During a visit to see my mom for her birthday (I'll blog about this soon!), I snapped these pictures of her empty cosmetic containers. I’ve told you before how she always uses every last drop of her makeup and beauty products, so I wanted to share these pictures!

I mean come on! That's incredible, right? Does she win the contest for most thorough use of products on the planet, or what? Do any of you use your jars as well as this? Very impressive mom. Yay mom!

Like many cosmetics, most band-aids are made by companies that test their products on animals. Included among the companies that test on animals are recognizable brands such as Johnson & Johnson, Proctor & Gamble, Bausch & Lomb, and many others. (You can see a complete list here).
 
The materials used to make band-aids are also bad for your body and the environment. Johnson & Johnson brand band-aids are made from nylon, cotton, and an epoxy adhesive. Epoxy resin contains the chemical BPA, which is an endocrine disruptor that disturbingly has also shown up in canned food recently. Nylon is a non-biodegradable synthetic that produces nitrous oxide when it is manufactured. Nitrous oxide, the same chemical the dentist gives you as an analgesic, is more damaging to the Earth's atmosphere than carbon dioxide.
 
The good news is that animal lovers and conscious consumers have an alternative! Eco-Guard makes a great band-aid that is not tested on animals, and is made from recycled PVC, a water-based adhesive, and natural food-grade colorings. They also make a colorful kid-friendly variety. So cute!
 
If you'd like to know more about which of your everyday products are vegan and which are not, you can find a list of commonly used animal-derived ingredients here, then check those ingredients against the labels of any products you buy.

Plastic grocery bags are hugely wasteful, and when they get discarded, they often end up in the ocean where they harm marine life. In my “Oprah’s Earth Day Advice" post last April, I talked about The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a giant patch of garbage that is twice the size of Texas, and is estimated to be made up of 90% plastic waste. California Assembly Member Julie Brownley (D - Santa Monica) has written a bill that would outlaw plastic bags in California grocery stores and require that all grocery stores sell reusable bags and charge five cents per paper bag. Brownley’s bill would help to reduce the amount of plastic waste in our oceans, benefiting both marine life and our environment.
 
If a California State Senate fiscal committee does not approve this bill by this Friday, August 13 (only a few days away!), it will die and we’ll be back to square one! So, Californians: it’s absolutely urgent that you contact your representative to encourage him or her to vote for this bill! You can see who voted for or against this bill, or abstained, in a May 6th assembly vote here. Californians Against Waste has provided a quick and easy way to look up your representative and email a letter encouraging a YES vote on this bill here.
 
Please take the time to email a letter to help pass this important legislation. Hopefully it will pass, and our governor will sign it into law so that California can be the first state to enact this important policy. The city of San Francisco banned plastic grocery bags in 2008, the same year that China banned them and instated a fine of up to $1,464 for violators. The U.N. Environmental Chief has called for a total ban on plastic grocery bags – 90 billion of which go un-recycled each year. Let’s make it happen in California!

Recently I had to get some covers for my patio furniture because my chaises and chairs were getting all yucky. I found these great eco-friendly covers from Empire Patio Covers. They are PVC and vinyl-free. Also, all of their coatings are dioxin free. 

Their products are very reasonably priced as well.

I also found this awesome company, the Billboard Tarp Warehouse. I got one for 62 bucks...not too bad! And we cut it and made several tarps. These tarps are super cool because they are recycled billboards! Since starting the company, they have saved millions of pounds of waste from going into landfills. They call this "Up-Cycling”, which is the process of converting waste materials or useless products into new materials or products of better quality or a higher environmental value. These tarps have so many uses too – check out their site to see everything you can do with the tarps.
 
I love that I am able to reuse something – and to fill a need with something that already exists by giving it a second life.
 
I didn’t end up buying any of the Empire tarps, but they seem like a good, more eco-friendly way to go than buying regular patio furniture covers.
 
Check them out!

STYLE section kindly sponsored by Susan Nichole Handbags

The average American uses seven trees a year in paper, wood, and other products made from trees. This amounts to about 2,000,000,000 trees per year! People, that is waaay too many trees to be cutting down!

Now, I will admit, I'm still old-school in the fact that I appreciate the hand-written note and keeping a journal.  But I always use products that are made from recycled paper!  Like these notebooks and journals from Paperwink that are made from 100% recycled paper.  They are just so pretty!

Did you know that each ton (2000 pounds) of recycled paper can save 17 trees, 380 gallons of oil, three cubic yards of landfill space, 4000 kilowatts of energy, and 7000 gallons of water. This represents a 64% energy savings, a 58% water savings, and 60 pounds less of air pollution!

Are there any cards, journals or notebooks that you like that are made from recycled paper?

STYLE section kindly sponsored by Susan Nichole Handbags

A while ago I posted a Hijiki Caviar recipe from blogger Louisa’s Lucid Food blog. If you haven’t seen that one, be sure to check it out HERE.

Louisa has a post about planting a vegetable garden in front of New York’s City Hall. The organization, People’s Garden NYC has a photo on their website of an artist rendering of what the garden would look like (pictured below). They are working hard to make this fantasy garden a reality. Go to their website to learn more about them, see the rendered photo and to sign the petition urging New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg to make this happen.

The People’s Garden NYC are after something along the lines of what Michelle Obama did at the White House with their vegetable garden. Passersby would be able to stop and admire its beauty and it would become a teaching garden for children where they can learn about healthy eating and where their produce comes from. It would be an interactive lesson of how food and health go hand in hand. The produce would get donated to a nearby food pantry.

I love this idea so much. I think veggie gardens are way cooler than flower gardens.

Read Louisa’s blog post here to learn more about the widespread benefits of this potential garden.

Louisa also mentions that some cities already have their own City Hall produce gardens (Milwaukee, Baltimore, and Portland). Let’s help make NYC next and maybe your town too?!

What are your thoughts on putting in produce gardens at City Halls?

I recently came across a very cool furniture company, Hudson Furniture Inc., that makes all of their furniture out of salvaged trees or wind/storm damaged trees. I think it's so great to use reclaimed wood rather than cut down trees growing in forests. When I buy furniture, if I don’t buy something used, I only buy new things that are made out of reclaimed wood. I also love the rustic, earthy look so I did some research to see what other companies are out there that also use reclaimed wood and here are a few that I found. But if anyone knows of any cool reclaimed wood companies I'd love to hear about those as well!

Los Angeles

Antico Furniture

Cliff Spencer

Stranger Furniture

New York

Domestic Aesthetic (smaller housewares)

John Houshmand

Varian Designs

San Francisco/Berkeley

The Wooden Duck

Urban Hardwoods

Seattle

Meyer Wells

Urban Hardwoods

There are so many awesome things you can make with reclaimed wood. I just found some great reclaimed wood picture frames on Etsy. I also remember going into a very cool vintage clothing store in the Valley a couple years ago and their clothing racks were made out of reclaimed tree trunks!  It was such a fun way to present the clothes.

In my home I also have a dining room table made out of an old bowling alley lane!  

I also have some reclaimed shelves in the living room, and recently bought a wine rack made of reclaimed wood. It’s so pretty! I need to find a home for it though, because I don’t have space for it right now.  

What have you made with reclaimed wood?

STYLE section kindly sponsored by Susan Nichole Handbags

I came across this great article recently on The Discerning Brute about eco luggage.

So, if you’re on the hunt for some new baggage here are some great tips:

 
-Used or vintage luggage: Check out Ebay, Craigslist, thrift stores, or yard sales.  This is usually the most affordable way to get luggage... And vintage luggage can be super cute!

-Heys USA Eco Case: this luggage is made from 100% recycled plastic, is lightweight, high quality, and has a 7 year warranty.

-Eco Traveler 2 Piece Expandable Carry-on Luggage: This bag set is made out of hemp, and the cotton webbing and interior lining on the inside of the bags are biodegradable.

-Patagonia Freewheeler and MLC Lines: These bags are made from 100% recycled fabrics.

Take a look at the article, and let me know what you think!

STYLE section kindly sponsored by Susan Nichole Handbags

Like many of you, I am beyond disturbed with this oil spill situation
.

First, the problem:  The oil spill. I'm sure you all know how bad this is for the planet, the environment, for people and for wildlife biodiversity.

Right now, no one can predict the terrible long term effects this will have on the water and all the creatures who rely on it to live, including humans. The amazing people who are working to clean up the spill are already having serious health problems, as are animals like fish, dolphins, whales, birds, turtles, and land mammals.  It's so sad, and so frustrating.

The solution? There isn't one yet, but here is what is being done so far...



Right now, about 20,000 people employed by various White House agencies from the Coast Guard to the Environmental Protection Agency to the Fish and Wildlife Department are working in the Gulf to clean up the oil, though more oil is being pumped into the ocean every day.

 

President Obama has come under fire for how he has been handling the spill, and I, too, was very upset until I saw this video [below]. He made me feel like he is handling the spill very seriously and explained everything in a clear manner. I appreciate having a President who speaks concisely and clearly so we all can understand these sometimes complex issues - what a relief. Often times I feel like when politicians talk my eyes glaze over in boredom and I don't know what the hell they're really saying. Obama keeps me interested and makes me feel like I have a good handle on what's going on and I truly appreciate that. 

Like I said above, I do understand the anger and frustration not just for the Gulf residents but for those of us in other parts of the world who are seeing all of this horrible footage and feeling helpless. Unfortunately I've been reading that the hair booms I told you about before are not being used. It turns out the hair booms were absorbing both oil AND water, rapidly becoming too heavy and sinking (though they are tethered so they're not littering the ocean). Now they are trying to use booms made of sorbent material (wrapped in cotton socks) that only absorb the oil and not the water and are much more effective. 

The root of the problem.....and how to change it

:

The United States produces around uses 21 million barrels of oil a day. In one day! And we produce around 6 million. It's obvious that we are in way too deep. We are sucking the earth dry.

When will we wake up?! As long as the sun shines, the wind will blow, ("The Sun is largely responsible for wind patterns around the world. The pattern begins in the tropics-around the equator-where the Sun heats the air, which becomes lighter and then rises. Cooler air rushes into the area where the warmed air was, and the process is repeated again and again. The heat of the Sun-along with the eastern movement, or rotation, of Earth on its axis-causes this pattern of air movement around the equator. And this pattern, in turn, affects wind patterns all over the world." - SOURCE), so why aren’t we harnessing these amazing gifts of natural energy? The solution is all around us. We have miles and miles of land so perfect for wind turbines and roof after roof just begging for a solar panel. The government should be doing everything it can to make these solutions the norm, including making it cost-efficient for individual households to obtain them.

Alternative energy sources, ones that have little impact on the earth and its inhabitants, are the answer. Yes, it would mean spending some money now, but it would also mean creating hundreds of thousands of jobs and potentially saving the planet. And in the long run could actually allow us to become energy self-sufficient and even see a profit. The United States has the capacity to produce as much, if not much much more, energy than we use with wind power alone. What are we waiting for?

The White House is listening. Just a few days ago Obama stopped any off-shore drilling in the Arctic for the foreseeable future. And the Cape Wind project in New England has just been greenlit – the biggest off-shore wind farm in the country. We have to all get together and be as loud as we can until something changes. Call your representatives, call them everyday, and tell them you support an “ambitious Renewable Energy Standard focusing on wind and solar power.” Find out if your electric company offers wind energy... many do for only a few more dollars a month.

Every day we have the opportunity to make choices, some big and some seemingly small, to let government and big corporations know that we want change. We do it with the way we eat -- every trip to the farmers market is a vote for local, organic food -- and the items we buy. A life with less use of fossil fuels is totally doable, you just have to choose it.

You’d be surprised at how many things we use are produced at power plants using fossil fuels, or how much fuel cars, trucks, and jets use. Being a mindful consumer and a mindful user of fuels in everyday life can make a difference. If you can't afford a hybrid car or a more energy-efficient car, try to use public transportation, ride a bike or walk to your destinations more often. Even taking the stairs instead of an elevator can mean using much less electricity (and less fossil fuels). Plus, it makes your butt look great!

And stay away from plastic! Promise me you will. Most plastics are made using fossil fuels, and that’s everything from plastic bags to plastic toys to gosh, pretty much everything plastic. (There are two “good” plastics that are corn or plant based – PLA and PHA – go with those if you must.)

Petroleum jelly is found in a disappointing number of personal skin care products, so be sure to check company websites and labels before you use them! There is a good list here at The Kind Life, as well.

Household cleaning products are so awful for the water and the environment. Bleaches and toxins go down the tubes and out into the world. And many of them are petroleum based (and packaged in petroleum based plastic bottles). You don't have to use them. Seventh Generation, Method, Mrs. Meyer's -- all free of petroleum products (and cruelty free, of course). And I bet you Kind Lifers out there have some great ideas for homemade cleaning products that work just as well.

We are a small but mighty tribe here, and we have to remember that we have a say in all of this. So get on the phone, and call your representatives today.  You can find the numbers you need at http://contactingthecongress.org/

How you can help....

-

Go to the Oceana website and sign the petition they have against offshore drilling

-Learn more information from the White House and read their tips on how to help

-

For those of you who live in the gulf states, check out OilSpillVolunteers.com for more volunteer opportunities.

-Greenpeace also has information on different volunteer programs

-As always, contact your representatives and tell them what you think

The bottom line is we want the government to make alternative fuels the highest priority and to reduce and eventually eliminate our dependence on fossil fuels. If each individual uses as little oil as we can by evaluating each thing that we want to buy - the distance it traveled, the energy used in its production - and making mindful choices, we will make our way towards using less oil. You're already on the right track if you're following The Kind Diet, as eating this way uses far less oil. So give yourself a big hug from me for that, and remember that we can all do more all the time....so let's do it!