Sunday, July 8, 2018

Healthy You, Healthy Oceans

Howdy ~ After several weeks of back and forth heatwave then chill, I think summer's finally here in Seattle. This means more outdoor activities and beach time!

I'm a super pasty white, so it's hard to be brave enough to do these things when I'll just get sunburned, and sunscreen is oh-so-yucky-greasy. After having tried several sunscreens that promise to be non-greasy over the years, I finally found one that I'm in love with: Australian Gold Botanical Sunscreen.


Not only is it truly non-greasy, but it also doesn't have the trademark sunscreen smell. Rather, it has a soft tropical scent (perhaps hint of coconut?) and dries to velvety finish.

So, not only am I loving this product for how it feels, but a trip to Mexico a couple years ago made me start thinking about sunscreen's effect on sealife.


Specifically of note is coral reefs. In the callouts on the back of the bottle, Oxybenzone Free = Reef Friendly. Oxybenzone has proven to be dangerous to coral, and this and similar ingredients have recently been banned in Hawaii. To pick a better product, look for mineral-based products with primary ingredients like Zinc Oxide. Another interesting note is "Non-Nano". This means the zinc particles are a little larger and less likely to be absorbed by both the coral and in our own blood streams. Apparently the FDA isn't recognizing non-nano yet, so you may primarily see this on products from Australia.

Fun fact: did you know that coral is not a stone or plant, but rather animal in the same family as jellyfish? They have a symbiotic relationship with algae, which they depend upon to get energy from the sun.

(Image borrowed from noaa.gov. Click to enlarge for text.) 

At $8 for 5oz of liquid sunscreen, this is a middle of the road price. For no extra cost over chemical sunscreens, it's an easy switch to protect our oceans.

Monday, July 2, 2018

Borrow

This one's for people with small dwellings (calling all you apartment renters or condo owners!), or people who just don't want to own things that they won't use regularly... have you heard of Tool Libraries or Libraries of Things?

These are community resources that allow you to borrow items from hammers and gardening tools to Cuisinarts for a small membership fee or suggested donation. Some of them also have work space and repair classes. In general, there is minimal cost to the borrower; some funds are recouped through late fees or charges for broken items, but otherwise they are funded by city or community groups and run by volunteers. 

(Image borrowed from www.resourcefulpdx.com)

Here are just some of the tool libraries in the Pacific Northwest:

Seattle Metro area
Capitol Hill, Seattle - 420 E. Pike St.
SE Seattle - 4425 MLK Jr. Way S
West Seattle - 4408 Delridge Way SW
NE Seattle - 10228 Fischer Pl NE
Tacoma - 754 S. 38th Street
Vashon Island - 18870 103rd Ave SW

Portland area
NE Portland - 5431 NE 20th Ave
Green Lents, Portland - 9215 SE Ramona St
SE Portland - 1137 SE 20th Ave

Even more libraries can be found at this directory