This article is a continuation of my last post, published on February 28th, 2022. Clean – for you and the environment “Clean” branding and greenwashing – a misleading marketing strategy used to deceive consumers into believing that a company’s products are environmentally friendly – are often intertwined. While most instances of greenwashing are subtle, impliedContinue reading “Clean Beauty or Anti-Science: Part II”
Tag Archives: health
Clean Beauty or Anti-Science: Part I
As a teen in the early 2010s, I remember watching YouTube videos of influencers’ makeup collections. These people would have thousands of dollars worth of cosmetics stashed away in custom Ikea closets, opening drawers to reveal hundreds of lipsticks in nearly indistinguishable shades or eyeshadow palettes of every imaginable color. In recent years, these over-the-topContinue reading “Clean Beauty or Anti-Science: Part I”
High-steaks: the push for lab-grown meat
China has been in the news a lot recently. Headlines cover everything from their handling of the pandemic to alleged human rights abuses, rising carbon emissions to the upcoming winter Olympic games. But with the release of the Chinese five-year agricultural plan on January 26th, the media buzz was, for once, seemingly uncontroversial. Much toContinue reading “High-steaks: the push for lab-grown meat”
Refrigerants: pick your poison
Walk into any grocery store, big or small, and you’ll be met with walls of freezers and fridges working to keep your favorite foods fresh. A century ago, rudimentary refrigeration came from insulated rooms, filled with blocks of ice harvested in the winter months. Today’s refrigeration is much more sophisticated and reliable: behind these meticulouslyContinue reading “Refrigerants: pick your poison”
Artificial sweeteners: are they truly as sweet as they taste?
Strange beginnings It’s the number one rule in chemistry: don’t lick the science. When working with new or unknown molecules this is good advice, as any given substance has the potential to have toxic effects. But in a few instances, researchers have accidentally tasted their experiments, only to make some interesting discoveries. In 1897, aContinue reading “Artificial sweeteners: are they truly as sweet as they taste?”
Climate Policy: when environmental action is deemed illegal
As the COP 26 UN Climate Summit kicks off in Glasgow, Scotland, environmental legislation in the United States is facing new threats. On Friday, the Supreme Court agreed to review the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) power to limit greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, in response to lobbying from coal-mining companies and Republican-led states. TheContinue reading “Climate Policy: when environmental action is deemed illegal”
Fluoride: how a simple charged atom became such a charged topic
If you’ve ever been bored while brushing your teeth, you might have picked up your tube of toothpaste and read it over. Chances are, amongst promises of fresher breath and whiter teeth, you’ll come across the following words: “with fluoride”. Fluoride is the ionized form of the element fluorine, meaning it consists of a fluorideContinue reading “Fluoride: how a simple charged atom became such a charged topic”
Periodically Green 