Thanks for your patience!

Hey Folks!

We know a LOT of you have questions about sunscreen! We will be answering those questions very shortly in our upcoming blog. We’ve gotten a little behind in posts as you can tell. We’ve been busy bees here!

Thanks for your patience!

 

The TruKid Team

EWG Names TruKid on Top Ten Safest Sunscreens List

Does your sunscreen work? An investigation of nearly 1,000 brand-name sunscreen products finds that 4 out of 5 contain chemicals that may pose health hazards or don’t adequately protect skin from the sun’s damaging rays. Some of the worst offenders are leading brands like Coppertone, Banana Boat, and Neutrogena.

More than a million cases of skin cancer are diagnosed in the U.S. every year, but FDA still hasn’t finalized sunscreen standards first announced 30 years ago. Click here to tell FDA you’re tired of waiting. Meanwhile, companies are free to claim but not provide broad spectrum protection. Until FDA requires that all sunscreens be safe and effective, Environmental Working Group’s comprehensive sunscreen guide—including a list of 143 products that offer very good sun protection—fills in the gaps.

Sunscreen lovers may not have to be disappointed, however. EWG says there are 143 products consumers can use that offer a very good sun protection with ingredients and pose only minimal health risks if any.

The top 10 recommended are listed below:
1. Keys Soap Solar Rx Therapeutic Sunblock, SPF 30
2. TruKid Sunny Days Facestick Mineral Sunscreen UVA/UVB Broad Spectrum, WATERPROOF SPF 30+
3. California Baby Sunblock Stick No Fragrance, SPF 30+
4. Badger Sunscreen, SPF 30
5. Marie Veronique Skin Therapy Sun Serum
6. Lavera Sunscreen Neutral, SPF 40
7. Vanicream Sunscreen, SPF 35
8. UV Natural Sunscreen, SPF 30+
9. Sun Science Sport Formula, SPF 30
10. Soleo Organics Sunscreen all natural Sunscreen, SPF 30+

Source: Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep Cosmetic Safety Database
Source: http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/special/sunscreens2008/index.php

Recycling just got easier!

Summer is great for 3 reasons:

1. Warm Weather!
2. The Beach
(with appropriate sunscreen of course)!
3. Cook outs!
AKA: family and friends and grilled food!

Number three is really my personal favorite. I love cookouts!  However, they do have a way of being, shall we say, “less than green”.

Barbecues often lend themselves to being extremely wasteful! Plastic plates, cups and utensils are just some of the culprits we run into. Let’s admit it, these little plastic commodities are SO convenient; but my conscience is never clear when I’m leaving the park with 5 garbage bags full of plastic, paper and other “I could have recycled you but I didn’t”, items.

I recently found this site www.earth911.org. Just enter your zip code at the top of the page and it tells you places NEAR YOU to recycle all kinds of things! From paper and plastic to electronics, like your old cell phone. HOW FANTASTIC!  I found a place right down my street that takes old Styrofoam and bubble wrap. I’m so excited, because I don’t usually use either of those and yet they’ve been sitting in the back of my closet waiting to be used.

Okay, I know it’s not as convenient, nor seemingly time savvy, to load all of your recyclables into the car and bring them somewhere. I get it! But we have to look at the big picture. If we all reserved at least one day a week to pack up our recyclables that can’t go into our bins and bring them somewhere where they can be re-used in some way, I have to believe that it would make a HUGE impact on the environment and our kids’ future!

I would like to be able to tell my kids, I’m making a difference now, for you.

Earth911 has a blog. I’m assuming these are the same people as earth911.org, but please correct me if I’m wrong.

If your a resident of California, you may be interested in this blog. It’s called Californians Against Waste and it talks about current legislation issues in California.

Favorites! UV Skinz are in!

Wow! It’s August already! Pretty soon, your mind will be drifting to thoughts about back to school and the cool fall air that comes with it.  What a perfect time to remind ourselves that it is still summer and that good ‘ole summer sun is still cookin’!  

We want to make sure that you and your family are covered and protected from those damaging UV rays! Here at TruKid we are all in love with UV Skinz sun shirts! Perfect for the beach and pool and so fun and colorful! Perhaps what we love the most about UV Skinz is their message.

Founder Rhonda Sparks is just as passionate about UV protection as we are! Ms. Sparks started her company after her husband passed away at the age of 32 from malignant melanoma. This tragedy left her with three young boys and the determination to make a difference in others’ lives. She firmly believes that one less sunburn really does make a difference and she is providing the proper tools for your families to have safe and healthy days in the sun. Hurray!

For more information on UV Skinz, you can go to their site here!

Got a Garden? Why not give to your local food bank!?

Today at TruKid we all walked in and found home-grown plums on our desks from one of our research and developers, Jane. That was quite the surprise. A very sweet and delicious surprise.

She told us her parents had grown the plums at their home and had given her a bunch to take home and to work. She went on to say that her parents had enough to make plum jam, plum reserves, and pretty much fill a kiddie pool full of plums, should they choose to go plum swimming.

The bottom line: Not many people can honestly use all of the produce that their gardens/trees grow. You can give produce to friends and family and still have a bunch left. So why not donate it to your local food bank?

Jane’s parents went directly to their local food bank to donate the rest of their fresh fruit.

This is where you come in!

Got a garden? Consider these facts from our local food bank, the Alameda County Food Bank:

At their bank alone, they received 15 million lbs of food. Of that amount, 9.3 million lbs were non-perishable items. That means that more than half of the food at the food bank at any given time was not fresh fruit or vegetables. Our county is lucky to have a conscientious group working for them.  The man I spoke to said “We could have as much soda as we want! But it’s not healthy so we cut it out.” We agree! Soda is a treat for some people, but it is definitely not nutritious.  We should start offering food banks things that we would want our families to eat. Not to mention this reduces our carbon footprint! Food that is not packaged reduces waste from plastic, paper, and if it’s from your own garden, (we’re hoping) less pesticides!

With the economy not doing so hot, more families are having to turn to food banks for help. The Alameda County Food Bank reported that their hot-line for food help has gone up 23% just in 2007. That’s a giant leap for one year!

If you happen to have a garden we encourage you to pick and bring all of your extras to the local food bank. You can find a food bank near you at www.secondharvest.org

If you don’t have a garden, but have some extra land and time (initially), why not start a garden? Something tells me the benefits you reap will be a lot greater than the effort it took you to sow.

If you happen to decide to do this or have done this before, please comment. We want to hear from you!

Some things to keep in mind:
1. Donate your fresh foods before they are ripe or about to spoil. Distribution of donated items usually takes 3-4 days.
2. If you work in an office building spread the word through a company approved email or flier that you are looking for people with gardens/trees and extra produce!
3. Notice fruit trees in your neighborhood?? Why not ask your neighbors to get involved or volunteer to pick their extra fruit and bring it to your local food bank!
4. The clean up in your yard will be soooo much less than if you were to let your fruit spoil and fall to the ground.
5. Picking fruit can be a great bonding time for friends and family. Get everyone involved!

*Thank you to the Alameda Food Bank for the wealth of information they gave us and for their on-going contributions to our community!

Plastic, Plastic Everywhere…

I was recently reading a blog about a woman who has stopped buying all things plastic. Everything except garbage bags and a few other daily items. How intriguing. This wouldn’t work for everyone. Especially not a busy mom who sometimes believes that those pre-made dinners and frozen pizzas are an extension of her limbs. However, kudos, to you busy moms out there who have managed to minimize plastic waste so effectively!

The concept is very inspirational, in fact, it has inspired me to share my plastic research with you. By now, most people know that some plastic is recyclable and some just isn’t.  Some plastic will be around forever in its current form. What is even more worrisome to me than that is the idea of the toxins in plastic poisoning us and our children. I admit I am guilty of re-filling water bottles. I thought this was a good thing, I was using less plastic and therefore being friendlier to the environment. When I was done I would recycle it! WRONG! I mean minus the recycling part, that part I did right.

But when I was doing research about plastic bottles I came across The Green Guide Article that says this:

“A safe plastic if used only once, #1 polyethylene terephthalate (PET or PETE) is the most common resin used in disposable bottles. However, as #1 bottles are reused, which they commonly are, they can leach chemicals such as DEHA, a known carcinogen, and benzyl butyl phthalate (BBP), a potential hormone disrupter. According to the January 2006 Journal of Environmental Monitoring, some PET bottled-water containers were found to leach antimony, an elemental metal that is an eye, skin, and lung irritant at high doses. Also, because the plastic is porous you’ll likely get a swill of harmful bacteria with each gulp if you reuse #1 plastic bottles.”

Did anyone else just think back to every time they re-filled a water bottle and feel really sick? That’s just gross! I mean I don’t like to think of “swilling” anything, but especially not harmful bacteria. (Am I the only one grossed out by the word swill? Probably).

In order to figure out a safer alternative for our drinking water I Googled “plastic bottle alternatives” and found Z recommends’ blog on just this subject! Stainless steel water bottles! I will be purchasing mine within the next few days, especially with all of the fun colors available!

And as a quick side note, TruKid uses the safe plastic PETE 1 for our bottles and it is always and only used once. NO chemicals can leach into your products AND when the bottles are recycled my research and development department tells me that they are usually turned into speed bumps! That’s a fun fact!

Exactly How Much Sunscreen?!

We recently wrote a blog on the correct way to apply sunscreen. Today we came across an article that is a great resource for telling us exactly how much sunscreen we should use with each application!

It is called the “rule of 9’s”. If you think of your body as being split up into 11 sections and each section equals 9% of your body surface area you should apply at least TWO fingers worth of sunscreen onto each section. That means the length and width’s worth of two fingers for each of your 11 sections to be fully protected for your day in the sun.

We took the following chart directly from the University of Washington’s page to show you exactly how this is divided up!

• Head, neck and face = 9%
• Left arm = 9%
• Right arm = 9%
• Upper back = 9%
• Lower back = 9%
• Upper front torso = 9%
• Lower front torso = 9%
• Right upper leg and thigh = 9%
• Left upper leg and thigh = 9%
• Right lower leg and foot = 9%
• Left lower leg and foot = 9%

For more information, you can visit the site where we found this excellent information.

Have a wonderfully Sunny day!

The Correct Way to Apply Sunscreen.

We have received many questions regarding the correct way to apply our mineral sunscreen.

What is the right way to apply it?

How much should you apply?

Should the zinc in our product remain white on your skin like those lifeguards nose’s of the 80’s?

Well we’re going to answer that last question first with a big, Nope! Who likes to be all white and sticky on the beach?! Not us, and especially not kids. We formulated TruKid’s sunscreen so that you and your family do not have to look like Frosty the Snowman & Co. in the middle of the summer. We use micro particles of zinc which have been found to be safe and efficient in protecting your skin, without leaving that sticky white residue. So when you apply our sunscreen, rub it in all the way because you don’t have to see the minerals sitting on your skin to still have the full protection. This is why we LOVE our minerals.

Now that we have that settled, we’ll move on to how much you should apply each time. If you’re getting ready for the day, adults should use about 1 ounce of sunscreen for your entire body (think shot glass). For kids, you should use an adult’s handful worth of sunscreen. This is before you get dressed for the day.

Throughout the day, reapply standard sunscreen every 80 minutes (this is really if you are outside for most of the day). If you’re swimming and not wearing a water resistant protection, reapply every time you get out of the water. However, if you are wearing water resistant sunscreen, protection is retained for 80 minutes when swimming or sweating. You should only need a couple of handfuls to cover all of your exposed skin.

Contrary to chemical sunscreen, our sunscreen is mineral based so protection is immediate. If you are using a chemical sunscreen you will want to put it on 20 minutes before you go out into the sun.

What’s the difference? Our sunscreen is mineral based which means it sits on top of the skin for a physical protection. Chemical sunscreen must be absorbed into the skin before it works.

We hope this helps and please feel free to contact us if you have any other questions. You can leave us a comment on the blog or email us at info@trukid.com.

Summer Sale!

TruKid Travel Sets are ready to go on the road with you during our Mid-Summer Sales Event: BUY ONE GET ONE FREE!
Both travel sets come in environmentally friendly Grab and Go Packs that are perfect for anything from week long vacations to slumber parties. The Mid Summer Sales Event lasts until July 25th so hurry and order yours today!
All bottles are 1.75 ounces (perfect for flying)

Sunscreen: Nano vs. Micro Particles, a Difference Worth a Second Look.

There have been many discussions, articles and blogs about the safety or dangers of nano and micro particles in skin care. Are they dangerous? Are they safe? Is one more effective than the other?

To clear up any questions you may have about this, Trukid’s Research and Development team member, Jane McKay, has written an article in collaboration with Healthy Child Healthy World.

Understanding Sunscreen: Micronization and Nanoparticles
Jane McKay
www.TruKid.com

When choosing the safest sunscreen, it’s not only important to know which offer the best protection without relying on toxic ingredients, it is also important to understand what the terms “micronization” and “nanoparticles” mean.

Most of us are familiar with the white noses of lifeguards and parents who use non-toxic sunscreens are accustomed to the ghostly pale residue left behind after a good slathering. This whitening, although cosmetically unacceptable to many people, is caused by zinc oxide and titanium dioxide, which create a powerful physical barrier to the sun’s rays. Historically, in order to avoid this undesirable result, chemical absorbers were developed to replace these ingredients.

Chemical absorbers are compounds absorbed through the skin, which absorb UV irradiation. These compounds (like PABA, oxybenzone, and benzophenones) have been used for many years primarily because they do not create a whitening effect. Increasingly, scientists have come to realize that they provide incomplete protection against UV-A rays. In addition, some chemical filters degrade after prolonged sun exposure, can irritate sensitive skin, and cause other long-term environmental and health impacts.
Coming full circle, manufacturers have returned to the drawing board in order to create a product that uses physical, rather than chemical barriers, but doesn’t clog pores or leave a white residue. By shrinking the zinc oxide or titanium dioxide through a process called “micronization” we can have the best of both worlds: superior non-toxic protection and cosmetic acceptability.
Micronization is the process of reducing the average diameter of a solid material’s particles. Usually, the term micronization is used when the particles that are produced are only a few micrometers in diameter. Some newer manufacturers are decreasing the size of the particles even more, into “nanoparticles” that essentially disappear immediately when rubbed onto skin.

A micrometer is one millionth of a meter. A nanometer is one billionth of a meter. (One thousand times smaller! It’s difficult to fathom, but in comparison, a human hair’s diameter is 800,000 nanometers). While the larger sized micronized particles appear to be both safe and effective, many questions still linger about the safety of nanoparticles. Preliminary studies seem reassuring, but only a few have been done and none have been done under real life conditions or even on the actual commercial formulations being used (because manufacturers won’t reveal their recipes).

Until more research has been done and some regulations are put in place (right now manufacturers don’t even have to tell you if their product contains nanoparticles), you can rely on watchdog organizations like Healthy Child Healthy World and the Environmental Working Group to let you know your safest options.

Click here for a list of this season’s safest sunscreens.

Thank you to Healthy Child Healthy World for collaboration and devotion to a healthier world for our kids.