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The World's First food-grade Certified Organic skin care, hair & body care, oral care, cosmetic products, nutrition and more!
For men, women, babies and children.
Truly Pure Products for Everyone. Every Day. |
Thank you for being part of our extended community of over 900 health and environmentally-conscious individuals and families!
In this issue:
• Upcoming Events for this month and in October!
• Attention All New and Existing Customers: We have launched a new Loyalty Point
Program to help you SAVE GREEN by BUYING GREEN! Discounts up to 20% for my
online customers! See below for details on this free program.
• Something is fishy in the Potomac River system...find out more!
• Editor's Comments ~ how do fish problems relate to our health and organics?
Upcoming Events
For those of you in the Washington, DC area, please come visit us at the following venues ~ And don't miss this year's Pathway's Expo, which will be held at a NEW sustainable building location! See below how to get a free entry pass or $5 off admission.
Saturday, September 30, 2006: 10th Annual Charlottesville Vegetarian Festival -- outdoors at Lee Park in Charlottesville, VA. 11 am to 4 pm. Free! See us at the Amity Organics and www.IWearBaby.com booths! www.cvillevegfest.org.
Sunday, October 8, 2006: 30th Annual Pathways Natural Living Expo at a NEW Green Building LOCATION!! Look for the booth: Options For Health~FabulousOrganics.com.
When: Sunday, October 8th from 10 am to 7 pm
Where: University of Maryland College Inn & Conference Center by Marriott,
Adelphi, MD. LEED Certified by the U.S. Green Building Council. Plenty of parking ($6 for the day). Or ride metro and take a free shuttle bus that runs from either the Prince Georges Plaza Metro or College Park Metro stop. (Prince Georges Plaza stop is closer)
Come try out & shop products, enter our raffle and find out how to save Green when buying Green!
Get a $5 off coupon at www.PathwaysMag.com! (only $10 after discount)
Get in FREE: If you agree to schedule an Organic Health & Beauty Workshop by January 31, 2006,
you can receive a free entry pass for the Expo (a $15 value!) and a free product gift at your
Workshop*! *Choices of gifts, min. of 4 guests. No purchase necessary. Limited passes ~ call me
today to reserve your free pass to the Expo!
Saturday, October 14 and Sunday, October 15, 2006:
3rd Annual Green Festival, Washington, DC.
I will assist with the Eco-Green Living booth and the www.IWearBaby.com booth. Come out and hear great speakers, taste delicious organic foods and drinks (some free samples, some for sale at the vegetarian food court) and explore sustainable businesses, non-profit groups and more! A special kids 'play and learn' section too.
When: Saturday from 10am to 8pm and Sunday from 11am to 6pm.
Where: Washington, DC Convention Center
801 Mount Vernon Place, NW Washington, DC (near New York & Mass. Ave. at M Street)
Metro: Mt. Vernon Square (public transport recommended; limited street and garage parking, if
you ride your bike, you get in for 1/2 off) www.greenfestivals.org
Saturday and Sunday, October 21 and 22: Wise Women FestivALL.
"Mind, Body, Spirit Fun for the Whole Family!"
When: Saturday from 10 am to 7pm and Sunday from 12 noon to 5 pm
Where: University of the District of Columbia (UDC)
4200 Connecticut Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20008 Metro: Van Ness Metro Red Line.
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Save the Date: Monday evening, October 30th, 2006!
Back by popular demand -- from Australia!
Alf Orpen, co-founder of Organic & Natural Enterprise Group (ONE Group®) will give a public lecture on Organic & Natural Living.
Some of the topics that will be covered include: How synthetic chemicals are as insidious as nuclear fallout and how they contribute to the cause of obesity. Bio-magnification, what is it? What is a more natural and organic lifestyle? How you can build a green and ethical business from home.
Please let me know if you would like to attend and I will send you specific location and time details. Cost: none. RSVP essential. Organic refreshments will be served. |
If you missed the latest E-NEWS highlighting all the new products like the certified organic coconut Cleansing Bars, then please visit the July-August E-NEWS at:
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NEW ~ Loyalty Point Program for new and existing customers! |
You are automatically enrolled free of charge when making your first purchase.
Previous online customers already have Loyalty Points in their accounts, from all previous online purchases!
• On all subsequent orders after your first, you will get 10% off.
• Whenever you accumulate 150 points, you will receive 20% off your
next order.
Then, your points reset to zero but you still get 10% off. Pretty good deal to save green when buying green.
Free shipping on all orders of $100 (£50) or more and only $4.95 (£2.95) when under $100. 
Previous Customers: You will need to log-in using your last name and e-mail address to benefit from this program and get your discounts.
NEW WEBSITE!! In August, ONE Group launched its re-designed site!
For all new and existing customers, to browse and/or place an order, visit my company-provided site at: www.FabulousOrganics.com.
Previous Customers: Click on 'Shop Now' along
the top. Choose Flash Shopping Cart, your country
and log-in with your last name and e-mail
address. (You should be given your point total after logging in.)
New Customers: Click on 'Shop Now' along the top. Choose
continue shopping as a 'new customer/just browsing'. Be sure to
select your country. When you choose the Flash Version, you get
pictures of all ingredients in each product. When checking out, make
sure to see 'fabulousorganics' as your ONE Group representative.
Feel free to explore the education sections and more!
If you have any difficulties or questions, please be in touch with me via e-mail or phone. Thank you.
You may also continue to order directly from me 'off-line' at retail prices, if you prefer.
If you originally registered as a Health & Beauty Professional Affiliate, you have been upgraded to Independent Representative status for one year free of charge. To log-in, you should continue to use your username, password and date of birth. Please contact me for details on your membership status and discounts.
*For details on discounts and how to get free shipping, please see more at: www.OptionsForHealth.net or ask me!
Are you a health or beauty professional? Owner or manager of an online or traditional retail outlet, salon or spa? Then, please contact me directly on how to qualify for wholesale discounts. Also, we are getting requests for more spas and skin care specialists to use the products in facials, so if you or someone you know would like to explore this option, please be in touch!
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Education and Research in Organics and Health
This issue: "Intersex" Fish Found in the Potomac River, Endocrine-Disruptors Suspected |
According to the Associated Press (AP), some species of male fish are acquiring female sexual characteristics at unusually high frequencies in the Potomac River and its tributaries, prompting concerns about pollutants that might be causing the problem. Environmentalists have long pointed to pesticides and other endocrine disrupting chemicals as having the potential for wreaking such hormonal chaos.
The article reports that in some Potomac tributaries, including the Shenandoah River in Virginia, nearly all of the male smallmouth bass caught in a survey last year by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) were so-called intersex fish, producing immature eggs in their testes. In the Potomac itself, 7 of 13 largemouth bass exhibited female characteristics, including 3 that were producing eggs.
Intersex fish were discovered in the Potomac rivershed in 2003 and have also been found in other parts of the country. But the frequency found by the surveys is much higher than what had been found elsewhere, said Vicki Blazer, a USGS fish pathologist. Female fish caught in the survey did not develop any unusual sex traits, though fish of both sexes exhibited lesions and other problems related to pollution, said Ms. Blazer, who coordinated the survey.
Gerald LeBlanc, an environmental toxicologist at North Carolina State University, told the AP that the high percentages of intersex fish found in the Potomac survey were surprising. It is not uncommon for such fish to be found in other parts of the country, Mr. LeBlanc said, but at lesser frequencies.
Most scientists believe that changes are caused by a combination of endocrine disrupting pollutants and  synthetic estrogens, such as pesticides and birth control pills. Endocrine disruptors are a diverse group of several thousands of chemicals that are used in everything from pesticides and flame retardants to cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. Endocrine disruptors may be mistaken for hormones by the body and thus their presence may alter the function of hormones, either blocking their normal action or interfering with how they are made in the body. Since hormones regulate things like growth and body development, there is great potential for damage. In particular, some endocrine disruptors are mistaken for the female hormone estrogen. SMALLMOUTH BASS
These estrogen mimics interfere with the reproductive system, causing infertility,
malformed sexual organs, and cancer of sensitive organs.
Disturbingly, there are many commonly used pesticides that are known or suspected endocrine disruptors, such as atrazine, 2,4-D, lindane, and permethrin. A recent study found that the commonly used lawn pesticide formulation Round-up, with the active ingredient glyphosate, causes damaging endocrine effects in fetuses. EPA does not currently evaluate or consider the endocrine disrupting properties of pesticides during registration or reregistration.
About the fish: The Virginia Fish and Wildlife Information Service states, "The sunfish family is the 2nd largest fish family in North America, comprised of 30 species. They are the most common lake and pond fish and have been widely introduced for sportfishing throughout the country. Anglers divide this group into the sunfish and the bass."
This bass category includes both the smallmouth and largemouth bass studied by the U.S. Geological Survey. They are naturally male fish. According to an article in The Washington Post (September 6 & 7, 2006), the study took smallmouth bass fish from 6 sites and found 80 to 100% of them showing female characteristics!
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Editor's Comments:
What struck me the most in The Washington Post article on this topic, were the interviews with public utility officials and others saying they didn't know why the male fish were growing eggs and they couldn't say with 100% certainty that the utilities producing regional drinking water were filtering out whatever "it" was, since they claimed not to know what was causing it in the first place. This is sad, because, as the above article points out, many studies over several years have been conducted, both in laboratory settings and field research, showing that exposure to even very low levels of synthetic pesticides and other 'hormone-disrupting' chemicals cause changes in growth and hormonal function and therefore in the normal development of sex organs and/or male or female charateristics. Effects of these chemicals are showing up where they wouldn't in normal healthy conditions, in various animals, such as tadpoles and frogs. There are even recent studies showing effects of known or potential endocrine disruptors in humans and fetuses!
Another important factor is that the increased pollution is coming not just from human and animal wastes from sewage treatments and "some chemicals" as they wrote, but from the billions of pounds of chemicals used in conventional agriculture and the subsequent run-off into streams, rivers and lakes. All these chemicals are also on and in most people's non-organic food ~ so whatever doesn't remain in the body's system or collected in tissues will leave animals and people and go into the waterways via sewage plants.
What does this have to do with skin care, hair & body care, oral care and cosmetic products?
Do you think most manufacturers of these products are using different standards than conventional agriculture? Do you think there are no synthetic chemicals acting as endocrine disruptors in your shampoo, body cream, shaving gel, deodorant, lip balm, foundation, toothpaste or other personal care product? Well, think again.
Synthetic chemicals considered known or potential hormone disruptors and developmental toxins are in the majority of these types of products. And over 60% of what you put on your skin, hair and body gets absorbed into your body. The Environmental Working Group conducted a study of over 14,000 different skin care, personal care and cosmetic products. They found that 8,783 (60%) of the products contained synthetic chemicals known to be endocrine disruptors, many displaying estrogenic effects. About 45% of the products in the group contained chemicals considered to be known or possible human reproductive or developmental toxins.
In fact, some of the chemicals are both endocrine disruptors and reproductive/developmental toxins! This means the majority of personal care products contain chemicals that display one or both of these properties. In addition, many of these chemicals are also known or suspected carcinogens. (www.ewg.org)
A few common chemicals that are classified as endocrine disruptors and/or reproductive or developmental toxins: phthalates (not usually listed on labels), parabens (or any word ending in paraben), benzoic/benzyl/benzene (preservative), toluene, mercury, Polytheylene, Polyethylene glycol, Polyoxyethylene, Oxynol; any ethoxylated compound, including Sodium Laureth Sulfate (SLES), because they may contain 1,4-dioxane (an extremely harmful compound--potential carcinogen, estrogen mimic and endocrine disruptor), and atrazine [over 40 years of use as an herbicide on the #1 crop in the US - corn! In the US alone, over 76 million pounds are used annually and it has become one of the top contaminants of ground and surface water, being used in over 80 countries to date. - from 'Wreaking Havoc with Life' by Tyrone Hayes - published in Pesticides and You, Vol. 24, No. 2, 2004]
 Going organic greatly minimizes the amount of synthetic chemicals like endocrine-disruptors, that are used in agri-business. When we support organic agriculture and farmers working to safeguard the environment and their health, we are making a difference. When we use non-toxic, organic and more natural alternatives, we are making an impact!
ONE Group's commitments to food-grade Certified Organic products and sustainable business practices go a long way in supporting these farmers and sustainable business. And, you can be sure there are no synthetic chemicals or alcohols added and therefore, no synthetic endocrine-disruptors or developmental toxins to 'wreak havoc' with your body, your health or your family! You can feel great about what you are using and know you are doing your part to reduce the pollution of our waterways and wildlife.
Did you figure out the answers to these questions that appeared in the last E-NEWS?
If so, e-mail me your answers and receive 2 free samples of Miessence® products. I'll post the answers next time!
What country has the most organic farms?
Which small European nation has the highest percentage of farmland in use by organic farmers?
Do you know which country has the highest number of organic farms and land used for organic farming?
TAKE A LOOK HERE TO FIND OUT!
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Thank you for making a difference towards a sustainable future! I welcome your thoughts and questions on the products, E-NEWS or related topics. Hope to see you at one of our events this fall!
To your health & happiness,
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Ronit
Ms. Ronit Rosen
Independent Executive Representative
Organic & Natural Enterprise Group (ONE Group®)
Educating for non-toxic and organic choices.
www.OptionsForHealth.net Ronit@OptionsForHealth.net
(301) 928-0212 or Toll-free: 1.877.465.4836
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Medical Disclaimer: The information provided in this news bulletin and on the website is for general educational purposes. It is not intended to diagnose or treat specific medical conditions. We encourage you to seek advice or assistance from holistic, integrative or other appropriate health practitioners for any specific health or medical condition. |
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