Lifestyle

When I first read a pitch for a feminine, 'natural' cleaner, I was slightly apprehensive about greenwashing. However, talking with healthy hoohoo founder Stacy Lyon was informative, enlightening and straight-up fun. And I totally understand why her products are essential in the market. A self described "outdoor, wildlife & mountain woman", Stacy Lyon grew up a simple lady and was living with the closest grocery store 21 miles away. Then, one of her friends was diagnosed with Breast Cancer and she heard the word "paraben' for the first time.  Compiled with 2 other convos in 1 week with her OBGYN and another friend, she realized that women are in the perfect storm for their lady parts with popular products: polyester thongs, processed food & cheap toiletries. And then there was this statistic, which shocked me: (Find out the shocking statistic AND essential tips to keep your VJ healthy, after the jump:)

Shark week continues... OK, what the heck is squalene? Shark squalene is an organic compound found in a sharks liver. So, what's the problem? Shark squalene is heavily used in cosmetics, contributing to unsustainable fishing and damage to marine life. One reason the population of sharks is declining is due to overfishing for the purpose of obtaining the squalene. Click through to read on!

Happy Shark Week! To continue in the aquatic tradition of this week, we’ll explore a few activities you can do in the H20! (Plus, Shark Week mentions some encounters of Sharks with Paddle Boarders…) For Family Beach Week 2012, I was itching to do something athletic & aquatic… My bike on the boardwalk could only get me so far mentally. Since it’s important to support sustainable tourism where you can to prove that animals are worth more money alive than dead, I was psyched when my cousin asked me to join her in Stand Up Paddle board Lessons. What is Stand Up Paddle Boarding? (Find out more, after the jump!)

Happy Shark Week! The Discovery Channel's yearly celebration of sharks began last night. Last year we took a week to embrace ocean themes, including the truth of Shark Finning. We'll continue the tradition and explore more aquatic green-isms this week... Nothing is more pristine than taking in nature, sitting on the beach and looking at the ocean... even if it's the lame Jersey Shore (compared to Hawaii...) After spending the past week at the Jersey Shore with my family, I was highly disappointed to not be allowed in the Ocean for 2 days due to trash and a "high bacteria count" of the water. If the water wasn't safe for me to take a swim, what's going on with the marine life in the rest of the oceans? Did you know that one of the largest 'landfills' on Earth lies in the middle of the Pacific Ocean? (Find our more about this plastic pollution garbage, after the jump!)

Get snacks from Whole Foods or takeout containers from last weekend's dinner delivery? Those plastic food containers are handy to store food & other household goods. As tempting as it is for a quick reheat, put the plastic down! Don't subject plastic food containers to (find out more, after the jump!)

I spent this past weekend blissed out listening to the vocal stylings of some of my favorite bands at the Lollapalooza music festival in Chicago. There's not many things I love more than live music so it was one those ideal summer getaways. The lineup included Passion Pit, Santigold, The Black Keys, Of Monsters and Men, Jack White and Philly's Dr. Dog. So, how did the festivals green efforts fare? Click through to find out!

Happy Friday! We've gotten a lot of great responses based on our Plastic Bag Ban Petition, but make sure to practice what you preach. The next time you run out to the grocery store, mall or afternoon stroll, BYOB. Worried about the size or variety? There's lot of washable and fold-able options.

Over the past few weeks I was very fortunate to enjoy a blissful vacation in Hawaii. I fell in love with surfing, the unbelievably fresh local food and the incredible landscape. The combination of the crystal aquamarine ocean and the huge, expansive mountains was in a word, gorgeous. We visited Maui, Kauai, and Waikiki - and enjoyed a bit of a different experience on each island. I was so excited to take advantage of the terrain in our first stop, Maui, I immediately booked a hike through the rain forest. Equipped with backpacks filled with water, lunch and bug spray our friendly tour guide led us to wilderness. I anticipated it would be interesting but I had no idea that we'd learn so much. Here's some of the learning and findings from our Hawaiian rain forest experience...

A few weekends ago, I found myself in Pittsburgh for my friend's wedding and had time on Saturday morning to explore. Wanting to find Pittsburgh's green side, I received recommendations from Twitter friends Pittsburgh Tote Bag Project and Ali Shapiro for Phipps Conservatory. Dating back to 1893, Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens is set in Pittsburgh greenspace Schenley Park, right in eyesight of University of Pittsburgh (and the Cathedral of Learning). All of the exhibits are... (Find out more about Phipps, after the jump!)