green

10 Best Bathroom Plants

Think your bathroom could use a touch of green? Try adding some plants! In addition to being a great element of decoration, some indoor plants can help improve the air quality and freshen up bathroom spaces. Not only that, having indoor plants around is said to help reduce stress levels and evoke feelings of calmness, which is definitely appropriate for this particular setting.

Fun, Festive Family Activities For March

As each new month approaches, it’s a wonderful idea to plan out all of the festive, nearly free activities that your entire family can do to celebrate and bond all month long. What better way to get your family excited about what each month has to offer than with themed activities? With the arrival of March, it’s time to embrace this unique time of year for countless reasons, including some you may not even be aware of. Now, let’s get into the spirit of March!

5 Ways To Waste Less Food

I know it’s cliché, but the phrase “there are starving children in ____” is repeated over and over with good intentions. There are starving children everywhere, but your momma was just trying to help teach you a lesson about being grateful for what you have. It’s impossible for some kids to appreciate food security simply because they have not experienced it; not everyone always has food waiting for them on a dinner plate like many of us do.

Green Smoothies 101

Green smoothies might remind you of swamp water, algae, or other green, soupy liquid, but in actuality, they’re delicious, nutritious, and a great way to start your day. Green smoothies aren’t a new concept–simply search #greensmoothie on Instagram and you’ll easily pull up more than 1.2 million posts. That said, green smoothies can turn out terrific, reminiscent of a virgin piña colada, or they can taste like the aforementioned swampy green soup. Here’s how to do it right:

The Classic Green Smoothie

Ingredients

Bring Green Inside! Your DIY Terrarium Tutorial

Now that there are apparently several more weeks of winter (thanks, Mr. Groundhog), it is the perfect time to find creative ways to incorporate more green into your life. Not only is a thriving, jungle-like terrarium lovely in the colder, winter months when we’re all too ready for spring, but a cleverly crafted terrarium can bring joy throughout all of the seasons.

The Plastic Bag Ban: Who's On Board?

More and more states are jumping on board for the Plastic Bag Ban, and with good reason. Plastic makes up a big chunk of the landfills here in the United States. These bag bans are strategies being put in place in order to reduce the use of plastic carryout bags from grocers and other retail stores.

Fresh And The City: The Farm to Families Initiative

In 2011, I moved from the lush greenery of Olympia, an hour south of Seattle, to Philadelphia, one of the densest cities in America. Never in my life had I seen so much brick, so much pavement, and so little green space. I loved the city—I moved there to pursue opportunities that weren’t available in a smaller town. But I missed the green. And something about that made me suddenly interested in healthy eating. If I couldn’t have much green foliage around me, at least I could have some on my plate.

How to Use Colors to Enhance Your Life

Want to make your home more welcoming and friendly? Need a boost of confidence? Colors can help: They're scientifically proven to influence different emotions. Emotions connected to colors influence us in unique ways every day: The color of a room may set you off or the color of a shirt may make you happy. When you want to attract more of a specific emotion, vibe, or feeling, colors can help you do it. Here's a guide to what each color means, and how to incorporate them into your life.

Awesome NYC Career Close-up: Urban Organic Farmer-in-Residence

It’s not easy to combine one’s gifts and passion for agriculture with a need for housing and a salary in an urban environment. Farmer-in-Residence Zaro Bates has been lucky enough to do just that in the courtyard of a Staten Island apartment complex, known as Urby. Bates runs this 4,500-square foot organic city farm and the business Empress Green Inc. with her husband and co-worker/beekeeper, Asher Landes.

Living Off The Grid: Eco-friendly Gadgets

It is always funny to me how old new age technology is. Hand-cranked gadgets go back a long time -- in fact, they predate electricity. However, there have been several new technologies made available that provide more modern hand-cranked, solar, and wind-powered products.

Off-grid living can take some getting used to, but there are all sorts of products, tools, and equipment to make the transition smoother.

Here are some of my favorite hand-cranked products.