z

LA Pollution: It may not go away any time soon! By: Linsley Oaks, LuxEco Living Editorial Assistant Los Angeles: home smog contamination, congested freeways, smog, and long commutes. “No body walks in LA” as that famous pop song of the 80's astutely observes. And for the most part, they are right: no body does walk in LA. Which is creating more and more pollution in LA. Even the most casual observer covering ground in this megalopolis will take note of how few pedestrians there are. It is a car culture; people sometimes cover 40 + miles in a day just to get to work and back.

LOHAS Second Annual Los Angeles Networking Event & Reception - Provides Forum for Green Business Leaders. LOHAS, the producers of the annual LOHAS Forum is...

By Alanna Brown, LuxEco Editorial Assistant Imagine if the very thing you used and depended on to protect you from skin cancer was capable of exacerbating the growth of epidermal lesions and tumors. Well that’s what the Environmental Working Group claims may be the case. A recent study shows that retinyl palmitate, a synthetic form of vitamin A, is carcinogenic on skin exposed to the sun.

By Jessica Borges, LuxEco Living Editorial Assistant The start of a new year beings motivation to do bigger and better things than the previous year. If improving fitness is one of your resolutions, why not hit a gym that not only helps you shed pounds but also helps the environment? Green gyms and fitness centers are proliferating as we become more conscious of how the health of the planet relates to their own health.

By: Leslie Harris, Interior Designer, Leslie Harris Interior Design and LuxEco Advocate Lori Weitzner's products have been seen on movie sets, an Olympic Village, the Wynn resorts, prestigious stores such as Tiffanys’ and even museum walls. Important design museums have been exhibiting and acquiring Lori’s work for their permanent collections including London’s Victoria and Albert Museum and Montreal’s Musee Decoratifs. In 2006 she was the subject of her first solo exhibition at the Institute of Arts in Minneapolis. Lori is also the recipient of more than 20 awards and honors, including the esteemed Best of Neocon.

By Laurie David, Author, Producer and LuxEco Advocate After 50 days of watching BP's pathetic failure to stop the oil from gushing and hearing stories...

By Rachel Sarnoff, Writer and Founder of EcoStiletto.com and MommyGreenest.com and LuxEco Advocate I’m a journalist by trade and I’d been writing about fashion and...

By Sahar Ghaffari, LuxEco Living Editorial Assistant The cosmetic market today is saturated with thousands of products that claim to tighten, moisturize, and smooth your skin; but usually these claims come with a hefty cost, artificial ingredients, and not necessarily the results you were hoping for. However, the answers to some of your skin problems could be secretly hidden right in your very own kitchen.

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.

By Jessica Borges, LuxEco Living Editorial Assistant We can all thank the sun for making trash disposal a more eco-friendly task; and while we’re at it, we can also thank the creators of BigBelly Solar Trash Cans. These solar powered beefy looking trash cans are sprouting up on street corners in several metropolitan areas with goals of being more cost, time and energy efficient.

Corporate guru, David H. Murdock, advocates disease prevention through wellness with a lifestyle makeover for longer, healthier lives. By: Bethany Colson, Managing Editor of LuxEcoLiving.com Son...

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

On April 21, 2010, the oil rig Deepwater Horizon had a dire malfunction. Both its manual and emergency blowout preventers failed to deploy when the worst-case scenario became a reality. An oil rig blowout has the potential to occur when some combination of mud, oil, natural gas, and water erupt from the well, surge up the drill pipe, and ignite at the surface, exploding into an inferno.

By: Lewis Perkins, Founder of Women Are Saving The World Now and LuxEco Advocate Article via Women Are Saving The World Now Last week, I had...

By Nancy Chuda founder and Editor in Chief of LuxEcoLiving and Healthy Child Healthy World You don't want to miss the breakfast or the bed...

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 Chuda founder and Editor-in Chief of LuxEcoLiving and co-founder of Healthy Child Healthy World Step into the world of Suzanne LaCock Browning and...

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: Linsley Oaks, LuxEco Living Editorial Assistant I lived in Canada as an American citizen for five years.  I spent four years outside of Montreal...

In Tom Shadyac's Film "I Am," he poses a solution to a battered world: Compassion- It will right whats wrong with the world. By Nancy Chuda c0-founder and Editor-in-Chief LuxEco Living and Healthy Child Healthy World As a society we are not immune to disasters-- not in the face of mother nature who rules. Man does not have dominion over nature. But what man instinctively has is the desire to help those in need. Having compassion is the only way we will survive through disaster and hardship.

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 Nancy Gould Chuda founder and Editor-in-Chief of LuxEcoLiving and co-founder of Healthy Child Healthy World The Brazilian Court turns  a spectacular wedding into a...

Sun exposure creates healthy cancer-fighting Vitamin D production yet too much sun leads to cancer.  How can we protect ourselves and still enjoy...

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

This article originally appeared in  The New York Times The ‘Busy’ Trap By TIM KREIDER If you live in America in the 21st century you've probably...

In 2016 we will be electing a new President, which means for the next year, fellow liberals and I will be quoting NPR in a desperate attempt to prove that we’re politically active

Journey left his heart in San Francisco and was thrilled to be invited back to the one and only Fairmont Hotel. This time our boy wonder got to stay in the Tower Suite named after the Spreckels family. What a treat!

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

Author of Family Dinner and Producer of Inconvenient Truth, Laurie David shares her concern about antibiotics in food production and what that means for the overall health concerns. By Laurie David, Author, Producer and LuxEco Advocate Originally posted on Huffington Post I worry. A lot. My worry gene works overtime. A doctor once told me it's called an "overactive checker" (or as I like to think of it, my OC). As far as afflictions go, it's not terrible. OC's are good to have around. They see danger from miles away. They pay close attention. Motherhood can be particularly tough on OC's. We know too well that there's no such thing as "out of sight out of mind." But over the years I have come to terms with my checker, and now consider it a trusted friend. It was my checker that helped me raise my kids with a minimum of cuts and scratches, rear three dogs from eight-week-old puppies, and eventually opened my eyes to the looming dangers of global warming. It's the same trusted checker that is screaming, "Wake up! Wake up!" on the issue of antibiotic resistance.

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: Molly Rovero, LuxEco Living Editorial Assistant Lotusland practices sustainable horticulture in the care of their gardens. This episode of the Lotusland series explores these practices in Madame's rose garden. Also learn how to make your own tea compost!

By Bethany Colson, Managing Editor of LuxEcoLiving.com According to the US government, One third of all children born in 2000 or later will suffer from diabetes at some point in their lives; many others will face chronic obesity-related health problems like heart disease, high blood pressure, cancer, and asthma. A recent study put the health care costs of obesity-related diseases at $147 billion per year. With rates having tripled over the last three decades and with millions effected and the percentage of obese or overweight children at or above 30% in 30 states, the childhood obesity epidemic shows no slowing in site... YET. Enter First Lady Michelle Obama. The Goal: Through nutrition education, healthy food alternatives, physical fitness and a coordinated effort between public, private and non-private sector, the challenge of childhood obesity will be solved within a generation so that children born today will reach adulthood at a healthy weight.

In a rare look at the Deepwater Horizon rig, Kerry Sanders from The Today Show flew over the oil-soaked Gulf of Mexico.  As far...

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 Kerin Van Hoosear, LuxEco Editorial Assistant and author of Seasonal Cooking with Kerin Everyone loves small bites and finger food! This is a great recipe to make for dinner parties or your friends and family. It’s a simple filling that packs a lot of punch. So don’t be surprised when your guests swoop in on your dumpling platter and decimate it! If you’ve never made dumplings before, don’t worry. It’s like riding a bike. Once you get into the rhythm of it, you’ll be cranking them out at top speed.