Share & Voice: I Love Thrift Stores!

My Thoughts
Growing up, I had parents who exposed me to the world of second-hand shopping through garage sales, auctions, and thrift stores. To this day, I still try to buy used items before I purchase a newer item. In the current economy, shopping at thrift stores is both sensible AND environmentally-friendly. Why buy new clothes that probably took many hours of machine power (and thus pollution) to make, when you can reuse clothes and reduce your carbon footprint? You are also saving these items from going into landfills! Not only can you buy clothes at thrift stores, but you can also buy furniture, books, music, dishes, and appliances!

Additional Resources
1. Green Thrift Store Tips
2. Ultimate Guide to Thrift Store Shopping

Places to go in the Duluth Area
1. Plato’s Closet (My personal favorite!)
2. Goodwill Industries
3. Salvation Army
4. Earth Exchange Upscale Thrift Store (Superior)
5. And many more!!!

Eye Opener: Environmental Working Group

BURT'S BEES SOAP BARK AND CHAMOMILE DEEP CLEANSING CREAM

RESULTS
Overall Score = 2 (low hazard)

Ingredients in this product are linked to:
Cancer: YES
Developmental/reproductive toxicity: YES
Violations, restrictions & warnings: YES
Allergies/immunotoxicity: NO
Other concerns for ingredients used in this product:
Neurotoxicity, Endocrine disruption, Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive), Multiple, additive exposure sources, Irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs), Contamination concerns

This manufacturer:
Signed Compact for Safe Cosmetics
Does not conduct animal testing

MY THOUGHTS
I always questioned the "natural" label on Burt's Bee's product because I new it didn't have the same meaning as "organic." I never washed my face with any cleansing product before this one, but I figured I would give it a try and that it would be safer than other "unnatural" products loaded with different chemicals. This cleansing product was rated as a low hazard, but it also contains carcinogens, developmental/reproductive toxins and other dangerous ingredients. I would like to look into using a more environmentally friendly product, or research weather or not my face actually needs to be cleansed with any type of product.