Lifestyle

  Travels with Journey- Fisherman's Wharf San Francisco Sleepless in San Francisco It was 6:00 am in the morning. Duty calls! Journey had already consumed 5 bottles...

  Repurposing wealth for the preservation of natures most incredible gifts. An environmental habitat shared in perpetuity and the opportunity to connect with nature. The Point...

By Kerin Van Hoosear, LuxEco Editorial Assistant and author of Season Cooking with Kerin In a country where childhood obesity rates have more than tripled in the last thirty years, it is refreshing to see teachers like Mark Wagner combat that statistical nightmare. As head of the Organic Garden Club at Palmquist Elementary School in Oceanside, Calif., he’s getting kids excited about gardening and eating right. “I really wanted to promote nutrition awareness. That was my main goal,” Wagner says. When he arrived at Palmquist four years ago, the school garden was a fenced-in patch of waist-high weeds. Now it’s filled with ground crops and fruit trees that the students are not just excited to grow, but to eat as well.

by Mary Elizabeth Williams-Villano, LuxEco Living Editorial Assistant A future gift, recycled in a thrift store, made from recycled materials. Now that's a LuxEco Resplendent Repurposing triple header! by Mary Elizabeth Williams-Villano, LuxEcoLiving Editorial Assistant

By Nancy Chuda, Founder of LuxEco Living and Healthy Child Healthy World I hear and I forget I see and I remember I do...

By Nancy and James Chuda founders of LuxEcoLiving and Healthy Child Healthy World LuxEcoLiving "The hair cut that I'm most proud of, to tell the truth,...

Forrest Gump may have been on to something when he compared life to chocolates. You really never know what you’re gonna get in a box of chocolates, do you? The truth behind chocolate is more bitter than sweet. The Ivory Coast produces 40% of the world's chocolate, and it just so happens to also be notorious for this little thing called child slavery. Children, both local and from other third world countries, are sold to farms in this area where they are physically abused while working in risky and inhumane conditions. Some children are sold into the trade by parents who are tricked into believing their children will have better lives at the farm. Others are trafficked, stolen from their families, lured by the promise of…chocolate. In these farms they are forced to work 60 hour weeks with little or no food (depending on their performance on the field). These children lose their fundamental human rights when they enter these farms and “modern” society turns a blind eye to the atrocities. Every time we buy a box of chocolate that is not fair trade stamped, we (often unknowingly) endorse child slavery.

The Advent of Lignocellulosic Ethanol is a Biomass Boon By Derin Richardson, LuxEco Living Editorial Assistant There are a myriad of alternative fuel breakthroughs that been discovered this century--hydrogen fuel cells, ethanol, biodiesel, etc.--but there is one, recently discovered energy source that you either may not have heard or know little of. Enter leaf biofuel. As it is scientifically labeled, lignocellulosic ethanol is the progeny of refining biomasses such as wood, grasses and/or any non-edible parts of a plant. It is a potentially sustainable and renewable biofuel, like using vegetable oil to produce biodiesel, however the insubordinate and resillient nature of this biomass make it problematic for industrial applications.

"It will awaken your senses not only to the beauty of nature but to the plight of South Africa's wildlife, many of which are teetering on a thin line for survival.

By Nancy and James Chuda founders of LuxEcoLiving and Healthy Child Healthy World Heading Sideways in Santa Ynez Valley from Los Olivos to Buellton Two Great...

By Florence “Flip” Ross, LuxEco Advocate Since I was fortunate to have just celebrated my 88th birthday, I assume I am the oldest person writing for LuxEco Living. Therefore, allow me to tell you what life was like back in my day, and how we treated the environment. We didn't. We simply accepted things as they were, and I did not become aware of our world and how to keep it clean. It was just sufficient to live it.

By Bernadette Bowman, Comedienne and LuxEco Advocate who writes the LIFE GOES RETROGRADE series. It all started when I updated my Facebook status this past week. Bernadette Bowman thinks that children should be carded at Starbucks. This bold statement after witnessing an nine-year old boy, who I honestly mistook as a “little person” speaking in tongues, spouting the following in rapid-fire speed: “Venti half-white-mocha-half-caff-vanilla, easy ice, with 3 shots, pour affogato (this means: to drown) with extra whip, and caramel drizzle frappuccino.” Parents, it’s three o’clock on a Wednesday afternoon: DO YOU KNOW WHERE YOUR CHILDREN ARE??

By: Molly Rovero, LuxEco Editorial Assistant Skeptics would say that Darryl Carpenter and Otis Goodman of C.W. Roberts in Florida did not thoroughly think their...

By Christopher Gavigan, CEO and Executive Director of Healthy Child Healthy World and LuxEco Advocate Interview Conducted By Nancy Chuda, Founder of LuxEco Living and...

By Nancy and James Chuda founders of LuxEcoLiving and Healthy Child Healthy World There are reasons why you should care and support the California Rangeland...

By: Janelle Sorensen, courtesy of Healthy Child Healthy World Looking for a pediatrician is no easy task, especially if your concerns and parenting methods aren’t exactly the same as mainstream America. My husband and I scoured the city for a full year before finding the right one for our daughters. But, it totally paid off. We found an amazingly supportive and brilliant pediatrician whose philosophy was to tell us everything she knew and then let us choose what to do. She had only one provision; if she ever thought the results of a treatment were sub-par, then she would intervene with an alternate recommendation. That never happened and I was always overwhelmed with how much she knew. She could rattle off statistics about best practices in the EU, pertinent studies regarding alternative remedies, and recent outbreaks that could put my children at risk. She was a dream come true. But, alas, we moved. Now we are on the hunt again.

By Nancy Chuda Founder of LuxEco Living and Healthy Child Healthy World For those of you who have never been to the land down under, Australia, why not consider visiting Olivia Newton-John's homeland in 2011. I have been blessed with Olivia's friendship for nearly forty years and have traveled with her throughout this magnificent country many times. We gave birth to our daughters, Chloe and Colette in 1986, (six weeks apart) it wasn't too long after that we boarded Qantas Airlines loaded down with car seats, bottles and prams, hoping sleep would be a safe refuge while in flight. Thirteen hours. No way!

Image: Artist's Model Mark Snyder and Artist Zhenya Gershman,  Franklin Londin 3-d Photography On Friday May 15th, a historic event took place at the Los...

She's not a purist. She's a magician. Kit Kemp is one of the most talented designers in the world today.Step into any of her Firmdale properties in the UK or fly "over the pond" and land in the heart of Soho New York at the stellar Crosby and you are in for a life changing experience that takes luxury living and staycations to new heights.

by Mary Elizabeth Williams-Villano, LuxEco Editorial Assistant Approximately one billion Valentine cards are sent worldwide each year, making Valentine's Day the second largest card-sending holiday of the year behind Christmas. One billion. How many trees does that represent? Perhaps you ought to reconsider. By LuxEco Editorial Assistant Mary Elizabeth Williams-Villano

Journey with us to South Africa the home and heritage of Nelson Mandela. The Saxon Villa and Spa is one of the most beautiful hotels in the world.

By Nancy and James Chuda founders of LuxEcoLiving and co-founders of Healthy Child Healthy World Las Vegas Nevada, City Center, Vdara/ Travels with Journey Our...

Time matters whether its the simple observation of the stars, changes in the seasons, or day and night.. from the beginning, prehistoric man needed to measure nomadic activities to tell time.

Tune into Part 2 of Laura Turner Seydel's interview with Nancy Chuda, co-founder of LuxEco Living and Healthy Child Healthy World. In today's interview, we learn about the results of Laura's body burden test. Even Laura, who lives a lifestyle committed to health and environmental wellbeing, found that she had several toxic chemicals in her body. Imagine how many chemicals would be found in the average person's body!

The Fairmont Miramar Hotel and Bungalows gets 5 Paws! Excellent location, fabulous service and extra treats for Journey.

By Trish Holder Courtesy of Greenspiration Home One of two solar tube in kids’ bonus room.  “Is that a solar tube light or have tiny flying saucers...

By Nancy and James Chuda founders of LuxEcoLiving and Healthy Child Healthy World with contributions from environmentalist John Easterling Photo Courtesy of PBS...

By Nancy Chuda founder of LuxEcoLiving and Editor in Chief co-founder of Healthy Child Healthy World Courtesy CBS This Morning Norah O'Donnell, Gayle King, and...

By Nancy Chuda Founder and Editor-in-Chief of LuxEco Living and Healthy Child Healthy World President Obama's State of the Union address did not include what I consider the essential principles for living a vibrant and healthy life... Nine objectives for sustainable living which nurture and foster human happiness, more importantly, make time to enjoy life. 1. psychological well-being 2. physical health 3. time or work-life balance 4. social connection and community vitality 5. education 6. access to arts, culture and recreation 7. environmental quality and access to nature 8. good governance 9. material well-being

By Nancy Chuda founder and Editor-in-Chief LuxEcoLiving and co-founder of HealthyChild Healthy World Santa Ynez California Courtesy of Jeremy Ball A Magical Night! Tales from...

Reposted from Give Me Mora May 27, 2015 It’s been awhile since we released a Man or Woman on the Rise, and that’s because I...

By Nancy Chuda Co-founder of LuxEcoLiving and Healthy Child Healthy World. Recently, Jim and I payed a visit to Michael and Karin Cronan in Oakland California. After a great meal and three hours of delightful conversation, Michael handed us a gift. It came wrapped in a magnificent cardboard envelope, a serious Cronan design. We opened the meticulously wrapped present to find white linen paper with an embossed design, one that only Michael could have conceived. On the design the letters SHARE. were placed in the center of the most magnificent art work. In the giving spirit the Cronan's have brought to the world, through their genius work in branding names like Kindle, Tivo, and now Healthy Child Healthy World, we are the proud recipients of yet another one of their aspirational ideas. SHARE.

By Nancy and James Chuda founders of LuxEcoLiving and Healthy Child Healthy World Luxury for Less. The most beautiful authentic jewelry, custom designed, one...

By Lush Huxley, Editorial Assistant Beth Nielsen Chapman is one such songwriter who has succeeded in the competitive field of modern music. You may not have heard of her, but her resume is stacked (as they say). She’s written for the likes of Willie Nelson, Elton John, and Mary Carpenter, and performed with country crooners Emmylou Harris and Bonnie Raitt. Remember the Faith Hill song “This Kiss?” Yeah, she wrote that too. Beth’s very well respected and established among the songwriting community in Nashville, TN, where she makes her home. Her story is an unconventional one. In the 70s, Beth was being lauded among record company big shots as one of the songwriting world’s up-and-comers. Around 1979, her song “If I’d Only Known” appeared next to Bob Dylan’s “Slow Train” in the “Singles to Watch” section of industry magazines across the country. However, when her record failed to meet the expectations of the label, the big money people pulled the plug on her publishing deal. Perceiving her musical career as virtually terminated, Chapman entered a new chapter of her life as domesticated mother and housewife. But the songwriting bug stayed with her.

Be Educated, Be Inspired by WOTGG - Celebrate The Green Generation, Saturday May 14. Don’t miss the inspirational feel-good event of the year! EDUCATE ...