World

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...

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.

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.

It's a jewel of a hideaway in the confines of one of the wealthiest locations in all the world...   Palm Beach Florida. What The...

By: Francine LeFrak, Founder of Same Sky, a company that handcrafts glass bead bracelets made in Rwanda and LuxEco Advocate My dream is for the empowerment of women and eradication of poverty. In 1994, 1 million people were murdered in 100 days in Rwanda. I spent eight and a half years trying to produce a film about this massacre-- I wanted to tell the story of this genocide. Ultimately, the film never got produced. I was still left with the passion to shed light on this important story. By that time, my focus had also turned to the empowerment of women and girls. It was with the mission of helping the women in Africa that Same Sky was born.

By Nancy Chuda founder and Editor-in-Chief  of LuxEcoLiving and co-founder of Healthy Child Healthy World "You step into the main greeting room and you know...

Actor, director, producer, and social activist George Clooney has been journeying throughout Southern Sudan this past week in an attempt to bring attention to the war-torn area. The region is three months away from an independence vote which could possibly see the largest country in Africa split into two sovereign nations.

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 Nancy Chuda founder and Editor-in-Chief of LuxEcoLiving and co-founder of Healthy Child Healthy World I've been fascinated by the long lasting power of orchids....

By Nancy Chuda Founder and Editor-in-Chief of LuxEco Living and Healthy Child Healthy World Enter Wael Ghonim, a charismatic young Google executive who helped launch the protests in Tahrir Square. His heroism validates what a real social network can do. Sorkin and Facebook aside, certainly not as newsworthy, will win the Oscar for best Original Screenplay not because of a few Harvard grads, but Google. The Umpire of all networks which will always win... it just makes adsense! Life imitates with purpose as the world watches Wael's Facebook page, as he herds the hordes of young brave Egyptians as they face off in the streets urging President Hosni Mubarak to step down. The cacophony of people, police, military, women, men and press from around the globe could not visually hold the power or the purpose that the Internet is providing.

By Nancy and James Chuda founders of LuxEcoLiving and Healthy Child Healthy World with contributions from environmentalist John Easterling Photo Courtesy of PBS...

By Alanna Brown, LuxEco Editorial Assistant The powers-that-be have refused the natural solutions being publicly offered by nation-wide volunteers for cleanup of the BP oil disaster. Instead, they have chosen to dump chemical dispersants on the spill site; namely, Corexit. Talk about adding insult to injury. With several urgent prompts being made by eco-concerned citizens, it seems BP’s decided approach—for now, anyway—is to further pollute the already distressed Gulf.

By Alanna Brown, LuxEco Editorial Assistant "Isn't it wonderful that none of us need wait a moment before starting to change the world," Penelope Jagessar Chaffer quoted from the Diary of Anne Frank after Nancy Chuda (Healthy Child Healthy World and LuxEco co-founder) presented her with the HCHW Moms-on-a-Mission honor for inspiration Wednesday night. Penelope is an award-winning documentary filmmaker and the first black female director to receive a BAFTA award nomination. Above all, however, she is a mother, proven by her dedication to complete her most recent documentary, Toxic Baby, despite the adversity that arose in the process. In accord with Anne Frank’s legacy, she waited not a moment before embarking on her five-year journey to make this film and thus start to change the world, one mother at a time.

By Rachel Lincoln Sarnoff, Executive Director/CEO, Healthy Child Healthy World and a LuxEcoLiving Advocate   Is there a link between the environment and illnesses such as...

By Nancy Chuda  Founder and Editor in Chief and of LuxEcoLiving and co-founder of Healthy Child Healthy World How many of you have seen...

By Janelle Sorensen, Chief Communications Officer, Healthy Child Healthy World Expert Opinion courtesy of Healthy Child Healthy World When my husband and I toured schools to...

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.

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 Emily Lynne Ion, LuxEco Advocate A recent email from a friend boasted the discovery of the “best bread in all of Paris”. For someone who prefers a baguette for dessert over a piece of chocolate cake, I was intrigued. Most curiously, there was a link included. Yes, a link to a website for a French boulangerie. I had envisioned a corner bakery, tucked away on an old street, that my friend discovered by accident on a rainy day (this is always how cuisine stories in Europe go, do they not?). Instead what she’s discovered was The Poilane Bakery, an international brand and premier Parisian bakery.

By Lush Huxley, LuxEco Editorial Assistant do something about this disaster? While BP is trying to make it look like everything is under control they are foolishly dismissing the people that are ready and willing to solve the problem. BP shunned these guys in their May 21st press release, where they publicly asked “Individuals and organizations… to discontinue the collection of hair for the hair boom.” Considering this rejection, one might expect Summer and her crew to flip the bird to beurocracy and start a renegade clean-up on their own. The truth is, however, that at the moment BP has all the dumpsters on lock down. To work around this, the team is working on getting contracts for an incinerator to dispose of the dirty booms. They are holding back the clean-up until they have a legally and logistically sound way to dispose of the refuse, which is good news for those who hate seeing the good guys end up with criminal records.

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 Pump Handle The American Public Health Association's (APHA) Occupational Health & Safety Section has announced the winners of its 2010 Occupational Health & Safety Awards. In a year that has been marked by what David Michaels, Assistant Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health, has described as "a series of workplace tragedies" - among them the deaths of 29 miners at the Upper Big Branch Mine and 11 workers on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico - noting both the honorees, and those in whose honor the awards are given, is a reminder of the enormous work, courage, and long history of efforts to ensure safety at work.

LABC Sustainability Summit: Fulfilling Our New Market Potential Much is in store for the LA Business Council Sustainability Summit, including the “Salon of...

By: Molly Rovero, LuxEco Editorial Assistant Skeptics would say that Darryl Carpenter and Otis Goodman of C.W. Roberts in Florida did not thoroughly think their...

"One Today" One sun rose on us today, kindled over our shores, peeking over the Smokies, greeting the faces of the Great Lakes, spreading...

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 Nancy Chuda founder and Editor-in-Chief LuxEcoLiving and co-founder of HealthyChild Healthy World Santa Ynez California Courtesy of Jeremy Ball A Magical Night! Tales from...

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

By: Molly Cimikoski, LuxEco Editorial Assistant Before the April explosion of the Deep Water Horizon, I could hardly get through a Dawn dish soap commercial...

By Nancy and James Chuda founders of LuxEcoLiving and Healthy Child Healthy World Buelton California at the Circle JB Polo Ranch photo credits LuxEco Living...

By: Molly Rovero, LuxEco Living Editorial Assistant Follow Nancy Chuda and Gwen Stauffer as they explore Lotusland's Giants. Check out insider videos of the endangered Chilean Wine Palm and the wonderfully colorful collection of bromeliads.

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.

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.

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...

“Vissi d’arte, vissi d’amore.” These are the first two phrases that Tosca sings in her famous Act 2 aria, “Vissi d’arte.” The English translation means, “I lived for art, I lived for love.” Puccini’s Tosca was one of Maria Callas’ most infamous operatic roles and the prime example of life imitating art. Callas’ life ended on September 16, 1977 in a Paris apartment. It is said that she died of a broken heart as did opera singer Floria Tosca at the end of the opera. Callas had an extra special gift which was reflected in the art form of opera. Transforming passion through music for the world to hear was what she sacrificed her life for.