LETTERS

HUMAN GUINEAPIG BATH-TESTS Tonight I had a bit of a shock. As I lay in a rare bath (I usually shower) reading your magazine (March edition), I came to the ‘Read the Label’ article on preservatives. As a matter of interest, I reached over for the tub of ‘relaxing Lavender Milk Bath Powder’ made by The Body Shop, a Christmas present from a friend. I, like many others I’m sure, would consider that The Body Shop would not be too bad on environmental matters – although in recent years, I had begun to suspect that they had sold out to the corporate machine. I ran through the ingredient list – 28 in total; out of this I could identify a few (aqua – water, sodium chloride – salt, sodium bicarbonate – bicarb of soda, etc). What amazed me was the inclusion of six of the preservatives on your list – phenoxyethanol, methylparaben, butylparaben, ethylparaben, isobutylparaben and propylparaben. Underneath the ingredient list in large capital letters – against animal testing. Setting aside the fact that they no longer state that they don’t test on animals, it seems that

The Body Shop are not against testing on humans with their unnecessary use of these ingredients. I will be writing to them to ask why they feel the need to use these preservatives – it will be interesting to see their reply.

Sarah, Sheffi eld

SCHOOL RUN Laline, Helena and Ned Pollock tackling childhood obesity, attention defi cit disorder, and urban 4x4’s without breaking sweat... photo: The Bicycle fi xer

CARBON CONSCIOUSNESS Real change comes from the bottom upwards. With ever-climbing CO 2 levels, all of us on Planet Earth can do our bit to help Gaia. The big steps for pulling carbon from the atmosphere all enhance our quality of life! For a start, organic agriculture is needed because it optimises the use of compost heaps to put carbonwaste into the soil. Putting farm and garden waste into the soil via a compost heap fi xes the carbon, over a longer term, in a way that leaving it to rot down on the surface does not. Then, all human excrement needs to be injected under the soil, with phasingout of sewage incineration plants: marine disposal of sewage is no good because it produces methane and CO 2 . The consequence of doing this would be an enhancement of bird life from all the extra worms in the soil. We need houses built out HOORAY! HE BINNED THE BAR! Yesterday during a midafternoon energy crash, a colleague of mine started to unwrap a Nutri-Grain bar with the aim of keeping his forehead from slumping onto his keyboard in exhaustion. I happened to have this month’s Ecologist handy and offered him the exposing article on the aforementioned snack. He read it with interest and, soon after, hurled the

of wood or organic materials, using only a minimum of iron and concrete. That will fi x carbon. Chopping down woods to make newspapers is useless because the carbon biodegrades too quickly back into CO 2 . Corpses mustn’t be cremated – don’t end up as air pollution! – but buried in biodegradable coffi ns. Let’s see every child in this country planting a tree, and nurturing its growth. Homo sap. has to make a collective rational choice to start pulling carbon from the air

Nick Kollerstrom, PhD

University College London

Nutri-Grain bar into the bin in disgust. A victory!

Charlie

London

Kellogg’s Nutri-Grain update: Our article detailed in part the health consequences – cancer, heart disease, hormone imbalance and immune system damage, to name but a few – of high levels of omega-6 fatty acids in convenience foods such as the Nutri-Grain bar. Kellogg has found a novel way of addressing this problem. In December 2005, the company announced that, from 2006, it will begin using a low omega-6 oil known as Vistive – made from Monsanto’s genetically modifi ed soybeans – in some products to make them healthier. Because there is a ‘shortage’ of low linolenic-acid soybean oils in the marketplace, Kellogg has also committed itself to increasing production of Nutrium, another oil made from GM soybeans, to be used in its products from 2007. Both oils contain the Roundup Ready trait.

THE ECOLOGIST 007