Sustainable Summer Reading List

Top Book Picks to Enhance Your Eco-Friendly Lifestyle

If you’re ready to start stocking up on great books for your summer reading list, we have a few suggestions.  From gardening and decorating to crafts and fiction, these sustainable living books will keep you entertained by the pool, on the beach, or while you’re relaxing in the backyard.

Gardening and Landscaping

Four Season Harvest by Eliot Coleman:  Learn how to enjoy fresh, organic vegetables year-round from your own backyard.

Sustainable Landscaping for Dummies by [...]

A New Year’s Resolution – Eco-Friendly Exercise

One of the most common New Year’s Resolutions is to embrace a healthier lifestyle, which usually includes an increase in exercise. Oftentimes, eco-minded exercisers overlook the many ways one can incorporate eco-friendly values into getting fit, staying trim, and building muscle. Go beyond taking sips of hydration from a reusable, toxic-free water bottle (helping to cut down on the yearly waste accumulating in landfills) and allow us to broaden your horizons with the following green exercise suggestions:

Footwear

Running, jogging or taking [...]

Sophyto Organics – Sustainable Skin Care

With eye-catching, colorful advertisements, Sophyto Organics demands attention in the competitive world of organic skin care. Founded in 2000, the growing product line includes a satisfying range of ethical, sustainable cosmetics and skin care that’s also received a registered vegan and PETA seal of approval. As one of Elle’s 2009 Green Stars for ‘Best Anti Aging Treatment’ (Polyphenol Skin Drops), we’re not the only ones singing the praises of Sophyto Organics. From mentions in Shape, People, Yahoo Health to EcoQueen [...]

Online Black Friday Shopping: Eco-Friendly Deals and Discounts

First thing Friday morning, many people will be getting up and getting ready to find those great holiday deals. If you’re one of those people who would rather shop at home than risk getting an elbow in the eye or a kick in the shin – don’t worry.

There are plenty of great deals to be found online as well. Below are some of the best Black Friday eco-friendly deals around the web.

Envy – Get 30% off all Envy [...]

Sci-Fi Goes Green with New Novel, "Pollen"

The first ‘eco-super hero’, a friendly visitor from outer space, has come to warn humans of the impeding doom we have created through our lack of environmental concern in the new sci-fi thriller, “Pollen and the Ring of Harmony” by Francis T. Perry Williams.

Geared toward young adults, as well as sci-fi lovers of all ages, “Pollen” blends truth with fiction to bring a powerful wake-up call to the world. Pollen treks across America to bring his message to the [...]

Eco Chic Design by Emily Anderson

When it comes to green lifestyles, there’s often a pretty serious aesthetic schism: on one hand, there are the crafters who prefer to make almost everything by hand, and on the other, high-end green consumers purchase luxury products with sustainable pedigrees. For those who long to bring the worlds of DIY and eco-chic closer together, designer Emily Anderson is a welcome voice of experience and innovation.

In 2007 she published a book called Eco-Chic Weddings, advising couples about how they could [...]

Six Great Ways to Celebrate the Season

November is here. The leaves are changing color and falling down. Frost is starting to appear. While we are moving quickly into winter, here are some late fall gems to keep you going for the rest of the season.

1) Multi-color Leaf Creations

If you live anywhere near trees as they are losing their leaves, you are probably overwhelmed at this time by the magnitude of leaves accumulating in the street, on the sidewalk, and in yards everywhere. [...]

Flexitarian: Mostly Meatless

Back in the ’60s and ’70s, when vegetarianism was first catching on in the United States, the term was used more loosely than it is today. Any modern vegetarian, used to being offered fish or chicken by well-meaning hosts, will tell you that this word usage just isn’t practical.

Today, vegetarians generally agree that they won’t eat any food with a face. Still, with more and more households interested in the vegetarian movement but not willing to forgo meat entirely, there’s [...]

Somewhere Over the Co-op

On a recent trip to San Francisco, I encountered a luxurious and eco-friendly paradise. Welcome to Rainbow Cooperative Grocery. Located in the Mission district of San Francisco, this mural-filled warehouse come organic supermarket has an incredible commitment to both quality products and the environment.

The Co-op

While there are many cooperative grocery stores in San Francisco and all over the country, Rainbow has a long and distinguished history. Since 1975, Rainbow has been offering high quality and ecological products [...]

The Next Generation of Green Connoisseurs

For parents raising children in this day and age, the challenges are incredibly new and different from those just a generation ago. No generation in history has experienced as much technological growth or the increased availability of products that can be purchased to keep our children busy. From video games to television, cell phones to the internet, the children of today are growing up in a world less connected to nature than ever before. As wildlife artist Robert Bateman said, [...]