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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.

The story of sage is truly one that has come full circle. From being a prized herb for its healing and cosmetic qualities, to a useful culinary seasoning, to being relegated to holiday cuisine, then fading into obscurity only to be brought back to the forefront of alternative medicine. Find out more about this robust herb in the latest installment of "In the Spice Cabinet"

By Nancy Chuda founder and Editor-in-Chief of LuxEcoLiving and co-founder of Healthy Child Healthy World and contributing author Philip J. Landrigan, MD, MSc Dean...

By Alanna Brown, LuxEco Editorial Assistant Granted, there is an abundance of vegetation that only thrives during the rainy season or in mild warmth....

Traveling is a look into culture, tradition and history.  Learning about Médici's Renaissance Florence might give you a more profound appreciation of art, religious...

Action For Healthy Kids Remember the watershed moment when you first learned about the dangers of pesticides in your food or the toxic chemicals in...

by Lori Alper, Founder, Groovy Green Livin' Courtesy of Healthy Child Healthy World After the birth of my third child I suffered from insomnia that ...

By Lush Huxley, LuxEco Editorial Assistant do something about this disaster? While BP is trying to make it look like everything is under control they are foolishly dismissing the people that are ready and willing to solve the problem. BP shunned these guys in their May 21st press release, where they publicly asked “Individuals and organizations… to discontinue the collection of hair for the hair boom.” Considering this rejection, one might expect Summer and her crew to flip the bird to beurocracy and start a renegade clean-up on their own. The truth is, however, that at the moment BP has all the dumpsters on lock down. To work around this, the team is working on getting contracts for an incinerator to dispose of the dirty booms. They are holding back the clean-up until they have a legally and logistically sound way to dispose of the refuse, which is good news for those who hate seeing the good guys end up with criminal records.

By Nancy Chuda founder of LuxEcoLiving and co-founder of Healthy Child Healthy World In 1991, we lost our only child to a rare non-hereditary...

By Trish Holder Courtesy of Greenspiration Home “We’re going to die,” I pronounced. We were in the third hour of our drive to Folly Beach, SC for...

How do you take the fame and publicity of a recent Oscar win and parlay that momentum for a good cause? Well, how about...

By Alanna Brown, LuxEco Editorial Assistant For those who spend the extra dough to shop organically, it is fair to expect that a market touting the sale of only organic goods should supply consumers with fodder and non-fodder products on an even keel. One such market, the well-known and widely shopped Whole Foods, is making sure those expectations are met. As of June 1, 2011, the organic grocery chain will require that all personal care products and cosmetics making an “organic” claim can prove it.

Michelangelo, The Creation of Adam, c. 1511, fresco, 480 cm~ 230 cm (189.0 in ~ 90.6 in) By Zhenya Gershman, artist, educator and LuxEco...

By Lacey Szczepanik, LuxEco Living Editorial Assistant At the age of 28 I find I’ve lived the majority of my life trapped inside a head...

By Hannah Canvasser LuxEco Editorial Assistant Vegetarians can receive the proper proteins and nutrients they need with many health benefits. The trick? Eating meat, occasionally. Obesity is a current main health topic because it is unfortunately a growing one. With obesity rates rising in America many studies have aimed their focus to find the root of the problem, narrowing in on eating trends in the United States. It was typical of my grandparent’s generation to sit down to red meat three times a day. Maybe some sausage and eggs for breakfast, a beef casserole for lunch, and meatloaf and french bread for dinner; sound a little excessive on the arteries? In 1971, Vegetarians and Vegans became popular with Frances Moore Lappé's publication of Diet for a Small Planet- revealing the waste build up behind grain-fed meat production, and arguing that a plant diet is best for one’s body and the earth. Though Lappe was one of the first to come out with valid arguments against grain-fed meat production, being a Vegetarian does have its set-backs, and receiving proper proteins and nutrients wasn’t as easy as it seemed.

Shopping and eating seasonally from your local farmers market tastes better, has higher nutritional values, promotes healthy eating habits, reduces environmental damage from shipping foods, and can even be kinder on your wallet. Farmers Market Eating Habits Seasonal SpringBy Hannah Canvasser, LuxEco Editorial Assistant Shopping at your neighborhood grocery store, many don’t realize that most of the abundant supply of produce comes from thousands of miles away, and is picked before ripeness to give consumers what they demand. Who would have thought that we could have peaches in October and butternut squash in June! Although off-season and premature picked produce will color and soften on the way to market, taste and nutritional value will be lost. Understanding what produce is available during certain seasons, and shopping at local farmers markets can change these eating habits. Here are a few reasons to stay local and seasonal with your eating habits: Farmers Market Eating Habits Seasonal SpringTaste and Nutritional Value: There are many products available at local farmers markets that will not only be rich in flavor, but high in nutritional value due to ripeness when picked and seasonality. Artichokes, asparagus, avocados, broccoli, mushrooms, spinach, corn, red pepper, green beans, peas, and beets are all great spring vegetable additions to your kitchen. Try a spinach artichoke dip as an appetizer or some tasty grilled portabella mushroom sliders to entertain with friends. Mango, pineapple, grapefruit, kumquats, lemons, oranges, tangerines, strawberries, cherries, nectarines, peaches, plums, melons, and lavender are very popular throughout spring and will enhance your eating habits. With your pantry now stocked, relax with a refreshing strawberry basil lemonade and fresh avocado grapefruit salad, or indulge with some lavender bread pudding.

By: Bethany Colson, Managing Editor of LuxEco Living. Walking around plush suburban America in Hazmat suits because the environment is saturated with toxic chemicals? Well,...

By: Linsley Oaks, LuxEco Living Editorial Assistant I have a friend who knits. A lot. She is better than any machine. She gets...

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 Sahar Ghaffari, LuxEco Living Editorial Assistant Are you feeling a bit stressed but don’t want to take any prescription medication? Or like your body needs to be cleansed, but don’t want to starve yourself on a diet? Well then a natural alternative for you could be cupping. Cupping is an ancient method of medicine used by cultures around the world to relieve muscle pain as well as release the body of its toxins.

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

Agave nectar was originally given a lot of positive hype because it has a low glycemic index. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the term, this is a good thing! Think of it like time-released energy; instead of flooding your bloodstream with sugar that will eventually lead to a crash, foods with a low glycemic index keep you energized for longer.

By Alanna Brown, LuxEco Editorial Assistant (originally published on eHow.com) In the month of April 2010, the United States spent $25.5 billion on electricity, using a total of 266.3 billion kilowatthours. While those numbers include retail sales to residential, industrial and commercial sectors, household owners have the power to drastically decrease electricity use overall by dropping the residential portion. Home dwellers have many options for reducing their monthly electric bill while simultaneously helping the environment.

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 Merry Elkins, LuxEco Editorial Assistant Best known for being a star-maker, Ken Kragen, who is also an author, teacher, and film and television producer, has charted the career course of some our most celebrated entertainers including Kenny Rogers, Lionel Richie, Tricia Yearwood, Olivia Newton John, The Bee Gees, The Smothers Brothers, Harry Chapin and more; but nothing he has accomplished in his illustrious career has ever achieved the significance or the scope of his philanthropic work. For breathing life into Hands Across America in the 1980s where young and old alike joined hands across the country to call attention to hunger and homelessness here in the US; for setting in motion and organizing the recording We Are the World, that brought together 45 prominent recording artists including Michael Jackson, Lionel Richie and Bruce Springsteen to raise $64 million to feed people in Africa and for founding USA for Africa to distribute the money, he received the United Nations Peace Medal, something few civilians receive and an honor for which he is most proud.

By Bernadette Bowman, Comedienne and LuxEco Advocate who writes the LIFE GOES RETROGRADE series. A streak of sheer panic went through my body this morning when I realized that in a mere three weeks, I’ll be schlepping south to San Diego to attend my thirtieth high school reunion. Rock on, Helix High School Class of ’80!!

I’m a white hipster in his late twenties with a strong political opinion suffering from depression. You know, the antichrist. I’ve spent a good deal of my life finding ways to deal with my depression.

By: Leslie Harris, Interior Designer, Leslie Harris Interior Design and LuxEco Advocate As I wind down for the year I find myself thinking about a book called The Home Within Us and how much that says about my design philosophy. Everything I approach as a designer lies first and foremost in the feeling of comfort, well being, creating a place of safety and sanctuary. Problem solving, space planning, furniture and color selection comes later but it is driven by these things.

By Nancy Chuda founder and Editor-in-Chief of LuxEcoLiving and co-founder of Healthy Child Health World Getting older. It's not easy. Nora always found a way to...

Just last month marks the fifth year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, the catastrophic natural disaster that claimed more than 1,800 lives in the Gulf coast region with damages totaling $80 billion. After the devastation of the hurricane and consequent flooding, it seemed to its residents and many around the world that New Orleans, specifically, was making a painstakingly slow recovery. Frustrated by the sluggish progress, actor Brad Pitt founded the Make It Right Foundation in 2007 to help rebuild the hardest hit region of New Orleans, the Lower 9th ward.

  Hatha Yoga in America By Alanna Brown, LuxEco Living Editorial Assistant What do you know about your local history? What stories lay within the paths you...

By Alanna Brown, LuxEco Editorial Assistant At the March 2010 CeBIT, the world’s leading tradeshow in the digital industry, Global eSustainability Initiative (GESI) announced an important new member. Research in Motion, which makes Blackberry, will be joining the organization. That’s right, Blackberry is changing its color…to Green. The widely popular smart-phone maker has come under recent scrutiny for its practices, or lack thereof, regarding sustainability. One Greenpeace report stated, “the Blackberry Pearl, which lost a lot of points in the life cycle criteria and for poor energy efficiency, and did not even meet the Energy Star standard.”

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 Christopher David Kaufman, Internet Entrepreneur and LuxEco Advocate Those of us interested in clean energy, healthy and non-toxic environments have, depending on our age, been told that we need to do more with less. That we as a “Consumer Society” need to buy less, create less, just stop making a human imprint on the face of the earth. Humans are bad for the earth, our corporations are destroying everything and why bring anyone into this world where polar ice caps are melting, CO2 is rising, and landfills are out of control.

By: Leslie Harris, Interior Designer, Leslie Harris Interior Design and LuxEco Advocate In October 2009, the U.S. Department of Energy sponsored what has turned out to be a biannual competition called Solar Decathlon on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. 20 teams from colleges and universities from the U.S., Canada, Germany and Spain were selected and asked to design, build and operate an energy efficient house powered exclusively by the sun. The winning team produced a house that best blended affordability, ease of living, attractiveness, comfortable and healthy indoor environmental conditions, enough energy to run all household appliances and hot water as well as producing more energy than it consumes. Workshops were provided about the current state of green design technologies, jobs and the future of the smart grid.