Have you gone vintage with your produce yet? You may have spotted a colorful array of heirloom tomatoes at the farmers’ market but wondered what sets them apart from regular tomatoes, which are hybrids. While their name may sound fancy, heirloom vegetables are simply a throwback to the type of produce everyone used to eat before mass production intervened. These vintage varieties have been around for at least 50 years and are often passed down through several generations of a family because of their desirable characteristics. Plucked straight …

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Editor’s note: This is a post by Max Gladwell.

Citizen journalism, open government, status updates, community building, information sharing, crowdsourcing, and the election of a President.

Our children will inherit a world profoundly changed by the combination of technology and humanity that is social media. They’ll take for granted that their voices can be heard and that a social movement can be launched from their laptop. They’ll take for granted that they are connected …

Tags: #10Ways , activism , green , guest , max gladwell , social media , web

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Editor’s note: This is a guest post by Victoria Everman.

Having a sustainable wedding is as easy as locally-grown, organic pie. In the midst of planning my own event, I’ve found that being planet- and money-conscious is not only feasible – it is fun.

It is so easy to get overwhelmed by the wide world of weddings that you might forget about your green goals. Even I’m guilty of it. That’s where my eco-wedding blog comes in, where I catalog my visual inspirations and favorite sustainable wedding companies.

Ready to save some …

Tags: cake , catering , decor , eco wedding , event , flowers , gown , green wedding , guest , planning , Victoria E , Victoria Everman

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Of all the things I’ve come across as we near an increasingly greenwashy Earth Day, one stands out because of its simplicity and transparency. The founders of Energy Circle, a home-energy efficiency ally whose staff all test and use the products they sell in their own homes, will make their home energy use public, broadcasting it both through their website and live on Twitter at EnergyCircleKW.

They’ve hacked their best-selling device, The Energy Detective, a “real-time home electricity monitor that is the equivalent of a …

Tags: Earth Day , electricity monitor , Energy Circle , Energy Detective , energy efficiency , guest , home , Paul Smith , twitter

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Note: this is a guest post by Kathryn Hawkins.

Locally-grown veggies and free-range chicken may be de rigeur on your own dinner plate each day – but not so for poor Fido, who has to settle for the mystery-meat sludge in his Alpo can (which looks suspiciously like what your cafeteria lunch lady doled out back in the day).

While it may not be too cheap or practical to set up your pet with his own platter of goodies direct from the farmers’ market, there are plenty of ways to make your companion’s life as …

Tags: guest , health , lifestyle , pets

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Bugs who bite think I’m imported chocolate. I found this out during one of my recent outdoor adventures when I went hurdling through a cloud of black, wingy things, and the little buggers latched on for dear, sweet bloodsucking life. Unfortunately, my body thinks bugs are the devil incarnate, and tells me so through a solid week of welts and fevers.

Thank goodness I had read about homemade detox baths -  scathing pools of tub water filled with cabinet magic that pull toxins straight out of your skin. If you’re really full of junk, these baths are …

Tags: care , guest , health , personal , remedy , spa , treatment

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I’m all for living la vida verde and being a good global citizen, but I have to say, most of the eco friendly plates I’ve come across are just so…homely. And they don’t stand up to anything beyond a light
salad without wilting, for the most part.

That is, until I came across the plates made by Verterra. They’re made from palm leaves, in intriguing shapes, and look like wood. And they’re no compromise: you can cook with them! Halibut without a problem, on a platter that impresses. What else do you need? Compostability, yes. That’s …

Tags: accessory , cooking , dining , entertaining , environment , guest , material , natural

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Forget fueling up. At over $4 a gallon, gas prices today are forcing us to take to the streets the old fashioned way: By bike or foot. And since some 54% of Americans live less than 5 miles from their jobs, there’s no excuse not to turn this unholy oil-boil into a calorie-burning, enviro-friendly, social fiesta.

Here are four tips from Tim Grahl, founder of CommuteByBike.com:

Baby Pedals: Tim cautions new commuters: “Don’t start out trying to be hardcore, riding 40 miles roundtrip five days a week. Instead, try …

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Safe Summer Sunscreen Review

This year, have fun in the summer sun without ending up looking like a lobster or being driven to bitter madness by swarms of West-Nile carrying mosquitoes (or ticks with Lyme disease, the gift that keeps on giving). You can’t just stay indoors, because then you’re assaulted by poor indoor air quality – besides, summer is supposed to be spent outdoors! So, what to do?

Block the Burn

One in five Americans is now diagnosed with skin cancer, so there is real reason to pay heed to solar rays. Of course, the …

Tags: guest , guide , health , treatment , wellness

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