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By Heather Sperling IN Work & Connect May 4 2009
Prom: It can be exciting, romantic, fun, elegant, and to top it all off, GREEN! Here are 6 parts of prom that can easily be greened—often to the benefit of your wallet and your originality and style. + READ MORE
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By Heather Sperling IN Food & Health Apr 24 2009
Though the maple syrup harvesting season is coming to a close, one of the best things about maple syrup (besides its delicious flavor and pretty golden-brown hue) is that it's a locally made, artisan product that's environmentally friendly and available year-round.A few ideas to use the year-round: French toast made... + READ MORE
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By Heather Sperling IN Travel & Outdoors Apr 15 2009
Chicago obviously loves the earth?the city has nearly a week of Earth Day events planned, starting Saturday the 18th and stretching through the 25th.For early risers who work downtown, Lurie Gardens (in Millennium Park) is holding a Nature Conservancy Walk from 7:30-8:30am on April 22. Morton Arboretum is holding an... + READ MORE
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By Heather Sperling IN Home & Garden Mar 30 2009
The idea of edible landscaping is one that's gaining steam (hey, even the Obamas are getting on board!). Why fill space with ornamental cabbage when you could have edible cabbage? Why buy pricey, pre-packed herbs when you can grow them for yourself, damn-near anywhere. + READ MORE
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By Heather Sperling IN Home & Garden Mar 24 2009
It's a fact—grandmothers are wise. They've witnessed life as we never knew it, they know how to bake things, and they serve sage advice like "everything in moderation, dear" with their cookies. ("Everything in moderation" is a pearl of wisdom from my grandmother, Grandma Mary, who also makes the world's best chocolate-oatmeal cookies.) + READ MORE
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By Heather Sperling IN Fashion & Beauty Mar 23 2009
As a follow-up to Josh Peterson's post about letting your hair air-dry, I thought I'd share a few tips for styling air-dried hair with minimum product...so you don't have to compromise your looks while saving electricity and split ends. + READ MORE
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By Heather Sperling IN Food & Health Mar 18 2009
No doubt, fresh juice is a great idea for you (its healthy and alive!) and the environment (no plastic or glass bottles!). Nearly every member of the fruit and vegetable families can be shoved through a juicer to be turned, with great success, into easily downed, highly nutritious juice (just don't mess with bananas—they'll clog the machine). + READ MORE
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By Heather Sperling IN Home & Garden Mar 17 2009
The heinous specimen to the right is the chandelier that graces the dining room of my boyfriend's apartment. This gilded monstrosity looms over my head as I write, a relentlessly glinting relic, if I had to guess, of the bargain bin of a suburban lighting shop that closed in the 90s. Good news for me, and the ugly chandelier: I just stumbled on Vickie Howell's chandelier makeover on her craft.rock.blog, and am feeling empowered to make a positive change in my lighting situation. + READ MORE
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By Heather Sperling IN Work & Connect Mar 16 2009
Some things look better in the dark. Like the earth, at 8:30pm, on March 29th. This year's Earth Hour is being touted as a showdown between Earth and global warming: The blacker the night on March 29th, the more clearly the world will have shown their awareness of the issue?by not showing anything at all. + READ MORE
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By Heather Sperling IN Fashion & Beauty Mar 16 2009
The recycling industry is struggling. Newspapers are in trouble, too. "How do I support the tangible, local delivery of essential daily news without adding to the piles of recyclables piling up in warehouses across the country?" you ask? Upcycle that newspaper, I say. Make it into something that makes everyone feel good: fashion. + READ MORE
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By Heather Sperling IN Tech & Transport Mar 11 2009
The battery powered, solar paneled Bluecar was first introduced in 2005. Over the last 4 years, the car was tested, improved, and tested some more...and the new-and-improved result has just been unveiled. + READ MORE
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By Heather Sperling IN Travel & Outdoors Mar 10 2009
People tend to make lists of places they want to go before they die. But what about places you want to go before the places die? It's hard to imagine the world radically altering within our lifetime—but whether we imagine it or not, it could happen (according to Independent Traveler). + READ MORE
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By Heather Sperling IN Food & Health Mar 10 2009
As blades of grass start to re-emerge from the wintry ground, so do an abundance of other plants and "weeds"—many of which are actually edible harbingers of spring that can add spice to your vegetable rotation (and thus, your life). + READ MORE
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By Heather Sperling IN Home & Garden Mar 9 2009
Last week, The New York Times took a look at the admirably eco-friendly Barcelona apartment of designer and Treehugger correspondent Petz Scholtus. The apartment, which Scholtus purchased with the help of a loan from an ethical bank, is filled with clever, inspiring green design elements like... + READ MORE
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By Heather Sperling IN Fashion & Beauty Mar 9 2009
Spring is nearly here, and for many teenage girls, that means one thing: prom is nigh. The night can be the stuff teenage dreams are made of (or by-the-book teenage romance movies, at least)—or, as Budget Ecoist points out, it can be an awkward or demoralizing time for teens who don't have the ability to splurge on a dress, let alone hair and makeup. + READ MORE
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By Heather Sperling IN Fashion & Beauty Mar 2 2009
My long-lasting love relationship with henna began in 6th grade. Henna came to the rescue: a double-dose of auburn, and my hair had enough red to make me feel hip—and, unlike most of my obviously fake redheaded friends, the henna actually looked natural. + READ MORE
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By Heather Sperling IN Tech & Transport Feb 25 2009
Why walk today? Do the Green Thing has a video called "Gusty and Ford" that will remind you of the endless possibilities that walking presents. You could see strange and wonderful things that you wouldn't have seen otherwise. + READ MORE
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By Heather Sperling IN Fashion & Beauty Feb 24 2009
Eating vegetables is one way to combat the winter doldrums (ya know, they're fresh, colorful, energizing...), but splashing them on your face can be even more fun. All you need is a cucumber, a few green lettuce leaves, a lemon, a tomato, and a blender, and you're set to create a little dose of verdant refreshment for your face. + READ MORE
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By Heather Sperling IN Food & Health Feb 24 2009
In all but the luckiest parts of the country, late-winter farmers markets are sparse.Ask someone to point out locally made goods?there's sure to be something in almost every market, whether it's fresh pasta, fresh ricotta, ice cream, pickles, or jam. + READ MORE
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By Heather Sperling IN Home & Garden Feb 23 2009
Butter wrappers, bacon grease, paper towel rolls, broken dishes, old clothes, old furniture, old makeup brushes...everyone has at least a few of the above lying around. And Ecosalon has an excellent list of 16 creative ways to turn the above, and more, from trash into treasure. Or if not treasure, at least find a new use for it before it finally heads to the dump. + READ MORE
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By Heather Sperling IN Fashion & Beauty Feb 23 2009
Here's another way to cut back on hot water (from the shower), energy (from a hair dryer) and money (on expensive products) this winter: a quick, easy, at-home dry shampoo. + READ MORE
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By Heather Sperling IN Work & Connect Feb 4 2009
The New York Times recently featured an article on a new kind of healthy competition-for the greenest house on the block. In certain locations across the US, monthly energy bills now come with a chart showing your energy consumption vs. that of your neighbors (you get a smiley face if you're extra efficient). The program began in Sacramento, California, and is being adopted in 10 major cities, with the hope that the American spirit of neighborly competition will take a turn for the green. + READ MORE
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By Heather Sperling IN Food & Health Feb 4 2009
In all but the luckiest parts of the country, it's winter. And in winter, people get cold, they crank up the heat, and then get dried out and hit with big, ugly, eco-unfriendly utility bills. No good! + READ MORE
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By Heather Sperling IN Home & Garden Feb 4 2009
Lynda Fassa is one green mama. In the past two years, this mother of three (who moonlights as Planet Green's babies and families expert) has put out two guides to raising children the organic way: first Green Babies, Sage Moms, and now Green Kids, Sage Families. + READ MORE
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By Heather Sperling IN Home & Garden Feb 3 2009
In the introduction to Green Kids, Sage Families: The Ultimate Guide to Raising Your Organic Kids, Lynda Fassa says she hopes to be "...like a soft-voiced GPS, helping you make the moves that get you where you want to go." The book is the culmination of Fassa's knowledge of child rearing (she's got three) and green living. "Where you want to go," and where she hopes to take you, is a healthy, happy, eco-conscious lifestyle. + READ MORE
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By Heather Sperling IN Fashion & Beauty Jan 29 2009
Fashion-forward DIY-ers take note: The accessories in Louis Vuitton's Spring 2009 Ready to Wear line have a distinct arts & crafts feel. Shoes and earrings are festooned with ribbons, feathers, wooden blocks and beads, and belts are patchworks of fabric, stitched together in a jagged way, tied with colored cords. The necklaces are chunky, block-y combinations of metal and wood. + READ MORE
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By Heather Sperling IN Food & Health Jan 22 2009
Bacon fat can add a little sumpin' sumpin' to a wide range of dishes. Assuming you're using all-natural bacon—ideally slab-cut, from a local farm (minimal transport involved and good for your taste buds)—the high-quality fat rendered from a breakfast-time crisping can make for an excellent addition to all sorts of savory, or even sweet, concoctions. Use it to add a last-minute bit of flavor to pastas, root vegetables, saut?ed greens, etc. + READ MORE
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By Heather Sperling IN Home & Garden Jan 22 2009
Last month, Environmental Working Group (EWG) put out a shopper?s guide to compact fluorescent lights (CFLs). We?ve been hot on CFLs for some time, in part because they?re so cool (ha!). + READ MORE
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By Heather Sperling IN Fashion & Beauty Jan 21 2009
In the pre-PETA, pre-green consciousness days, fur was a pervasive status symbol. Mink coats and stoles adorned the shoulders of Hollywood starlets; beaver, rabbit and even fox were all the rage. Old fur can get a new life, and make amends, through Coats for Cubs, a Humane Society campaign that turns it into comforting blankets for injured animals in wildlife rehabilitation centers. + READ MORE
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