What's in your cleaning products? Your art materials? Your pet care and auto products?

The National Institute of Health has a database of ingredients for products ranging from household cleaning materials to pesticides, lawn fertilizer, and art supplies. The Household Products Database

Shopping Bags: Paper or Plastic? Check out Captain Green's August 2008 ecoGems on the impact that a switch to reusable bags can have on our environment. The Truth about Paper or Plastic (bags) and Tips about the Paper or Plastic question

Water: Bottles, Purifiers

It's good news that many of us are getting on the anti-bottled water bandwagon. Why? The production of these plastic bottles is wreaking havoc on our environment and thousands of them are filling up our landfills rather than going to recycling centers. In North America each year, more than 1.5 million barrels of petroleum go into the production of 38 billion plastic water bottles. There are several articles circulating that encourage a return to tap water, and, for most of us, tap water and refillable water bottles are a great solution.

If you have a compromised immune system, you're pregnant, or you're a small child, tap water may not be the best water for you to consume. (For more information, read the research-based article, "What's on Tap?" ) The solution? Add a good home water filter to the equation.

Whether using tap water or running it through a filter, you will need some bottles that you can refill. We located several by Googling "alternative water bottles." There are three options: stainless steel, extruded aluminum, and Polycarbonate. Most of them are dishwasher safe, easy to clean, durable, inert, sanitary, toxin-free, and non-leaching. There is an ongoing debate .about the toxicity of polycarbonate leaching. Plasticsinfo.org suggests that there is no research to support this claim. National Geographic's Green Guide presents the other side of the argument, along with tips for using polycarbonate safely at the end of the article.

By the way, if you would like to learn more about tap water, bottled water, and safety, NRDC offers an FAQ on this topic.

Reusable Shopping Bags

Some cities are already planning to ban the use of plastic bags, and many stores are encouraging customers to bring their own bags.

There are several reusable bag companies as well as major online stores that sell reusable shopping bags made from recycled materials. (Just Google "reusable bags") You can also purchase bags from most grocery stores.