Lifestyle

To take good care of the planet, you need to take care of yourself first. Last night Ali Shapiro, Health Counselor and Director of Integrative Nutritional Counseling, and Nicole Lipkin owner and Executive Director of Equilibria Psychological & Consultation Services hosted an event focusing on the importance of taking care of your body (your temple!) and mind. Ali & Nicole are both impressively knowledgeable in their own rights, and I would recommend anyone seeking help in their areas of expertise to give their services a try. Here's just a few things I took away from the discussion last night:

Stay safe on the roads and save energy by keeping your tires inflated to the manufacturer's recommended pounds per square inch (PSI.)

Planning a Christmas or Hanukkah holiday party soon? Send out invites electronically rather than in snail mail - They'll get to your guests faster, be easier to track guest responses, and save paper (& trees!)

You know the obvious recyclable materials - plastic water bottles, cardboard, tin cans etc. - but don't forget about the not-as-obvious items you're through with that can be re-used.

Fretting over what to give this holiday season? Try giving gift cards instead of presents. Gift cards are more useful and green then conventional presents - there's less packaging involved, and the recipient can choose what they really want. Worried about retail stores going under?

Green Perspective combines two of my favorite things - environmentally-friendly gifts and convenient on-line shopping. Green Perspective, a Philadelphia-based company, offers green gift baskets with themes like "Green Your Kitchen" and "Eco-Mom" that you can easily align to the needs of the recipient (or yourself!). Trying to get a friend or family member on the green wave? Check out the beginner “greenie” gift bag Intro to Green (though with items like a bamboo cutting board, reusable travel mug and envirosax bag, this a gift that anyone would find practical use for - hint, hint friends & fam!) The pre-filled gift baskets mean you don’t have to deal with tedious decision-making. We could all use a lot less of the ‘what should I get them??’ gift-giving grief around the holidays.

Getting ready for Turkey day preparations? The biggest travel day of the year surely makes an enviromental impact ... so here's 6 ways to help you green your Thanksgiving meal:

One easy way to live greener is to reduce waste you'd typically kick to the curb. To my friends I'm commonly refered to as "JuleBay." My nickname (derived from being an E-Bay connoisseur) actually symbolizes my aspiration to live green. When I visited my eldest brother in Denver, I thought he was crazy for selling his CDs & movies. But between my iPod, Netflix & local library, why should I keep a storage facility in my humble abode when mostly everything's on-demand? Therefore, I jumped on the e-Bay bandwagon to rid myself of excess "stuff".

With the economy in decline and auto sales down, car prices have dropped - increasing appeal for buyers. SUVs account for approximately one of every four vehicles sold today. Their popularity among Americans is note-worthy. However, the SUV's environmental impact is