If you have access to fresh food and freezer/refrigeration, making fresh, homemade baby food is a green, economical, DELICIOUS, and incredibly satisfying way to ensure that your child is receiving the highest quality food that you can provide. I decided to make homemade baby food after I opened a jar of organic peas and began gagging because of the horrid smell! I did not want to feed my children anything that I was not willing to taste (or sniff) myself. Read more…

WARNING: Once you start cloth diapering, it becomes an obsession. Once you try one Kushies Ultra-Lite Cloth Diaper, you WILL purchase more!

Kushies sent me a Trial Pack of Infant (neutral colored) diapers to sample on my little Owen. The Infant diapers are sized to fit babies from 10-22 pounds. I discovered that the diaper did not fit him properly until he was about 15 pounds – the only drawback to this incredibly soft and vibrant diaper (every baby is shaped differently – just because they did not fit Owen properly until 15 pounds does not necessarily mean it will be the same for your little one). As one of the least expensive “All-In-One” diapers on the market at $12.49 or less, I additionally purchased a Toddler Pack of 5 (boy colored) to use on my 2-year old son. Read more…

We’ve written a little bit about how to make a white wedding more green. From invitations to flowers to food, it can be done with a little bit of extra resolve and planning. Some things take a little (ok, a LOT) more planning and resolve than others — like trying to find a Earth-friendly wedding dress that’s both suitable for a more formal affair and affordable to boot. I’m a Catholic gal through and through, so getting married anywhere but a Catholic church wasn’t an option for me, and I wanted a dress that was formal enough for the occasion but stood up to my Greenist values.

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Ed Begley Jr., Leonardo DeCaprio, Ed Norton (easy on the eyes and the environment!), Robert Redford, and Daryl Hannah, and Cate Blanchett (swoon!) are just some of the celebrities that put their money and their environmentalism where their famous mouths are. Kudos for using your fame and status to do good things. Some other celebs have put their money and their fame where their feet are, which also just happens to also be their mouths.
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During the summer I love to make desserts that are centered around fruit. You can even add fruit to salads. You can go really easy and simply enjoy the fruit on its own or perhaps with a little whipped cream. Or how about a little ice cream? There are so many things you can do with fresh fruit this time of year!

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I’ve had the chance to test out quite a few beauty products for The Greenists. Sure, they’re all made from natural ingredients, but so many of them just don’t get the job done. That’s why I was blown away by Desert Essence’s organic hand washes, which aren’t just as good as the average hand wash you can buy at the drugstore — I happen to think they’re better than most.

Desert Essence offers four different kinds of organic hand washes, each with a different scent and ingredient list. My favorite was the grapefruit hand wash, made with organic shea butter and jojoba oil that help moisturize skin and restore elasticity. I noticed a difference within a few days of using it. The Modern Fiance — who didn’t even know I was looking to review the hand wash — said he noticed a positive difference too after about a week of using the grapefruit wash. Its ability to moisturize during this hot summer we’re having in the south has been especially handy.

The other options are a lavender hand wash made with organic lavender oil and shea butter, a vanilla chai wash made with organic green tea and jojoba oil and acoconut wash made with organic coconut oil and shea butter. All are available for purchase for $8.99 at www.desertessence.com, which features tons of beauty products for you to try out! You can also find Desert Essence on Amazon and a few other online retailers.

When driving on the freeways around Atlanta at, say, 2 a.m., the joy and freedom of owning a car in a country with an extensive network of well-maintained roads is readily apparent: light poles flashing by, the hum of the macadam beneath my tires, the near-empty lanes inviting me to push the pedal down a little harder and just keep going- if I weren’t so tired, that is, because it’s 2 a.m. on a Wednesday and why the heck aren’t I home in bed?

Venture out onto the same stretch of road anytime between the hours of 6 and 10 a.m. or 3 and 7 p.m. and instead of joy and freedom you’re more likely to experience violent rage or, at best, abject helplessness as you watch the windblown litter make more expedient progress down the road. Read more…

It’s Memorial Day, the unofficial start of summer, which means lots of people will be breaking out the picnic baskets and firing up the grills for the next few months. Eating outdoors seems like a more natural way to enjoy our food, but it also takes a few extra steps to stay eco-friendly. Here are some reminders of how to enjoy your summer barbecues and picnics without leaving a larger footprint.
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Nothing beats a free pair of sandals- except when they’re free AND environmentally conscious! The lovely people at OKA b. sent me these Vivienne Heel Flip Flops with a Tahitian flower to review. Super cute, yes? They’re also really comfortable, with built-in massage beads based on reflexology principles. Plus, they were on the cover of Parade magazine, and you know how I love to be on the trend wagon!

Besides being adorable, a few of the other reasons why OKA b. sandals are great for the eco-friendly:

• they are anti-microbial
• they are constructed from one piece of material so they are really durable
• they are recyclable, and you can send them back to OKA b. where they will be ground up and mixed with virgin material to create new shoes
• they’re vegan-friendly and use no animal products
• they’re made in the USA, right in Georgia

Since I already plan on ordering another pair, help me decide: the white Savannah thongs, or the black Samantha three-crystal pendant flip flops?