A couple of years ago I moved into a new home. With a freshly-acquired mortgage, I didn’t have much left over to furnish the place. So I began to hunt for bargains online and in secondhand stores. What started out as a necessity for inexpensive, quality belongings, soon turned into a bit of a game. […]
How I Kicked my Addiction to Deodorant
A few years ago I made the decision to kick my addiction to conventional deodorant. It came about because much of the research I was reading at the time spoke of the horrors of chemicals, both to our bodies and to the environment. I was ready to go chemical-free. Each company will tell you it’s […]
Staying Positive
The more research I do, the easier it becomes to let the information I learn get me down. It really does make me realize that ignorance is bliss. And I’m surrounded by blissfully ignorant people who drive huge SUVs, throw away recyclable plastic, and shop at places like Walmart. It makes me realize that the […]
third world living
When trying to describe Phnom Penh, I toy with words, as they choke my throat like dust as it swirls in the city streets. I stammer, never knowing exactly what I want to say. How do I describe a place which has endured the kind of anguish we only read about in Holocaust accounts, yet […]
factory farming
I have asked my vegetarian and vegan friends why they have chosen to stop eating meat. More often than not, their answers have nothing to do with dietary issues. Instead, they talk about the horrors of factory farming, and their choice to boycott an industry that mistreats animals and is destructive to the environment. What […]
cruel beauty
After scouring the internet for a number of hours, I have compiled what I believe is a pretty complete list of companies that still test their products on animals. Many of us shop for cosmetics and personal/household products without realizing that we’re supporting animal cruelty. It disturbs me that, before switching to all-organic products, my […]
the powers of consumerism
I am a 28 year-old female who has grown up in a world where every consumer fantasy I have ever had can be satisfied at a retail outlet. I can buy red patent shoes, floral printed tank tops, head bands, dangly earrings, nail polish in 435 shades, bottled potions that claim to make me look […]
Avaaz.com – World to Dilma: Save the Amazon
Avaaz is less than 13,000 votes away from it’s goal of 1,000,000! Sign the petition here From Avaaz.com . . . The Amazon is in serious danger: Brazil is on the verge of gutting its forest protection laws — unless we act now, vast tracts of our planet’s lungs could be opened up to clear-cutting […]
what are carbon emissions
Nowadays you hear phrases like global warming, greenhouse gases and climate change being thrown around by scientists, environmentalists and politicians. These phrases are abstract sounding, can be difficult to fully grasp, and can be easy to ignore. But climate change is a real problem, even if the average person doesn’t totally understand what it means. […]
the real dirt on soap lather
The more lather, the cleaner the hair, right? We have come to associate the effectiveness of our cleaning products with the amount of lather they generate while being used. What most people don’t realize, is that soap, shampoo, toothpaste and other cleaning products (both personal and household) don’t need to have a lot of lather […]