So there was a little downtime this week while I was on vacation! I went to Vegas (a yearly ordeal) and on coming back I feel the need to invest in a little detoxification.

Toxic by LisaKimberly on flickr

In Vegas, we eat crappy food (McDonalds chicken nuggets, fried foods, no veggies), and some very rich meals (dinner at Mon Ami Gabi). We drink quite a bit of alcohol and sit in smoky casinos and bars. We spend a lot of time walking, but not necessarily in the best walking shoes. We gamble our hard earned money (that we’ve saved, of course – we’re not irresponsible). We use the ultra drying soap in the shower, and sometimes we use it on our face to take our makeup off. We forget our vitamins, have coffee (or Coke) followed by Bloody Marys for breakfast. We stay up way too late and don’t get enough sleep. When we get home from this trip, we’re exhausted, bloated, dehydrated; our ears ring, our eyes are dry, our throats are sore, our lips crack, our feet are blistered and everything needs a good wash.

This week’s investment is time and effort.  It’s a good time to detox – to get hydrated, to stuff ourselves with delicious fruits and veggies.  It’s a good time to clear the fuzziness out of our brains by reading engaging books and spending a lot of time in thoughtful reflection.  It’s the time to drink lots of tea – green tea in general, but black tea instead of coffee.  It’s the time to pay extra attention to ravaged skin – moisturizing, cleansing, and nourishing with our product regimen, and our diets.  It’s the perfect time to drink up on water and cut down on salts.  We should be saving instead of spending.  We need rest, rejuvenation, and relaxation, but we also need to work our stiff limbs, and get back to our fighting weight.  We need to work out all the toxins, and stuff ourselves full of good things.

It’s the perfect time for me, having just come back from Vegas; it’s also a good reminder to everyone who may feel like they’re slipping a little on their resolutions.  Take the next couple weeks to really focus on bringing your mind and body to their prime.

Some suggestions:

◊ meditate ◊ buy new insoles and cushion your feet ◊ go meatless for a week ◊ keep a water bottle with you for hydration ◊ put a post-it on your mirror to remind you to take your vitamins ◊ floss (dental health is important!) ◊ set your bed-time earlier this week ◊ in conjunction with an earlier bed-time, set your alarm early enough to head the the gym before work ◊ set your beauty regimen out where you can see it, so you remember to use it ◊ pick up a book on an interesting subject and carve out time to read it ◊ make a meal plan this week and keep good-for-you snacks on hand (less temptation towards fast food) ◊ sit up straight ◊ stock a desk drawer with delicious teas

If you can think of any other great tips, post them below!!

P.S. If you’re doing Gala’s Radical Self Love challenge – this is the perfect way to work on some self love.

There are so many companies out there marketing “green” products made from bamboo – a soft, Tencel-like fabric.  The FTC, though, is concerned with “greenwashing” – saying this soft bamboo fabric isn’t green, or eco-friendly or even organic.  This form of bamboo is actually a rayon, and is not considered organic, or eco-friendly.  Rayon is a very soft, natural-cellulose-based fabric, which is completely man-made from bamboo, wood, or cotton lintner – using heavy chemicals to turn the woody fibers into a soft pulp.

The process happens like this:

[Rayon is] a textile made from cellulose. There are two types, both made from wood pulp. In the viscose process, the pulp is dissolved in carbon disulphide and sodium hydroxide to give a thick brown liquid containing cellulose xanthate. The liquid is then forced through fine nozzles into acid, where the xanthate is decomposed and a cellulose filament is produced. The product is viscose rayon. In the acetate process cellulose acetate is made and dissolved in a solvent. The solution is forced through nozzles into air, where the solvent quickly evaporates leaving a filament of acetate rayon.

…

As one of the industry’s major problems, the chemical by-products of rayon have received much attention in these environmentally conscious times. The most popular method of production, the viscose method, generates undesirable water and air emissions. Of particular concern is the emission of zinc and hydrogen sulfide.

At present, producers are trying a number of techniques to reduce pollution. Some of the techniques being used are the recovery of zinc by ion-exchange, crystallization, and the use of a more purified cellulose. Also, the use of absorption and chemical scrubbing is proving to be helpful in reducing undesirable emissions of gas.

The FTC has made it clear that most bamboo products are not “eco-friendly” and should be properly marketed -  in what they call a case of “greenwashing”:

The Federal Trade Commission has charged four sellers of clothing and other textile products with deceptively labeling and advertising these items as made of bamboo fiber, when they are made of rayon. The complaints also charge the companies with making false and unsubstantiated “green” claims that their clothing and textile products are manufactured using an environmentally friendly process, that they retain the natural antimicrobial properties of the bamboo plant, and that they are biodegradable… The FTC also charges three of the companies [...] with violating the Textile Act and Rules by advertising or labeling their products without disclosing where the products were manufactured… The proposed orders do allow the companies to describe their products as “rayon made from bamboo,” as long as this is true and can be substantiated.

From Fashion Incubator

Bamboo is GENERALLY not a green product because the process that goes into making most bamboo products (that soft, silky-feeling material) involves highly toxic chemicals to make the woody fibers – like a linen.  The FTC regulations say bamboo products must still be labeled as a rayon (including “rayon from bamboo”), based on the way they’re made.  (For more information on toxicity and cleanup of rayon-production sites, read about Avtex)

Bamboo CAN be environmentally friendly, of course, if the fabric you’re buying is bamboo linen (much like flax linen) or if the companies are using a closed-loop supply chain.   As the Fashion Incubator article notes, though:

Of all the fabrics in the rayon family, lyocell is considered to be the most eco-friendly because Lenzing, the firm that manufacturers lyocell, has a certified closed loop system. While many bamboo producers claim they use a closed loop system, the claims are dubious for two reasons. The first is that lyocell is a proprietary process patented by Lenzig which has not licensed the process to any bamboo producers. Secondly, while it’s possible bamboo producers have developed their own proprietary closed loop processes, no firms to date have permitted inspectors on site to verify these claims.

Another problem with bamboo is it’s propensity to become invasive; there are 2 types of bamboo – clumping and running.  While bamboo is an amazing crop that grows well with little water or care, many running strains of the species are invasive, and considered a weed.  It seems like the perfect sustainable solution, until bamboo suppliers realize they’ve planted the wrong strain, and it’s overtaken the area’s native plants.

For now, it seems the safest bet for our eco-concerned shoppers is to continue to buy organic cotton products, organic linens, and hemp-linen products.  The bamboo linen fabrics are worth looking into, but remember, if it’s that silky, stretchy fabric, it is quite possibly a rayon.

How do you feel about the FTC’s move to accurately label bamboo fabrics?   Will you continue to buy bamboo rayons?

For more info, read these links:

Link 1, Link 2, Link 3, Link 4, Info on Tencel