"He got better"

is one of my favorite movie quotes. It is said after the question.....  "I thought he died?"

The reason this one came to mind this morning, is because I was looking at an add for clothes and the mention of this new fabric called Tencel. I got all happy, it won the EU- Flower prize, because of the way it is manufactured, it claims to be all natural, without chemical additives, cool is summer, warm in winter, breathable...... WinWin!  I never heard of it, so I looked it up. The proces is chlorine free, but uses oxygene, hydrogenperoxide and ozone.....and this "environmentally friendly process releases acids and water in the air, plus the process uses a lot of energy (it partly re-uses the leftovers from the process for this, but the rest has to be generated thru the grid) As contrary as this may be to "all natural and environmentally friendly" this is not the part that got me here....

In a study into "health issues and the air we breathe" from Belgium, this is mentioned:
"Ozon concentrations in the air can be unhealthy for individuals and can cause shortness of breath, irritation of the airways, inabillity to breathe due to irreversible damage to the lungs and dizzyness.  Plants die before their natural time and crops have lesser yields." This also wasn't a big shock. However the next part of this study was.....  "Although there is no direct connection between Ozone and chronic disease, during the period between 1997 and 2003 an average of 120 people  PER YEAR died prematurely because of increased Ozone in Flandres" ...... Now, I'm not a doctor, but DEAD seams pretty chronic to me! As is an increased amount of COPD, Lungcancer, Skincancer, and deminished lungfunction.....

This makes me wonder how BAD you have to be for the environment to be passed over for the environmental prize?

It also drills down to do your research if something is hailed as "all natural" and "environmentally friendly"............  Maybe we should just go back to the ways of early man..... wool, linen and such. Grab a sheep, shear it, spin it, weave it, wear it...... Plant some flax watch it grow, harvest the seeds to make oil, save some of the flowers for coloring the fabric and use the leftover bits to make linen clothing. No muss, no fuss, all natural. REALLY!

Getting of the soapbox now, but wanted to make you think, just a little :-)

Don't forget to hug a loved one!?

Hugs,
Pauli