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rstBrands offers a variety of sustainable handmade outdoor furniture and utilizes one of the most important sun shields in the development of their products. The patented Sunbrella fabrics who I might add made environmental responsibility a priority decades before the "green" movement.

Although friendship might not be included in Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, I think we can all agree that a lot of our survival requisites could not be met without the help of our dearest friends, if only because we would be too sad to roll out of bed and get that vital glass of water. Food on the other hand is necessary by anyone’s standards. Just a few hours without eating, and I quickly regress from a twenty-one year old human into something more closely resembling an ogre. However, when we take the wonders of food and add that very special additive called best friends, the result is longer lasting than any typical meal.

It's a safe bet to say that there aren't too many people in the world who haven't experienced the warm soothing smell of cinnamon as it slowly bakes into your grandmother's extra syrupy sweet potatoes, or as it blends with the apples and buttery crust from your mom's apple pie. What most of us, particularly in the Western World, fail to realize is that we are victims of a very cruel irony.

By Dow-Yung Kou, LuxEco Editorial Assistant Have you ever been at a loss for what to do with tissue paper or wrapping paper that you get during the holidays. It usually just accumulates, and by the next year, the wrapping paper looks too tattered to reuse and you end up throwing it away. Well here is a perfect solution! Make ornaments out of them!

Hit your nearest farmer's market for some farm fresh strawberries and get baking! By Brooke Rewa, LuxEco Editorial Assistant It's strawberry season here in Southern California and were baking our way into spring. This homemade crumble filled with locally grown strawberries will have you sprinting to your local farmer's market for supplies.

By Nancy Chuda founder and Editor in Chief of LuxEcoLiving and co-founder of Healthy Child Healthy World Melbourne Australia We may not be winning the war...

...I Wish For Safe Toys Tonight! My last trip to Toys R' Us was disturbing on several levels.  Not having kids of my own, I...

By Nancy and James Chuda founders LuxEcoLiving and Healthy Child Healthy World This magnificent 5 star Hotel is one of the most precious finds in...

By Alanna Brown, LuxEco Editorial Assistant Taking control of your body may entail more than exercise and monitoring caloric intake. While those two things are essential, the missing key component that many overlook is the hormonal balance within the body. Hormones, chemical messengers within the bloodstream, are secreted by the endocrine glands, which are found virtually from top to toe. According to an episode of the Emmy Award-winning daytime talk show, The Doctors, “[These] glands are collectively known as the endocrine system, which influences a person’s metabolism, mood, growth, development, immune system, and sexual function.” The main three secretions to beware of, which the site calls the “Hormone Trifecta,” are cortisol, estrogen, and thyroid.

What the Frac?  Pollution from the use of thousands of chemicals to derive natural gas from shale is threatening the health of our children...

Kudos to Sean Penn because in some respects, this experience was the essence of what journalism should be. He wanted to write this story, and he went to great lengths to achieve it. The issue of the War on Drugs is ever-prevalent, Penn wanted to talk about it, and he did so with his own voice.

By Hannah Canvasser LuxEco Editorial Assistant This light and tangy salad will get your taste buds in shape for spring. Grab a few simple and healthy ingredients from your local farmers market and enjoy a lunch that will leave you full, but won't weigh you down.

"Ol Jogi is one of the most beautiful places on earth. It provides the ultimate outdoor experience in an exclusive setting that was once a private family home. Today, it is unsurpassed in terms of comfort, culinary excellence, luxury, privacy and education. It is a place unlike any other in the world.......breathtaking beyond words."

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 Dow-Yung Kou, LuxEco Editorial Assistant If you are looking to explore your eco-friendly sense of style, look no further than La Bomba Vintage clothing in Long Beach, CA! La Bomba is a vintage store located on an urbanizing block that meshes a little bit of new with a lotta bit of vintage. The up and coming area is full of vintage inspired salon’s, restaurants, and clothing stores, but hands down, the jewel of this block goes to a little shop by the name of La Bomba.

By Stephanie Nickolson, Healthy Green Interior Designer and LuxEco Advocate Originally published at Natural Home & Garden Air pollution abounds in our homes and businesses, but many air purification systems are not safe to use. A Key to Healthy Green Design in your home starts with purifying indoor air quality with plants. Have you ever walked into a store, restaurant or other environment and couldn’t stand the heavily scented aroma that someone used to try and cover up another (worse) scent? Well, I have. It’s one of my favorite stores that I frequent and whenever I enter the washroom, I cannot wait to get out of there as the air is so heavily perfumed it makes me feel ill. This is not an effective remedy, nor is it healthy. Anything that exudes that much fragrance is certainly loaded with phthalates. Most commercial air fresheners mask odors but do nothing to remediate them.

By Nancy  and James Chuda founders of LuxEcoLiving and co-founder of Healthy Child Healthy World   Step into paradise. Once you enter the Fess Parker Inn...

By Nancy Chuda founder and Editor-in-Chief LuxEcoLiving and co-founder of Healthy Child Healthy World. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity. Seeing Citizen Kane...

By: Molly Rovero, LuxEco Living Editorial Assistant Among Madame Gana Walska’s collection in the theatre garden are grotesque figures, which she hid in the ground to protect during the world war. She also had a garden clock with the different star signs. Her actual birthday is unknown but Lotusland believes that she was born in June, making her a Cancer. Join Nancy Chuda and Gwen Stauffer as they journey through these two lovely gardens.

Organic grape farmers feel they are getting the short end of the stick when it comes to the current labeling of organic wines. By Brooke Rewa, LuxEco Editorial Assistant Organic shopping can be confusing. Organic wine shopping, even more so. Many of us don't have time to stop and read every ingredient on the products we are looking to purchase at the grocery store. This is why we look for known "stamps of approval." The biggest stamp we look for when shopping organic is that of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). The USDA sets very high standards for what can be labeled certified organic; which is why we as consumers trust them. They have taken these standards to new levels in the wine industry and it could be doing more harm than good for the world of organics. When perusing your local grocer for an organic wine you will find two different labels; one clearly labeled certified organic and one labeled "made with organic grapes". This is where things get confusing and where organic grape farmers get upset. In order to be labeled certified organic by the USDA wine must be made from 100% organic grapes and contain no added sulfites. Sulfites occur naturally when grapes are fermented to make wine, it is impossible for any wine to be completely sulfite-free. Wine makers have been adding sulfites for centuries. Sulfur protects wine from oxidizing, allows for a longer shelf life and prevents unwanted organisms from growing in th

Green Lighting: Lightning in a Bottle Festival covers celebratory spectacles of art, music, fashion, and design. By Lush Huxley, Editorial Assistant LuxEco Living On a bright...

By Nancy Chuda founder and Editor-in-Chief of LuxEcoLiving and co-founder of Healthy Child Healthy World.   In Paris, fashion takes on new heights when it comes...

By Bernadette Bowman, Comedienne and LuxEco Advocate who writes the LIFE GOES RETROGRADE series. Gosh, I was hoping that I wouldn’t have to write this letter. I...

In a times of great tumult, we are reminded of the calls for peace echoed by 1960's activists: War Is Not Healthy For Children and Other Living Things AMP founders with two Congressional Representatives, from left: Gloria Vanderbilt, Lenore Breslauer, Felica Bernstein, Joanne Woodward and Barbara Avedon By Nancy Chuda, Co-founder of Healthy Child Healthy World and Co-Fouder and Editor in Chief LuxEco Living On March 19, 2011, my mother, Lenore Breslauer would have been 88 years of age. She passed on the eve President Bush declared war on Iraq, March 20, 2003. US military invasion of Iraq, "Operation Iraqi Freedom" was a coalition forces cooperative. Approximately forty other governments, participated by providing troops, equipment, services, security, and special forces, with 248,000 soldiers from the United States, 45,000 British soldiers, 2,000 Australian soldiers and 194 Polish soldiers. Additionally, 70,000 Kurdish military troops joined forces.

I'm not going to drop into the expected female rhetoric as to why Hillary...I will leave that to Gloria Steinem and all of her predecessors who paved the way for this act of liberation at a time when our world needs to heal more than ever.

via MindBodyGreen If this isn't an eye-opening image, I don't know what is. This graphic from Visual Economics breaks down what the average American consumes in...

By Kerin Van Hoosear, LuxEco Editorial Assistant and author of Seasonal Cooking with Kerin Perfect for autumnal cooking, try your hand at Roasted Butternut Squash Mac ‘N’ Cheese (and don't forget to buy your ingredients local and organic!) First, to roast the butternut squash you'll need: one hot oven 1 butternut squash (medium sized), peeled and cubed (about 1/2" x 1/2") 1/2 tsp of nutmeg 1 1/2 tsp sage salt and pepper olive oil

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.

Hands by Guido Daniele Hands by Guido Daniele By Florence "Flip" Ross, LuxEcoLiving Advocate and Contributor If I could bring the planet Earth, back to its natural beauty If I could sing its praise, and make the world assume its duty If I could make the industries clean up their foul pollution Our air, our water, would be clean, and would be the solution If I could force our corporations to help clean up our planet

By Nancy Chuda founder and Editor-in Chief of LuxEcoLiving and co-founder of Healthy Child Healthy World Here's a LuxEcoLiving4U time saver. It's called Hay Handle.           Time...

by Heather Clisby Second Chance Ranch courtesy of BlogHer The latest product to land on my radar is a computable toothbrush, apparently "the first of...

"Even though I’m kinda broke right now, my closet’s full of leather, cashmere and silk -- all thanks to my favorite thrift stores." By Mary Elizabeth Williams-Villano, LuxEco Editorial Assistant

By Sahar Ghaffari, LuxEco Living Editorial Assistant Several years ago when I decided to stop having dairy I thought I would never again be able to savor the velvety smooth sweetness of delicious ice cream. That was until I started exploring the world of vegan ice cream.

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.

By Nancy Chuda founder and Editor-in-Chief of LuxEcoLiving and co-founder of Healthy Child Healthy World Saying goodbye to a feathered friend We lost her yesterday. It...