Lifestyle

By Nancy and James Chuda founders of LuxEcoLiving and Healthy Child Healthy World Carmel by the Sea  at The Carmel Country Inn   Like the candy, Carmel...

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

Empathy and Compassion in the Wake of Japan's Tsunami Crisis By: Marc Ian Barasch, author of The Compassionate Life and Founder/Director, Green World Campaign The aerial shots...

By Nancy Chuda founder and Editor-in-Chief  of LuxEcoLiving and co-founder of Healthy Child Healthy World "You step into the main greeting room and you know...

By Nancy Chuda founder and Editor-in-Chief of LuxEcoLiving and co-founder of Healthy Child Healthy World An Essay           Like you, I am stupefied. It is unconscionable to...

Biofuels changed his audience. After bringing music to the masses, green start-up owner converts his mission to bring alternative fuels to your car Jeff Phillips - a D.I.Y Kind of Guy By Jeff Phillips, Biofuel Engineer and LuxEco Advocate biofuels_alternative_fuel_technology My name is Jeff Phillips and I run D.I.Y Biofuels in Los Angeles. I was once in the music biz, and was doing pretty well for myself, until I became more educated about the startling environmental problems that we are currently faced with. So I basically left the rat race of the music industry after doing some research of my own into alternative fuel technology. Films like 'An Inconvenient Truth' and 'Who Killed the Electric Car' particularly affected me.

By Alanna Brown, LuxEco Editorial Assistant The powers-that-be have refused the natural solutions being publicly offered by nation-wide volunteers for cleanup of the BP oil disaster. Instead, they have chosen to dump chemical dispersants on the spill site; namely, Corexit. Talk about adding insult to injury. With several urgent prompts being made by eco-concerned citizens, it seems BP’s decided approach—for now, anyway—is to further pollute the already distressed Gulf.

By Lush Huxley, LuxEco Living Editorial Assistant Move over Al Gore and make room for the ladies. The Western world isn’t the only hemisphere freaking out...

The holidays are coming. You just spent a fortune on that special cream that is meant to reduce stretch marks but did you ever...

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 LuxEcoLiving and Healthy Child Healthy World Santa Ynez California, twilight time It's a marriage of two of the most celebrated...

By Jessica Borges, LuxEco Living Editorial Assistant Move over Great Wall of China, the Great Green Wall is coming and it’s much more colorful and eco-friendly. In an effort to subdue the advancing Sahara Desert and lessen drought in Africa, the Great Green Wall will consist of a band of trees over 4,000 miles long and nine miles wide.

Avatar's record smashing box office success has left a hungry fan base anxious for more of action, more Na'vi and more 3D.  Additionally, after...

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...

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 Designers and scientists have been working on different approaches to transportation issues as they become a greater concern with the ever-growing population. China has begun to address their own issues of overcrowding and transportation with their new concept busses that will drive above cars. Imagine driving through a tunnel that is moving above you!

By Galen Crawley's, author of A Path To Survival Against All Odds and LuxEco Advocate In 1979, the British colonization of Zimbabwe came to an end under Ian Smith. After sustained social unrest, the ZANU party, led by Robert Mugabe, came to power. Initially, there was a pervading sense of optimism as this charismatic, highly intelligent individual began to educate the country. In the 1980’s, the economy was growing and Zimbabwe was the breadbasket of Africa. Unfortunately, what began as a democracy became a dictatorship. During the 90’s the Zimbabwe spiraled into decline. At the beginning of the millennium, the Land Reform Programme was initiated. The white farmers, who fueled the economy with their tobacco and food production, were brutally kicked out. It was the beginning of mass starvation, hyper-inflation, and when the diamond fields were found, murder and torture.

By Nancy Chuda Founder and Editor in Chief of LuxEco Living and Healthy Child Healthy World Where do we go when we die? How can we find mercy, forgiveness and love? There is no turning back the clock. Time does not wait for those who are waiting to find answers in their lives. But time does stand still for hours in Malick's fifth feature, The Tree of Life starring Brad Pitt, Jessica Chastain and Sean Penn. It premiered at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival where it won the Palme d'Or before being released in the United States. "The Tree of Life"A superbly conceived but somewhat stilted family drama rich in Christianity's emotional tapestries and the upheavals and uncertainties of life, reveals Brad Pitt who plays father to three sons, one being Sean Penn, brilliantly portrayed in his youth by Hunter McCracken.

By Nancy and James Chuda founders of LuxEcoLiving and Healthy Child Healthy World Oslo Norway, The Chuda's  for LuxEcoLiving What could be better. Two nights at...

By Zhenya Gershman, artist & art historian, co-Founder of Project AWE As a portrait painter I deal with an idea of capturing my model’s presence,...

By Nancy and James Chuda founders of LuxEcoLiving and co-founders of Healthy Child Healthy World     Santa Barbara's San Ysidro Ranch is a posh, plush puppy...

By Florence “Flip” Ross, LuxEco Advocate We are all familiar with the saying “When in Rome, do as the Romans do” but when I travel through Israel I can’t help but think “When in Israel, do as the Israelis do.” How remarkable they are at accomplishing the impossible. When they tried to build a harbor in Ashdod, they called in all the experts they could think of to help them do it. The experts from Holland (whom for sure they thought could accomplish this, since their country too was below sea level) told them it was impossible. Imagine their disappointment, but not to be deterred they said: “Okay, we’ll do it ourselves,” and do it themselves they did.

People spend an average of 8 hours 21 minutes sleeping a day – but spend an average of 8 hours 41 minutes on media...

By Nancy and James Chuda founders of LuxEcoLiving and Healthy Child Healthy World New York, London, Paris, Milano A Models Portfolio Then and Now- Catherine Harle...

Candice Held dresses have inspired us at LuxEco Living to think outside the box when it comes to sourcing eco-conscious materials. Saving the environment is not just about finding rare and exotic eco-friendly materials. In fact, sometimes it can be as simple as extending the life of the clothing already in our closets.

By Michelle Dennis, LuxEcoLiving Marketing Assistant and author of "COLON TALK", a cancer survivor's blog. The day I was diagnosed with colorectal cancer, I asked...

It's no secret that when plants are harvested for their life sustaining and nutritional qualities that every part of the plant that can be used is.......Of the various plants that serve multiple purposes, the nutmeg plant is the only plant that yields not just one, but two spices.

By Nancy and James Chuda founders of LuxEcoLiving and Healthy Child Healthy World Santa Ynez California breakfast at The Baker's Table 3563 Numancia Street COME HUNGRY! You...

Christmas will be here before you bat an eye... or two. I found something on Etsy that I really treasure. A hand made Garden...

By Nancy Chuda Founder and Editor-in-Chief of LuxEco Living and Healthy Child Healthy World Enter Wael Ghonim, a charismatic young Google executive who helped launch the protests in Tahrir Square. His heroism validates what a real social network can do. Sorkin and Facebook aside, certainly not as newsworthy, will win the Oscar for best Original Screenplay not because of a few Harvard grads, but Google. The Umpire of all networks which will always win... it just makes adsense! Life imitates with purpose as the world watches Wael's Facebook page, as he herds the hordes of young brave Egyptians as they face off in the streets urging President Hosni Mubarak to step down. The cacophony of people, police, military, women, men and press from around the globe could not visually hold the power or the purpose that the Internet is providing.

Masura Emoto says that he thinks "music was meant to bring our vibrations back to our intrinsic state" and that before it is art,...

by Elizabeth Grossman, Author of Chasing Molecules: Poisonous Products, Human Health, and the Promise of Green Chemistry, High Tech Trash: Digital Devices, Hidden Toxics, and Human Health via The...

By: Mary Elizabeth Williams-Villano, LuxEco Editorial Assistant for Resplendent Repurposing series If you have seniors on your gift list, you may be struggling with what to buy them. The best, and greenest answer may be: Nothing, as in no-thing. It’s the old story: What to get the person who has everything? Most older people have more junk than they’ll ever need – and are trying to get rid of it. Very often they’re downscaling, going from a multi-bedroom house to a smaller one, an apartment or into assisted living. The last thing they want is one more dust-catcher. So don’t buy them any, unless they’ve specifically requested it. (Ever wonder what percentage of landfill contents are made up of unwanted gifts? I’ll bet the number is staggering.)

By Elaine Durr, Sustainability Coordinator of Elon University and LuxEco Advocate Elon University’s mission statement says, in part, that “We integrate learning across the disciplines and put knowledge into practice, thus preparing students to be global citizens and informed leaders motivated by concern for the common good.” Elon believes that one of the most pressing issues facing students, indeed all citizens, today is global environmental change. In order to be true to that mission statement, it is imperative that Elon teach its students about environmental change, human interactions with the earth and how they can be good stewards of this planet so that the mission of producing “global citizens and informed leaders motivated by the common good” is accomplished.

By Nancy Chuda founder and Editor in Chief of LuxEcoLiving and co-founder of Healthy Child Healthy World He loves to travel! And we love...