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By Lynda Fassa IN Fashion & Beauty Nov 13 2008
You've tucked away your sandals and gotten out your favorite trusty scarf, at once chic and warm, but you could still use a bit of sprucing up—a nice new something to enter the season all aglow. Oh, a trip to the spa—that's it! Forget your shrinking wallet, you've probably got everything you need to be ab-fab right now, at home. + READ MORE
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By Lynda Fassa IN Fashion & Beauty Oct 13 2008
Yeah, you can have it all. Your high powered career (or at least a job), your adorable gremlins, a smooth gleaming brow, and some extra cash in your bank account. Here's how to accomplish the last two: Ban the Botox! I know that might seem like a funny thing to write about on a green site--and no I have not imbibed. But I know a lotta women who have, and even more who are on the brink... + READ MORE
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By Lynda Fassa IN Food & Health Sep 30 2008
My first memories of Paul Newman involve me ambitiously practicing the hula hoop on my back porch while my mother danced around the kitchen humming the theme song for the Sting—a huge hit that year: 1973... + READ MORE
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By Lynda Fassa IN Food & Health Sep 25 2008
Dr. David Servan-Schreiber is a lot of things: a world renowned cancer expert, a brain researcher, a brain cancer survivor, a best selling author and a dad. He's also a pioneer at leading the charge to integrate simple lifestyle changes in a plan to help people to beat cancer—or better yet, keep it from occurring in the first place. In this exclusive interview with Planet Green, I asked the good doctor his top three strategies for keeping healthy. Here's what he had to say. + READ MORE
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By Lynda Fassa IN Work & Connect Sep 25 2008
Going green doesn't cost more! Sometimes it costs a lot less...and when you make things yourself, from laundry detergent to baby wipes, you can be sure to avoid the questionable chemicals that might put baby at risk. Here's 5 ways to go green and save green with a little one + READ MORE
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By Lynda Fassa IN Food & Health Sep 17 2008
Finally someone has clarified why we are what we eat, and substantiated it with actual medical research and data. The must-have book, Anticancer: A New Way of Life is already an international bestseller. Now it's a New York Times bestseller as well after being released in the states Sept. 8th. And I really urge you to go out and get this book. If you're ready to Stand Up to Cancer, this book can help you. + READ MORE
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By Lynda Fassa IN Food & Health Sep 11 2008
Can we beat cancer? Or better yet can we avoid cancer altogether? Dr. David Servan-Schreiber, author of Anticancer A New Way of Life, thinks so. A brain cancer survivor himself, Servan-Schreiber knows about the importance of healthfy eating. We are what we eat, as the saying goes, and it turns out that certain foods, such as garlic can help inhibit cancer cell growth. Others, like simple sugars, can act as a cancer fuel. + READ MORE
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By Lynda Fassa IN Food & Health Sep 8 2008
Yeah, you can have it all. You can eat local, organic, cheap and huge variety. This awesome tip came from my super green friend Jan Maltby, who came up with this plan to reduce her throw-away of produce. She belongs to a CSA but, even with her three kids and generous-to-friends-and-neighbors sensibilities, she could never quite finish the huge bounty of the end of season tomatoes without ending up tossing a few for being squishy. What a waste. + READ MORE
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By Lynda Fassa IN Food & Health Sep 5 2008
A new book, Anticancer: A New Way of Life, comes out Sept. 8th. It sounds sort of like a scary movie from the '70's, like The Omen, and the cancer part alone might be enough to put me off buying the book, since I ain't got it...(as far as my last mammogram says anyway). What I mean is, I normally would not buy a book on cancer, or even on avoiding cancer, because, well I just don't plan on getting it. But many of us will. In fact 25% of us in the US will die from cancer. + READ MORE
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By Lynda Fassa IN Fashion & Beauty Sep 4 2008
OK, I'm going to get right to the point—because when your skin breaks out, there's no time to lose! And this might be just the solution—it's all natural, probably something you already have in your house—plus it works like crazy and is super-cheap. + READ MORE
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By Lynda Fassa IN Food & Health Aug 28 2008
Beyond the obvious, and VERY important choices, like recycled content paper and refillable pens, your kids will need certain - ahem - polite additions to their backpacks, especially if they are the sporty types. + READ MORE
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By Lynda Fassa IN Food & Health Aug 28 2008
Wanna green your kids lunch, help save the planet, and save a few bucks, too? It?s easy, here?s how: Pack your kid?s school lunch. I don't mean you have to pack it yourself to be green - in future installments we'll explore the sometimes brutally frustrating "change the system" approach. But for today, we're headed for the cupboard and loadin' up junior's backpack - because for most of us, packing our children's lunch is a great way to keep track of what's passing their lips, and what's not passing their lips - plus it's an equally important vehicle for voting with your dollars for the type of world you want. + READ MORE
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By Lynda Fassa IN Work & Connect Aug 18 2008
Woo Hoo! Three more weeks--count 'em THREE! I'm a happy mama, I'm a happy mama--don't get me wrong--of course I've loved the summertime with my 3 beautiful girls, 2 dogs and assorted rodents (in cages...don't worry...) But who am I to hold back the tick-tock toward September and the great quest for knowledge? + READ MORE
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By Lynda Fassa IN Home & Garden Aug 14 2008
OK, we're in the throes of summer, and plants are growing like Seymour in Little Shop of Horrors. Sinuous winding vines are overtaking whatever semblance of order my front hedge had, and my backyard looks like the Illinois Prairie. But I?m not worried about craziness in my little bit of green, cause I know it may be filled with pests, but thankfully it?s pesticide free, and that?s way more important for the health and safety of my kids and family than the uniform Pleasant Valley Sunday look that's very popular in my town. (I'm also not interested in my kids being human guinea pigs, though branches of the US gov are trying to convince us. + READ MORE
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By Lynda Fassa IN Work & Connect Aug 11 2008
It's a beautiful summer day, the sky is clear and the laundry is done, so I'd like to be the bearer of good news. But not today. Please don't kill the messenger, because this is downright bone chilling. Hold on, don't click the page away--if you've got kids, or if you use a cell phone (let alone both) you'll want to listen up... + READ MORE
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By Lynda Fassa IN Fashion & Beauty Aug 7 2008
Here we are, deep in the heart of summer, and for lots of tweens and teens the clock is ticking towards the time the September bells ring. Natural thoughts of image change and reinvention may turn into less-than-natural thoughts of chemically induced hair color for the new year. + READ MORE
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By Lynda Fassa IN Food & Health Aug 4 2008
The Organic Center is a non-profit founded "to generate credible, peer reviewed scientific information and communicate the veritable benefits of organic farming and products to society". + READ MORE
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By Lynda Fassa IN Food & Health Aug 4 2008
Last week I forgot my reusable shopping bag (AGAIN!) and was at checkout when I noticed.So I had a few choices: Be stinky and use the store bag (though my store doesn't give out plastic anymore, I could still do the piggy thing and contribute to deforestation by asking for paper) Cost: $0, but some moderate eco-guilt... + READ MORE
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By Lynda Fassa IN Fashion & Beauty Jun 27 2008
Earlier this week, my youngest child "graduated" from third grade. It was a bittersweet sight, seeing all those little kids stepping up and growing up. (Adding to my feeling of wooziness was the fact that it was mighty hot in the balcony of the pre-war public school auditorium.) As I looked around, I noticed that most of the parents were using the programs as makeshift fans, and though most were in cool cotton and linen, a few dads were stuck in gabardine suits, ready to hit the road for the office as soon as their kids exited the stage. + READ MORE
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By Lynda Fassa IN Food & Health Jun 24 2008
On a summer day, kids are craving something cool and sweet. But sometimes we moms are at a loss for anything but a frozen fruit juice popsicle--and we all know that kids get bored with the same old, same old. + READ MORE
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By Lynda Fassa IN Food & Health Jun 24 2008
I LOVE popcorn. My kids do too. Actually, even one of my dogs loves popcorn. For me it's genetic: I'm part Native American and popcorn was a staple of our ancestral diet. (Growing up in the Midwest in the 1970's watching Laverne and Shirley and The Night Stalker, it was a staple of mine, too.) So when the sad news came out a few months back about [popcorn lung] and all the rather negative side effects of frequently inhaling nuked popcorn from the microwave (effects including Emphysema and death), I switched back to the slightly less convenient, but actually much more satisfying stove-top variety. + READ MORE
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By Lynda Fassa IN Home & Garden Jun 23 2008
Well, this is the week my kids have been waiting for--in the words of the great Alice Cooper "School's out for Summer!" But after two or three weeks of lolling about the house, catching fireflies in the backyard at dusk, and a few easy going play-dates, my kids (and my sanity) will need a little more structure in their days. That's why I, like so many other parents, send my kids to summer camp. + READ MORE
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By Lynda Fassa IN Home & Garden Jun 18 2008
Kids seem to fall into one of two categories when it comes to nighttime buddies: stuffed animals or dolls. I was most certainly the former. And from my view at the time, I was one of the luckiest of the lot. Seemed like whenever there was a carnival in town, I would win a super-sized stuffed animal. Nevermind that it was stuffed with sawdust from who-knows-where and carried a somewhat off-putting smell of old hotdogs and all sorts of other carni food. It was big, and it was mine. + READ MORE
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By Lynda Fassa IN Home & Garden Jun 17 2008
Those things that go bump in the night are often my shins whacking into some stray piece of furniture (or even one that's always been there, but seems so utterly out-of-place at 2 in the morning.) + READ MORE
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By Lynda Fassa IN Food & Health Jun 13 2008
Oh boy it's hot--I don't care if it's not June 21, summer has most certainly arrived! If you're one of the uber-rich and have an in-ground backyard pool, you and the kids are probably romping with glee, but for most of us "primary caregivers" with kids in tow, these dog days are often filed with too much TV and a whole lotta complaints. + READ MORE
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By Lynda Fassa IN Home & Garden Jun 13 2008
That's because Christopher runs the nonprofit Healthy Child Healthy World, (formerly CHEC the Children's Health and Environmental Coalition). Healthy Child Healthy World works to educate parents and caregivers about the risks to children associated with some very common products and packages. In this exclusive to Planet Green interview, I asked him the best ways to get our green on and clean up our indoor air, because most Americans spend 90 percent of our time indoors. + READ MORE
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By Lynda Fassa IN Fashion & Beauty Jun 12 2008
'Tis the season to updo, and if you want to help yur daughter go easy on the eyes and the environment, you might want to try some totally unplugged primping from green hair guru Katherine Semke, proprieter of Westchester's famed eco-salon, Katherine Winters in Irvington, New York. Here she reintroduces us to what our great grandmothers did to get soft, opulent tresses... + READ MORE
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By Lynda Fassa IN Food & Health Jun 12 2008
When I first met Dr. Karp it was at a busy gala with lots of noise and lots of people. A new mom came up to us with her screaming daughter on her hip and introduced herself to the good doctor. Within 2 minutes the baby was gurgling and giggling even though it seemed like Harvey had just been talking to the mom. "This is why they call him the baby whisperer," I thought. The mom was aghast and said she'd never seen her baby do that before. Harvey explained that he could teach her how to do it; it really wasn't anything magical. + READ MORE
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By Lynda Fassa IN Home & Garden Jun 12 2008
If you, like my 14 year old daughter Layla, really love to read---she voraciously devours 5 or 6 books a week!--you might have some green guilt. Because, yes, that wonderful cliffhanger, that thoughtful prose, or if you're like me, the growing collection of "FILL IN THE BLANK for Dummies," used to be part of a living tree. If you want to balance your love of reading with your commitment to the environment, check out what the founder of Ecolibris has to say: + READ MORE
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By Lynda Fassa IN Home & Garden Jun 10 2008
Dad of of 21-month-old Tyler, Kevin Schwartz has a cool business making what I believe is some of the best-working and safe-enough-to-drink household cleaners with his line Babyganics. + READ MORE
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By Lynda Fassa IN Food & Health Jun 9 2008
My good friend Jeremiah just became a dad--again!Natural Dentist Toothpaste Both the kids' and adults' version of this toothpaste are great, and contain no sodium lauryl sulfate, which can aggravate sensitive gums. + READ MORE
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By Lynda Fassa IN Food & Health May 30 2008
I love it when something new comes along and it hits the market in a bunch of try-able products that might improve my life, my kids' lives, or make the planet healthier. The acai is a berry that comes only from a particular tree, the Acai Palm, in the Brazillian Rainforest, and it is delicious. + READ MORE
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By Lynda Fassa IN Travel & Outdoors May 29 2008
The famous Victorian gem on Chicago's stretching field of green, the Lincoln Park Zoo has decided to go green. It's among the first concession stands to go all organic. The obligatory steamed dog with relish has been replaced with "all organic and locally-grown foods. + READ MORE
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By Lynda Fassa IN Fashion & Beauty May 6 2008
As every mom of young kids knows, the meaning of "spa" is way less likely to be defined as a trip to bliss and more like a 15-minute bath without 10,000 knocks on the bathroom door. Here's how to help Mom out this Mother's Day. + READ MORE
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By Lynda Fassa IN Home & Garden Apr 30 2008
Planet Green contributer Lynda Fassa is mourning the loss of HBO's "John Adams," but is looking forward to another TV series that gets her patriotic spirit moving in the same fashion. + READ MORE
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By Lynda Fassa IN Food & Health Apr 18 2008
Bisphenol A (BPA) is in the news and likely to stay there for some time. In a recent study by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, researchers noted reproduction and developmental anomalies in mice... + READ MORE
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By Lynda Fassa IN Home & Garden Mar 13 2008
Lynda Fassa is Planet Green's babies and family expert.They know they are making a lot less trash, and they can work laundering the covers into a doable schedule in the building's shared laundry room-something they say they couldn't have done with 100 percent cloth. + READ MORE
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