Holiday Projects: 14 DIY Eco-Friendly Ornaments

DIY Eco-friendly Crafts

Skip the big box stores this year and create your own holiday crafts like these DIY eco-friendly holiday decorating projects! I think it goes without saying that we love DIY holiday ornaments around here. Not only do we have the satisfaction of being crafty, but we also love the fact that our ornaments are made from eco-friendly and/or recycled materials. Plus, rather than spendings tons of money on ornaments at big box stores, you can easily make your own! Here are 14 DIY ornaments to get you inspired: 1. Make a Recycled Gift Tag and Ornament — Want to include an ornament with each handmade gift you make this year? Make an ornament that can also double as a gift tag! 2. Create an Adorable Scrabble Ornament — Last week I created this scrabble ornament over at Feel Good Style. Not only are they oh-so-cute, but they’re super easy to make as well. 3. Button Wreath Ornament — Do you have some vintage buttons in your craft stash? Put them to good use with this button wreath ornament tutorial! 4. Upcycle Unused CDs into Mosaic-Style Ornaments — As the iPod generation, we’re all bound to have some unused CDs. Give them new life by […]

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Trek The Parks, Not The Malls, This Black Friday

State Parks Free On Blakc Friday in California and Minnesota

Consider starting a new Black Friday tradition by visiting a state park. Forget the stampedes at the mall. Forget the sidewalk sales. Forget the shopping bags and gift receipts. This Black Friday, which falls on November 27, some states are encouraging folks to get reacquainted with nature by offering free admission to all the state parks within their borders. If you live or will be traveling in California or Minnesota for the Thanksgiving holiday, consider starting a new Black Friday tradition by visiting a state park – without paying an entrance fee. California leads the move, citing Seattle-based outdoor retailer REI with inspiring its move to waive the admission fees at 49 state parks for one day only, provided you print out your own Save the Redwoods pass. Black Friday – also known in the United States as the day immediately following Thanksgiving – is a commercial holiday of sorts which began with a marketing campaign by American Express in 2010. Now, the day is synonymous with holiday sales and stores filled with stuffing-stuffed shoppers. REI won attention from the media last month when the retailer, which has 143 stores nationwide, announced it would not open its doors on Black […]

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How To Make Your Own Body Care Products–Without the Nasty Chemicals

DIY Natural Beauty Products

5 DIY Recipes that are good for you, the planet, and your purse. In a world where clever marketing distracts us from the actual ingredients in our toiletries, it’s hard to know exactly what we’re using to wash our bodies. In reality, 10,500 different chemical ingredients can be found in our vast body care market—some of which are thought to be carcinogenic or harmful to our endocrine system. Research done by the Cosmetic Ingredient Review in 2012 revealed a list of unsafe ingredients commonly used. The study exposed safety concerns ranging from skin depigmentation to reproductive problems. Other research on these chemicals remains inconclusive, but you can avoid any potential risks by opting to cook up your own body care products at home. Here are a few that we tried. SHAMPOO ½ cup distilled water ¼ cup unscented liquid castile soap ¼ teaspoon essential oil of choice Combine all of the ingredients in a bottle—any old bottle will work. Shake the ingredients well to make sure that the mixture is consistent. Pour some atop your head and lather. TOOTHPASTE ½ teaspoon baking soda ½ teaspoon salt 1 drop essential oil (peppermint, sweet orange, clove, or cinnamon bark is recommended) A […]

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Meatless Monday: “Cowspiracy” Coming Soon To a Netflix Near You!

Meatless Mondays vegetarian burger

About a year ago, Meatless Monday featured “Cowspiracy,” the documentary linking animal agriculture and environmental disaster. The film just nailed distribution through Netflix . Kip Andersen, co-producer/director of “Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret,” considered himself to be an environmentalist. He recycled to reduce waste, took quick showers to save water, supported several environmental organizations. Then “I did some research and discovered all these incredible things — rainforest destruction, species extinction — can all be tied to animal agriculture. Jeez, this is the cause?” And if so, why was no one talking about it? Stunned, Andersen “checked the websites of my favorite nonprofits — Greenpeace, Sierra Club, Surfrider — I didn’t see anything on there. I started emailing and calling over months, years, and no avail. That’s when I started to step this up, that’s when I teamed up with Keegan [fellow producer/director Keegan Kuhn] to get to the bottom of this.” The bottom, it turns out, is a long way down. The feature-length documentary follows Anderson on his journey into the heart of darkness. And silence. “There’s suppression and mismanagement of information,” says “Comfortably Unaware” author Dr. Richard Oppenlander, the degree of which surprised even Kuhn of First Spark Media. “I […]

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Warrior Mom Con: We are warrior moms

Warrior Moms Conference

Postpartum Progress is a non-profit dedicated to helping all the at least 1 in 7 women – Warrior Moms- who will deal with perinatal mood and anxiety disorders, and those who love them. It has helped, and will continue to support many in our Mom 2 community. This past July 11th and 12th, the first Warrior Mom Conference took place in Boston.

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You Can Probably Guess Where the First All-Organic Public School Cafeteria Is

All-Organic Public School Cafeteria

Marin County’s school district is the first to make the shift—and it is largely low-income kids who will benefit. The public school cafeteria has become a political battleground in recent years, with students, lawmakers, parents, and First Lady Michelle Obama fighting over what can and cannot be served. The push to reform nutrition standards for students has made headway; thanks to the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, schoolkids are served more whole grains, fewer calories, and less trans fat, saturated fat, and sodium. In Marin County, California, students in the Sausalito Marin City School District will find their first school lunch of the fall going far beyond that: The district will be the first in the nation to go 100 percent organic. After a two-year pilot program at Bayside MLK Jr. Academy in Marin City—where 95 percent of students qualify for free or reduced-price meal programs—the administration is expanding the all-organic lunches to Willow Creek Academy in Sausalito. Advertisement The district, which has just 500 students, may serve low-income students, but those kids and their families are the minority in Marin County. Marin City, where 156 students at Bayside Martin Luther King Jr. Academy enjoy all-organic meals, has an average household […]

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Going Green: More Than Shopping at Whole Foods and Driving a Prius?

We Stock The Hood Wi Good

As environmentalism goes mainstream, corporations are marketing the word “green” as a panacea for the world’s climate crisis. Today the word describes a set of prescribed, mostly consumerist actions: buy local, organic and fresh; go vegan; eat in season; skip the elevator, take the stairs. “Green” has come to mean shopping at Whole Foods and possessing a Prius.

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Earth Mammas: 9 Mothers Making the Planet Greener

Earth Mammas

Being an environmentalist doesn’t have to mean sacrificing dreams of having a family. In fact, as the five women on this list prove, being a mother can make us even more committed to keeping the planet clean and green. And while some environmentalists point to overpopulation as the leading cause of global warming, there’s more evidence showing that our mismanagement of resources is more to blame than the number of people on the planet.

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Costa Rican Cable Co. Broadcasting Female Empowerment In Prime Time

Claro TV - Costa Rican Housewife

A cable company in Costa Rica has decided to use it’s most valuable public advertising space (which is what we meant by “prime time”) not to promote itself, but to promote local, women-run businesses in the name of female empowerment. Claro® is the company, and ‘Signs Of Progress’ is the name of this awesome campaign seeking to give Costa Rican women a place in society that elevates their economic status.

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87-Year-Old Woman Knits 1,000th Sweater For Kids in Need

Anna Taylor Knits 1000tth Sweater for Needy Kids

Anna Taylor, a knitter with a heart of gold, has spent the better part of the last nine years knitting sweaters for the needy. Since February of 2006, The Cullen, Virginia native has worked tirelessly, knitting warm sweaters in her spare time for needy children across the world. The toil of Taylor’s work has reached a new milestone, as she boxes up her 1000th sweater for those in need!

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