4 Chic Ways to Celebrate Earth Day

Posted on April 20, 2012 by EcoTools

Earth Day comes around once a year and for one day everyone thinks about how they can help the Earth Live a little more beautifully. While it’s fun for kids to plant a tree or make collages out of recycled newspaper, that may not be the way adults want to celebrate. How should the chic, beautiful living woman celebrate Earth Day? Here are some fresh, chic ideas for showing the Earth you care:

Host an Eco-Party
Invite your friends over for a garden get together. Serve organic cocktails like an Eco Mojito and make your own pizza or salads with greens and veggies from a local farmer’s market or organic grocer…don’t forget your reusable shopping tote. Make sure to keep the meat m.i.a. to be gentler to the planet and use cloth napkins, real plates, and dine by candlelight.

Go Shopping the Eco Way
Have some shopping to do for spring? Earth Day Sunday is a perfect day for getting and giving articles of clothing. Go through your closet and clean house – grab anything that you don’t wear anymore or have outgrown and donate it to your local thrift store like Goodwill or the Salvation Army. While you’re there you can shop for new gently used pieces, or head out to vintage stores in the area. Buying vintage or thrift store clothes saves the Earth from having to give up natural resources to make new ones.

Upgrade your Makeup Routine
Have you procrastinated upgrading your beauty products to Eco-friendly alternatives? Pull the plug and make a change! Switch even just a couple of your beauty products to versions that contain less chemicals and come in less packaging. This is also the perfect time to make sure all your makeup brushes are Earth friendly too. All our brushes are created with sustainable bamboo, cruelty-free bristles, and recycled aluminum ferrules. Check out our brush selection.

Commune with Nature
Sometimes a little sun is good for the soul. Your nature communing can be as simple as eating dinner on your back porch, grabbing a cocktail with the girls on an outdoor patio, shop an outdoor market, or take your puppy to the park. Just make sure to slather up with sunscreen to protect your skin.

For more eco friendly ideas, visit our Living Beautifully Community!

Earth Day is this Sunday, April 22, 2012. How will you be taking time out of your day to celebrate the Earth?

Photo from Ecorazzi

Feel Good Friday: Green Gifts Book List

Posted on December 9, 2011 by EcoTools

Looking for more ways to go green or gift green? We scoured through tons of eco-friendly and green books to find some great ones we recommend. Books make perfect gifts for hostesses, teachers, the avid reader, or anyone on your holiday gift list that wants to try to be a little more eco-friendly. All of these books are easy to read, well organized, and not preachy: the perfect read for the person that may not even be that eco-friendly! Here are our four current favorites:

1. EcoChick Guide to Life by Starre Vartan

This book tops our list for its fun, girly cover. We also like it because it’s easy to read and the perfect size for reading on the go…just pop it in your purse. Starre has some great tips that are not at all preachy; including beauty tips and easy DIY beauty recipes for at home facials, body scrubs, and other body improvements.

2. Conscious Kitchen by Alexandra Zissu

This kitchen and food guide features recipes and advice from tons of famous chefs and covers lots of different types of food. All foods are broken down by definition and Alexandra gives you suggestions for the best choice whether you’re eating beef or beets.

3. Easy Green Living by Renee Loux

Renee currently hosts Fine Living TV’s “Easy Being Green” show. Her book features an array of different brands and their contact information for almost everything. Looking for a green drain cleaner? Renee will have more than one suggestion; she includes “green thumb guides” for choosing non-toxic, eco-smart, human friendly everyday essentials. This was also one of the only books that included a compressive index, making finding information a snap.

4. Planet Home by Jeffrey Hollender

This book, written by Jeffrey Hollender of Seventh Generation, is a quick read filled with bright and colorful graphics. Jeffrey breaks everything down room-by-room and recommends products and statistics for almost everything.

Don’t forget, whether you’re gifting or giving, purchasing used books or passing your gently used copies onto other is the greenest choice!

Are there any green books you’ve read that you think we missed?

Feel Good Friday: The Great American Bake Sale

Posted on November 25, 2011 by EcoTools

With the holidays now in full swing and our hearts feeling thankful from Thanksgiving, we want to share an easy way to keep the joy of giving all season long. Participate in the Great American Bake Sale! Most of us indulge in baking yummy holiday treats during December like cookies, cakes, pies, or classic church window rolls. Why not spread the baked good love by helping out children in need?

Food Network TV Host, Sandra Lee, is the face of the Bake Sale Campaign and urges bakers to unite against childhood hunger:

“Nearly one in four children in America struggle with hunger. You can make a difference in these children’s lives and have fun too by hosting a Share Our Strength’s Great American Bake Sale. The funds you raise will support Share Our Strength’s No Kid Hungry Campaign. You can help end childhood hunger.”

Hosting a Bake Sale is easy. Have one at your local church, college campus (always a big hit!) or at your office or company holiday party. Visit GreatAmericanBakeSale.org for tons of information, FAQ, and templates for advertising, printable posters, and more. They’ve made it so easy to help!

Don’t have the time or resources to host your own bake sale? You can still help end childhood hunger by supporting a bake sale near you, a donation to your local food pantry, or by buying a copy of “Baking with Friends.” For every copy purchased, $5 will be donated to The Great American Bake Sale.

Now that’s extra calories you can feel good about! What do you think? Have you or would you ever participate in a Bake Sale? What yummy treats would you make?