Define Body & Mind

DEFINE river oaks – Sneak Peak

Thursday, August 19th, 2010

Sneak peek at DEFINE river oaks!

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The Story of Cosmetics

Thursday, August 12th, 2010

We recently watched The Story of Cosmetics from The Story of Stuff Project and it made us take another look at the products in our home bathrooms.  While the Antica Farmacista soaps and lotions available at the studio are made from natural ingredients, what about all the other products that we use each and everyday?

In this 8 minute video, Annie Leonard partnered with the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics to examine the toxic ingredients found in many cosmetics.  In products from  shampoo to lipstick, Annie finds chemicals that have been known to cause cancer, asthma, learning disabilities, and birth defects.

Another shocking takeaway from The Story of Cosmetics is that claims such as “herbal”, “natural”, and even “ORGANIC” have no legal definition and therefore no real meaning.

For another interesting article on this topic and to see what Whole Foods is doing to provide their customers with certified organic body care products, check out the Whole Foods blog here.

So before we all clean out our bathroom drawers, do you have any recommendations on great, green personal care products?

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DEFINE Green

Tuesday, August 10th, 2010

At DEFINE, we strive to make the idea of sustainability a complete experience not only for the body, mind and your health, but also for the environment.  And in keeping with that, not only does the studio incorporate eco-friendly building materials like our cork floors, non-VOC paint, recycled doors and furniture, we also try to use eco-friendly products.

I’m sure you all have noticed the wonky plastic cups that we have been using at the water station the past couple of months.  Well, these cups were made from CORN!  Well actually from PLA (polylactic acid, or Polylactide), a polymer that comes from corn and other 100% renewable resources.  PLA and those wonky cups are 100% biodegradable and commercially compostable within 90-120 days.  But in the Texas heat, they started composting a little too soon and melted into some, shall we say unique shapes.  (By comparison, standard plastic cups, which are made from nonrenewable petrochemicals, cannot be composted, and can take decades to break down.)

But GOOD NEWS…our paper cups are biodegradable too!  The cups are made from paper (wood pulp) and coated with Ingeo™ polymers (naturally derived biodegradable plastic).  These cups are made entirely from renewable resources, and they’re fully biodegradable.  Also, since they’re suitable for hot beverages also, they will keep their lovely shape!

We found both of these great environmentally friendly products at Branch (www.branchhome.com), an online store with a commitment to sustainability.  And while shopping for cups, we saw another fun product we thought we would share with you:

Kids Garden in a Bag

A perfect way for kids to express themselves and design a personalized garden for their own enjoyment or as a gift for someone special. Crayons or paint (not included) and a little creativity are all that is needed to make a work of art that reveals the simple beauty of childhood and gardening.

Once adorned, growing a plant for a desktop or windowsill couldn’t be easier: this bag contains everything you need. Simply follow the easy instructions, and soon you’ll have a plant that grows right in the leak-proof bag. With regular watering and occasional fertilizer (not included), it will continue to produce year ’round.

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Pacific Adventure on a Plastic Boat

Thursday, July 29th, 2010

Have you guys heard about the Plastiki?  A boat made out of used plastic bottles and cashew nut glue made it all the way from San Francisco to Sydney!  To learn more about why on earth someone would want to do this, check out the video and story below:

Plastiki’s journey to inspire and educate people the world over to become agents of change and stop  the irresponsible use and disposal of plastics came to an end on Monday.

The 20m catamaran made up of 12,500 recycled plastic bottles and relying primarily on renewable energy systems, ended its epic four-month, 128 day voyage after spanning 14,816km.

Skipper David De Rothschild had set out on the expedition to raise awareness about the amount of plastic waste being dumped in the sea.  The eco-adventurer was inspired in part by Thor Heyerdahl’s 1947 journey on a raft called the Kon-Tiki, which travelled 4300 nautical miles from South America to Polynesia.  Before the vessel left San Francisco, he had told The Australian’s Wish magazine: “We are really trying to pose the question: Is plastic the enemy or is it our misunderstanding of how we dispose of it?  We are not advocating the banning of plastics, just the banning or reducing of dumb, single-use plastics.”

David and his crew hope their journey makes people realize how garbage is threatening the health of  the planet and its inhabitants.  Primarily drawing attention to the health of our oceans, in particular the colossal amounts of plastic debris, by showcasing waste as a resource and demonstrating real world solutions through the design and construction of the Plastiki.

As evidenced by the creation of the Plastiki, David says plastic and other waste doesn’t have to end up in a landfill.  “Around plastics, we need to reduce, reuse, recycle and the fourth R—refuse the single-use plastics,” he says. “I hope that the Plastiki showcases that we’ve used innovative materials, … new glues that we’ve actually engineered out of cashew nuts and sugar, which show that there are solutions to those problems out there.  We can all do something about it.”

For more information visit:

http://www.theplastiki.com/

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