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Healthy Holiday Party Food: 10 Tips + 3 Recipes
You don’t have to be a nutritional saint during the holidays. Sneaky substitution tips and delicious-yet-virtuous recipes from chef and healthy eating coach Michele Morris make a big difference with just a few small changes.

Green Gift Guide: 30 Ideas for the Style Maven, Gadget Guy, Yoga Lover & More
30 ways to give green this year with eco-friendly and fair trade gifts for your favorite eco-chick, Earth mamma, gadget guy, natural beauty, yoga lover or fitness buff.

6 Ways to Green Your Thanksgiving Dinner
You don’t have to go cold tofurkey to green your Thanksgiving meal. Try these six ways keep Thanksgiving traditions while putting eco-friendly twists on your feast, starting with slashing the carbon footprint of your turkey dinner with all the fixin's.

Top 10 Green Gift Wrap Ideas
The most brilliant ways to wrap your gifts, in merry and bright eco-friendly alternatives to single-use wrapping paper.

5 Holiday Eco Decorating Tips
A guide to making any new additions to your holiday decor more eco-friendly. Five tips from an interior designer on how to choose more holiday decorations.

5 Easy (and Cheap!) Ways to Detox Your Home
Amazingly simple and affordable ways to detox your home, recommended by experts in how to get pollutants and chemicals out of your living spaces — and keep them out. Why? The facts on how common household toxins affect human health may surprise you.

7 Ways to Eat a Low-Carbon Diet
You don't have to cut out all your favorite treats to make these seven simple food choices to reduce your climate change impact. From eating local and in season to eating less meat and packaged foods, this guide explains how and why to go on a low-carbon diet.

5 Easy Ways to Green Your Jack-O-Lantern
It's easy to green your jack-o-lantern and reduce the environmental impact of Halloween fun. These five ways to go eco-friendly with your pumpkin include resources for finding organic pumpkins, recipes for pumpkin bread and pumpkin seeds, and donating or composting spent pumpkins.

Why Humidify, and Which Type of Humidifier Is Best?
Health experts weigh in on whether you need a cool mist or warm mist humidifier, plus how and why using a humidifier can help prevent and alleviate cold, allergy and sinus symptoms as well as dry skin and nose bleeds.

I Spy Eco-Spin: 5 Best Ways to Avoid Getting Greenwashed
Environmental science experts outline the five best things you can do to protect yourself from greenwashing — untrue or exaggerated claims of eco-friendly and responsible product sourcing and manufacturing.

What's So Bad About Chemical Cleaning Products?
What exactly are the cancer-causing toxic ingredients in household cleaners? What are the dangers of using these products, and what are your alternatives, including store brands and homemade cleaning solutions?

Green Your Wardrobe: 5 Fall Eco-Fashion Trends
Being fashionable while maintaining your eco-ideals is all a matter of knowing where to shop and what to buy. Check out our coverage of the top five sustainable fall fashion trends and where to find them.

5 Ways to Save Money on Organic Foods
Go organic without going broke with these tips from green guru Danny Seo. Save money with coupons from organic brands, bulk and store-brand organics, and our how-to video on growing organically at home.

Are Plastic Food Containers Safe to Reuse?
Public fears over chemicals like BPA have given plastic bottles and food containers a bad rap, but not all plastics are harmful to your health. Find out which container brands are safe, and the alternatives to plastic.

Eco–Dorm Room Decorating
It’s time to send your young adults back to college. They’ve got their own ideas about what’s stylish and (hopefully) a dedication to buying eco-friendly products whenever possible. Here's a guide to help them decorate their dorm in eco-style. Share this list with them of nine ways to send them off with green gear that is as easy on the eye as it is on the environment, and hopefully they’ll be as sold on the products as you are.

Get Gorgeous: A Natural Guide to Skincare and Makeup
Get gorgeous with this natural guide to skincare and makeup. It covers the most nourishing, luxurious, and safe products on the market. Save yourself as well as the planet.

How To Keep Cool Without A.C.
Find out how to keep cool without turning on air conditioning, and survive the summer heat without paying outrageous electric bills.

10 Ways to Green Your Pet
Why is eco-friendly pet care important? Traditional pet supplies often include noxious chemicals. Not only is your pet exposed to these questionable aspects of their everyday goods, but you are too!

Non-Toxic Ways to Keep Bugs at Bay
DEET is a powerful bug repellent, but it can also cause harmful effects to your health. Learn which plant-based alternatives are most effective at keeping you safe without chemicals.

Organic Gardening 101
What’s better than feasting on fresh fruit and vegetables handpicked right from your very own garden? The easiest way to enjoy your growing experiences and support a sustainable planet at the same time is to grow organically.

Beyond T-Shirts: 8 Ways to Use Organic Cotton Products in Your Home and Life
Cotton really is the “fabric of our lives.” But because it’s also one of the most pesticide-laden crops in the world, more consumers are choosing the organic version of this textile we love so much.

Eco-Friendly Secrets to Removing 15 Common Stains
But by understanding the chemistry of a few stain-removing materials, such as vinegar, baking soda, and simple digestive enzymes, you can solve most stain problems.

The Best Eco-Friendly Ways to Get Clothes Really Clean
Doing laundry has a significant environmental impact. If we all choose environmentally safe laundry products, the positive impact will be enormous and many of us will be far more comfortable!

The Green Appliance Guide: How to Create a More Efficient Kitchen
An eco-conscious kitchen starts with good appliances—and energy-efficient practices in your cooking and cleanup.

Can I Upgrade To A Green Machine?
Are you in the market for a new computer? Find out which brands are the most eco friendly, plus ways to recycle or repurpose your old one.

Goo-Goo, Ga-Ga, Green!
As the mom of a four-month-old, I’ve done a lot of legwork to outfit our baby room in green. Here are some of the top things you can do to help make your nursery, or child’s room, greener.

Making an Old Home Green
Few of us have the resources to build a more energy-efficient house from the ground up. So, I set out to make my home as environmentally sound as I could in every aspect.

How to Have An Eco-Friendly Wedding
Getting married and want a green celebration? Don't fret! Here are tips for keeping your wedding low-impact and earth-friendly.

How Eco Is Organic Cotton? The Facts on 7 Questions
Arguably the most popular sustainable fabric available, organic cotton is grown without pesticides, herbicides and chemical fertilizers. But is it truly the better choice?

Who’s Your Mama? Gift Guide
Your mom's the best! The Who's Your Mama Gift Guide has just what she needs to keep going. Are you a mom? Working hard to balance it all? Treat yourself! You know you deserve it.

10 Ways to Deal with Dust Mites and Get Real Allergy Relief
Sneezing and wheezing? Chances are, dust mites are one source of your suffering. To minimize dust mites, make these simple changes in your daily living and cleaning routines.

Go Green, Get Rich: How to Save the Earth and Get Rich Trying
David Bach, author of Go Green, Get Rich: 50 Simple Ways to Save the Earth and Get Rich Trying, answers the question of how to get rich by going green.

How to Get Green Energy for Your Home and Save Money
Tips on how to shrink your footprint and support renewable energy development by buying green power, whether you’re ready to go solar or just dipping your toe in. From the new book Go Green, Live Rich by David Bach.

How Fair Trade Turned Life Around for a Family in India
A story of one woman artisan who's among the extraordinary survivors across Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and India, where livable wages from fair trade work offer a way out of the cycle of poverty.

Detox Your Home: Best 5 First Steps
Green-cleaning queen Annie Bond says these five steps should be your first to detox your home and help avoid the suspected dangers of years of ‘normal’ exposure to household chemicals.

QUIZ: How eco-jolly are you?
Are you an eco-angel? A green grinch? Take our quiz and rate your eco-holiday savvy.

6 Easy Ways to Work Healthier
From improving your ergonomics to reducing eye strain and releasing stress fast, these six tips and solutions can make your corner of the office a healthier place to be.

Quiz: How Virtuous Is Your Shopping?
Leslie Garrett wants to change the world, but shoe stores make her weak in the knees. Take her quiz and find out how virtuous you are in this excerpt from her book, "The Virtuous Consumer."

5 Fair Trade FAQs + Buying Guide
A 101 on what makes something fair trade, and how to shop smart to ensure that the person who created that fabulous product is receiving a fair wage in return.

Are plastic water bottles a health hazard?
Is it true that refilling and reusing some types of plastic bottles can cause health problems? Straight talk about the research on how unsafe single-use plastic bottles are, and how to avoid the dangers.



All Videos

John Schaeffer's Dream House: It's Off-Grid AND It's Round
John talks with us in his living room about how he and his wife Nancy Hensley envisioned and created Sunhawk, their Rastra-block, solar-powered, uber-eco home in Hopland, Calif.

Did Organic Agriculture Save This Community?
Chemical costs, health issues, dwindling crop yields and spiritual conflicts with pesticide use were threatening welfare and quality of life in this farming community in India. We talked with these soulful, hardworking people on why organic works.

What can a yogi teach you about eco? Nicki Doane on living green
Can you really do anything to save the planet? Yogi and eco-homeowner Nicki Doane is converting everyone she knows to energy-saving lightbulbs. Here's why she says you should care.

Why switch to compact fluorescents? Watch this.
Eco-living early adopter and entrepreneur John Schaeffer's demo shows how switching from incandescents nets a noticeable meter-spinning slowdown.

Top 5 Things You Can Do for the Earth: Where to Start
Want to do something to protect the environment, but feel overwhelmed by the prospect? Eco-living pioneeer John Schaeffer lists the 5 most important steps to take first.

The Truth About Compact Fluorescents
Boulder, Colo., homeowner Catherine Childs clears up misconceptions about CFL bulbs and describes how they've improved the quality of life in her home.

Summer Rayne Oakes: Know Your Style Story
Eco-fashion model and consultant Summer Rayne Oakes used to weird out her friends with her tree hugging leanings. Now she's blissing out the masses, making eco apparel and cosmetics as easy on the eyes as on the planet. She says it's all about the story behind the style.

Change Agent: You
Tom Szaky, cofounder of eco-friendly fertilizer company Terracycle, on the most powerful thing you can do to persuade big businesses to give you more green and responsible product choices.

Desk Yoga: Breathe Out Stress
Rodney Yee shows a 5-minute technique to relieve stress and re-energize, right at your desk.

Eco Fabulous Loft Living
Danny Seo visits an eco-friendly loft that features environmentally friendly products and recycled antique furniture

Why Organics Are Better For Your Health
Chemicals, hormones and pesticides. Sound yummy? These are all things that can be found in regular food. Michel Nischan breaks down the principles of organically grown food and why it's better for your health.

3 Really Easy Ways to Be Energy Efficient
Hollywood actor and green guru Ed Begley, Jr. shares his top three ways to increase energy efficiency and save money at home.

How To Green Your Kitchen
From making homemade cleaning solutions to buying earth friendly products, Michel Nischan and Renee Loux show how easy it is to green your kitchen.

Energy Saving Appliances
Danny Seo explains why some appliances are more energy efficient than others, and what to look out for when shopping for upgrades.

Easy Organic Gardening Tips with Danny Seo
Danny Seo and Katherine Whiteside tour her organic garden and offer amazingly simple and effective tips for fertilizing, controlling insects and killing weeds without using chemicals.

Eco-Friendly Handbags Help Sustain a Village
See how women artisans create natural cotton bags with traditional plant dyes and hand-weaving skills — and earn income that helps their village survive poor rice harvests. Follow Partners Relief & Development Co-Founder Steve Gumaer as he takes a camera crew to their remote village in Thailand.


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Non-Leaching Polycarbonate Bottles
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More at Gaiam.com


‘Sacred travel’ lets you re-create yourself at spiritual hotspots

Love to travel but no longer content with South Beach or Vail? There is another option available. A number of years ago, I wanted a trip that was based on personal growth and discovery. Today this is called “sacred travel.” (Back then it was about taking my savings and heading out with a backpack.) I first [...]

One flight = HOW much CO2?! Slashing my holiday footprint …

I did the math in my head. We have one car that barely gets driven, a TV and DVD player that get unplugged when not in use, plus a diet free of meat — and I have to admit that I was feeling a bit overconfident when I plugged my numbers into the carbon calculator [...]

How to make fabric gift bags

A website I visited recently recommended knitting holiday stockings. What a lovely idea, I thought. But I’d have to remember how to knit … I think I’ll just buy some “homespun” stockings instead. Yet there is a simple project I did one year for the holidays that was very rewarding in the same way [...]

Detox yoga how-to sequence

Detoxing after the holiday “re-tox” — no matter how much carnage was left on that Thanksgiving dinner table, or how much stress crept into your weekend — is as easy as unrolling your mat. No matter when or on what level you could use a little realigning, this sequence is for you. Follow the how-to and [...]

Stairs till you drop! Mall shoppers are stepping up

I recently read an article about a mall in England that posted colorful, stand-out signs by the escalator/stairs in the mall last Christmas to encourage and inspire shoppers to take the stairs instead of the escalators. The article noted that “normally, about 4 percent of people at the mall take the stairs but after adding [...]

Stressed? Don’t work out longer; just shake things up

Many people think that tons of rigorous workouts help relieve stress. But research shows that it can actually have the opposite effect. Changing up your routine can ease stress more effectively than doing MORE of the same. You can change your workout routine in many ways including … When doing fat-burning workouts, change the settings, machine or [...]

Eco-Impact of Must-Have Gifts

Learn the environmental impact of this season's must-have gifts, the importance of remembering to express our feelings and give from the heart, and more in this week's Living Roundup.

How to shift from depression to expression

The holidays have a way of bringing on the heartache. Try this tool to help you see the circumstances of your life as gifts.

Be first on your block to get a farmer

We all need a farmer. Someone who who looks us in the eye when she tells us how she feeds her animals, or how can’t offer eggs this week because the free-range hens have laid the eggs somewhere she can’t find them ...

How gratitude can transform your body

Thinking about Thanksgiving prompted me to write this blog. I saved it to my computer planning to enter it online as soon as I got a chance. Then coincidently I heard a radio interview with psychologist Robert Emmons, author of a book called Thanks. Emmons has spent years studying positive psychology, and in the interview [...]


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