by Marina Hanes

Starting a Green Lifestyle

Starting a greener lifestyle can be difficult, but beginning with simple changes can make the transition less overwhelming. For example, stop taking ATM receipts, request paperless statements and bring your own bag when you grocery shop. These tips and others can be found at EcoHearth, a new website dedicated to eco-news and products to make you more aware and sustainable. There is even an Eco Shop where you can buy a solar charger to power your iPod and iPhone wherever you are as long as you can capture the sun’s rays. See ecohearth.com
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by Christine D’Angelo
I haven’t bought lettuce in a year and I’m eating a lot more salads. That can’t be a bad thing. I live in an apartment building, so open ground I can call my own is at a premium. But last spring I inherited a bunch of planter boxes. Now, I’m a rose freak, but these were the wrong vessels for roses. So I decided to try growing lettuce, which I figured would work in the shallow growing beds of these boxes.

I started from seed using seedling starter kit…basically little pots on a tray. I had butter lettuce and a packet of mesclun, which includes red and green leaf lettuce, frisée, mizuna, mâche, escarole and chicory. Since then, I’ve expanded to spinach, green onions, arugula, and red and green romaine. I try to start a new batch of seeds every three weeks or so, rotating out different things so I constantly have lettuce ready to eat. At any give time, some of the plants are small, just starting out, while others are mature.
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by Marina Hanes

Green Moms

Do you try to be an eco-conscious mom? Are you often looking for alternatives to the traditional home cleaners, because you worry about how the chemicals affect your children? A mom who knows what it’s like to juggle your personal life with raising children is the creator and writer of Green & Clean Mom. This site includes a forum where eco-friendly moms can discuss their challenges and solutions to living a greener lifestyle. There are also opportunities to win contests and prizes from giveaways. The blog is updated regularly with articles examining eco-driving, chemical free products, rain barrels, etc.
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Sustainable News

Are you looking for eco-friendly jobs or the latest green news on travel, architecture, cars, fashion and beauty? Tree Hugger is a comprehensive green site that can help you get informed on the environmental issues you care about. You can also look into the lives of other environmentalists by watching some video eco-tips. Tree Hugger’s readers have sent in videos showing their green habits and green hacks (renovations). You can learn how to make recycled paper, how to teach children to compost and various other ways to be more sustainable.
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Going Somewhere? Is Your Laptop Going With You?

Recycled Laptop Bags are an instant way to feel good and protect your goods. Materials range from PET (recycled soda bottles) to Mountain Tarps. Frietag has been making bags from recycled tarps, seat belts, and air bags since 1993. I love that while every bag may be cut from a shared cloth, each piece is unique. See http://www.freitag.ch/shop/FREITAG/shop.jsf.

Want a simple laptop sleeve then check out Act 2’s Laptop Green Sleeve. Made from recycled soda bottles, they give you the bottle count for all their products and offer a view of the recycling process. This one can be found at www.act2greensmart.com.

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