Back in August, I shared with you my thoughts on Toxic Baby, the awesomely frightening and ultimately empowering film by Penelope Jagessar Chaffer. It made me change the way I evaluate, buy, and use all the products in our household. One critical lesson from the film and the movement to clean up our chemical-infused environment is this: the power is with the consumer. What and how much we buy determines, to an encouraging degree, how safe companies are willing to make products. From baby shampoos to treatments for rugs and sofas, the power of the dollar drives decisions.
That is the easy part. What confuses many moms and dads – and this new green mom – is understanding, remembering, and acting upon correct information regarding ingredients. Veritey is a new company that wants to help. And as I learned from its founders, even the “best” companies aren’t being truthful all the time.
I have known Amy Ziff (Veritey founder, award-winning journalist, entrepreneur, healthy living advocate, and mom of three) since our freshman year of college. Which was at least five years ago (and there is nothing false about that statement). I am thrilled and ridiculously proud that we are in a position to work together on bringing healthy living information to the Mommybites community.
Amy has been researching products and their true ingredients for years: “What companies put in their products can be shocking, including known carcinogens and other toxic chemicals that can cause an array of conditions from asthma to infertility, and which are often not disclosed.”
Adrienne Peres is the co-founder of Veritey and a mom of two. Several of her family members battled breast cancer, and ultimately lost. As a carrier of the BRCA breast and ovarian cancer genetic mutation, Adrienne is proactive and informed about her health choices. She recognizes the disturbing connection between chemicals and cancer, and says that making smart, informed decisions about products containing carcinogens and toxic chemicals is, sadly, neither straightforward nor simple.
Her lifelong passion for healthy living combines perfectly with this mission-driven business. “Veritey is a way for me to share the factors that we can control in our lives. I want to create a solution that makes it easy and accessible for everyone to make better, safer choices.”
Recently, Amy and Adrienne came to my New York City apartment to inspect under my sink. Yeah, that actually happened. And thank goodness I had some wine on hand because what I learned was humbling. After a lively, information-packed discussion among the Veritey team and some of my wonderful local mom friends, we moved on to the moment of truth – in my kitchen.
Several to many of the products I use to clean my home (or – as you know from this post -the products that my cleaning woman mostly uses to clean my home) are not as good of choices as I’d thought. Not only am I shocked by this, but I am embarrassed that I didn’t know. I’d been depending solely on what my favorite green companies were saying for and about themselves. Unfortunately, this information can be lacking at best, and potentially dangerous at worst. Often too much of one ingredient (found across products) presents a problem; other “natural” ingredients may combine in use to become carcinogens.
Now I am checking my favorite products against Veritey’s lists. The website allows me to search by Veritey’s Seals of Approval – these include Non-Toxic & Safe, Sustainable & Ecological, Cruelty-Free & No Harm, Socially Responsible, and Veritey Approved. Community feedback, questions, and ideas are always welcome.
Amy created her new company to help smart people make “think-proof” choices for their families and the planet. She says, “As a busy, loving, concerned mom, I wanted someone to tell me what to do. Now we can do that – Veritey is where truth meets healthy living.”
Veritey employs a panel of scientists, physicians, and PhD’s – all of whom are invested in bringing healthy living options and truths to the larger community. Given the choice between their expertise and my limited time and knowledge? Well, these are definitely the people I trust in helping me decide what to use in my home and on my children.
It feels very good to have an additional trusted resource as a new green mom. For me, this came with the added blessing of visiting with a dear and valued friend. I know that many moms and dads will welcome the inclusion into Veritey’s thoughtful community.
I received Veritey-approved products to replace others I already owned. Opinions are, as always, my own.
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Wendy Bradford is a mama of three, wife, writer, spin instructor, ardent New Yorker and blogger at mamaonetothree.com.
The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely the blog contributor’s. Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer or provider. Writers may have conflicts of interest, and their opinions are their own.
* Healthy Living is section of our website co-hosted by Lemi Shine. Lemi Shine has compensated Mommybites to be a partner in this awesome Healthy Living section on our website. This partnership does not influence the content, topics or posts made on this blog. We always give our honest opinions, findings, beliefs, or experiences on all topics, products, and services.