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By Mary Elizabeth Williams-Villano, LuxEco Editorial Assistant and author of the Resplendent Repurposing series I found a black leather unisex blazer from the Gap: $20.00 at Goodwill in Van Nuys. Someone recently told me he owns the identical blazer. He paid $300.00 for it. by Mary Elizabeth Williams-Villano, LuxEco Editorial Assistant

  Green Business Networking Proudly Celebrates Fifth Year, With... You? It's hard to believe, but tomorrow's mixer will also be our FIFTH anniversary! Time flies...

By Bernadette Bowman, Comedienne and LuxEco Advocate who writes the LIFE GOES RETROGRADE series. Since Father’s Day is this weekend, I thought that it would be a great...

My new hero, Annie Leonard of the internet phenomenon The Story of Stuff, is at it again.  This time, in honor of World Water...

By Wendy Ross Kaplan, LuxEcoLiving Advocate The term “gluten-free” is becoming more mainstream these days, when a trip to the grocery store can be rewarded with more healthy choices for shoppers. But before the 1960’s, only nutritionists and a handful of health nuts knew what gluten free meant. Nowadays, “gluten-free” has almost a cult following of otherwise regular folks seeking better health benefits and those suffering from diagnosed celiac disease, its varying manifestations and debilitating effects.

By F.R.E.E. Will, LuxEco Editorial Assistant, Author of In The Spice Cabinet series A member of the same family as the more known ginger plant, the rhizome, or root, of the tumeric plant has quite the storied history. Native to the Indian subcontinent tropical regions of Southeast Asia, tumeric has been used in both ancient Chinese and Ayurvedic medicine for its anti-inflammatory properties and has been used for ailments ranging from jaundice to various forms of arthritis. Also well documented are the antiseptic properties of the volatile oils contained in tumeric making it quite effective in dealing with skin afflictions from minor cuts to more severe conditions like eczema and psoriasis; not to mention undeniably cheaper than the vast amounts of antiseptic sprays and creams on the market that serve the same function.

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

A hearty "Haha" or fit of laughter may just be the key to a happier and healthier life. By: Kammie Daniels LuxEco Editorial Assistant A person must smile nearly a quarter of a million times to create one wrinkle. 15 seconds of laughter alone can add two days to your life span. One hearty chuckle burns over three calories. In today’s image and age-conscious society, where children want to grow up, adults want to hit the rewind button, and those in their twenties are considered to be in the "prime of their life", modern research is revealing that laughter is much more than just funny business.

By Nancy Chuda Founder and Editor-in Chief of LuxEcoLiving and co-founder of Healthy Child Healthy World As 2011 comes to an end, I feel a...

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.

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.

Travels with Journey The Cliffs Resort is a 5 star Doggie Haven Hotel It's a classic experience! The book, Eloise at the Plaza, the story about...

By Sahar Ghaffari, LuxEco Living Editorial Assistant Dog lover and “Life As We Know It” star Katherine Heigl has pledged to donate $1 million to help the over growing pet population through her Jason Debus Heigl Foundation. The foundation which is named after her brother, who died tragically in a car accident in 1986, just launched a new initiative called The Compassion Revolution.

By Nancy and James Chuda founder of LuxEcoLiving and co-founders of Healthy Child Healthy World The Batcheller Mansion Inn is one of America's most historic...

By Nancy and James Chuda founder of LuxEcoLiving and Healthy Child Healthy World New York City 57th and 6th Avenue, The Quin Hotel         When...

By Lorri Ballance Laird, LuxEco Advocate For many consumers, eggs are a staple in their diet. What’s better than a yummy omelet or frittata on a Sunday morning? While many food-conscious consumers make an attempt to buy products that are produced organically and/or sustainably, they may be getting duped when reaching for that carton of eggs labeled “organic” or “free-range.”

By Jessica Borges, LuxEco Living Editorial Assistant I recently moved into a new apartment, and with that came a massive scrub down of both old digs and new. My roommates and I spent hours cleaning the old place after moving everything out, but the products we used were hardly eco or health-friendly. When scrubbing the Comet-filled bathroom tub, the smell was so overwhelming that I nearly passed out. While cleaning bathrooms isn’t normally an enjoyable task, it doesn't have to be one that puts people’s health and safety at risk.

By: Molly Rovero, LuxEco Editorial Assistant For the majority of the time that the BP oil spill has been happening, company officials as well as...

Washington's Fiscal Policy This Year Takes Aim At the EPA By Slashing a Great Deal of Support By Derin Richardson, LuxEco Living Editorial Assistant President Obama signed,...

By: Molly Rovero LuxEco Editorial Assistant A recent report created for North Carolina’s Waste Awareness & Reduction Network (NC WARN) was titled “ Solar and...

By Karen Barnes, VP Insight, @barneshead courtesy of The Shelton Group I’m a Tom Friedman groupie. So when I saw his new book, That Used to Be Us: How America Fell Behind in the World it Invented and How We Can Come Back, I grabbed it in the airport bookstore yesterday. I had a short flight, so I’ve only read 65 pages – but my brain’s already churning and connecting dots about economic sustainability.

Some call her Liv, others Livvy, and if you're a close family friend and want to get her attention you say, OLIVIA. But to...

By Alanna Brown, LuxEco Editorial Assistant Come fall of 2010, Washington state will begin construction on the U.S.’s first-ever electric highway. All being made possible by a $1.32 million federal grant, 10 level-3 charging stations will line the Interstate-5 at 80-mile intervals, from Oregon to Canada. Electric car commuters—now behind the wheel of newer versions, such as the Leaf and the Volt—will have plenty of leeway along the I-5 before the 100-mile charging range of their vehicle runs out.

By Caleb Penn author, producer, director and Jacob Breslauer, director of photography and editor. Caleb Penn Mocking Birds Introduction by Nancy Chuda founder and Editor-in...

By Nancy Chuda founder of LuxEcoLiving and Healthy Child Healthy World "There is a fountain of youth; it is your mind, your talents, the creativity...

    Green Lighting By Lush Huxley, Editorial Assistant LuxEco Living On a bright and sunny Wednesday in Los Angeles, I am sitting in a pleasant backyard under...

By Rachel Sarnoff, Writer and Founder of EcoStiletto.com and MommyGreenest.com and LuxEco Advocate via www.ecostiletto.com Want to keep chemicals out of your home? Start with your furniture. Carcinogenic formaldehyde is...

LIB Festival: Celebrating over 10 years, Greenest Festival in America covers celebratory spectacles of art, music, fashion, and design.   Who: Presented by The Do...

Women at work: Women as the new decision makers in a changing world By: Lewis Perkins, Founder of Women Are Saving The World Now and...

Let's toast the Irish, with a great organic meal! By Nancy Chuda co-founder and Editor in Chief of LuxEco Living and Healthy Child Healthy World "Laughter is brightest where food is best" Irish Proverb Tonight, I am serving one of my favorite dishes-- Organic Corned Beef and Cabbage. Easy to make for any occasion and the best part of the meal is the company. Good friends make all the work and preparation fun.

By Nancy Chuda, Co-Founder of LuxEcoLiving.com and Healthy Child Healthy World. This Earth Day, April 22, 2010, marks the 19th anniversary of the passing of...

By Lacey Szczepanik, LuxEco Living Editorial Assistant It only requires around 60 seconds of listening to the news to conclude that it’s pretty bad out...

A book review by Nancy Chuda, Co-founder of LuxEcoLiving and Healthy Child Healthy World of Luka And The Fire of Life, Salman Rushdie, Random House Jim and I were treated to a magical evening: time spent listening to Salman Rushdie in person at the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center, in Little Tokyo in downtown Los Angeles. Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie or Urdu sael main rvdi/ is a British Indian novelist and essayist. He achieved notability with his second novel, Midnight Children (1981), which won the Booker Prize in 1981. Most of his fiction is set on the Indian subcontinent and his style is classified as magical realism mixed with historical fiction. One theme that has captivated readers is the connections he weaves between Eastern and Western worlds.

Olio & Limone is now my favorite Italian restaurant in the world.... and what a pleasure not to experience the burden of airplane pasta and worse, long lines for US Customs.... when all you have to do is find West Victoria Street in Santa Barbara and indulge.