Let’s Nuke Nuclear

By Nicole Cruz

Does anyone really know what nuclear is, or what it really does? If we’re being honest, I didn’t know anything about it. And sure you’ll hear some people say that nuclear is a good thing and you’ll hear the opposite from the others, but nuking nuclear would be beneficial if we don’t want to hurt our planet as well as ourselves.

Full Body Burden by Kristen Iversen talks about the “Nuclear Family”, from her perspective and what it felt like growing up near Rocky Flats, a nuclear power plant. It’s a gripping memoir that switches from destructive family secrets (her father’s alcoholism), “When my mother asks me later if we stopped at the liquor store, I say no. I know what not to say, what subjects are taboo, and what secrets must remain secrets.” As well as the destructive government secrets (cancer); “Dow Chemical has left Rocky Flats after two decades of accidents, plutonium releases, and safety problems, most of which are still hidden under the cloak of Cold War secrecy. Now that Rockwell has stepped in, it’s business as usual.” I really enjoyed the tone, and the personal connection makes the reader, at least in my case, care more about the effects of nuclear. It’s when the fire breaks out on Mother’s Day that sets the start of the story forward because of all the plutonium released into the atmosphere.

While Full Body Burden is a personal account on nuclear energy, the documentary Into Eternity discusses the effects nuclear emissions have and the damage it can cause showing the waste management at Onkalo. It’s scary because just like in Full Body Burden the results that can occur with the use of nuclear power is serious. There were the cases of cancer spreading in children throughout the small town of Rocky Flats, Colorado, and the fact that people exposed to the nuclear waste won’t realize they’re sick until it’s too late.

Into Eternity does a very good job at depicting the harmful effects of nuclear power visually. The overall tone is very ominous and doom and gloom. There is one thing in particular that the director, Michael Madsen, does that is very powerful and really encapsulates the message the film is trying to get across. He lights a match and speaks directly into the camera while he’s “in a place you shouldn’t be,” and talks until the light goes out and the viewer is left looking into darkness. It’s creepy and I got to admit it made me feel like I was watching some sort of horror flick, which is what I take to be the point. The documentary is from an objective point of view, but that doesn’t mean it’s any less effective. In fact with dreary undertone and dark colors, it makes it more effective.

 Even after all this, still some people will tell you to use nuclear energy. They’ll say it’s better for the planet than carbon emissions and it’s what we as a society should look into to fix the climate change problem. On April 22, 2015, CNN posted this article, “Obama should embrace nuclear energy” by U.S. Senator Jim Inhofe, that dismissed the Obama Administration because they weren’t moving forward with nuclear energy to use as the climate change solution. The article talks about how much better nuclear is than carbon, but fails to mention why Obama would not use nuclear or its downsides. It clearly paints the picture that nuclear energy is our solution without showing what Into Eternity brought into light.

This time lapse video of every nuclear explosion since 1945 is a must watch, especially if you’re on the fence about the use of nuclear energy. It’s slow going at first and is fifteen minutes long, but the ticking before the explosions go off is almost as creepy and effective as Into Eternity. As the video moves further and further along, the ticking increases as well as the explosions and it’s just really powerful to watch as the nuclear explosions reflect the time progression.

However the most powerful short film we watched had to be Blind. Watching this horrible version of a contaminated future was downright depressing, not to mention the story behind it. The most moving moment was when the backdrop changed and he was left alone with his deceased daughter. I think the quote at the end of the film best exemplifies the truth about nuclear and why we need to be more aware of what’s going on, “Turning away from today’s reality will blind our future.”

After watching and reading all that I have, it’s hard to believe that nuclear power would be any good. Just imagine if you were that nuclear family? Or just lived in that neighborhood near Rocky Flats? I just picture my pets becoming ill because of this exposure and not knowing until there was nothing left to do. It’s hard, so if you’re confused I don’t blame you. Senator Inhofe, makes a persuasive argument and I’m sure others who agree will give you more of the same. Still I think getting rid of nuclear energy, or rather nuking nuclear, is a safer bet. I don’t want to live in the future Into Eternity and Blind painted, and I don’t want to have to experience what Kristen Iversen endured.

We're all in this together

By: Nicole Cruz

In this day in age, activism is very important because of all social and political issues arising throughout the world. And I know what you’re thinking, activism is a group of people joining together and chanting in the streets, I can assure you it’s not. Activists and activism come in many different forms. You’ve probably have shown a little bit activism and not even knew it.

In the article, “Wendell Barry on Climate Change: To Save the Future, Live in the Present,” by Wendell Barry himself, he writes, “The question, of course, will come: If we take no thought for the morrow, how will we be prepared for the morrow?” I think this a perfect statement to describe the need and desire for activism. In the article Barry writes that in order to preserve and offer a better future, we need to focus and fix our present state, and I think the story of Tim DeChristopher in the documentary Bidder 70, is a prime example. He lived in the present when he disrupted a lease auction between two oil companies. He was trying to protect the land he lived on. Others stood by him when he went through his sentencing and trial. This was seen when people lined the streets after his sentencing and they were arrested for civil disobedience. His struggles were documented and incited protests, and brought attention to the activism of climate change. It was impressive and inspiring to see him go through this struggle and watch all these people stand by him.

I understand that Bidder 70, is exemplifying what I said isn’t always activism, but it’s still amazing to watch the lengths people will go through to stand up for what they believe in. In “Here's How A Group Of Activists Is Using Balloons To Keep Tabs On The Environment” posted by the Huffington Post by Joseph Erbentraut on March 24, 2015, a group of activists used balloons as satellites to get images of how the oil effected communities around the coast because of the BP oil spill in 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico. This in turn led to the start of the Public Lab organization, which provides affordable tools for environmental investigations and explorations, a sort of DIY for environmental activism. The use of balloon satellites is pretty creative and it’s a great example of a less extreme form of activism because it’s simply people flying a kite. No one is being arrested or protesting in the streets. There is no hunger strike happening because it’s a form of activism that can easily be displayed as recreational, “Further, Diegel noted, there’s a recreational aspect to Public Lab’s work that might be just as important -- particularly when it comes to getting younger generations interested in the environment.” It’s something anyone or any club can use to find their own information when the government won’t take action. It’s also quite successful in areas with superfund sites and highly polluted areas. 

On the opposite side of the spectrum, we have The East, a suspenseful thriller film focused on a group named, you guessed it, The East. They are seen as terrorists because of the violent and criminal acts they perform on the big corporations that are responsible for the harm they cause on to others. However extreme they might be though, this is a good example of activism. They are fighting for a cause they are passionate about, though they definitely do without the violent nature. Sarah at the end finds an excellent medium between the extremist and rational point of view. With activism though, and when referring to environmental activism, we normally always hear the word environmentalist and environmentalism. This in recent years has become sort of taboo, and has a negative connotation. In the last chapter of Communicating Nature, Julia B. Corbett discusses this. She believes that instead of trying to find a new term, we change the connotation into a positive one, and try to make a difference. This in turn relates back to activism, and its importance. In order to live in the present and really make a difference, we need to take action.  If you look back at all the previous documentaries mentioned throughout my blogs, and articles, you can see the activists and activism shining through. Each one represents activism and shows how just gathering your community can make a difference. In the William Goodman article, “Deep in the Amazon, a Tiny Tribe Is Beating Big Oil” they show a community standing together to protect their home and village. They are willing to fight tooth and nail, and band together to stand up for their homeland.  In fact the 2009 movie Avatar, is a great example of activism, with a giant support to stop the desecration of their land. Any time a group comes together to fight over an issue, it’s a form of activism, and that’s a great thing. We should all band together when we feel the need to fight. It’s important to stand up for things that ignite strength and power in us. Now I’m not suggesting, that everyone pull a Sandra Steingraber and purposefully get arrested. The lengths you’re willing to go is all up to you, but if you’re itching to get involved and don’t know how, signing a petition is a wonderful form of activism (I’ve signed many and I’m sure you have as well), and it’s very simple.  I’m happy to see a lot of activism sparking up around the globe.

“Stop the Drilling, Stop the Oil”

By Nicole Cruz

Since I was 6 years old I dreamed of working with marine mammals and preserving the ocean waters. Now I’m in college and working toward a degree in marine sciences and during my summers I’m an animal care volunteer at the NY Aquarium.  My drive and ambition to helping the ocean wonders hasn’t dwindled since my early childhood years and I don’t think it ever will. If anything growing up in Brooklyn NY and living by the water, has made motivation stronger.

When I think of ocean pollution, my first thought is always oil spills. There is constant dredging of oil and oil spills happening all over country. Ever hear of a show named Saved by the Bell? I’m going to take a wild guess and say that you have. Well in one episode of season 3, aptly named Pipe Dreams, oil is discovered on the school grounds of Bayside High. While the episode itself advocates a pro- environmental message, I bring it up because the animals in the pond were affected by the oil spill that happened. I remember watching this and feeling so saddened by the death of Becky the duck. It was disgusting to see the duck covered in oil and knowing later on that oil spills are a very common accident. Now think of this oil spill happening in a larger body of water, like rivers, lakes, oceans, etc.

Being an animal care volunteer, I’ve worked with many marine mammals. I’ve fed walruses, been hugged by sea lions, and had a sea otter press his nose against my hand. There’s been other interactions but I won’t bore you with the details. The reason I’m bringing this up is because when oil spills occur, marine life, especially animals are affected. By now we’ve all seen the Dawn commercial where they use the dawn soap to clean up the oil that’s spilled into their habitat. It’s a happy commercial, seeing the sea lion pups, ducklings, and penguins being free after cleaning the grease and oil off these beautiful creatures, still the harmful effects go unnoticed. In the textbook Marine Mammal Biology: An Evolutionary Approach, they discuss the effects of oil spills on sea otters.  For those of you who don’t know, sea otters have a dense coat of fur that’s highly sensitive and acts as insulation. You can imagine how an oil spill could affect a sea otters life. In fact this was noted in 1989 by the Exxon Valdez (This is a New York Times video, to reacquaint yourself or inform you of this disastrous event) oil spill in Alaska. The crude oil affected the fur insulation and resulted in high mortality of sea otters, as well as harbor seals. Fur seals, polar bears, and sea otters are highly vulnerable to these effects and unfortunately dawn soap won’t easily do the trick to help unseal their fate. In this video uploaded on YouTube to bring awareness to the effect of oil spills/pollution on marine life, the editor shows pictures of marine animals covered in oil, much like Becky in the episode of Saved By The Bell, regrettably this isn’t fiction. Set to the haunting tune of Adam Lambert’s “Mad World” the editor documents cases of oil spills and the dumping of oil all around the globe. I couldn’t stand to watch the whole thing, the images were to upsetting to me, but I encourage all to watch it.

The Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska wasn’t the only oil spill to occur in the United States. On April 20^th of 2010, the Gulf of Mexico faced the largest oil spill in United States history. The spill occurred when a well 5,000 ft. below the ocean’s surface leaked 3.19 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. It killed 11 people and took 87 days to cap and stop the leak. Years later, according to the Ocean Portal from The Smithsonian (Museum of Natural History), there is still oil in the Gulf. I suggest reading the information on the site, as it really describes the long term effects oil spills have. And as this site and the awareness video I mentioned above state this is happening all over the globe. Right now, oil is being spilled in Nigeria, in the Niger Delta in Africa. In an article published on March 15, 2015 by the Amnesty International, a global movement campaign site that advocates for change, Royal Dutch Shell and Italian oil giant ENI admitted to more than 550 oil spills in the last year in the Niger Delta. It’s disgusting that these people have to live around this polluted ecosystem and that this isn’t a much bigger deal. “The companies say that these spills resulted in only 30,000 barrels - or 5 million litres – of oil spilt. However, given the very poor reporting systems used by oil companies this figure is highly likely to be a significant underestimate.” It’s horrifying to even have those numbers, let alone having it possibly be an underestimate. The fact remains is that oil spills have been happening for over twenty years, and it’s not just in the United States. Oil spills have been happening in Africa, Central America, as well as other parts of the world where oil rigs are put up near coastal areas. It not only harms the people but the marine fauna. Think of the episode Pipe Dreams, and the decimation that follows oil spills. These accidents are nearly impossible to prevent. Sure maybe one of these accidents will be small like in Saved By The Bell, but what if it’s not? What if it’s like what happened in the Gulf or like what’s happening in Nigeria? And so what if it’s a small accident and it only affects a small pond; think about the life in that pond, think about Becky. Oil companies cannot guarantee that oil spills won’t happen. As a society we should ask ourselves are we really willing to risk it.

Another reason I chose this topic was because during my downtime I like to go on Tumblr (a popular social media blog site) and just bask in the humor and discussions of the latest episode of a popular TV show. It’s also on this site that I can be updated on global concerns/issues. It was when this Great Barrier Reef post showed up on my dashboard that I stopped in my tracks. I’ve been to the Great Barrier Reef and I was lucky enough to snorkel in the waters filled with an abundance of beautiful coral. It was extraordinary and almost like a whole other world. And to learn someone wants to take up that space and destroy that beautification is horrendous! The post only gives you a brief summarization with what’s happening in Australia with visual images. According to the article “Great Barrier Reef Port Dredging Plan Approved” by MarEx in the Maritime Executive published on March 3, 2015, The Queensland government has allowed two Indian companies to open a coal project around the Great Barrier Reef. They plan on dredging in the waters and dumping the spoil around ports around the reef. This is detrimental to the reef because of what the run-off and pollutants can do this beautiful marine park. As of recently, the Prime Minister, Tony Abbott has wanted to avoid the effects the dredging would cause on the Reef. On March 21, 2015 in the Sydney Herald, Jacqueline Maley and Fergus Hunter wrote the article “Prime Minister announces extra $100 million for Great Barrier Reef protection.” Here the Abbott government proposed a sustainability plan to ensure the Reef stays off the “in danger” list. This new plan will still allow the dumping of dredged material but it won’t allow the material to be dumped into the marine park. I for one am confused about why they would dump it in the Reef in the first place. I don’t think it’s a secret that if the world’s largest coral reef population depletes, it will cause serious damage to surrounding ecosystems. In the book Management of Aquatic Disposal of Dredged Material , It’s said that dredged material that run-offs into the water is likely to cause eutrophication. Eutrophication is the enrichment of an ecosystem with chemical nutrients and cultural eutrophication is a form of water pollution. Eutrophication can cause HABS (harmful algae blooms) which can kill fish, mammals, and corals due to lack of oxygen. Now imagine The Great Barrier Reef completely depleted because of the eutrophication effects. It’s a scary thought and horrible to imagine. Just go back to that Tumblr post and see the images of desolate coral reefs.

I’ve been to the Great Barrier Reef, it’s vibrant and the thriving population there is amazing. On my way there I got to see a humpback whale migrating and experience the wonders the Reef has to give. But not only would I like to be able to experience it once again, I’d like everyone to be able to experience it, but with oil spills occurring and the constant dredging ruining these ecosystems, it’s hard to imagine that happening.

What about Them?

By Nicole Cruz

I mentioned in my last blog that I am an animal care volunteer at The NY Aquarium. I enjoy the work I do and I love the time I get with all the animals, so the subject of animal rights hits very close to home.

It’s no surprise to see how much animals bring to the consumer table. People will spend their money and their free time going to zoos just to see a tiger, bear, or lion. Now don’t worry, I’m not dismissing or judging zoos or aquariums. I happen to find most facilities a good thing and argue against the negative backlash that has shown up in recent years. I am aware however to the notions of animal cruelty in certain places and the rights of these animals, and no, I’m not talking about SeaWorld.

We learned about advertising and one of the biggest selling advertisements is of course one that features animals. I’m not going to lie, seeing any type of animal plays on my emotions and affects the animal-lover side of me, as it does for almost everyone else. It’s why circuses featuring animals, or zoos and aquariums gain as much popularity as they do. It engages children as well as plays on the childlike emotions of the adults. That’s why watching the documentary How I Became an Elephant was very responsive to me.

This film documents Juliette West’s trip to Thailand where she got to see firsthand the abuse elephant’s face being in the entertainment industry. It’s hard to watch the graphic nature of some of the footage but it demonstrates the impression of what these animals, that display emotions, feel just to give us, the people, satisfaction. You think it’s cool to hitch a ride on the back of an elephant but fail to recognize the pain it’s enduring. It’s a real eye-opener and the graphic content of the whippings and displays of stereotypies in elephants does keep you engaged unfortunately. It’s difficult to imagine this sort of thing happening, but it’s great to see the contributions Lek (the elephant lady featured) does to help save these massive and beautiful creatures. I must not have been the only one affected by this because as of recently, Ringling Bros. Circus has decided to phase out their elephant acts in their shows. You can read more about it in this New York Times Article, “A Bittersweet Bow for the Elephant” by Janet Davis.

While the news of elephant acts lessening throughout the entertainment industry is a good thing, I can’t help but notice the title. “Bittersweet” is not the word I would use because it’s not bittersweet for the elephants performing tricks that wouldn’t benefit them in the wild.  There’s a short story called I Am Blue? by Alice Walker and in this piece, Walker writes about a lone horse she sees in the field by her home. She begins to develop this routine with feeding apples to Blue (the horse) and this is when she starts to understand to her full extent that animals have emotions just like us. Now I know that might sound ridiculous. Some of you are probably saying, “Well of course animals have emotions and feelings.” But this correlates back to what Davis was saying. It’s only bittersweet for us to see the elephants go, not the other way around. So if we can acknowledge that these animals display emotions like us, why do we choose to ignore it for our own amusement? But the way Walker portrays this is beautifully written. She writes in a clear way, that almost puts you in her shoes, or rather more importantly, Blue’s hooves. “He looked always and always toward the road down which his partner had gone. And then, occasionally, when he came for apples, or I took apples to him, he looked at me. It was a look so piercing, so full of grief, a look so human, I almost laughed.” You follow Blue’s emotions and it packs a punch because it allows you as the reader to understand what it’s like to live this mundane routine of life.

Linda Hogan (not Hulk Hogan’s wife) takes a different approach. In her book Dwellings there’s a short story called “Deify the Wolf,” where Hogan talks about the lives of wild Timber wolves and what they mean to nature and how the rest of the world views them. There was one instance in which, Hogan and a group of other individuals come across dead wolves and someone wants to take a picture with one as if they hunted and killed it themselves. I couldn’t believe it and frankly I was disgusted. These are wild animals and while Hogan didn’t put you in “the shoes” of these wolves, she showed you how others see wolves and animals in general. If anything it made it known, we are the problem. “More than any other animal, they mirror back to us the predators we pretend not to be.”

This is where I might stray from the ideals of my fellow peers as well as these advocates. Zoos and aquariums are not the problem and this can be demonstrated through the documentary The Cove, though Ric O’Barry would be against the statement I just made. Being a marine science major and my focus being on marine mammals this film was difficult for me to watch. 23,000 dolphins are being trapped and slaughtered in this one location for their meat. I couldn’t stand to watch the injured baby dolphin bleed out as it tries to swim to safety before going down under and not surfacing back up. Sadly though it’s a reality that needs to be faced. Unlike How I Became an Elephant, this documentary compared what they were doing to Ocean’s 11. They needed to sneak cameras into “The Cove” just to film the footage of the Taiji dolphin slaughter, because of the measures the Japanese dolphin hunters have gone in order to protect the images of the slaughter from leaking to the public. For those of those you wondering if this is anything like Blackfish, I can assure you it’s not. While there are subtle hints against captivity, the main focus is on this cove in Taiji, Japan, where this despicable act taking place. Animals and animal rights need to be protected. They aren’t here to serve as our amusement, they are more than that.

On Your Mark, Get Ready, Consume

By Nicole Cruz

Picture a long day at work, you come home and put your feet up and wind down. The first part of that statement is called work, the last leisure. And normally work and leisure don’t go together. Well I disagree personally. I happen to work as an animal care volunteer at the NY Aquarium, and there I enjoy everything I do. I mean who wouldn’t, working with sea otters, penguins, and walruses. I don’t need to come home and wind down or find some fun to do because I had my fun feeding those small to large sea animals. Though, while I may find leisure in work it’s more common not to. Believe or not there is cycle to all this crazy madness, and it starts from work to relaxation. The pedal pusher is none other than consumerism.

In Communicating Nature by Julia B. Corbett, she has a section in which she discusses the conundrum in which we work toward leisure. It’s explained that more people today work longer hours and have less time for leisure or any type of pleasure; “In current times, the workplace and the marketplace may not be of much help in your efforts to reduce work… In addition, employers generally don’t offer-and employees don’t demand-trading income gains for leisure.” Sleeping and eating is taking up the little free time workers have and your simple enjoyments aren’t being spent at all. This is where the cycle comes into play.

Did it ever occur to you why you feel the need to spend, or how any of the material items you purchased were manufactured? This attributes to the cycle I just mentioned. The circle of life that we have now put ourselves on. I feel The Story of Stuff can better explain this, due to the visual images shown throughout. However this just shows how little were aware to this whole sequence. We’re unconsciously being taught that we work to spend, and to work more because we need to keep up with the latest gadgets. This is easily supported by Communicating Nature when Corbett talks about the “buyosphere.” “Ubiquitous consumerism is arguably the religion of the late twentieth century for it has reached far beyond the mere provision of material goods to the fulfillment of a pseudo-spiritual life;” which completely demonstrates the state at which we live in. It’s not only when we kick our feet up after a long 40-hour work week, in which we turn our TV’s and are told to ‘shop, shop, shop!’ It’s also happening when we least expect it. It’s hidden during our supposed leisure time (when we actually find time).

Take Disney World or Disney Land. Corbett uses this as a prime example of how while were enjoying our time away from work, we’re simultaneously being brought into the never ending cycle of consumerism. Seriously think about it, when we go to these theme parks, we’re advised to stay there, dine there, and purchase all these souvenirs there. They do it, so you don’t need to leave. Also they have all this artificial “beautiful nature” there, so it falsifies your own environment. It reminded me of the Dr. Seuss book, The Lorax, where they had artificial air and cut down trees and the air supply was bottled and sold. Just food for thought, but I digress.

Annie Leonard’s The Story of Stuff lets us ask the question, where does all this stuff that we supposedly need come from. And she does an excellent job at portraying that, for example with the animation of the Earth and all the resources being taken up, or the animated sequence of the manufacturing to the large super store where it all ends up. But what I think really brings it home is an episode from Morgan Spurlock’s show 30 Days: Working in a Coal Mine. This episode centers around a coal mining family and the work ethic and damaging effects that comes from working in a coal mine. It’s quite disheartening to look at all these coal miners and see they have no choice because they need the money. They come home dirty and grimy, and face the potential of black lung disease. More than one coal miner was asked if they wanted their child becoming one and they all said no. They work in these conditions, which could cost them their life because they want better. You understand why they undergo these harsh conditions, like breathing in coal, the heat, the huge amount of labor input, and the risk of losing their life if something were to go wrong. It also makes you appreciate the people that work to keep your electricity going.

This also poses the question, is it environmentally safe, and the answer is no. But it’s not like you can avoid electricity right? This is where the big word I’ve been using this entire time, consumerism, comes back into play. This all goes back to consumerism and how our “lifestyle” is ultimately hurting the environment with all we consume. This is where No Impact Man shows us that a “green lifestyle” can be achieved. Do you remember the “crazy guy” Colin Beavan who was on The Colbert Report and Good Moring America. He wanted his family to reduce their amount of consumption for a year so in phases he went without electricity and only ate local food. He wanted to know if one person could make a significant impact because let’s face it NY isn’t all that concerned with lessening consumption (I speak as a native New York City New Yorker) but it’s difficult and not for everyone. It’s not an easy accomplishment considering consuming is all we really ever know. Beavan really explores how much we ingest and digest and the small things we take for granted, like the farmers market that they buy locally in season fruit and vegetables. It was effective to me, in the way it just showed how much I use and what maybe I could cut back on. Just think about all that you’ve consumed and what you could do to reduce it.

Having trouble of knowing where to start? How about reducing your plastic usage because that’s a big problem right now. So much of our plastic that we throw away winds up in the ocean degrading its beauty, not to mention harms all the marine animals residing in it. In Synthetic Sea Charles Moore shows the debris accumulating in the ocean as he narrates and shows the devastating effects it has on the environment. Something that struck with me, given the work that I do, is seeing birds eating this plastic and dying from it.

I could lessen my plastic usage (as well as you) by buying a travel mug and carrying lunch in a reusable bag. To reduce more consumption I can turn off the lights and other electrical items when not being used. Walk instead of taking a car or public transportation if I can. Monitoring my water control by shutting off the faucet when I’m brushing my teeth to not waste water and taking shorter showers. If that’s not enough check out The Environmental Working Database. Here you can see how your normal household products rank in terms of how good it is for the environment as well as your health. In this example, the marketers advertise this product as earth friendly, when it’s actually the exact opposite.   There is much we can do to reduce our consumption but it’s something that takes time and you need to be dedicated too. If you want to know more about reading labels and learning about what’s in your household products, check out this YouTube channel and video Gorgeously Green Lifestyle, where Sophie Uliano, the author of Gorgeously Green helps you read labels on common household products that are quite toxic.