If you’re at a loss for how you can get involved with color – on a small manageable hobby-like scale then you’re in luck because I’ve got 2 things you can joyfully colour and none of them involves eggs for Easter.
In no particular order of effectiveness, the following can be coloured with natural food dye. If you are deligent and you’ve got lots of time you could make your own colours with natural ingrediance such as berries but I would stick to organic food tint/colouring for quicker results:

1.    Hair…
Hair dye and food dye are both dye and while the latter will obviously only yield you temporary results, it’s much safer and certainly kinder on both your scalp and the environment. It’s a fantastic choice when you just want something different for the day and you can just shampoo it out if you don’t like the results. To tint your hair with natural food dye, just mix the color in the intensity you like into some conditioner and apply to your hair. Leave on for 20-90 minutes depending on your hair color and how deep you want the color to be. Then just rinse it out with cold water and there you have it instant tint. Alternatively you could add the dye to aloe gel and make colored streaks in your hair just as you would with the colored gel or mousse.
Note:  Natural food tint tends to work better on lighter hair.

2.    Flowers…
Yes I get that look on your face, flowers are already naturally with color why would you want to color them? Well these days flowers are coloured to achieve the unnatural – blue roses, black roses, green daisies…you name it they have it. But when I mention coloring flowers, it’s for a different reason. It’s for the art of flower pressing. Adding some color tint to your ‘subjects’ will ensure the color intensity stays after the pressing.

I would say taxidermy is an acquired taste. Those who like it would see it as art and a form of preserving the beauty of life, but those who don’t would probably see it as a creepy infatuation with dead things and trophies. We’ll I’m not a hunter and as much as I love animals, I really wouldn’t get involved with stuffing them. From a purely personal point of view, it’s disturbing to see something dead staring back at you and I think there’s just something about taxidermy and the lack of respect for the life that became art. But that’s just me.
But that’s not what I want to discuss about taxidermy. The point I want to make about this hobby, is how it’s anything but eco. It is very involving of nature as the whole idea is to ‘preserve’ nature as it was in the state of life but ironically, the whole process does nothing to actually ‘preserve’ the environment.

You see taxidermy is mainly about mounting or reproducing dead animals for display. And since the law of nature is to go ‘ashes to ashes and dust to dust’ upon death, preserving dead animals would have to involve a lot of chemicals. In fact part of the taxidermy process is tanning, so that ought to give you an idea of how toxic it can be.

I can’t go into the details of how taxidermy is done because there are quite a few methods that are available these days from molding to dry freezing. But the point here is taxidermy involves very poisonous chemicals and it won’t just affect the taxidermist but also anyone who comes in contact with it. Of course they will tell you that the animals are for display and not to be touched but like most chemicals, you don’t really need direct contact to have your health affected. So my advice is to be careful around these ‘artworks’ and I would avoid exposing children to them for more than just fear that they might have nightmares from it…

Don’t worry it’s won’t require you to you to any hop skip or jump activities. In fact it’s a pretty serene activity that allows you to be alone with nature and your creativity.

So how many amongst you remember a time when you got all sorts of materials together and made it into a picture? How many of you loved the idea of making a collage?

Alright so back when you were a child and the collage was an art project for school it wasn’t always the prettiest sight. You make do with what you had and that usually meant a whole lot of glue, newspaper, macaroni and pasta bits as well as bits of fabric coming together on a large piece of cardboard of sugar paper.

But if you do collage as an adult, you’d be surprised at what you could come up with, especially if you went with making an eco collage. The possibilities with the youthful craft is without boundaries and left to your imagination.

What I find I can do is make beautiful collage pieces out of materials I can find in nature – pressed flowers/leaves, tree barks, etc. And to finish the pieces, I just give them a coating of non-toxic sealer which you can get from art stores. Making a collage art with nature is a wonderful way to calm you spirits and lift your soul.

If you haven’t a clue what you can achieve with eco collage then simply google it up. You’d be impressed by how beautiful some artworks are and how good a price they fetch! In fact if you’re presently looking to decorate a child’s room, you must take a look at the eco collage artwork available from Petit Collage. They are adorable!

So what do you do about it? You go green and take charge of how your car should smell like that’s what!
It’s really quite simple to get ‘scents’ to mask any stench in your car but the problem here is, if you don’t first deodorize the car, pleasant scents no matter how much you’ve spent on them simply will not last.

Here are some natural ways to deodorize your car:

1. Screwpine leaves
This is an Asian natural solution and it’s pretty neat. Screwpine leaves are fragrant on their own but they do an excellent job at removing odor as well as act as an incent repellent.  Just tie a bundle (a few leaves) into a knot and place it somewhere in your strategic in your car- like under the seats.

2. Coffee beans
If you love perfume then you’ll know there’s something about coffee beans when it comes to scent. Well coffee does more than just bring back your sense of smell, it also does wonders to absorb scent/stench. Just put a handful of raw coffee beans in a breathable pouch and be delighted as your car gets refreshed.

3. Baking soda
This amazing power does more than just whites. It removes odor by absorbing it. Now the tricky bit is how you are going to put powder in the car in such a way that will not deter its absorbing abilities. Well one method is to sprinkle it on the mat then vacuum it all up a week later, the other is to put it in a jar/can with the lid open – this isn’t really practical to me because it would probably just spill out anyway.

4. Charcoal
Tried and time tested, charcoal is probably the best at eliminating odor. Just get a few pieces and place them under the seats – if you don’t want to get “black” all over the car, just place the pieces in a breathable pouch.

5. Zeolite
If you want to get rid of that smoky stench, then zeolite is probably the answer. Zeolite is used to deodorize, clean, de-moisturize, and absorb fluids. You can get the little white rocks which are crystallized volcanic mineral from health stores.

In today’s world, we strive to live eco-friendlier each day. And one way in which to do this is with bento box lunches…also called laptop lunches. The concept is simple: a waste-free lunch!

Instead of grab-and-go convenience foods crammed into a plastic sac or school lunches made with aluminum foil, waxed paper, baggies, and juice boxes, your lunch is made from healthy leftovers and foods bought in bulk. Use cloth napkins instead of paper napkins, washable stainless steel drink containers, and reusable forks and spoons.

The Japanese have been making “obento” meals for centuries. “Obento” means a meal served in a box. They used these little boxes as an easy way to transport their food to work and school. Little did they know that future generations would incorporate their method of boxed lunches in order to help save our planet.

From fancy to utilitarian, elegant lacquered boxes to plastic containers, bento meals are served at the most formal of restaurants all the way down to the local train station. Mothers make elaborately decorated bentos for their children, and there are even bento competitions for greatest artistic themes.

Traditionally, the Japanese bento consisted of rice, a protein, and a vegetable. Today, your options are endless! Just be sure that your bento is healthy as well as tasty, and safe to eat at room temperatures if you are unable to refrigerate it until meal time. Some healthy bento meal ideas? How about an almond butter and honey sandwich on whole wheat bread, with grapes and carrots on the side…or a bean and cheese burrito with sliced mango and a garden salad? Or even homemade pasta salad with a turkey and cucumber sandwich wrap?

For more recipe ideas, go to your local library. Or for instant gratification, search for recipes on-line. And for your bento box needs, make sure you have a carrying case, a washable container with compartments — or smaller containers that fit within — a canister for your drink of choice, a cloth napkin, and silverware.

Happy bento box lunches to you!

Our use or rather dependency on plastic is quite alarming. We don’t just use them to carry our produce home, we also use them to store our produce! So basically when we bring out own bags, we’re just eliminating one very plastic involved activity, there’s still the other one to deal with back home.

What’s really great about storing produce without plastic is how it actually keeps your food a lot fresher. And all it takes is a glass or ceramic container and water! Of course granted it is a little more inconvenient but seriously how difficult is it to change a container of water every few days? Especially when you know the amount of carbon foot prints you are lifting off the earth?

Truthfully this is new to me, so I do not yet have my own solutions to keeping all your fruits and vegetables fresh and alive without the help of the Berkeley Farmers’ publishing. I swear it’s my new bible because they cover practically all sorts of produce! My old method would have involved keeping everything in the fridge but clearly sometimes the food just doesn’t keep well that way. Even Nicole Richie does it!

Please visit the Berkeley Farmers site to download a copy of how to keep produce fresh and healthy without plastic! Also if you’re really serious about getting into a life with as little as possible then you’ve got to visit ‘Fake Plastic Fish’ – Beth Terry, she’s my inspiration!

“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication,” penned Leonardo DaVinci. I think he’s onto something there.

There’s a cultural movement nowadays to live a simpler, more sustainable lifestyle. I believe that living an outwardly simple lifestyle makes me inwardly plentiful. My decision to live more simplistically began about a year or two ago. Here’s how I did it.

First off, I reduced a ton of clutter in my home. I have three children, several pets, and a husband who could be featured on a TV show called “America’s Top Hoarders.” I began by asking this question: Have we used this item within the past year or two? If the answer to that question was “no,” I donated it. There were boxes and boxes of goodies ranging from my first daughter’s bibs to my husband’s track shoes from high school. There were boxes of knick-knacks that sat and collected dust week after week, board games squished onto the laundry room shelves, pairs of dress shoes that were pretty but hurt my feet, and too many stuffed animals to count.

Then my de-cluttering frenzy took me to junk drawers. You know, those drawers that hold nothing but paper clips, pens that no longer work, Post-It notes from six months ago, old AA batteries, expired coupons, and pieces of junk mail from the last several weeks.

I created a filing system for my monthly bills. I even set up automatic banking withdrawals for the majority of my bills. I labeled folders for my personal business’s tax receipts, one for medical expenses, and one for receipts for tax write-offs.

Next was a weekly chores list. This way, we’re not scrubbing the home for five hours every Saturday. Besides my children having daily chores, so does my husband…which he’s not too keen on, but hey, it works! Keep your daily chores simple and concise. We each spend 20 minutes to ½ hour daily washing or folding laundry, wiping down sinks and countertops, or mopping floors and swishing out a toilet or two.

Cutting out all unnecessary spending was next. Do you have a satellite TV? Cancel it and read a novel or popular magazine instead. Better yet, get moving and get outdoors. The average person watches 2 – 3 hours of television daily. That’s insane! Think of the extra pounds you could shed by walking 45 minutes every day…or the bonding time you and your children can share in by playing a board game.

Eliminate excessive after-school activities that cause more stress than joy. Who says your child has to be involved in karate, ballet, and piano lessons? Pick one…okay, two…activities that your child likes best and eliminate the third. You’ll spend less time carpooling your brood around and have more time for family fun.

Finally, schedule time to relax and be alone. Take a quiet walk while your spouse bathes the toddler. Take a 20-minute nap on a Saturday afternoon. Enjoy a good novel while you eat your lunch in the shade of a tree.

Living simply…enjoying your days…making time to unwind and relax…it’s good for your body and soul.

All in all…a move is a move and any more is just stressful on everyone involved.

But here’s the thing about moving…as meticulous as we try to be by making checklists of everything, some things are bound to be overlooked and the first victim is always the environment. Moving is a task, amongst the most notorious for the pollution of the environment. It involves the use of carbon expelling trucks travelling across miles and the creation of tones upon tones of paper waste from packaging. And it never really crosses your mind the stress you are causing the environment because you’re so worked up about not leaving anything behind or making sure the fragile will not end up a catastrophe box of shattered.

Well moving is a huge task, so I don’t expect you to be able to do it all on your own. Which is why if you want to make your move a responsible one, then your job is to really just engage the services of a green moving company or at least reduce the impact by using green packing services such as Spencer Brown’s Rent A Green Box. The company will drop the green boxes called Recopacks [recycled ecological packing solution]over at your place a week before the move and pick them up a week after at your new place. The delivery trucks are super green eco-trucks powered by waste vegetable oil and bio-fuel so you can feel guilt-free about moving!

But you know the one thing that doesn’t depend on your luck is your sense of fashion! Yes just because you’ve grown larger than normal, with that ever expending waistline, it is not excuse to stop caring about your appearance. Well if you are unfortunate enough to have a troubled pregnancy than of course no one would expect you to want to dress up to the nines but there are some accessories that you ought to take some concern over as they serve more than just a decorative purpose.

When expecting, your doctor will advise you to wear loose comfortable clothes, but even more important than that I would say is the choice of shoes you wear. Even on normal days without a baby on the way, your feet and back take on a whole lot of pressure each time you get up and walk. Now imagine how much more weight is put on it during pregnancy!

And this is why I would have to tell you about Naya – a brand of shoes that are perfect for you at such a delicate moment. Naya shoes are amazing because they were “born from the belief that shoes should be beautiful on your feet, soft on your step and gentle on the environment”.
I absolutely adore their tag lines which sums it all up:

• “Because you should never have to choose between what looks good, what feels good and what is good for you and for the earth.” , and
• “You will wear Naya because they are beautiful, and you will love them because they are good for your body, spirit and the earth.”

And with collections that carry such beautiful names, how could you resist but to have a look?

• •    Origami Rose
• •    Tailored Temptation
• •    Beautiful Bows
• •    Super Soft Suedes
• •    Rugged Resource
• •    Kimono Knot

Now I know many people who say you ought to be on flats when pregnant but personally, I find shoes should have a slight elevation to be comfortable – possibly because most ‘flats’ aren’t really flat but in fact sunken into the back where the heel is which makes it terribly painful to walk in. Naya Shoes has some designs with decent heights and come with heels that are well shaped to give sufficient support.

If you’re a strict vegetarian then this probably wouldn’t apply but if you cook with meat then chances are when you are shopping for it you’re just looking for some that’s fresh and on the lean side because stale equals bacteria built up and not lean/fat laden equals asking for cholesterol problems.

And although you aren’t wrong to think that buying the right cut of meat is to follow by those simple rules, it pays to be more careful about what lays beneath the surface. These days money drives people to do many things and that includes harm others for a profit. Meat is a staple diet in most families and that in turn translates to a money makings supply business.

It really all begins with the simply theory of economic where supply meets demand. When the demand for meat begins to grow faster than the farm animals can mature for the cull, prices soar for each pound of meat supplied- which indirectly drives greedy and dishonest farmers to turn to banned drugs to help them take a piece of that tasty money pie.

The drug that I am specifically referring to here is beta agonist which is widely used in the pork industry. Of course the practise is banned which makes it all very illegal. Now medically beta agonist is a drug used to treat blocked airways by relaxing the muscles around the airways that may tighten during an asthma attack or in COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease). But used on animals such as pigs, beta agonist is forces pigs to mature faster with a higher amount of lean meat.

Problem here is what the lean meat contains is residue of beta agonist which brings along with it the side effects of palpitation, headaches and even death, especially in heart patients.

So on your next trip to the butchers…ask him where the meat comes from. Just because it’s lean doesn’t mean it’s safe.