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  "New York is the quintessential city for every imaginable pleasure " Step inside the chic Hotel Plaza Athenee and your first impression is a perfunctory,...

By Sahar Ghaffari, LuxEco Living Editorial Assistant You may or may not have heard of the essential oil known as tea tree oil, but it has been an age old remedy for a myriad of ailments. Obtained from the leaves of the native Australian plant called Melaleuca alternifolia, Australian Aboriginals used the leaves to heal skin cuts, wounds, and infections. The name originated from the fact that the leaves of the plant were used as a substitute for tea. Tea tree oil has antiseptic, anti-fungal, antibacterial, and antiviral properties which make it useful in a variety of ways.

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

By Alanna Brown, LuxEco Living Editorial Assistant A five-day, four-night trek on the Salkantay trail to Machu Picchu is more, in many ways, than...

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...

By Jazmin Clark, Editorial Assistant We all love our pets, and naturally we want what’s best for them. What better way to show them that love than to extend our own healthy eating practices to the food we provide for them? In today’s increasingly health conscious, green-evolving world there are plenty of organic, grain-free, and holistic options for pet food out there. But how do we know which ones are right for our furry friends?

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...

Technological advancement is phenomenon that both delights and baffles us as we try to keep up with changes that evolve at lightening speeds.  Billions...

By Nancy Chuda founder and Editor-in-Chief of LuxEcoLiving and co-founder of Healthy Child Healthy World. This year Healthy Child Healthy World is celebrating its twentieth...

Get rid of hazardous substances in your home and clean house with these great green cleaning products. By Brooke Rewa, Lux Eco Editorial Assistant Household cleaning products are full of hazardous substances that put our loved ones at risk. A clean house can be especially dangerous to children and pets. Toxic chemicals from conventional household products can be found on your floors, counters, carpets and transferred directly into the mouth of your pet or child. Many everyday cleaning products contain petroleum based pesticides and denatured ethanol, a type of ethanol that has one or more substances added to it making it poisonous. While we know little about the long-term health affects and environmental damage these hazardous substances can cause, it is safe to say the outcome cannot be good.

By Penelope Jagessar Chaffer, LuxEco Advocate and producer of Toxic Baby When Nancy and Jim Chuda founders of LuxEco Living and Healthy Child Healthy World graciously suggested hosting a screening for Toxic Baby, I was thrilled yet curious. The select audience would be comprised of a group of young people, the demographic mostly female and only one who was a mom. It was the first viewing to a group of people who were not scientists, environmental advocates, or those involved in film and television. How would it play out?

"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 Alanna Brown, LuxEco Editorial Assistant Yoga mat. Check. Pony-tail. Check. Comfy and easily removed flip-flops. Check. Bhakti Ware…Check? “Wait, what is Bhakti Ware?” You...

By: Annie Huang, LuxEco Living Marketing Assistant People bike for many reasons such as exercising, commuting from one place to another, or simply just touring around...

Imagine trekking on foot through the rhododendron forests of the Sherpa homeland of Nepal's Khumbu Valley that lies below the ice-capped Mount Everest where...

By Alanna Brown, LuxEco Editorial Assistant A contest sponsored by World Bank, entitled “100 Ideas to Save the Planet,” has awarded 26 people world-wide with...

By: Lauren O'Neill, LuxEco Editorial Assistant Los Angeles foodies can rejoice because there is a new vegan restaurant in town, Sage Organic Vegan Bistro on the corner of Sunset and Logan in Echo Park. Formerly raw food restaurant Mooi, the space is now a dream team of organic vegan delicacies: healthy comfort food from Sage, and delicious, dairy-free ice cream from the popular KindKreme desserts (also in Studio City and Pasadena). With the owners of Millie’s in Silver Lake and a former chef of well-renowned vegan restaurant Flore, it’s no wonder the food is so good that it will satiate the taste buds of vegans, vegetarians, and omnivores alike.

By: Linsley Oaks, LuxEco Living Editorial Assistant Running across a field might seem like the last thing anyone should do after slinging $12 dixie cups...

By: Molly Rovero, LuxEco Editorial Assistant Imagine a world without fossil fuel powered cars! This is what the Los Angeles chapters of the American Planning Association and the American Institute of Architects teamed up to do when they created Rail LA, a group dedicated to "healing the wounds of past infrastructure projects" and helping transition from "an automobile based society to a transit based one." They seek to raise awareness about the myriad of benefits that high speed rail can have for Southern California, such as a reduction in emissions, mitigation of traffic congestion, and countless other environmental concerns related to society’s daily reliance on fossil-fuel-powered transit.

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 Jessica Borges, LuxEco Editorial Assistant As you’re staring blankly into your “so last year” closet full of drab clothing that you just can’t bear to...

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 Bernadette Bowman, Comedienne and LuxEco Advocate who writes the LIFE GOES RETROGRADE series. UGH. It’s PMS Week.  I cannot tell a lie. I have the...

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 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 Alanna Brown, LuxEco Editorial Assistant It seems BP has finally begun to make good on weeks of promise to fix the Deepwater Horizon wellhead that has been gushing crude oil into the Gulf Coast. It has taken nearly 3 months for them to initiate a plan that might hold back the oil, but at last, crews worked through the weekend and fitted a new 150,000-pound cap to the wellhead on Monday. They began tests Tuesday, which may take up to 48 hours, to see if the cap will be strong enough to temporarily contain the oil and gases.

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...

Hands on instruction in the garden transfers young students green learning at school to green living at home. Johnna Walker, the garden instructor, teaches the importance of sustainability. By Alanna Brown, LuxEco Editorial Assistant Larchmont Charter School, an alternative neighborhood school within LAUSD, takes green living to the future—to our children—with the implementation of green learning. Our precious earth is in their itty-bitty-but-quickly-growing hands, so best to start showing them how to take care of it, and themselves.

  Repurposing wealth for the preservation of natures most incredible gifts. An environmental habitat shared in perpetuity and the opportunity to connect with nature. The Point...

By Zhenya Gershman artist, art historian, educator and contributing author to LuxEcoLiving I “met” my parents not long after they first fell in love.  I...

By Nancy Chuda founder and Editor-in-Chief LuxEcoLiving and co-founder of Healthy Child Healthy World One of my favorite Mexican dishes is  Chiles Rellenos or chiles...

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

By Nancy and James Chuda founders of LuxEcoLiving and Healthy Child Healthy World Sunstone Winery Santa Ynez California Life happens! Even in the best laid plans...

The meditation suite, powder room and terrace of the Green Home, was designed to reflect James and Nancy Chuda's love for Buddhism, Zen philosophy...

By Nancy Chuda, co-founder of LuxEcoLiving.com and Healthy Child Healthy World A divine inspiration. A remarkable event. An outstanding evening. Jim and I were treated to one of the most memorable moments in our lives—at Coleman Farm’s annual dinner. Their mission is to re-connect diners to the land and the origins of their food, and to honor the local farmers and food artisans who cultivate it.