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By Nancy Chuda founder and Editor-in-Chief of LuxEcoLiving and co-founder of Healthy Child Healthy World   OLIVIA Newton-John says she was inspired to lend her...

By Bernadette Bowman, Comedienne and LuxEco Advocate who writes the LIFE GOES RETROGRADE series. Fire! Aim! Ready! Or as Willie Wonka would say, “Strike that. ...

By Nancy Chuda founder and Editor-in-Chief of LuxEcoLiving and co-founder of Healthy Child Healthy World Prevention through education is worth more than cure In 1991, two...

By Nancy Chuda founder and Editor-in-Chief of LuxEcoLiving and co-founder of Healthy Child Healthy World When you walk in the doors of the Brown Butter...

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: Nina Montée Karp, Executive Producer & Director, The Path of Wellness & Healing and LuxEco Advocate The reality is harsh: 1 in 8 of our mothers, daughters, sisters and friends will hear the words “You have breast cancer” at some time in their lives. In fact, every 3 minutes in the US, a new woman is given this frightening diagnosis and as many as 25% of these women will ultimately die of that disease. The figures are startling, but here is, perhaps, the most surprising number of all: Only 10% of women with breast cancer have a family predisposition to get it. In other words, 90% of all breast cancers are provoked not by inherited genes, but by environmental triggers. This is critically important because it means that in up to 90% of cases, breast cancer may be preventable!

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.

By F.R.E.E. Will LuxEco Editorial Assistant & Author of In The Spice Cabinet series Although marjoram carries a botanical name that denotes its grouping in the same genus as oregano (Origanum majorana), it does in fact have an alias of sorts to better distinguish between the two, Majorana hortensis. It is also, in culinary circles, distinguished from other less palatable varieties of the herb by the more common name ‘sweet’ or ‘knotted’ marjoram . From a purely physical standpoint oregano tends to be the hardier of two when discussing ideal growing condition with marjoram requiring much drier conditions, and more in the way of full sunlight in order to reap the best quality. The two related herbs are also distinguished between their flowering tops, oregano flowers typically being a pink/purple while marjoram flowers tend to be white.

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...

By Lacey Szczepanik, LuxEco Living Editorial Assistant I have two beautiful pet babies; Diggs, my proud, empathetic and cautious boxer, and Mo, my silly, sleepy Staffordshire terrier. I take my role as their guardian very seriously. When my pet Diggs was two years old, he was diagnosed with mast cell tumors, a form of cancer prevalent among boxers. I was devastated. I went through all the stages of grief. Denial; “Excuse me Mrs. Veterinarian, my dog has a small ‘bump’ on his side. Bump. Not lump. Lumps are scary. This is simply a ‘bump’.” Anger... directed more at God than anyone in particular. I lost Diggs’ brother much too early in life and found it cruel to be faced with another premature goodbye. Bargaining. Depression; full on who-needs-food and why-would-I-get-out-of-my-pajamas-or-leave-the-house-when-I-could-sit here-and-stare-at-my-beautiful-dog kind of depression. And finally Acceptance, and by acceptance I mean he’s alive today and he’ll be alive tomorrow SO THERE. Maybe the anger and denial are still sprinkled on top of the acceptance. A shocking 20-25% of our furry four legged pets end up dying prematurely due to Cancer. (Perdue University Department of Veterinarian).

What happens when you pair artisan farmstead cheese from Cowgirl Creamery in northern California with some of the finest master cheesemakers from The Wisconsin Cheeseman and you add the finest varietal wines, both reds and white, from one the most magnificent wineries in the world?

By Alanna Rosette Brown, a writer/filmmaker, LuxEcoLiving Advocate, and author of Moonpennies. Follow her blog at alannarosette.com Make a New Years Resolution: Stand-Up and Walk...

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.

By Nancy Chuda founder and Editor in Chief of LuxEcoLiving and co-founder of Healthy Child Healthy World LuxEcoLiving's founders Nancy and James Chuda with Journey   It's...

By Kerin Van Hoosear, LuxEco Editorial Assistant and author of Seasonal Cooking with Kerin The holiday season is in full swing and that means it’s time to crack open that canned pumpkin, right? No! Take the time to head down to your local farmers market and pick out a few choice pumpkins to use this season; they’re incredibly versatile! To break it down, cut the top off and then cut the pumpkin into workable pieces. I find quartering it works really well. With the side of a spoon, scrape away the seeds. To get the raw meat out, scrape against the grain and you’ll get nice short shredded pieces. This pumpkin bread is just one way to use your pumpkin; make sure you save your leftovers for another recipe!

    To map out a course of action and follow it to an end requires courage.~ Ralph Waldo Emerson The Post Ranch Inn is the most...

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 Nancy and James Chuda founder and Editor-in-Chief of LuxEcoLiving and co-founders of Healthy Child Healthy World. Contributing editorial from Bethany Colson, Assitant Managing...

By Nancy Chuda founder and Editor-in-Chief of LuxEcoLiving and co-founder of Healthy Child Healthy World Reporting from Casa Madrona in Sausalito California A Restaurant Review           ...

By Alanna Brown, LuxEco Editorial Assistant Have you ever wondered how your shampoo fulfills its magnificent claims to give you “shinier,” “sleeker,” “frizz freer,” “blonder,” “brunetter,” (…the list goes on) hair? Annie Leonard, author of The Story of Stuff and The Story of Bottled Water, wondered this of her personal favorite, Pantene Pro-V. She looked at the ingredients on the bottle post-lather and thought, “Sodium laureth sulfate? Tetrasodium EDTA? Methylisothiazolinone? What is this stuff?” After doing some research, she found the truth behind her shampoo was disheartening, to say the least. In her most recent short film installment, The Story of Cosmetics, Annie Leonard tells us how it’s not just shampoo, but many personal care products that contain toxic ingredients. From sunscreen to lipstick, there are disease-causing chemicals in our daily product regimen responsible for cancer, learning disabilities, and much more.

By Nancy and James Chuda founders of LuxEcoLiving and Healthy Child Healthy World I was craving cheese. Not just that typical stinky cheese you find...

By Nancy and James Chuda founders of LuxEcoLiving and Healthy Child Healthy World Oslo Norway, The Chuda's  for LuxEcoLiving What could be better. Two nights at...

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 Nancy Chuda founder and Editor-in-Chief of LuxEcoLiving and co-founder of Healthy Child Healthy World An Essay           Like you, I am stupefied. It is unconscionable to...

Christmas will be here before you bat an eye... or two. I found something on Etsy that I really treasure. A hand made Garden...

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

By Alanna Brown, LuxEco Editorial Assistant You are terrified and frantic. You cram yourself, with six other women, into a three-foot by four-foot bathroom in...

By Nancy and James Chuda founders of LuxEcoLiving and Healthy Child Healthy World J.B. Mauney World Champion Bull Rider tops his sport and greets LuxEcoLiving's ...

By: Joanna Bateman, Luxeco Editorial Assistant I’m a mid-west girl who recently moved west to California to spread my wings and fly. And if it weren’t for this past August, I’d be one stressed-out-Sally in the big sea of crazy known as Los Angeles. I needed to ground myself so that I didn’t float away in La La land. I needed Yoga camp!

By Alanna Brown, LuxEco Editorial Assistant Our very own LuxEco advocate, Olivia Newton-John was a guest on the taping of Oprah's show Tuesday. Oprah, filming two shows at the Sydney Opera House this week, had a star studded line-up for her travels Down Under.

By: Leslie Harris, Interior Designer, Leslie Harris Interior Design and LuxEco Advocate Lori Dennis’ desire to be part of the solution to waste and pollution in the interior design and construction fields led her to write “Green Interior Design” which came out last month. Along with beautiful images of her work, it is a manual of resources for anyone wishing to create green interiors.

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, sealed and delivered the new 2011 fiscal budget last Friday--the result of a less than stellar and certainly bitter congressional compromise that hinders environmental efforts even more so than previous years.

By Nancy Chuda founder and editor-in-chief of LuxEcoLiving and co-founder of Healthy Child Healthy World The Worlds Greatest Cheese and Cheesemongers Before Adam Moskowitz found his...

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.