Special Packaging - Better for the Planet

I want to tell you about a package I received the other day and show you pictures - but first I have to talk about the product I ordered and perhaps offer a little disclaimer.. AND there's a discount code for you if your interested.

   I have probably mentioned Waldens Farms in the blog, and I most definitely have talked about it on my You Tube channel.  The products I use are 'calorie free' salad dressings, chocolate and pancake syrup, a peanut spread, apple jelly, and caramel, chocolate and marshmallow dips.  Note that the 'calorie free' tag can be misleading. If a product has less than 5 calories per the serving size listed (not the one you want it to be) then the company can advertise it as calorie free - but only water is truly calorie free.
   I like the Walden Farms products.  I don't use much of the dips and spreads because when I use more than a teaspoonful -ish I sense a little after taste.  The products are highly processed or filtered such that the main ingredient is water. Of course, all the flavorings they use are FDA approved, but you know how that goes.  The main thing I wanted to point out before I promote them is that they contain artificial sweeteners (splenda - sucralose).
   Aspartame, saccharine and sucralose have been the subject of much study and debate - including what I have contributed in these pages. As far as we know, in the amounts that we consume them, they are not harmful. But I must admit that our ability to detect problems through scientific methods only gets better with time and it could be that the substances are not safe. In the past, the way they studied them was to give ridiculously huge amounts to animals that weighed between 5 and 15 pounds.  At extreme doses, the animals got sick or died. In doses more likely to be consumed by people, the animals did not have any problems.  Remember, many things are okay in small doses, like alcohol, but toxic otherwise.
   Certainly there is anecdotal evidence (stories) about people who used large amounts of aspartame or saccharin for many years and who seem to have gotten sick for no other reason then the sweeteners.  There are also people who have allergic reactions to sweeteners - people have allergic reactions to peanuts too, but peanuts are not bad for the rest of us.  I would expect, but this is far from scientific, that the air we breathe on bad ozone days is worse for us than these sweeteners.
   Still, my use of artificial sweeteners seems to contradict my stance on health - and by way of comparison, my view on mercury.  I won't eat canned tuna because it has too much mercury - but I drink diet soda.  I too am guilty of not wanting to hear things that will challenge my lifestyle.  So I have a bias or blind side when it comes to artificial sweeteners... not that there is any definitive research that says they are bad.. certainly they are not good  - but neither is sugar.  At least, I am honest in my bias, many researchers are not.  (You have to make your own decision about whether to use sweeteners or sugar for that matter - just remember that the best evidence we have today or had yesterday might be contradicted tomorrow.  That means we are getting better at science not worse!)
   SO  - YAY, I found a great place to order my beloved Walden Farms products - cheaper than the grocery store (where they are hard to find in some states).  I was able to get free shipping too, but the best part was how they were shipped.  See picture below.  No styrofoam peanuts or plastic - I was delighted.  And they also gave me a coupon code to share with my friends.. you are my friends, yes?  

All of the packaging was recyclable!

My Walden Favorites!

The company from which I ordered the Walden Farms products is iHerb.com
To get $5 to $10 off an order, use this code: DNZ646