on water waste, put an inch or two of sand or pebbles inside each of two plastic bottles to weigh them down. Fill the bottles with water, screw the lids on, and put them in your toilet tank, safely away from the operating mechanisms. This may save 10 or more gallons of water per day.
Be sure at least 3 gallons of water remain in the tank so it will flush properly. For new installations, consider buying “low flush” toilets, which use 1 to 2 gallons per flush instead of the usual three to five gallons.
5. Insulate your water pipes
It’s easy and inexpensive to insulate your water pipes with pre-slit foam pipe insulation. You’ll get hot water faster plus avoid wasting water while it heats up.
6. Install water-saving shower heads and low-flow faucet aerators
Your local hardware or plumbing supply store has inexpensive water-saving showerheads or restrictors that are easy to install. Also, long, hot showers can use five to 10 gallons every unneeded minute. Limit your showers to the time it takes to soap up, wash down and rinse off. Also, all household faucets should be fit with aerators.
7. Take shorter showers
One way to cut down on water use is to turn off the shower after soaping up, then turn it back on to rinse. A four-minute shower uses approximately 20 to 40 gallons of water.
8. Turn off the water after you wet your toothbrush
There’s no need to keep the water running while brushing your teeth. Just wet your brush and fill a glass for mouth rinsing.
9. Rinse your razor in the sink
Fill the sink with a few inches of warm water. This will rinse your razor just as well as running water, but with far less waste of water.
10. Check faucets and pipes for leaks
A small drip from a worn faucet washer can waste 20 gallons of water per day. Larger leaks can waste hundreds of gallons.
11. Use your dishwasher and clothes washer for only full loads
Automatic dishwashers and clothes washers should be fully loaded for optimum water conservation. Avoid the permanent press cycle, which uses an added 20 litres (five gallons) for the extra rinse. For partial loads, adjust water levels to match the size of the load. If you’re in the market for a new clothes washer, consider buying a water-saving frontload washer.
12. Minimize use of kitchen sink garbage disposal units
In sink “garburators” require lots of water to operate properly, and also add considerably to the volume of solids in a septic tank which can lead to maintenance problems. Start a compost pile as an alternate method of disposing food waste.
13. When washing dishes by hand, don’t leave the water running for rinsing
If your have a double-basin, fill one with soapy water and one with rinse water. If you have a single-basin sink, gather washed dishes in a dish rack and rinse them with a spray device or a pan-ful of hot water.
14. Don’t let the faucet run while you clean vegetables
Just rinse them in a stoppered sink or a pan of clean water.
15. Keep a bottle of drinking water in the fridge
Running tap water to cool it off for drinking water is wasteful.
Greg Seaman is the founder/editor of eartheasy.com, a
website that offers ideas on sustainable living for individuals and
families.
*********************
3) ISSUE UPDATES
Government Writes Another Blank Cheque to Nuclear Industry
PRESS RELEASE
OTTAWA - Although Sierra Club of Canada welcomes the cleanup of the Gunnar and Lorado uranium mines in Saskatchewan, it must be pointed out that this is yet another handout to the failing nuclear industry.
The federal government has spent more than $17 billion subsidizing the nuclear industry. Additional costs have been borne by the Ontario, New Brunswick and Québec taxpayers. Now Saskatchewan has been forced to contribute as well.
“Will it ever end?” asks Sierra Club of Canada Senior Policy Advisor-Energy, John Bennett. “Nuclear power is an environmental and economic nightmare for Canadian taxpayers. Unfortunately political leaders refuse to wake up.”
The federal and Saskatchewan governments failed to force the private companies that operated the mines at a profit during then 1950s and 1960s to clean op the huge quantities of radioactive mine tailings and other wastes when the mines were shut down. Only a tiny proportion of the cost of the clean up will be covered by an "unnamed" corporation. The cost of cleaning these sites could range into the hundreds of millions.
“Certainly this is a wake-up call. It is time to bring the nuclear experiment to an end. Government and industry together have botched the job and the taxpayers have been left on the hook too many times,” said Mr. Bennett.
The Saskatchewan project will be in addition to the official estimate of $24 billion for storing high level waste from Canada's nuclear reactors. In Ontario the premature shut down of nuclear reactors as well as construction cost overruns have left rate payers with a $20 billion “stranded” debt.
Visit www.sierraclub.ca for more information.
******
US Government Asked to Evaluate the Cancer-Causing Potential of Fluoride in Tap Water
PRESS RELEASE
WASHINGTON ¬ Citing a strong body of peer-reviewed evidence, Environmental Working Group (EWG) today asked the National Toxicology Program (NTP) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to list fluoride in tap water in its authoritative Report on Carcinogens, based on its ability to cause a rare form of childhood bone cancer, osteosarcoma, in boys. The Report on Carcinogens lists only substances that are known or reasonably anticipated to cause cancer in humans.
In recent years, concerns have grown about the safety of fluoride in tap water. In 2002, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) commissioned a study by the National Research Council (NRC) on the overall safety of fluoride in tap water. The final report is expected by February 2006. The NRC, however, does not have the expertise or the mandate to determine the carcinogenicity of fluoride.
Research dating back decades, much of it government funded, has long suggested that fluoride added to drinking water presents a unique cancer risk to the growing bones of young boys. New epidemiology provides strong evidence of a link between exposure to fluoride in tap water during the mid-childhood growth spurt between ages six and 10, and bone cancer in adolescence. Additional science strongly suggests that fluoride can cause genetic mutations in bone cells directly related to childhood bone cancer.
“We recognize the potential benefits of fluoride to dental health, but there is very compelling evidence that fluoride in tap water can cause bone cancer in boys,” said EWG Senior Vice President Richard Wiles. “The government needs to assess the overall strength of the evidence and make a determination of fluoride's cancer-causing potential.”
EWG's letter to the NTP and related materials can be found at www.ewg.org/issues/fluoride/20050606/petition.php.
******
Canada’s New Online Database of Health Product Adverse Reactions
Want to find out about that drug you’re taking, or are considering taking? At last, Canada’s new, searchable database of adverse drug reaction information is online. Browsers can directly access data as recorded in Health Canada’s Canadian Adverse Drug Reaction Information System (CADRIS). Search by product name, active ingredient, the date a report was received, patient age and gender, and the outcome of the adverse reaction. Visit http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hpfb-dgpsa/tpd-dpt/cadrmp-pcs....
******
Health Minister Ujjal Dosanjh took another step toward drug accountability on June 28 when he announced that Health Canada will hold consultations on developing a mandatory system for reporting adverse health product reactions. Our current system is based on voluntary reporting only. The result is that only a small percentage of adverse reactions are reported. “We need to deal with the under-reporting problem in a fair, balanced and responsible way,” says Health Minister Dosanjh.
The discussion paper and instructions on how to send written feedback can be found at www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hpfb-dgpsa/tpd-dpt/index_adverse_e.html.
******
Greening Your Lawn--Naturally
Summer’s here and so is neighbor lawn envy. Fortunately, due to health and environmental concerns, more and more Canadians are forgoing chemical yard products in favor of greener alternatives. Health Canada’s website on establishing and maintaining a health lawn without pesticides is a good starter resource. Visit http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/english/iyh/environment/lawns....
*********************
4) MEDIA WATCH
More Studies Link Painkillers to Heart Problems
http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?artic...
Study Shows Fertilizer Harms Freshwater Lakes
http://www.enn.com/today.html?id=7949
Ontario to Slow Phase-Out of Coal-Fed Power Plants
http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/3...
Consumer Group Wants Warning Label on Potato Chips
http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/3...
Obese Kids’ Extra Pounds Makes Exercise Tough
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=571&e=6&u=...
Exercise Boosts Sex Life in Men With Heart Failure
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=571&e=1&u=...
Calcium and Vitamin-D Rich Diets Could Reduce Risk of PMS
http://www.nutritionhorizon.com/newsmaker_article.as...
Diet Sodas Could Lead to Weight Gain
http://www.nutritionhorizon.com/newsmaker_article.as...
Cauliflower Juice a Weapon against Breast Cancer
http://www.nutraingredients-usa.com/news/ng.asp?n=60...
Lifelong Friends Make Life Longer
http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?artic...
US Report Says North American Agriculture Moving Toward Single Trade Market
http://www.vivelecanada.ca/article.php/2005060610464...
PEI Gets Top Marks from Sierra Club
http://pei.cbc.ca/regional/servlet/View?filename=rio...
Wheat Board Changes Organic Wheat Program
http://sask.cbc.ca/regional/servlet/View?filename=wh...
Aspartame Consumption Strongly Associated with Migraines and Seizures
http://www.newstarget.com/008797.html
Independent Science Panel to EPA: Teflon Chemical is ‘Likely’ Human Carcinogen
http://www.ewg.org/issues/pfcs/20050628/index.php
http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/3...
For more current stories, check out ‘News’ at www.hans.org.
*********************
5) CALENDAR OF EVENTS
Herbs: How to Know Them and Use Them
Who: Lorene Benoit, Certified Master of Holistic Health, Herbalist, Iridologist, Contact Reflex Analyst and Regenesis Healer (emotional and energy balancing)
When: July 8-11, Mon-Fri 9am-4pm
Where: 5175 Bills Road, Duncan, BC
Cost: $475, early bird before July 1st, $375
Contact: 250-748-6802
******
Small Scale Seed Production for Organic Farmers Workshop
Who: John Navazio of the Organic Seed Alliance
When: July 12-14 - Tues 6-9pm, Wed and Thurs 10am-6pm
Where: Saanich, BC
Cost: $150, includes reading materials and meals
Contact: Chris Wells at 250-658-5420
E-mail: quinoa@shaw.ca
*********************
Founded in 1984, Health Action Network Society is a membership-based, non-profit charitable organization dedicated to gathering and disseminating health promotion information.
| . |
|
. |