Dear Daniel Stafford, Are there toxic chemicals in your cosmetics?
This past May, researchers at the University of California-Berkeley tested 32 common lipstick brands and found unacceptable levels of chromium (a suspected carcinogen), mangnese (linked to nervous system damage), and lead.
Our editor-in-chief, Tracy Fernandez Rysavy, unpacks the details of the study in her new editorial, calling on Congress to pass the Safe Cosmetics Act. Already, Green Americans have sent more than 20,000 messages to Congress demanding FDA authority to pull unsafe cosmetics from the market. If you haven't contacted your representative yet, please do!
Then, to find green businesses making safe cosmetics, look to our greenpages.org.
For an example of the extraordinary work of our Green Pages businesses, look no futher than this month's interview with Timothy Young, owner of Food for Thought, a farm-based business producing an all-organic and wildcrafted line of preserves, relish, salsa, and other condiments.
Food for Thought uses GMO-free, Fair Trade sugar; produces its products in a solar photovoltaic facility with a heat recovery system; and does so much more than I have space to tell you here. (Read the interview for some inspiration!)
And finally, our Better Paper Project director, Frank Locantore, tells me about his program's exciting new partnership with REMAG, a program that rewards magazine readers for recycling. Find out more below about how this innovative pilot program works.
Thanks for all you do,
Alisa Gravitz,
President,
Green America
P.S. Your end-of-summer donation powers our green-economy work, including our GMO Inside campaign, our Fair Trade program, our clean-energy work, our Better Paper Project, and more.
 Tell Congress to Pass the Safe Cosmetics Act
 Sharron Camaratta bites her lips. She never thought of this as a problem, until 2007, when she read that certain lipsticks contain lead, a substance that can cause brain and nervous system damage. So she stopped wearing the problematic brands — including L'Oreal, CoverGirl, and Dior — until a year or two ago, when she again started making lipstick purchases based on personal preference and little else. But that changed when Camaratta discovered a May 2013 study by the University of California-Berkeley, in which researchers found lead in lipstick. Again. If you think that the government is keeping us safe, you're wrong — and you're not alone. "I had figured the government would have cracked down on companies putting lead in lipstick after that first came to light in 2007," says Camaratta. "I mean, come on! Lead can cause brain damage, and it could be on my face every day?" More from Tracy's editorial »
Tell your representatives in Congress to co-sponsor the Safe Cosmetics Act »
 Meet Timothy Young of Food for Thought
 GREEN AMERICA: What were you doing before you started your green business? TIMOTHY YOUNG: I'm a political scientist by training and spent a number of years in and out of college doing research or work on human relief projects in the developing world. I spent many winters living in the war-torn regions of Central America in the pre-Fair-Trade globalization era of the 80s. Seeing and living with the invisible costs of globalization (war, structural poverty, and all the human and environmental injustices that come with this model of global trade), my world-view was pureed, extruded, scrambled, and solidified.
I later returned home to northern Michigan determined to find a way to be in the food business without perpetuating this impoverishing global economic regime. My first step was to build a home from entirely recycled materials, followed by certifying my land organic. I planted a few seeds, started selling jam at a farmers market, and things took off from there.
More from Timothy's interview »
 Our Better Paper Project Partnership with REMAG
 The Better Paper Project announces the launch of REMAG, a recycling program that rewards readers with coupons when they recycle magazines, newspapers, and catalogs at interactive kiosks at participating retailers -- especially in communities where recycling rates are low. So far, REMAG has launched in Puerto Rico with kiosks at three SuperMax locations, with plans to extend the program through the US after a test period. REMAG's reward coupons can be used for purchasing new magazines at a discount, or redeemed as donations for local nonprofit organizations. Since its launch, our Better Paper Project has helped more than 200 magazines find and use environmentally preferable paper for their printing. Project director Frank Locantore says he has high hopes for REMAG boosting recycling rates where they are below the norm, providing more recycled fiber for publishers that seek to switch to better paper.
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