🍳 Non-stick pans, accelerated aging, toilet time

Happy Friday my friend,

Want to help classify photos of wild beluga whales? Every year, 50k belugas come to Hudson Bay, and now you can help be part of reviewing underwater cams to monitor their condition!

ECL TRIVIA: Which forest activity, popularized in Japan, is shown to lower cortisol and boost immunity? (Answer below)

🌎 Planet Health

👔 BEYOND NEW CLOTHES: In a time where parents feel pressure to buy “new clothes” for kids returning back to school, this Oregon woman’s 3-story thrift store focuses on a back to school clothing swap, where families can swap clothing items, and discover “new to them” clothes without contributing to landfill waste, or “buy new” mentality. Is this something you could see being successful in the area you live?

🌊 SEAWEED INK: Artists have embraced the world’s first sustainable, biodegradable ink— made from regeneratively farmed seaweed! To see some of the striking “Art For Your Oceans” pieces that were made with the ink, click here. Beyond ink, seaweed forests are terrific carbon sinks, and seaweed can be used in things like animal feed, bioplastics, fertilizers, and more.

🐚 FOOD WASTE WATER: 1 in 3 people globally lack access to safe drinking water. Now, Texas scientists have turned food waste (think cellulose, starch, and crustacean shells) into a sponge-like, eco-friendly hydrogel that pulls moisture from dry air. It can generate over 14 liters of clean water per day with minimal energy. Learn more about this new technology with the power to decentralize our water systems.

🍳 What’s for dinner? Toxic PFAs?!

My wife and I have tested a lot of so-called “healthy” non-stick pans over the years, and most either fall apart quickly or come with coatings that aren’t so friendly to our health (or the planet).

We were excited to discover these pans from Chef’s Foundry, and after using them ourselves, we can honestly say they’re the most resilient and best-designed non-stick pans we’ve come across.

Unlike conventional cookware, these pans don’t rely on toxic coatings that can leach into your meals over time. They’re crafted to be both safe and durable, so you don’t have to choose between performance in the kitchen and protecting your health.

After getting to know the founder personally, I feel confident recommending them to our Earth Conscious Life community.

Right now, ECL readers can reduce an EXTRA 20% (from the already half off) using code EARTH20 with this link: Chef’s Foundry Pans.

Detoxify your kitchen and make sure every meal supports your body instead of burdening it. Small choices like this add up… and swapping out your cookware is one of the easiest ways to make a big impact on your health.

🧑‍⚕️ Human Health

💩 TOILET TIME: Do you often bring your phone into the bathroom with you? A new study reveals “using a smartphone while on the toilet was linked to a 46% increased chance of having hemorrhoids,” with data showing hemorrhoids lead to nearly 4M visits to the doctor or emergency room annually in the U.S.  Read more here about study participants’ two most commonly reported smartphone activities on the toilet.

🍬 PLASTIC EXPOSURE: A new study links DEHP (a common phthalate plasticizer found in items like food packaging, shower curtains, and medical tubing) to 13.5% of cardiovascular deaths among 55–64-year-olds in 2018. While DEHP isn’t proven to have been the cause of those deaths, more research is urgently needed. Read more.

🥤 AGING WITH ARTIFICIAL SWEETENER: Are aspartame, saccharin, acesulfame-K, erythritol, sorbitol, and xylitol associated with cognitive decline? Study results show those who consumed the equivalent of one diet soda’s worth per day saw a 62% faster cognitive decline (≈1.6 years of brain aging) over eight years than those who consumed the lowest levels. Learn more here about the one artificial sweetener that wasn’t connected to cognitive decline in the study.

Photo of the week

Trivia Answer:

Forest bathing, or shinrin-yoku, is the simple act of immersing yourself in nature to improve physical and mental health.

🎥 The Permaculture perspective on a sustainable human settlement

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...and a healthier planet:

• • Improve health awareness: Deep Dive articles & recipe videos
• • Protect ecosystems: expert video tutorials with leaders around the world
• • Prioritize mental health: custom meditations for relieved stress
• • Camaraderie: likeminded community (app coming soon!)
• • Inspiration: members-only ebooks, personal picks, and DIY ideas
• • Portion goes to support independent films, local food projects, and planting trees