In honor of Valentine's Day, we're looking at the personal products we use every day to keep ourselves healthy and beautiful.  Some of these products are filled with toxic chemicals that are harmful to people and the planet.  But the good news is that there are lots of ways we can take care of ourselves - and those we love -  by making a few cheap and easy green changes. Click here for an overview of the situation and here for ways we can respond.  Need some inspiration? Meet Stacy Malkan, this month's Going Green Hero!

February Focus: Love the Skin You're In!
Having a meeting? Here's a print-friendly version of our agenda for your group. (Save a tree - use both sides of the paper and recycle when you're done).

> Welcome & Check-In (approx. 5 minutes per person)
If this is your first meeting, members can use this time to introduce themselves, talk a little about why they're interested in going green and how they'd like to see the group evolve.
If you met last month, this time is an opportunity for each of you to talk briefly about your successes and challenges from last month's goals.   Questions you might ask include:  How did last month go?  Which goals did they try?  What worked?  What didn't and why?  This is a good time for people to ask each other for suggestions too.

> Break (5 minutes)
If you have a large group or a good conversation, the check-in may take about an hour.  If this happens, you may choose to take a quick break before moving into the next section of the meeting.

> Issue Overview (20 minutes)
These educational bullets are intended to provide the group with a baseline understanding of the chosen focus area.  The facilitator can choose to share these points or supplement them with additional information and resources.

The Situation (Thanks to the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics for these talking points):
> Women use an average of 12 personal grooming products every day -- including toothpaste, soap, shampoo, deodorant, lotion and makeup -- while men use an average of six products a day.  The average adult in the US is exposed to 126 unique chemicals daily from their personal grooming products alone.   The Environmental Protection Agency has linked some of these chemicals to cancer, birth defects, learning disabilities and other health problems.  Almost 90% of the 10,500 ingredients used in personal care products have never been evaluated for safety.  

> The cosmetics industry says it's safe to put toxic chemicals into personal care products because the amount in a single product is too small to matter.  True, a single exposure is no big deal.   But these small amounts of toxic chemicals add up and accumulate over weeks and years and result in a lifetime of exposure.  These chemicals combine with each other in unpredictable ways and have been found in our breast milk and our children.  Diseases linked to synthetic chemicals -- including breast cancer, testicular cancer and reproductive problems -- are on the rise.  In the US, 1 in 2 men and 1 in 3 women are expected to develop cancer during their lifetimes, according to the National Cancer Institute.

> Some of the most problematic ingredients are:

> In Washington State last year, Pollution in People tested 10 people with different lifestyles for exposure to toxic chemicals.  Every person tested- even those who actively worked to reduce their toxins - had at least 26 and as many as 39 of the toxic chemicals.  This absorbed pollution came from everyday activities and products. This means we're most likely walking around with these chemicals too.  

Why It's Happening:
> Major loopholes in federal law allow the $50 billion cosmetics industry to put unlimited amounts of chemicals into personal care products with no required testing or monitoring of health effects.  The cosmetics industry is unregulated.  According to the Food and Drug Administration, "...a cosmetic manufacturer may use almost any raw material as a cosmetic ingredient and market the products without an approval from the FDA." 

> There are 10,500 personal care products in the US, but only 11% of the chemicals used to make them have been assessed for health and safety by the industry's self-policing safety panel.   The cosmetics industry essentially regulates itself in the US through the Cosmetics Industry Review Panel which is funded and run by the cosmetics industry.  The use of the word "Natural" or "Safe" on packaging in no way guarantees that a product is actually natural or safe. 

> The European Union now bans 1,100 chemicals from personal care products because they may cause cancer, birth defects or reproductive problems.  The US bans just 10 of these chemicals.  Many of the cosmetic companies that produce our chemical-laden products make the same products without these chemicals for the European market.     

Impact on the Earth:
> The Cosmetics, Toiletry and Fragrance Association (CTFA) has lobbied against laws that control pollution at cosmetics manufacturing plants, require recycled content in packaging or add more consumer safety information on labels. 

> We're not the only ones absorbing all of these chemicals.  The production process emits carbon and pollution into the air.   When these products are washed down the drain, they pollute our water.  When we throw these products away, they leach into the soil.  The packaging and plastic bottles add to our landfill. 


What We Can Do (20 minutes):
From this list of green lifestyle changes, each member of your group can choose a reasonable number of goals to work on over the next month.  Your group can decide if you want to each choose different goals, work on the same ones, or scrap all of ours and create your own.   Please let us know if you have new goals to a dd to our list.

>Check out your favorite products
Collect a few of your personal grooming products and sit down in front of your computer.  Go to the Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep database, the world’s largest searchable database of ingredients in cosmetics.  You'll be able to find out if your favorite products contain hazardous chemicals and get recommendations for safer alternatives.  You can also search for companies that are committed to removing toxic chemicals from their products. Tell us what you found!

> Evaluate what you're buying and reduce unnecessary products
Take a few minutes to evaluate the products you just researched. Are there any of these products that you don't really need or love?  What would it be like to do without them? Talk about it here.

> When it's time to replace your products, buy safer ones next time around
Next time you run out of the products you're keeping around, check out Skin Deep for the safest choice before you shop for your replacement product. What are your favorite safe products?

> Try making a few of your own health and beauty products
Since those in the know say we shouldn't put anything on our skin that we wouldn't eat, it might be fun to try making your own products. You'll know exactly what's in them. Check out the Home Spa website or a book from the library and choose a few experiments to try. There are all kinds of easy, inexpensive and fun recipes we can use to replace those toxic products we've been buying.  (These products make great gifts too.)  You could even have a party and make them together. Share your favorite recipes with our online community.  

>Join the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics
Sign up for updates, write to companies and join the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics' action network. Together we can make over the cosmetics industry and make ourselves and our families safer.

> Tell your cosmetics companies you want safe products
Contact the companies that have not signed the Compact for Safe Cosmetics. Call them, write them, e-mail them to let them know you want safe products now! Look on product packaging for a customer service hotline or Web site. Some of the biggest offenders include L’Oreal, Estee Lauder, Procter & Gamble, Revlon and Avon.

> Super Challenge! (5 minutes)
If your group likes to live on the wild side, try a Super Challenge.  It's a fun way to take a green risk and try something new.  You can choose one related to the month's theme, pick one at random, or create a new one as a group (send us your favorites to add to our list).

E-mail Wal-Mart and ask them to add triclosan to the list of hazardous chemicals addressed under its new Business Sustainability plan.  Take it a step further by hand-delivering your letter to your local store manager and ask him/her to pass it on to the regional managers too.

> Wrapping It Up (5 minutes)
As you wrap things up after all that good green fun, make sure to determine the facilitator, location, date and time for next month's meeting.  The new facilitator will be responsible for reminding the group a week or so before the next meeting.

And that's it!  If you run into snags or want to celebrate your goals over the next month, you can talk it out with the other members of your group or here in our online community.