Internet Filters: Circle vs. Torch

I felt like I needed to write this post, even though I am not an active blogger. I recently had the opportunity to try both of the most talked about internet filters for families: Circle (by Disney) and Torch (a complete router).

At first, I was completely disappointed by both. Let me explain. In my mind, I thought that an internet filtering device would be able to filter EVERYTHING if desired. I expected them to be able to filter images and results from a search on Google, for example. It turns out that filtering managed sites (meaning sites that already manage their own content) is currently impossible. At least that's what Circle and Torch tell me. If someone using Circle or Torch searches something sketchy, they are going to see some sketchy pictures and videos. I was so upset about this!! Why get a filter if it can't even keep out images in the first place my kids would think to look!? The answer, obviously, is that it's going to keep them from clicking and viewing the actual, external websites. Yes, that's great, but I still really wish it were possible to keep those images away in the first place. Also, these filters DO NOT filter material that isn't considered explicit. That means that sites like Sports Illustrated or Victoria Secret are still going to be clickable. With that in mind, here are some details on the two products:

USER INTERFACE

Circle

Circle definitely wins this category. The app is extremely user friendly and the activity reporting is easy to interpret (meaning that websites visited on certain devices show up in an easy-to-understand format). It shows the sites/apps visited, time visited, and time spent there. The app allows easy access to changing settings for the profiles added.

Torch

Torch's dashboard online isn't terrible. It's easy to set up profiles, but it was difficult to figure out where the filtering was happening and how to alter it. We eventually found it under the "Blocked" category. You log-in to this interface, so still available on the go, but not as easy as opening an app. The reporting on usage is completely unintelligible. It keeps track of even the internal inquiries on the device, so it's really just a bunch of mumbo-jumbo.


FUNCTIONALITY

I feel like their functionality is quite similar in terms of filtering, though I noticed more of a lag time in internet speed with Torch than with Circle. I didn't expect that, especially because the talk online is that Circle is supposed to slow things down more. Torch took longer to take effect on the devices that were added to a profile on the dashboard (with a different filtering level), but worked great once it connected. Circle's filtering is less customizable in my opinion. You have to choose a filtering level (like kid, teen, etc.) and they choose what is then filtered (with some options). Torch allows you to filter by category (like gambling, social media, etc.). You can also enter in specific websites to be filtered here. I didn't see that option with the Circle app. Here is the thing that makes a big difference to me: Circle can be unplugged or turned off and the internet will still work, meaning the devices still connect to your router, sans filtering. Torch cannot be unplugged without stopping the internet. I am thinking about myself as a teen...I would have figured out immediately that I could unplug Circle and do whatever I wanted to do online. Even though I like Circle better in terms of ease of use, this fact alone makes me want to use Torch. Also, with our current internet setup, our modem IS a router. So using Torch actually gives us two wi-fi signals. This means that Scott and I can keep our devices on our regular network (without any slow down at all) and the kids can be connected to the Torch signal. We noticed that a few devices (like our kids DS's) wouldn't work with Circle or Torch. They couldn't connect when it was on. Having both networks solves that problem, too. We can connect the DS's to the regular network and use the restrictions on the DS itself to protect from inappropriate content, then link all of the other devices to the Torch. Circle does not allow two separate wifi signals (unless you set up a router on the other side of the house or something?!).

MISCELLANEOUS 

Apparently, there will be a fee associated with using Torch. Not cool. I thought it was a one-time purchase. Circle IS a one-time purchase right now, though who knows if they will charge for updates in the future. Both Torch and Circle will have the capability to filter devices outside of the home for a monthly fee (Circle already has Circle-Go).



I think that pretty much covers it! I will be giving feedback to Torch and I still haven't totally decided which way we will go. I am thinking: Circle for now so we don't have to pay a monthly fee, then move to Torch in the future when our kids get too smart!? We have also messed with the restrictions and settings on each individual device and have also researched options online (like turning on Google Safe-Search). This site is a great start: https://www.google.com/safetycenter/families/start/

Hope this helps you in your search for internet safety!!

Kroger - An Examination

Most of us have shopped at a Kroger store and King Soopers is the closest grocery store to me, so this has been the obvious next step in my research.  From the Kroger website, here are the brands that they operate:

The Kroger Co. operates grocery retail stores under the following banners:

• Supermarkets - Kroger, Ralphs, Dillons, Smith's, King Soopers, Fry's, QFC, City Market, Owen's, Jay C, Pay Less, Baker's, Gerbes, Scott's Food & Pharmacy
• Multi-department stores - Fred Meyer
• Dillons Marketplace, Fry's Marketplace, Kroger Marketplace, Smith's Marketplace
• Price-impact warehouse stores - Food 4 Less, Foods Co

They also operate convenience stores:

	States Represented
Kwik Shop, Inc.	Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska
Loaf N' Jug	Colorado, New Mexico, Nebraska, Montana, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Wyoming
Quik Stop Markets, Inc.	California, Nevada
Tom Thumb Food Stores	Florida, Alabama
Turkey Hill Minit Markets	Pennsylvania, Indiana, Ohio
Smith's Express                                                                                               Utah     And Jewelry Stores:

With 342 fine jewelry stores in 33 states, The Kroger Co. ranks as the fourth-largest jewelry retailer in the nation. The stores operate under the following banners:

• Barclay Jewelers
• Fred Meyer Jewelers
• Fox Jewelers
• Littman Jewelers

Kroger has a plethora of "Kroger brand" products.  About 40% of these products are manufactured by Kroger and the remaining 60% are manufactured by others under "strict specifications" from Kroger.  They use a 3-tiered marketing strategy:

Kroger brand products are produced and sold in three quality tiers. This strategy fills the needs of all our customers in the various markets where we operate. All tiers are value priced to offer shoppers big savings over other premium, national and economy brand items.

Private Selection® is our premium quality brand is designed to meet or beat "gourmet" or "upscale" national or regional brands.

Banner brands (such as Kroger®, Ralphs®, King Soopers®), which represent the majority of the 11,000 items stocked in our stores, are designed to be equal to or better than the national brand.

Our Value™ brand is designed to deliver good quality at a very affordable price.

Unfortunately, it is very difficult to find information on who they buy from (as it is for most grocery stores), but in our King Soopers, they have started doing a "Colorado Proud" section in produce.  These products are from farms in Colorado and they are usually marked really well.  That makes it really easy for me to look up the farm/manufacturer and decide whether I want to buy from them!  They also tend to sell a lot of California and Oregon produce - I can usually find all USA grown stuff, which is great!  I will continue to purchase these items from my local King Soopers in the hopes that they will move more and more in this direction.  If your Kroger store isn't currently doing this, contact your store manager and put in a request!

Skin and Hair Care

A major project of mine over the past year has been to find safe and preferably sustainable skin and hair care products.  Luckily, it's easier to find information on cosmetics than on clothing, so I've definitely found a few products that I love!

My search began with these criteria:

- safe ingredients (I gauged this by looking at "skin deep" on www.ewg.org.  Love that database)

- easily accessible (I wasn't going to pay huge shipping costs, so it either had to be available locally or on Amazon with Prime elegibility!)

- gets good reviews (a lot of organic/safe products are crappy...trust me, I've tried many of them.  Either they are cakey, smell horrible or don't do what they purport to do)

- fair price (I don't expect these products to be cheap, but they needn't be exorbitant)

- fair trade certified if possible!

After searching for awhile, I found this brand that matched ALL of my criteria with flying colors:

Acure Organics

I love love love this brand (click on the link to see more about the company, their ingredients and mission).  They are fair trade certified and get some of the best safety rankings on EWG's website.  The kicker: they are on amazon and get RAVE reviews on there.  I decided to try a few things and see for myself:

Argan Oil (from Morocco)
I was looking for a night cream - my skin is so dry and I needed something to replenish it overnight.  Most night creams are pretty awful in terms of ingredients, so I was excited to find this product!  Acure also makes a specific night cream, but based on reviews for this oil, I wanted to try it first.  I have loved it!  This is the first week in years where I haven't had to pick dry skin off of my face!  It has a very subtle smell and soaks in by the time I'm done brushing my teeth (so I don't get oil on my pillow).  My face has never been softer or more hydrated - and it's only $14 on Amazon :).  I use about 6 drops a night, so this bottle is going to last forever!

Lemongrass Shampoo and Conditioner
This stuff is awesome.  Lathers well (most organic brands don't) and it smells so, so good!  My hair stays nice and soft - I only wash it once every two days.  All of their shampoos and conditioners get great reviews and for $12, you can't go wrong!  Be aware that only certain bottles are prime eligible - I bought the shampoo (which was not prime), but it was only $2 shipping.

I am excited to try more from Acure now that I've seen how great their products are.  The only product I hope they make in the future is a day cream with SPF.

Shampoo for Kids

You already know that I love Trukid sunscreen and now I also love Trukid Silly Shampoo!  At first I wasn't sure if $8.99 on Amazon for one bottle was going to be too pricey, but we have had the same two bottles (one for each of my boys) since Christmas and they are still going strong.  True, my boys don't have much hair...but a little of this product goes a long way!   Trukid is not fair trade certified, but they use responsible packaging, their products are biodegradable and non-toxic, they get a great safety rating on EWG and only use essential oils for scents in their products.  The products and company were started by a Mom of 6 kids :).

Foundation

I use Bare Escentuals and have for many years.  Their stuff isn't cheap, but it lasts for a long time and I have never had a problem with breakouts or irritation.  I was hesitant to look it up...for fear that I would find out it was bad and have to switch!  Luckily, the products that I use get great safety ratings.  I only use their powder foundation (only to cover blemishes and eye circles), mineral veil and "warmth" on my cheeks.  Those are all ok, but stay away from any of their "buxom" products or basically anything that "lengthens", "plumps" or "minimizes".  They all have looooots of junk in them :).  As for the company, I haven't been able to find much on them in terms of where they get/make their products.  They are not fair trade, so the research is ongoing to see if I can find a better alternative.

My mascara is almost running out, so that will be the next search.  Let me know if you've found anything you love :).

Clothing - Fair Trade

As I've been trying to research clothing to find brands I can stand behind, it's been really frustrating.  There is literally no information out there besides a few totally "Made in the USA" brands - but even those aren't always totally clear cut.  I have been buying a lot more clothing at thrift stores for my kids, because at least then it's not new stuff being made in factories by companies teeming with unanswered ethical questions.  I found this article and thought it illustrated exactly the issues I've been having:

http://news.yahoo.com/shoppers-face-hurdles-finding-ethical-clothing-193843423.html

I guess what it comes down to for me, now, is to start being more vocal about this issue.  I'm going to send some emails to clothing companies that I like, as well as voice concerns through political channels.  I will also be looking into "fair trade" items to see what that's all about.  If you have any other ideas, let me know!

Let's Talk Sunscreen

Summer is quickly approaching, which thankfully, means warm weather and sunshine!  My kids and I spend a LOT of time outdoors in the summer - we swim almost daily and love to visit splashparks when we're not in the pool.  That means I also use a lot of sunscreen!

A few years ago, I started wondering what makes a "good" sunscreen and what makes a "bad" one.  I researched a lot and tried a bunch of different brands (seriously...I had about 8 different bottles at one point) and FINALLY found my favorite for kids.  Here are my conclusions:

The two main types of sunscreen that you can buy in the US are chemical sunscreens, using any of these common ingredients (from this article):

Octylcrylene Avobenzone Octinoxate Octisalate Oxybenzone Homosalate Helioplex 4-MBC Mexoryl SX and XL Tinosorb S and M Uvinul T 150 Uvinul A Plus

or mineral sunscreens, using these ingredients:

Titanium dioxide (TiO2) Zinc oxide (ZnO)

Chemical sunscreens sometimes have more UVA protection, but the concern is that they are unstable - meaning they act as hormone disruptors when absorbed by the skin and they also create free radicals (that can cause skin irritation, aging and worst of all, cell damage that can lead to cancer).  Oxybenzone is the chemical that people seem to be most concerned about, with retinyl palmitate coming in as a close second.

The mineral sunscreens are considered much safer, BUT they are also really goopy and give a nice white pasty look when applied :).

I was also concerned with SPF - I had heard that you should find a "broad spectrum" sunscreen that blocks both UVA and UVB rays, but most sunscreens on the market have horrible UVA protection.  I liked this blurb from this article:

Numbers game

The Environmental Working Group said consumers should not purchase sunscreens with SPF greater than 50. SPF (sun protection factor) works by absorbing, reflecting or scattering the sun's rays on the skin.

"It is very misleading to put high SPF numbers on labels because it gives consumers a false sense of security and doesn't offer a lot more protection," Leiba said.

They are right. While SPF 85 may sound like a lot more protection than SPF 30, the higher the number doesn't always give a high return.

Studies show that sunscreen with SPF 15 can block about 93% of all incoming UVB rays. SPF 30 blocks 97%. SPF 50 blocks 98%.

"The protective factors plateau from there. A product with SPF 100+ blocks about 99.1 percent of the UVB rays," Ostad said. "You don't really need a high number. They end up being expensive and don't offer more protection than SPF 50."

Keep in mind, SPF protects only against UVB rays.

So, I went on the search for a broad spectrum, mineral sunscreen that WASN'T goopy.  As it turned out, it was somewhat hard to find!  My first stop was at the Environmental Working Group site.  They rate sunscreens and put out a report each year (they also rate cosmetics, which I have currently been researching).  Go on and check out the rating for your sunscreen!

This is the rating for our Coppertone sunscreen we used to use:

And here is the rating for the sunscreens we NOW use for the kids:

You can buy it on amazon and - before you freak out about the cost - let me tell you that it lasts a looooong time.  Most chemical sunscreens are really runny and they don't stand up to water/sweat very well, so you have to reapply often.  I love this stuff because it is a mineral sunscreen, but it's NOT goopy and it smells great!  I found that I didn't have to reapply if we were in the sun for less than 4 hours. My kids didn't get burned once all summer!  I bought a larger tube of this on Amazon and there is still some left for this year - did I mention that we were outside in the sun daily!?  $18 is not that bad for a whole summer of fun.

This is one that we are planning to use for ourselves this summer along with the trukid - it's less expensive and Scott prefers the feel of it:

On the EWG website, they also have a ton of good articles about sunscreen and they explain their rating system.  Definitely check out their "best" articles - they have them for sunscreen, makeup and moisturizers.  Love that site!

And if you're using a spray sunscreen, please just...don't!  FDA is currently researching the risks of inhaling those chemicals (EWG says "they are not meant for our lungs").  If those chemicals are causing problems on our skin, I feel like it's probably smart to avoid sprays.  And really, nobody likes inhaling that stuff!  It's nasty!  And, well, you might catch on fire.  Have I convinced you?  Here's a great summary article of sunscreens this year: http://www.ewg.org/2012sunscreen/sunscreens-exposed/executive-summary/

Where Does Your Dairy Come From?

Here is a very, very cool site that is helping consumers find out where their dairy products come from:

I tried it with my cottage cheese (we buy Daisy Brand because it only has 4 ingredients, this is true of their sour cream, too).  I found the code in small print beneath the bar code.  It totally worked!  So, where do YOUR dairy products come from??

On Eating Meat

I love this article by Michael Pollen.  I would definitely categorize myself as a "humanocarnivore".  The fact is, ALL industrial farm operations are not done in a way most people would be satisfied with.  It doesn't matter if it's labelled "cage free" or "free range".  No eggs that you find at the grocery store are from hens that were foraging on a farm.  No pork or bacon that you find at the grocery store were from pigs that stayed with their mothers for more than 10 days.  You can read more about industrial/factory farming here.  It's a sad reality, but that's the way it is in this country.  Trust me, I REALLY wanted to find a different answer.  I researched organic store brands, Whole Foods, everything and came up with the same thing - either no information (which means they are definitely factory farmed) or that they are factory farmed.  So sad!

Like Michael Pollen, my answer is not to boycott all meat, rather to find meat, eggs and dairy products from places I trust.  Yes, that means it's more expensive and yes, that means that we eat less of it.  It also means that we are treating those animals with respect, which is more important to me than getting meat/eggs/dairy at a discount.  Hopefully, by continually voting this way, grocery stores and the factory farming industry will make some changes!