Every year about this time I have to fight the urge to acquire more school supplies, stock up on fresh notebooks, and buy a fancy new lunchbox.  The lunchbox is one of those things that I could spend hours looking at and, if I had a zillion dollars lying around, would probably own 50 of.  [...]

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This, ladies and gentlemen, is why I make my own deodorant and wash my hair with baking soda and vinegar.  The incredible team behind “The Story of Stuff” just released a new video, “The Story of Cosmetics: The Ugly Truth of ‘Toxins In: Toxins Out.”
Perhaps more surprising than the fact that there are carcinogens in [...]

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Image via TreeHugger

Behold, The Bobble.  It is a water bottle with a built in filter that you can fill over and over again from the tap.  Genius.  Right?  Maybe.  I mean, the US has some of the cleanest drinking water around.  Plus, you’ve still got this filter to deal with.  Of course, in DC the [...]

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Sorry the oil tracker was up there for so long– let’s move onto something a bit more positive, okay?  This week I picked up our first CSA share from the good folks at Evensong Farm. I picked this farm for a number of reasons: 1) it’s owned by women (and you know I’m all about [...]

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It’s a bit outside what I normally do here, but the events in the Gulf this past month seem to be going from bad to worse to downright awful.  In fact, it’s been tough for Jon and I not to loose hope in humanity’s future (too dramatic?) the Gulf’s ability to recover. The oceans are [...]

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A few weeks ago I listened to Louis Fresco’s TEDtalk on “Feeding the Whole World.”  By the way, if you don’t listen to the TED podcast please subscribe to it now).  I’ve been thinking about it ever since and have more than once used it as part of an argument on behalf of responsible corporate [...]

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As if we needed more evidence that I am an 85-year old lady: my new electric kettle makes me unbelievably happy.  I’ll freely admit that it is probably more electric kettle than I really need– I mean it isn’t like I can actually taste the difference in my 212 degree made coffee and 200 degree [...]

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A friend suggested I read Cormac McCarthy’s “The Road” but promptly warned me that this book would probably terrify me and chill my soul.  She was right on both accounts.  There is little for me to add to the many, many articles and television segments that have been created on this book. It is a [...]

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It looks normal, right?  Homemade Deodorant…
Ah!  And you thought I wasn’t going to make good on my promise from way, way long ago to make my own deodorant!  Well, I did it.  (Finally).  I used Angry Chicken’s “recipe” but substituted lavender instead of orange oil (I kept the ylang ylang).  It went together a little [...]

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So, a few months ago I talked about my desire to a) not be stinky and b) not be stinky while also not using plastic and/or toxic stuff.  Well, the Burt’s Bees just isn’t what it claims to be.  I mean, it is okay, but not great.  So, I’m taking the leap– I’m going to [...]

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