Green Options

With Memorial Day signalling the official start to Summer, it’s time to start thinking SPF. If you’re still housing old tubes from last year or god forbid, the year before, now’s the time to throw it out and get yourself a fresh batch. Before you hit the stores for a new stash though, know this… Out of more than a thousand sunscreens analyzed by EWG (Environmental Working Group) for safety & effectiveness, stability in sunlight, broad-spectrum protection against UVB + UVA radiation, and containing few if any ingredients with significant or known health hazards – only a measly 15% measured up. Further, many sunscreen ingredients break down in the sun, in a matter of minutes or hours, then let UV radiation through to the skin.

You may not immediately see the effects of overexposure to the sun. According to scientific studies, the skin actually keeps burning long after your sun exposure has ceased, and in case you forget to cover up and apply sunscreen, the resulting sunburn can be painful as well as dangerous. It may actually take up to 24 hours before the full damage is visible but first-degree sunburns cause redness and will heal, [...]