Step: 7: Wallet Voting

I believe that the greatest gift you can give your family and the world is
a healthy you.
- Joyce Meyer

Educate yourself and vote with your wallet
When a long weekend is coming, there are usually long queues in supermarkets. People have their trolleys packed with all sort of junk that they wouldn’t survive without during the weekend: multi-pack of coke, toast bread, ready-made steak for a barbecue, a few bags of crisps and, of course, beer and ice-cream. Is this the menu our body will enjoy or needs?

The lack of vitamins and minerals in our diet answers a lot of questions about our discomfort, catching illnesses and “I don’t like Mondays” attitude. But how can we know it if healthy, high quality products are hidden in a shop corner under the sign “Healthy Food” or they are only available in online stores or on organic farms. The offer of stores and restaurants depends on us, but we also depend on it. Blindly buying things on sale or what we have just seen on TV, makes our market flooded with unhealthy products that make us and our children suffer from diseases that used to happen only to older people.

Despite the risk of causing allergies, hormonal disorders or even cancer, products containing formaldehyde donors (preservatives that are forbidden during pregnancy and lactation) are legally available in shops.

What do you vote for?
Our choice is the first step. That’s why we need to look for reliable sources of information and get advice from true experts. Not everything that has a label “sensitive” or “baby” is really good for us and our children. In Europe we don’t have any laws that would protect consumers from harmful substances that are applied in cosmetics. Despite the risk of allergies, hormonal disorders or even cancer, manufacturers still sell cosmetics that contain formaldehyde (it must not be used in case of pregnancy and in the period of lactation  – DMDM Hydantoin, Imidiazolidinyl Urea, Quanternium-15, 2-Bromo-2 nitropro- pane-1, 3 diol), and the whole list of highly allergenic perfumes (e.g. d-Limonen, Linalool, Geraniol, Cinnamal, Citronellol, Eugenol, etc.). Only our conscious choice not to buy such products can eliminate them from the market. That’s how people who are still unaware of the risk, wouldn’t be exposed to allergies and various illnesses.

In Denmark, harmful products gradually disappear from shop shelves as Danish people are very aware of the influence our everyday choices have on our health and well-being. It is the result of educating the population starting from kindergartens. It is the initiative of the Danish government which cares about its nation and despite favourable law of the European Union supporting big multinational corporations, it introduces restrictions in case of food products and cosmetics.

People love doing shopping in pharmacies, so from the media we hear that when we happen to suffer from any problem, we need to get some sort of medicine (instead of changing our diet, going for a walk or getting a good night sleep). The situation is the same when it comes to food, clothes and cosmetic industry - most shops sell poor quality products full of pesticides, formaldehyde or fluoride, etc. Not to mention the fact that most of them are not fair trade products. When you go shopping next time, think twice that doing shopping is giving your vote. The consequences of our voting, will literally enter your skin. Those of us, who already make a very conscious choice, should inspire others, who still wander.

I can’t afford my health
There are usually financial arguments coming up that healthy food and healthy products are expensive. But the fact is that healthy shopping doesn’t cost more than shopping full of junk products. It is enough to compare the price of a bag of millet groats with the price of a frozen pizza. Or compare the price of a coke can with the price of a mineral water bottle. Or take a look how much a kilo of tomatoes costs compared to a kilo of candies. The list is very long. This is only an illusion that when we don’t buy healthy food, we actually save money or we can buy more. The truth is, unhealthy products lead to inevitable illnesses and treating illnesses is never cheap.

The people who are waiting in a queue to a specialist know it and those who have problems with moving, too. People who are obese, know it too. When we buy healthy products, we protect our health. We can also be sure that we don’t put sugar into our bodies or some unknown ingredients (cheese or cheese-like products on pizzas) or completely useless and very harmful trans fat. Maybe it is worth paying attention to what you can find on shelves with healthy food?

Your shopping = Your lifestyle
Proper education about healthy food, ecological cosmetics and fair trade are an important step to our well-being. We are getting away from this well-being when we get a fashionable dress from synthetic fabrics or an expensive gadget made of plastic.

Food
There are more and more small farms that understand clients’ needs and they offer subscription for fruit, vegetables and herbs without chemicals, certified organic. In your local stores - look for products with "eco" logo. In a lot of restaurants you can replace some ingredients with those that are sugar and gluten free. In good cafes they offer almond milk as an alternative to cow’s milk.

Cosmetics
When you use organic, certified products, your skin is really nourished, not only temporarily covered with some synthetic film. Use certified cosmetics and natural oils - coconut oil, argan oil, moringa oil and others. A product that is safe for the skin doesn’t contain colourants and artificial fragrance.

Detergents
Do you rinse your floor after cleaning it? I doubt it. That’s why choose those detergents that don’t leave a layer of harmful chemicals on the floor, furniture or even on your clothes. If you don’t have an opportunity to use good, unscented detergents, use home remedies - vinegar, bicarb soda and citric acid. Friendly for your pets, safe for your family and cheap!

Clothes
Buying a new dress usually brings a lot of joy. It will bring even more joy when you know that people who made the dress were well paid for their work and they worked in a safe and comfortable workplace. Clothes produced in Europe might be a bit more expensive, but we can be sure that they were not made by children, which is a common thing in Asian countries.

We recommend the following certificates
Be aware that a lot of cosmetics and food companies, knowing that clients are a bit more careful about what they buy, design their own "signs" and put them on the packages. These "semi-certificates" have nothing in common with health and safety, they usually say "organic" or "highest quality" or "dermatologically tested". If you search for products that will let you live longer, it is worth choosing international certificates which (what’s important) are not granted for life:

• AllergyCertified - One World One Label - global system of granting certificates to products that don’t contain allergy causing ingredients as well as ingredients that may cause cancer, hormonal disorders and infertility. Toxicological assessment of products also means checking if they contain formaldehyde donors, artificial preservatives, colourants and first and foremost fragrance.
• Astma Allergi Denmark - a Blue Wreath is granted by Astma Allergi Danish Association that stands guard to make sure we do choose safe cosmetics. Only odourless cosmetics that don’t contain colourants have a chance to get this certificate.
• Eco Cert - certificate for organic products. Here not only the ingredients are thoroughly checked, but also their origin and the production process. This certificate guarantees that natural ingredients in the products are not polluted with pesticides and herbicides. You can find this certificate only on good quality products.
• Nordic Swan - products with this Scandinavian certificate have minimum impact on the natural environment. Everything has to be environmentally friendly - ingredients, packagings and the whole production process.
• Green Leaf - it is a certificate reserved for organic farming that delivers vegetables, fruit and grains free of synthetic fertilizers. This certificate also guarantees high quality of meat, fish and dairy.
• Demeter - regulates the processing of food, cosmetics, textiles as well as storage, packaging and labelling. The holistic Demeter requirements exceed governmental mandatory regulations. Not only do they exclude the use of synthetic fertilisers and chemical plant protection agents in agricultural crop production, or artificial additives during processing, but also require very specific measures to strengthen the life processes in soil and foodstuffs.
  

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FRAGRANCE
We don’t need them, but they are very often added to cosmetics and detergents. They are the most common cause of contact allergies. The EU list of the most risky scenting compositions includes those that are most allergenic, such as:
Cinnamal, Citronellol, Eugenol, Geraniol, Isoeugenol, Limonene, Linalool, Amyl Cinnamal, Benzyl alcohol, Cinnamyl alcohol, Citral, Hydroxycitronellal, Amylcinnamylalkohol, Anisyl alcohol, Alpha Isomethyl Ionone, Cumarin, Farnesol, Evernia Furfuracea, Evernia prunastri, Hexyl Cinnamal, Benzyl salicylat, Benzyl benzoate, Benzyl cinnamat, Butylphenyl methylpropional, Hydroxyisohexyl, 3-cyklohekseno karboksaldehyde.

CHEMICAL COLOURANTS
It is also good to avoid chemical colourings from E 100 group that are used in the food industry: E 102 tartrazine, E 104 quinoline yellow, E 110 orange yellow, E 122 azorubine, E 123 amaranth, E 124 strawberry red azo dye, E 127 erythrosine, E 131 patent blue, E 142 brilliant green, E 173 aluminium, E 180 lithol rubine.

PRESERVATIVES
Preservatives are used in cosmetics to prevent the development of germs. Avoid carcinogenic substances and formaldehyde donors*: Benzylhemiformal, Methenamine, Paraformaldehyde, 5-bromo-5-nitro-1,3-dioxane, Diazolidinyl urea, DMDM hydantoin*, Formaldehyd Imidiazolidinyl urea*, Sodium hydroxymethylglycinate*, Quaternium-15*, 2-bromo-2-nitropropane-1,3-diol*, Methylisothiazolinone (MI), Methylchloroisothiazolinone (MCI).

* Cosmetics containing formaldehyde are especially not recommended for breastfeeding mothers and pregnant women.

EMULSIFIERS AND CLEANING AGENTS
They combine fat and water into one consistent mass. They can be found in a lot of shampoos, creams, make-up cosmetics, toothpastes and hair sprays. Examples of PEG and PPG - all substance with PEG and PPG prefix:

- Aluminium Chlorochydrate
- Aluminium Chlorochydrex
- Ceteareth
- Glycereth-7 Triacetate
- Laureth-5 Carboxylic Acid
- Myreth-4
- Oleth-3 Phosphate
- Poloxamine, Polysorbate 20, 60, 80
- Sodium Myreth Sulfate,Steareth-2, -21 and other numbers
- Trideceth-12 and other numbers

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