Category: Green Living

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TCHO: Good to Go



A walk along the water during a visit to San Francisco brought me to a compelling message on the side of a building (see photo). “We make CHOCOLATE from scratch. Right here.” Of course I stopped. Inside they were selling TCHO chocolates and I saw this on a sign: “Dark chocolate is truly The Last Great Drug.” The company expounds the benefits of dark chocolate and markets a “daily dose project” for its proposed prescription. A chocolate a day keeps the doctor away? Okay, I’ll bite. I tried the fruity chocolate and liked it a lot; it’s not filled with fruit or flavored with fruit–the bean simply gives off a very subtle fruity finish. The video below shows the makers on a mission to obtain the organic beans from farms in Peru.

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Recyling Jeans


I’ve always been a Levi’s jeans girl and loved back-to-school shopping because it meant a new pair of Levi’s jeans and a pair of cords. I still wear my favorite pair of 501s from high school (faded now to white and long ago transformed into a pair of cut-offs) and, even with a shelf full of denim options, I favor the skinny pair I have from their Levi’s Eco collection, made from organic cotton. Two new cheers go to Levi’s for encouraging wearers to line dry (to save energy) and donate unwanted jeans to thrift stores (to prevent overfilling of landfills).

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Leftovers Recipe: Bolognese Sauce

My biggest problem with leftovers is that I’m not always in the mood for the same dish the next day. Another issue: some food should not be reheated, like burgers. But because I try not to waste good food, I look for ways to re-invent.

Yesterday:
Burgers

Leftovers:
Burgers made from chopped beef and chopped pork

Today’s leftovers meal:
Bolognese sauce

Bolognese Sauce
Ingredients:
Leftover burgers
2 tbsp. olive oil
1-2 cans of whole tomatoes
1 clove of garlic
1 shallot
1 carrot
1 cup of mushrooms
1/4 cup red wine
Salt & pepper to taste

In a large pot, saute chopped garlic and shallot in olive oil

Add 1 cup of sliced mushrooms

Add a splash of red wine and simmer

Add whole tomatoes and chopped carrot

Add crumbled burgers

Simmer for at least 1 hour

Scoop onto your favorite pasta, season, and eat

Leftover Bonus: The leftover buns from the burgers were used as croutons in a salad. So simple: roughly cut pieces of bread tossed with olive oil, salt, pepper, and paprika then toast.

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Always a Good Time: Volunteering

Cross-posted on Surf Like a Girl.

TV networks are promoting volunteerism on numerous series this week, so there’s a good chance you’ll see a favorite character in the act of lending a hand while you’re reclining on your couch (not that there’s anything with a little downtime on the couch in front of the tube…). Each of us has worked with Surfrider and Heal the Bay for beach clean-ups and other efforts to keep our beaches safe and clean and we can attest to the fact that doing something feels good. If you’re looking for a place to pitch in, environmental organizations are a good place to start and we’ve also got a list of other do-good organizations on our site.–Stef McDonald

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Rethinking Pink: Petitioning Estee Lauder


I’ve made a rule about keeping toxins out of my makeup bag and use every opportunity I get to encourage others to choose beauty products made without toxic chemicals. “That’s bad for you” is never a message I like to deliver, but I delight in the fact that I can suggest better-for-you products and I usually end my sermon with the recommendation to visit the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics website for more info and the Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep website for ratings of products. We’re deep in October and I find myself wanting to grab a megaphone, as I spot cosmetics and personal care products that contain carcinogens–on the shelves being marketed for Breast Cancer Awareness month. Slapping a pink ribbon on a product is not enough. Estee Lauder has a big campaign each year to raise money and awareness for the cause and I cheer those efforts, but it’s time they started making safer products. Lauder owns Origins and Aveda, two companies that make products with less-toxic ingredients, but the their other lines (MAC, Clinique…) don’t deserve to be pink-ribboned. What you can do: sign a petition asking them to do the right thing.

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Breast Cancer Awareness: Beauty-Buying Tips


October is Breast Cancer Awareness month and you’re sure to see the pink ribbon on many products. Maybe you’ll think, Oh, great, I’ll buy that and help support the fight against breast cancer. The pictured pink gloss from Jane Iredale would be a good grab because it does not contain carcinogens like so many other beauty products (yes, a lot of beauty products really do contain chemicals linked to cancer — but it’s easy for you to educate yourself with help from the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics).

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Breast Cancer Awareness Month: Picking the Right Products


Today marks the beginning of Breast Cancer Awareness Month and you’ll find all kinds of products on shelves with a pink ribbon to indicate that the company is donating a portion of proceeds to groups that support the cause by helping victims of the disease and/or researchers working for a cure. Here’s my buyer-beware, buzz-kill plea: be mindful of beauty products with the pink ribbon because many of them actually contain carcinogens. Seriously. Of course it’s good to give credit where it’s due and to be grateful for companies with big bucks that are donating money to the cause, but it’s a shame that some of these companies are aware of dangers (or possible dangers) of chemicals in their products and continue to use them, putting the public at risk. Luckily, there are pink-ribboned products made with safer ingredients, like the lip gloss pictured, from one of my favorite beauty lines. Jane Iredale has been in the mineral makeup market for years and formulates products without harsh and hazardous chemicals. You can investigate the safety of other personal are products at the Skin Deep database and, as always, find more no the subject at the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics website.

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Campaign for Safe Cosmetics: Roll the Tape

My love of makeup dates back to my childhood, when I found out that the mother of my best friend from the neighborhood was an Avon lady and kept her stash of cosmetics in their guest room. All those lipsticks and eye shadows and nail polishes! Such pretty colors! Sadly, I won’t use those beauty products today — or ones from so many other commercial brands — because they contain chemicals known or believed to cause harm. Happily, so many other companies are making makeup and other beauty products without toxic ingredients. I’ve learned a lot from the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, a group dedicated to informing consumers of dangers in their medicine cabinets and makeup bags and advocating for change in the beauty industry. Their latest effort comes in video form:

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Give a Hoot: Coastal Cleanup Day


Saturday was Heal the Bay‘s Coastal Cleanup Day. Records were set for participation (more than 14,000 registered volunteers) and production (more than 300,000 pounds of trash), with organized trash collection efforts taking place in 60 countries, 60 of them in Los Angeles. The photo above was taken near my home, where I was heartened to see lots parents with their kids at work. Of course, if people would only pick up after themselves, the trash take would be lower and there would be no real need for such volunteer efforts. If only… a girl can dream, right?

Below, some classic public service commercials on the subject.

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Shame on Sigg (Bottles)

There are a lot of toxins around us and we try to take steps to be clean and green. Going green for us means being kind to Planet Earth and also protecting ourselves and embracing all that is natural (really natural). Most know that plastic bottles are wasteful and the popularity of re-usable metal bottles, like the ones from Sigg, have become popular. I have used their bottles and also given them as gifts to friends, so I was particularly disturbed to read the news that suggests the company misled consumers about the safety of the bottles. It’s bad that the bottles tested positive for nasty chemicals but worse that the company appears to have hid that info from consumers. There’s no other word for it: it’s shameful. Ad Age has even more on the story.–Stef McDonald

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Splurge: Lather Up


My new favorite soap comes from Soaptopia, a shop in Mar Vista (they also sell their products online and in select stores). How perfect is this one for a post-surf shower? Ocean’s 12 contains seaweed, palm oil, coconut oil, shea butter, and lemongrass essential oil, among the all-natural ingredients. Very refreshing.

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Here Comes the Sunscreen



My loved ones in NY are promised some sunshine after nearly a month’s worth of rainy and grey days. Here in LA, June gloom appears to be lifting. Yep, here comes the sun!

That means lathering up. I won’t leave the house without protection from the sun: SPF in my lotion for my face, a hat and sunglasses in my bag, and a tube of sunscreen for use if the rest of me might be exposed to sun’s rays. Concern for health is certainly a factor but it’s also vanity–keeping those wrinkles and sunspots away.

The sunscreen I use is not from Coppertone or Banana Boat and it’s not from those other companies that claim to be “natural” when they pack their products with the same harmful ingredients. Products from so many well-known brands are made with chemicals linked to cancer, organ system toxicity, endocrine disruption, and more. Even worse: the products don’t prove to be as effective as the company claims. Potentially harmful and not very useful? Not what I’m looking for in a sunscreen (or any skincare product).

I’m happy paying a bit more on alternative options that provide safe protection from the sun’s rays and give me peace of mind–and finding one that fits this bill is easy by consulting the Environmental Working Group’s “Skin Deep” site, which ranks products that have been independently tested for safety. The best ranked product happens to be my favorite: the SPF30 tube from Soleo Organics, which contains zinc oxide (the same white stuff found on the noses of lifeguards everywhere).

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Yum: Strawberry Shortcake



We picked up three baskets of Gaviota strawberries from Harry’s Berries at the Santa Monica Farmers’ Market on Sunday and could have easily eaten them all (they’re that good) but managed to save them for dessert. I wanted to bake something and chose the strawberry shortcake recipe from “The Santa Monica Farmers’ Market Cookbook” by Amelia Saltsman. When her book was first released, I had the chance to spend some time with Saltsman for a interview, shopping with her at the Farmers’ Market as we talked about her recipes and farm-to-table feasting on local and seasonal organic produce.

For the strawberry shortcake, I followed the recipe for the biscuits and whipped cream but, because the strawberries were so perfect as is, I decided against mixing them with sugar (why mess with perfection?). Slice the biscuits on plates, top with sliced strawberries, and finish with fresh whipped cream.