Month: July 2017

For our team located at our marula production facility in Botswana, each day offers a story. Some of the stories relate to the trials and tribulations of running a factory in a country, which cannot guarantee electricity or Internet… or even water at times, those essentials needed to keep a business rolling. Other stories focus on our buying adventures, trips to parts of Botswana, places that invite producers of “Naked and Afraid” to film episodes of contestants challenging the elements for survival.

We go in search of “pips” – those hard cores of the marula fruit. The fruit is like a plum… flesh surrounding a hard core. That core, once the flesh is removed and the “pip” washed and dried, holds one to four “eyes” – the kernels that hold the oil we will process into a clean, rich, pure ingredient for cosmetics.

The pips are collected by Batswana (the citizens refer to themselves as Batswana) and either brought to us “at the gate,” as we call delivery at our door, or we go to the villages and buy the pips directly from the local harvesters. The pips are dry, as the fruit has either rotted away on the ground or been made into a strong “beer,” after which the pips are set in the sun. When ready, the people put the pips in to bags for sale to us.

So, what is the story here? A few days ago, a “bucky” – a small pickup truck – arrived at our gate. In the back of the truck were bags of marula pips, all dried and in beautiful condition. ½ ton of pips! The truck had traveled from Shoshon, about a three-hour drive from the factory. The pips had been collected by a group of people, who are building a church in their community. They all chipped in enough pula (the country’s currency), so the driver could afford petro. The driver and his passenger arrived hungry and thirsty, and we were happy to feed them. The funds for the sale would be applied to their church building.

In fact, they promised us more pips over the coming months. We are delighted! The marula comes from an area we know produces excellent oil. But, beyond that, we achieve our mission of enhancing local economies. The money gained by the sale of a local, sustainable, natural product supports individuals and communities.

A “win-win” – and we love it!

Speaking of stories, we recommend Alexander McCall Smith and his series of novels, “The No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency” (http://url.ie/11w17), for anyone interested in learning more about Botswana. The stories are delightful and fun to read. Each book offers a picture of Botswana – its land, its people, its development. The stories are a bit dated (set a couple decades ago), but much remains unchanged. And, of course, there are mysteries to be solved….

Just a few short years ago, even as of today, we were buying products that resulted in the demise of “99%” of the germs on our hands, our skin, our hair, or in our mouth. Those nasty bugs on our bods create all kinds of havoc! They don’t deserve to live! Thus, an avalanche of antibacterial toothpastes and lotions and shampoos and dish soaps greeted us on the store shelves.

And, anyone looking for a product that did not include anti-bacterial ingredients had a tough time finding one.

Among the latest trends in cosmetics today is a recognition that bacteria are not purely harmful. Most of the bugs that call our skin and hair home are harmless and some are even beneficial to our health. Like the “probiotic” trend in foods, products that maintain healthy bacteria and yeasts in the gut, cosmetic manufacturers are now looking at a “probiotic” approach to creams and lotions. One track is “feeding” existing “good” bacteria through specialized ingredients or “prebiotics.” A second track is adding bacteria to cosmetics, a similar approach to “probiotic” foods.

In either case, the jury is still out on effectiveness. Skeptics say that evidence is insufficient to warrant adding live bacteria to cosmetics. In addition, they point to regulations that prohibit the sale of “contaminated” products and wonder how the intentional addition of bacteria will be permitted.

We are in a new world where cosmetics are concerned, and consumers are curious about the prospects of healthier skin and hair through use of these products. Get ready to see “Beauty and the Bugs” at a cosmetic counter near you, as the big manufacturers are seeing a “healthy” market demand on the near horizon!

We noted in a previous post that sales of male grooming products are increasing. However, that is not the sole trend in cosmetics these days.

One other trend is the increasing awareness by consumers of ec0-friendly products. The conscious consumer is directing his/her money on products that are “morally” correct.

For example, the consumer today wants to buy organic, eat locally, recycle, etc. The consumer wants to “do no harm” to our planet, to our society, to ourselves. (We will discuss “conscious consumerism” in another post.)

What does this mean for cosmetic purchases?

First, it means sustainability of ingredients. Does the cosmetic contain ingredients made from animals or plants that are endangered or cannot be sustained? Is the technology that produces these products itself eco-friendly? Does the use of green technological raw materials guarantee high levels of quality, sustainability and longer lasting performances?

Second, eco-friendly purchases are very difficult to make. In fact, consumers are at the mercy of product marketers. For example, just because a label says “natural” or “green” or “organic” does not mean much. No one regulates the use of these, and other, terms. Thus, we have “green washing” – marketing of terms, rather than ec0-friendly products.

Still, the consumer wants to be part of the eco-friendly movement, spending his/her dollars on “good” products. Elizabeth Nichin, in her blog post in the Feminist Beauty Project (http://tinyurl.com/ycuganoc) recommends three ways that consumers can be vigilant in their purchases: buy small (e.g., look for artisans offering hand crafted cosmetics), read labels (how often have we said that!), and contact the companies that manufacture your favorite products. Ask them questions. Get the information you need.

The eco-friendly trend may be short lived, as the problems might be too overwhelming for the average consumer. Still, manufacturers are very aware of trends and need to adjust accordingly. Several large companies are slowly moving in that direction (perhaps more from an economic perspective than moral), while others (e.g., Dr. Bronner, Lush, American Provenance) have maintained their commitment since their beginnings.

Other trends will be discussed in upcoming posts.

Another beautiful morning here!

We found a blog post done by Liana Mehring back in 2012 (http://tinyurl.com/y7ofurxo), while she was a student at Georgetown and studying in Botswana for a semester. Her comments are very enlightening and offer anyone, with an interest in knowing more about this lovely country, an insight to its many aspects.

The blog post is printed in its entirety here:

“What can language tell us about a country? Botswana means “place of Tswana.” The Tswana are the dominant ethnic group in Botswana, and the citizenry of Botswana are referred to as Batswana, or the Tswana people. Setswana is the language of the Tswana people and the dominant national language. To recap, you have the Batswana people living in Botswana and speaking Setswana.

The prefixes change the meaning of the word Tswana, with bo referring to the land, ba to the people, and se to the language. The term Batswana, however, bears a double meaning. In official government rhetoric, Batswana is an all-inclusive term for the entire country’s citizenry. Ironically, the word contradicts this rhetorical inclusiveness by specifically referring to the ethnically Tswana people as distinct from the country’s various other ethnic groups.

This double meaning highlights a tension in Botswana between an official narrative of national unity on the one hand, and the reality of a diverse population dominated by the Tswana people on the other. This double meaning also perpetuates the dominant, albeit debatable, assertion that Botswana’s success and stability as a multiparty liberal democracy is rooted in its having a ethnically homogeneous population. Although this homogeneity is certainly a contributing factor to Botswana’s national success, I would argue that the responsible management of the country’s valuable natural resources, including its diamonds, is an even greater source of stability.

Linguistically supported fictions perpetrated by the government, however, contribute to the myth of a non-ethnic society despite the presence of minority ethnic groups, such as the Kalanga, Kgalagadi, Herero, and Yeyi. In the 1990s, these groups challenged the Tswana majority for both recognition and influence in Botswana. At its worst, the Tswana majority’s non-ethnic rhetoric is superficially harmonizing and ultimately supremacist in effect. At its best, however, such this language could be a means to realizing a genuine ideal of civic participation being open to all individuals regardless of their ethnic identity. Thus it is clear that double meanings abound in Botswana.

Pula is also a word saturated with meaning and symbolism. It is most immediately the Setswana term for rain, but it is also the term for the country’s currency. As a landlocked nation covered largely by the Kalahari Desert, rainwater is a scarce and extremely valuable commodity in Botswana. Pula is also a term for blessing or luck. As such it is the national motto of Botswana and is featured on their coat of arms. A single word encapsulates the rain that nourishes the country’s crops, as well as the wealth and blessings that follow from this rain.

Names in Setswana also bear a multilayered significance. Nicknames are common here, running the spectrum from the clever to the absurd. So far, I’ve either met or heard of people named Reptile, Touch, Oral, Laptop, Danger, and Swimming Pool. Nicknames like Kelly and John are often a Westernization of traditional names, mercifully offered for the benefit of foreigners like me. This is despite my best efforts to pronounce the guttural g’s and rolled r’s in Setswana, which are usually cut short with, “You can just call me Kelly.” But beneath every nickname and anglicization is the Setswana name given by someone’s parents, each one with its own unique significance.

For example, everyone knows one of my friends as Double O. Sitting with him on the benches outside the dorms, I’m likely to hear “Double O” shouted at random across the quad, identifiable amid a stream of rapidly spoken Setswana. Double O’s name is derived from his first name Omphemetse, which means “I saved you.” His second name, Mogomotsi, translates to “someone who offers comfort and solace.” These names fit his personality as someone who is a loyal friend to those who know him. The second “O” comes from his last name, Oneile, meaning, “he has given.” This fulfills Double O’s designation as a caregiver: Omphemetse Mogomotsi Oneile, a savior who has given comfort.

While talking about the significance of names in Botswana, Double O said that he believes names sometimes function as self-fulfilling prophecies. For example, he knows someone named Kenosi who is an old man without a wife or kids. His sole caregiver is someone who, in Double O’s own sympathetic words, “isn’t even a relative.” Kenosi in Setswana means, “I am alone.” Double O also has an uncle named Senatla, which roughly means, “someone who works hard and does that work perfectly.” Senatla’s name embodies his work ethic, and he is beloved throughout his village for working hard to plan weddings, funerals, and other important life events.

Double O was quick to add that these examples were merely his own observations. But now that I’m aware of this unproven yet intriguing phenomenon, I’m eager to discern the meaning behind every name. As for me, a couple of my local friends spontaneously gave me a Setswana name, Keitumetse, which means, ‘I am happy.'”

We read, with no small concern, a recent CNN article by John D. Sutter, columnist. He notes several statistics that should not be ignored, such as, “three-quarters of all species could disappear in the coming centuries.”

That is a scary thought.

For those of us with DLG Naturals, who live and work in Botswana, home of some of Africa’s most majestic animals, including the elephant, the idea of losing elephants, for example, is depressing.

Anthony Barnosky, executive director of the Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve at Stanford University, “On the one hand, you can say, ‘All right, we still have around 400,000 elephants in Africa, and that seems like a really big number. But then, if you step back, that’s cut by more than half of what their populations were in the early part of last century. There were well over 1 million elephants (then). And if you look at what’s happened in the last decade, we have been culling their numbers so fast that if we kept up with that pace, there would be no more wild elephants in Africa in 20 years.” (Emphasis added).

And that is just elephants.

Already gone:
In 2008, the Chinese River Dolphin.
In 2000, the Pyrenean Ibex.
In 1989, the Golden Toad.
And earlier in the recent past: Tasmanian Wolf, Bubal Hartebeest, Quagga Zebra, Cape Lion, Caribbean Monk Seal.

Probable upcoming extinctions:
Javan Rhinoceros, Snow Leopard, Tiger, Asian Elephant, Vaquita Porpoise, Mountain Gorilla, Sumatran Orangutan, Leatherback Turtle.

Several well recognized animals are at high risk, including the Panda, Polar Bear, Wolves, Jaguar. and others.

Ever been to the store to buy a bottle of shampoo or lotion? How about a cosmetics counter at the local mall for a lipstick? Ever try to read the label for the ingredients? Oh, you need your glasses, you say? The font is so small as to be nearly illegible?

Or, worse, the list contains ingredients that are hardly pronounceable, much less recognized as commonly used words:

Butylated what???

If you are curious enough to continue reading here, we will provide a wee bit of useful information about butylated hydroxytoluene (also known as BHT) and its cousin, butylated hydroxyanisole (if you guessed BHA, you win the prize!).

Those two cosmetic ingredients sound like something from a chemistry lab belonging to Dr. Frankenstein, which is fairly accurate. Both are synthetic antioxidants used in cosmetics as preservatives, particularly in moisturizers and lipsticks.

No one likes moldy, slimy, unpreserved lipstick!  Bacterai, mold…. Yuck!

Unfortunately, neither ingredient is considered totally safe to use. BHA is often found in foods but is a possible human carcinogen. BHT is also a food additive but is also found in household products, industrial additives, pesticides, and plastic and rubber. BHT may interfere with hormone balances, affect kidney, lung, and thyroid function, as well as alter blood coagulation ability, and cause behavioral problems in children.

The European Union prohibits the use of BHA as fragrance ingredient, while California requires warning labels on products with BHA, as a possible cancer causing agent.

Maybe you are wondering if an antioxidant in your lipstick is worth the risk. You should wonder.

The David Suzuki Foundation notes, “U.S. researchers report that one in eight of the 82,000 ingredients used in personal care products are industrial chemicals, including carcinogens, pesticides, reproductive toxins, and hormone disruptors. Many products include plasticizers (chemicals that keep concrete soft), degreasers (used to get grime off auto parts), and surfactants (they reduce surface tension in water, like in paint and inks). Imagine what that does to your skin, and to the environment.” http://www.davidsuzuki.org

We recommend reading the list of ingredients for all your cosmetics. Knowing what you are putting in your hair, on your skin, on your lips and eyelids can make a difference in your life.

We will be looking at p-phenylenediamine in a future post.

We mentioned the Movember Movement in a previous post pertaining to male grooming. The Movember Foundation has a keen interest in men, but not merely for personal grooming. The foundation is tackling major health problems that affect men, e.g., testicular cancer.
The foundation notes on its U.S. website, https://us.movember.com, “The state of men’s health is in crisis. Men experience worse longer-term health than women and die on average six years earlier. Prostate cancer rates will double in the next 15 years.” (One in eight women in the US, but one in seven men will develop prostate cancer.) “Testicular cancer rates have already doubled in the last 50. Three quarters of suicides are men. Poor mental health leads to half a million men taking their own life every year. That’s one every minute.”
The organization had its birth in Australia in 2003, when two guys, Travis Garone and Luke Slattery, wondered if they could bring the mustache back into fashion. In their effort, they started raising funds for charity, specifically oriented toward men’s health concerns.
In 2004, they established the Movember Foundation.
By 2006, New Zealand became active, and the two countries raised over $8,000,000 with 29 men’s health projects being funded in three years.
By 2008, seven countries were participating, raising $46,000,000 and 152 projects funded.
21 countries were involved by 2012, with over $400,000,000 raised since 2003
The foundation, via it international efforts, has raised over $700,000,000 in its lifetime and funded over 1200 health projects, all as a result of a conversation about mustaches.
For more information and how to participate in events or donate, please go to www.movember.com