In June, 2009, I will be 1 of 150 running the Easter Island Marathon.
I just got back from the LiveSmart Expo where a few hundred people gathered to learn more about Diabetes and sit down with experts to talk about their situation. I had a GREAT chat with Rebecca Taylor, our contact forTeam Diabetes.
When she said 150 people were running on Easter Island, I assumed she was talking about Team Diabetes. No. She was talking about the WHOLE MARATHON.
Rapa Nui (Easter Island) is a small, remote place. If they had more entries available, the island’s resources wouldn’t be able to keep up, so registration is limited to … 150.
I just might win this thing
The Blog According to Buzz. Spread the word, ya heard?
- Erin Davis gave news updates on BPA this week. If you still don't know what BPA is, read this. Then this. The Canadian government today listed it a dangerous chemical and is stepping towards banning it. BPA causes cancer and early onset puberty, and it's most likely in your baby's bottles. Please, please, read the info and learn more.
The Canucks missed the playoffs. Yeah its old news.
As are the stories saying the sports bars aren’t selling as much beer, the sporting goods places aren’t selling as many jerseys, and the scalpers aren’t ripping off as many people.
But one other thing isn’t happening in this city, but it’s happening in Calgary. Where they have playoff hockey.
And that’s a chance for children to discover heroes. Check out this kid who LOVES Kiprusoff.
That emotion and devotion is what playoff hockey is all about. That’s what is missing in Vancouver right about now.
The Blog According to Buzz. Spread the word, ya heard?
The Globe and Mail has been ALL OVER the BPA story this week. Again today, they have more revelations, and more evidence that BPA is harmful.
Bisphenol A… has the ability to alter the activity of genes in normal breast cells in ways that resemble what is found in extremely dangerous breast cancers, according to a new study.
The study, conducted by researchers in California and published this month in the journal Cancer Research, found that many genes in non-cancerous breast cells exposed to trace amounts of bisphenol A began acting in a way that closely resembled the gene activity in highly aggressive breast tumours that led to an increased likelihood that women would die of the disease.
The link “is highly supportive of the concept that overexposure to BPA and/or similar compounds could be an underlying factor in the aggressiveness, if not in the causality” of breast cancers, said Shanaz Dairkee, lead author of the study and senior scientist at the California Pacific Medical Center Research Institute in San Francisco, in an e-mail.[source]
With that ammunition, the Canadian government took action today to deem BPA a dangerous substance.
“Canada has been the first country in the world to conduct risk assessments on a number of chemicals of concern, as a result of a new initiative announced by the Prime Minister on December 8, 2006 known as the Chemicals Management Plan,” said Minister Clement. “We have immediately taken action on bisphenol A, because we believe it is our responsibility to ensure families, Canadians and our environment are not exposed to a potentially harmful chemical.”[source]
It’s not enough to have it banned, but enough to scare retailers across the country to get the stuff off their shelves. Some manufacturers are also getting the message.
Nalge Nunc International, a division of Waltham, Mass.-based Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., said Friday it will substitute its Nalgene Outdoor line of polycarbonate plastic containers with BPA-free alternatives. [source]
Are the Myths About Polycarbonate Bottles True? New Information Supports the Safe Use of Polycarbonate Bottles - February 5, 2008
Polycarbonate Bottles Are Still Safe For Use – In Spite of the Latest Scare Story - January 31, 2008
New Data from CDC Confirms Human Exposure to Bisphenol A in the United States is Far Below Safe Limits - November 1, 2007
Sound Science Prevails in Review of Bisphenol A - August 8, 2007
Myths? Scare tactics? Safe?
Like I said yesterday, these arguments sound a lot like those that came from big tobacco in the 80s and 90s.
I’ve been most concerned about baby bottles and soothers and dishes with this news. But sports bottles and home water coolers are also affected. Yes, home water cooler jugs. The big ones where you get home delivery? Look at the number on the bottom.
A key to whether a bottle contains BPA can be found in the recycling number at the bottom of the bottle or on a label. Most drink containers sold in stores have the number “1″, recommended for one-time use only. Containers considered toxin-free include number “2″ high-density polyethylene (HDPE), number “4″ low-density polyethylene (LDPE) and number “5″ polypropylene (PP).
However, baby bottles, many drinking cups and polycarbonate bottles marked with recycle number “7″ contain BPA. Many oversized bottles used for home and office water coolers — including those from Canadian Springs — are made of the “7″ variety.
Calls to a half-dozen water companies that deliver to B.C. homes and offices, including Canadian Springs, were not returned Thursday. [source]
If you’re not willing to take chances with your life, or the life of your children, have a read of this earlier posting to find out companies that produce BPA free products and other steps you can take to be safe.
The Blog According to Buzz. Spread the word, ya heard?
I started to think this morning, as I did more research on BPA and who says it’s okay, and who says it’s bad, that the manufacturers were behaving like big tobacco back in the day.
You know, throwing out studies saying their products were just fine, thank you very much, while governments took steps to ban them.
Polycarbonates are used in thousands of consumer products such as reusable food containers, lifesaving medical devices and sport safety equipment. Manufacturers of such products, including baby bottles use polycarbonate because it prevents cracking, shattering and other hazards that can lead to injuries. The key concern for parents is whether BPA can get into their child’s food through leaching from polycarbonate bottles.
That’s directly from the Avent website, one of the most popular manufacturers of baby bottles because their nipples are very representative of the human form. Jen’s friends all recommended Avent to us. This morning Jen called the company and, sure enough, they copped to the BPA and admitted their bottles have a recycle number of 7.
So Jen called the recycling depot and guess what? The bottles are NOT recyclable. They’re nasty, nasty, nasty.
The bottle manufacturers have heard the sabre rattling. They get that HBC, Canadian Tire, WalMart and others are removing BPA products from the shelves, and they’re fighting back - by saying nothing’s wrong.
Found in a wide variety of products, lightweight and shatter-resistant polycarbonate plastic has been the material of choice in baby bottles for 25 years. The potential for exposure to bisphenol A from bottles has been extensively examined and the results reviewed by government bodies worldwide that have responsibility for assessing the safety of consumer products.
“The findings in NTP’s draft report provide reassurance that consumers can continue to use products made from BPA,” said Robert Waller, Jr., CAE, president of JPMA. “Sound and respected scientific research has consistently shown there is no danger to consumers when products are used as intended.”
There is significant data available on the safety of BPA. From baby bottles and food packaging, to bicycle helmets and eyeglass lenses, as well as incubators and components of many life-saving medical devices, polycarbonate plastic makes everyday lives better and safer. [source]
It doesn’t make sense.
If it is so harmless, why is the Canadian government moving to label it a toxic substance? The use of BPA is so widespread, that to remove it from shelves will have significant impact. Why go through the hassle if it’s “no big deal” as JPMA and Avent would have us believe.
Cigarettes are killers. The tobacco company lied about it for decades before getting caught.
Now baby bottles are dangerous and the manufacturers are lying about it too? These are BABIES we’re talking about. INFANTS. Our CHILDREN.
Why are you LYING to me about the health and safety of my child?
The Blog According to Buzz. Spread the word, ya heard?
Here's what I'm chatting up on the radio this afternoon.
- Do you know what B.P.A. stands for? You will by the end of the day. Bisphenol A is a compound found in everything from baby bottles to cd's. It's being blamed for cancer and early onset of puberty. I did a bunch of research on it this morning and came up with lots of info for you to learn more about BPA and how you can avoid it.
Want to know why so many young girls are entering puberty around 10, when it used to be around 13 or 14? Want to know why so many teen boys can grow a full beard in Grade 10, when I could barely get peach fuzz?
Baby bottles. Specifically, plastic baby bottles laced with Bisphenol A (BPA). [wikipedia]
They’re cute, they’re convenient, and they’re poisoning our children.
Retailers are making sweeping changes today in advance of Health Canada declaring BPA as a dangerous chemical. A dangerous chemical that appears in everything from infant food containers to compact discs. [source]
It has now been linked to early onset puberty in children and breast cancer and prostate cancer in adults.
Health Canada is expected to issue a risk assessment this week that BPA is a potentially dangerous chemical, a move that could lead to some restrictions in its use, particularly for consumer applications that are likely to come into direct contact with foods or beverages.
The action by the Canadian government would be the first by any country to label the chemical used for decades in everything from baby bottles and the lacquer linings inside tin cans to dental sealants a possible health hazard. [blockquote]
Avent, a leading manufacturer of baby bottles, tows the company line when asked if their bottles contain harmful levels of BPA by only saying their products meet government standards. Well, the government standards are about to change, and those bottles, in fact, DO contain BPA.
DO YOUR BOTTLES CONTAIN BPA?
Look at the recycle number on the bottom. 1, 2, 4 and 5 are better. 3, 6 and 7 are bad. [source]
The Zrecs blog is fabulous. It has a lot more info to help you find other safe products. Back in February, they wrote the Z Report on BPA which includes this list of companies who produce BPA-free products:
Adiri | Baby Bjorn | Baby Cie | Babylife (Wee-go) | BFree | Born Free | Brita | Combi | DCI | Ezee Reach | Emily Green | Green to Grow | iPlay | Kidbasix | KidCo | Klean Kanteen | Medela | Mother’s Milkmate | Mud Pie Baby | Not Neutral | Nurture Pure | Obentec | ORE Originals | Prince Lionheart | Rivadossi Sandro (Trebimbi) | SIGG | Silikids | Skip*Hop | Steadyco | Thermos | thinkbaby [source]
ZRecs also has a text service where you can text Zrecs and the company name to 69866 and they will text back with BPA info on that company.
SO WHAT CAN WE DO?
First off, learn as much as you can about BPA. Then, go through your cupboards and get rid of everything that might be hurting you, and your family.
One of the first things we did last week was switch up Z’s water bottle. We picked up a Sigg bottle made of aluminum from Whole Foods. Expensive as hell, but safe for Z.
There have been rumblings about this chemical for years, but many disagreements between the studies. But look deeper as to why the studies disagreed.
Dozens of studies by independent researchers have linked low exposure to BPA in animal and test-tube experiments to illnesses, such as cancer, that are thought to have an origin in hormone imbalances, although industry-funded studies haven’t been able to find the same effects. [source]
Arm yourself with knowledge and make changes in your lifestyle. For your health. For the health of your children.
# Limit your use of canned goods or choose canned foods from makers who don’t use it, such as Eden Foods
# Learn how to cook your own foods that you typically buy in cans — like beans or chickpeas
# Choose soups, milk and soy milk packaged in cardboard “brick” cartons, by Tetra Pak and SIG Combibloc, with safer layers of aluminum and polyethylene (#2) that can also be recycled
# Use glass food storage containers instead of plastic
# Use glass baby bottles or plastic bag inserts made of polyethyelene, or switch to non-clear polypropylene bottles that are labeled with recycle #5
# Don’t buy canned infant formula
# Eat fresh foods in season to reduce your consumption of canned goods
# Buy or can your own foods in safe glass jars
# Stop using plastic wrap and plastic containers to heat food in microwaves. Ceramic and glass are better
# Throw out any old and scratched plastic bottles or plastic containers
The Blog According to Buzz. Spread the word, ya heard?
Back in February I started to get a little itch in the back of my brain. One that said proposing to Jennifer in Paris would be absolutely perfect. It was time.
I was driving up Burrard St in Vancouver, and the next thing I was inside Spence Diamonds checking out their open showcases of cubic zirconia designs.
You’ve heard the commercials, I know you have. They’re hard to miss. Everything in them is true. The dude who reads them is annoying as hell, but the experience at Spence is second to none. Now their website needs A LOT of work, it did little to help me choose the ring and price I wanted, but once I was in the store, Michelle was a breeze to deal with.
I told her my budget, told her the style, and she pointed me in the direction where I could find settings I’d like. Then she left me alone. Once I found a style I liked, she took me into an office and gave me a complete education on diamond buying. She showed me 3 different stones under a microscope and went out of her way to really help me understand what I was about to do.
Again we went through my budget and she went into their vault to see what sort of stones were on hand.
Here’s where it gets tricky. Jen’s favourite style of diamond is an Asscher cut, or a square Emerald. Spence doesnt carry that one. So the stone Michelle came back with was a round cut. It was .65 and beautiful. Michelle told me many diamond cutters will sacrifice to get to .7, so to find an ideal cut diamond at this size was a great deal. I put a deposit down and left with a big smile on my face.
But then the second guessing. This was a round diamond. Not what Jen wants. It seemed kind of small as well. I mean it looked huge, but I was really trying to get close to 1c with my limited budget, but I wasn’t going to sacrifice colour or clarity.
Then I started to look online. Sure, I’d thought about going the eBay way, but Jen would hand me the ring right back if she ever thought it was cursed with someone else’s bad luck.
I stumbled upon BlueNile.com when I was looking for information on Asscher cuts.
It has a beautiful and easy interface that takes you through diamond and setting selection. You can go through each and every important factor in the diamond from size, to cut, to colour, clarity and budget. Sliders let you adjust the importance and range of each factor and more or less stones in the inventory show up.
You can compare a cloudy big diamond vs a colourless tiny one. It was great. The most important part of the process was BlueNile carries Asscher cut diamonds. The one Jen wanted. And guess what? For the same price I had put down for the .65 round cut at Spence, I could get a full 1c stone from BlueNile.
I chatted up some of Jen’s friends and scoured the internet forums and Twitter to get as much feedback on BlueNile as I could. It was all golden. I called the 1-800 and dumped questions on the operator, all were answered perfectly. If I got the wrong size, they would adjust it for free, it was fully guaranteed etc etc etc.
I bought the ring with the idea that if it didn’t turn out perfect, I had the Spence stone on the side. But when it arrived via FedEx, it was exactly as promised. Huge. Sparkly. Perfect.
I called Spence to drop the deposit and they were awesome again, no questions asked. I really can’t say anything bad about these guys (other than I got a ring 50% bigger for the same price)
Now while I LOVE the convenience of shopping online, the after service makes it a little tough. Had I bought from Spence, or Tiffanys I could just drop in to the store to get a clean or adjustment, I can’t really plug a USB key into Jen’s ring to get the same service. So fingers crossed nothing like that will be needed. In the meantime, I would HUGELY recommend BlueNile.com for those who trust the internets, and Spence for those who want to go the B&M way.
Hey, now that I’ve blog about Jennifer’s engagement ring, does it become a tax deduction? I mean, I do make a couple hundred dollars a year off the blog - surely that’ enough to offset the few thousand I dropped on the diamond as a legitimate business expense?
Just wondering.
The Blog According to Buzz. Spread the word, ya heard?
Lots of parents want to limit the amount of television kids watch, and I get that. Most of it is mindless sexualized or violent imagery that doesnt really need to be exist in an infant’s world.
Some go so far as to ban all screen based media from their children for as long as they can.
Well, we’re not going that far. One of my fave things to do with Zacharie is pop him on my lap and fire keywords into YouTube to see what pops up.
For example, he has a favorite Richard Scarry poster in his bedroom. Pop Richard Scarry into YouTube and look what you get to watch .. the Busytown folks starring in a Beastie Boys romp. Fun for father and son!
Z also LOVES trucks. We take him out on the front porch to watch the street cleaners and garbage men do their thing. But that’s only once a week… so we check out the trucks on YouTube to pass along the time between pick-ups.
Here are two clips that make him smile and laugh and clap.
The Blog According to Buzz. Spread the word, ya heard?
Be afraid. Be very afraid.
SO WHAT CAN WE DO?
You’ve heard the commercials, I know you have. They’re hard to miss. Everything in them is true. The dude who reads them is 
I bought the ring with the idea that if it didn’t turn out perfect, I had the Spence stone on the side. But when it arrived via FedEx, it was exactly as promised. Huge. Sparkly. Perfect.
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