Before & After Photoshop GIFs Make Me Feel Even Worse About Myself
Meatless Monday: 14 Savory & Vegetarian Shiitake Mushroom Recipes
Blisstree Bookshelf: The Beauty Experiment by Phoebe Baker Hyde
Reese Witherspoon’s Arrest: Bratty Behavior Or Relatable Reaction? The Blisstree Writers Debate
Gwyneth Paltrow, Please Stop Talking About What You Eat
Earth Day PSA: How To Recycle Your Clothes, Cosmetics, And Even Running Shoes
While you’re proudly toting your canvas “I’m Not A Plastic Bag” shopper up and down the aisles, you may want to pick up some laundry detergent, too–because that bag might be harboring more than just organic veggies. You may also be carrying around a major food safety concern. More
Earth Day, Earth Week, Earth Month. In theory, we’re on board with all the eco-conscious hullaballoo surrounding this 41-year-old hippies-unite-to-preserve-the-Earth tradition, because most people have well-meaning intentions about making the world a better place on which to live. But in practice, this kind of day-, week-, or month-long international celebration presents the perfect opportunity for huge corporations (and anyone else) to capitalize on all the fuzzy and warm (but not ozone-layer-threatening) good publicity that aligning yourself with Earth Day, Week, and/or Month can provide (which translates into a hell of a lot of green – the spendable kind). And let’s face it: For every legitimately good environmentally-friendly activity out there in the world this month, there are lots more that, unfortunately, are scams – plain and simple. (Remember Frito-Lay’s compostable SunChips bag that consumers found too loud, so the company discontinued them last year and recently re-introduced a quieter version? More of a gimmick than a scam, but shhhh.) Here’s our gallery of six such Earth Month scams that actually end up creating more trash at the end of the hippie rainbow. Call us jaded; just don’t call us naive. And don’t call us a cab, either. We’ll take public transportation instead. More
All-natural bamboo lingerie, phthalate-free vibrators, and conflict-free condoms: It’s must be almost Valentine’s Day. Anytime I visit an adult sex toy shop, I’m so overwhelmed by all the variety, ingenuity, and obscurity that the thought of being eco-conscious completely slips my mind. But many of our favorite bedroom props can be purchased with the environment keenly in mind. If every step matters when it comes to saving the world, why not start in the boudoir this Valentine’s Day? To start, here’s our gallery of ten seriously eco-friendly sex toys for you and your partner. And now we’ll leave you to spice things up: More
A paralyzing blizzard in the Midwest and pounding ice pellets in the Northeast make Punxsutawney Phil’s prediction for an early thaw seem questionable at best. Just the mere thought of bikinis and bare limbs makes us want to crawl under a cashmere blanket and not come out until mid-April. But, because it’s difficult to be depressed while slathering on a good self-tanner or submerged in a frothy bubble bath, we’re opting to self-medicate with a new crop of all-natural beauty products that take on the worst winter has to offer. From frog-shaped bath bombs to luxurious lotions and hair products, here’s our top ten list of winter-blues-busting beauty booty: More
By now you know how we feel about New Year’s Resolutions (we don’t buy into them), but we really do want to eat smarter, better, and more sustainably in 2011 — and we think you should join us. So we asked our friend Denise Warren — who with her husband Tom, owns and operates Stone & Thistle Farm, an organic meat, poultry, and goat’s milk farm in the Catskills region of upstate New York — about her personal food goals (don’t say “resolutions”!) for the New Year. (Denise also writes about all aspects of family farm life on her blog Farm and Fable Musings; and Stone & Thistle offers overnight farm stays and restaurant-like suppers on weekends.) Here are her eight hard-core food, health, and environmental challenges for 2011:
1. Host a pantry swap in April so that ten years from now there won’t be ten-year-old pickled cauliflower in my canning cupboard.
2. Buy a milking cow so I don’t have to buy milk from the grocery store or bribe my family to drink goat’s milk.
3. Plant more exotic greens and edible flowers in the garden. More
You don’t know their middle name. You don’t know where they went to college. You don’t know how many kids they have. You have no idea how old they are, and you don’t know where they grew up. They’re not complete strangers, but they might as well be. But somehow, you still have to get them a Christmas present, and fast. We’re here to help with a gallery of six really good holiday presents that are perfect for that special person in your life – you know, the one for whom you’re not sure why you have to buy a Christmas present in the first place. More
– Blisstree Deputy Editor Briana Rognlin on how best to spend your holiday shopping dollars this season, from her post: Give Locally: 10 Gifts From Small Businesses You Won’t Want to Return
If you’re not the one hosting Thanksgiving this year: Thank God. Be grateful that you get to enjoy a leisurely day compared to your host, and show your thanks by bringing a gift they’ll remember. But when you’re shopping for the perfect present, try to find something eco-friendly that your host will truly enjoy; ill-suited gifts and trinkets aren’t nearly as fun to give or receive, and they’ll most likely just end up in the trash. More
Sometimes we think we’d be lost without clueless advice from celebrities. At a forum last month, designer Vivienne Westwood suggested that instead of buying a new coat, we should be eco-friendly and just wear a towel this winter. Apparently, it’s “very chic.” That makes sense. A belted towel will definitely keep us warm.
More
The Sweetest Twitter Marriage Proposal You’ll Ever See
True Or False: Marathoners Can Eat Whatever They Want
Clueless Mom Gives Birth on a Bike Without Realizing It
8 Things You Shouldn't Do Before Bed
Why Don’t More Women Talk About Masturbation?
Global companies are certainly trying to be more eco-friendly (or at least pretend to be) but is the effort really worth it? This infographic examines if “going green” is making a company more or less favorable in the eyes of consumers around the world. More
Eco-Challenge: 18 tough questions for sustainable designers. (via Ecouterre)
Check out this post from Sammy Davis on Lemondrop.
Sure, it’s a sweet deal in theory, but scoring a sidewalk sofa isn’t necessarily a harmless act anymore — at least not as long as bedbugs are as serious an issue as they are right now. It’s a big deal, at least here in NYC, where even the U.N. isn’t safe. Bug-infested furniture, clothing, rugs and more are emerging for sale in the secondhand market. That means savvy savers like you are now more susceptible to bedbugs than ever.
More
Being eco-friendly and thrifty don’t often go hand-in-hand, but you can save at least a little money every year by reusing the skins and rinds from your favorite fruits and vegetables Check out this list from The Daily Green, and start saving those scraps.
1. Scoop out avocado shells and use them for seedlings.
2. Dry out citrus rinds, apple peels, and other fruit skins or trimmings to make potpurri. More
What it is: Conditioner with Jojoba and Marsh Mallow by Dr. Hauschka
What’s in it: Marsh mallow leaf extract, larch extract, jojoba seed oil, burdock extract, nettle leaf extract, leem leaf extract, macadamia nut oil, rosemary extract, and apple cider vinegar.
What’s not in it: Petroleum, sulfates, detergents, chemical additives, SLS/SLES, parabens, or synthetic preservatives. No animal-testing, either. More
