Eco Green Tips

photo credit: nicubunu

The amber liquid has been known for centuries to do wonders for one’s health and beauty since it has a number of properties and can be used in a variety of ways. It is an antimicrobial and a mild laxative; it can be used as a moisturizer or an antibacterial agent for cuts and infections, it helps your body retain calcium and it even helps with loosing weight.

It is said that consuming up to four tablespoons of honey a day can greatly improve your health. Moreover, a bit of honey before bed can help with longer and better quality sleep. Studies show that children who consumed honey before bed slept better and coughed less at night. Additionally, honey is packed with free-radicals-fighting antioxidants (combine with green or black tea for an antioxidant bomb) and has been a know beauty agent for a lot of women over the centuries.

Here are a few tips for using honey in your beauty regimen:

• Facial Moisturizer—apply honey to your face and leave on for a few minutes than rinse the excess with warm water. It works well with all skin types because it doesn’t clog pores and has antimicrobial properties, which prevents bacteria from growing thus helping with acne and breakouts. Its antibacterial properties also help with skin irritations.
• Facial Scrub—add rolled oats or sea salt to your honey, mix and massage into your skin. This type of scrub will exfoliate your skin without drying it out or over-exfoliating.
• Bath—add a tablespoon or two of honey to your bath for a moisturizing and skin softening effect.
• Hair Conditioner—squeeze a small amount of honey into your palm and apply to your hair (especially dry ends) after shampooing. Leave for a few minutes (depending on how damaged or dry your hair is) and thoroughly rinse off. It will keep frizz and fly-aways a bay.
• Hair Shine Serum—mix a tablespoon of honey with a cup of very warm water, put the mixture into a spray bottle, spray on damp hair and comb through to add shine to your tresses.
• Lip Balm—add a few drops of honey to a small amount of petroleum jelly and mix well and you’ve got a natural and moisturizing lip balm. You can also add essential oils of your choice for an additional effect.
• Shaving Balm—mix one part honey and two parts cream and apply to your legs instead of soap or your shaving cream. Not only does it hydrate and moisturize while shaving but also reduces razor burn and irritation.
• Manicure/Pedicure—rub some honey into the rough areas on your feet (hills, balls of your feet) as well as cuticles (both of your toes and fingers) before soaking them for your manicure/pedicure. It softens rough skin for an easier removal.

Keep in mind that the darker the honey, the more antioxidants it has and the best honey to get is the raw, unprocessed one you can get from your local farmers market.

photo credit: DJ Solitaire

It’s been a long time coming but with the economy in crisis and the gas prices on the rise (even though they are currently on the low, this trend will not last forever) and the increasing global demand for oil, it is only natural that technologies for converting conventional cars into ones using alternative fuels would find their ways to the market. And while the automotive giants are a bit slow to catch on to the trend, there are plenty of other companies all too happy to fill in the blanks.

Here are some of the more popular conversion kits available on the market:

• Flex Fuel US—with proper installation it gives drivers an option to alternate between ethanol and petrol, since the kit accommodates gasoline, E10, E20 and E85 for those who would like to have more than one option for their fuel sources.
• Hendrix Industrial Gastux Inc.—this company offers compressed natural gas and propane conversion kits that can be used with a number of various vehicles. However, they advise to have them installed by a professional.
• Greasecar Vegetable Fuel Systems—these kits use vegetable oil as a fuel source and unfortunately are used only with diesel engines.

If you decide to look for a conversion kit for you car, it is advisable to first examine the alternative fuels and find out which one will be the best for your needs. Then, you should also make sure that the kit provider and their technology are legitimate and that you use a professional to install the kit for you.

photo credit: Gastev

Fall is in full swing and before you know it, winter will be upon us and with that increased heating. This means more money spent on you electricity bill, especially since the costs of energy are on the rise and it doesn’t look like they will go down any time soon. However, winter doesn’t have to break your budget since there are a few easy steps you can take to prepare your home for the upcoming season of cold that not only will keep you and your family warm but save you money as well.

Here are a few tips for lowering your energy costs:

• Weatherproof you windows—by eliminating as many leaks as possible (for more tips on how to do it, go to “Weatherproof Your Windows”). Air getting inside you house through windows and doors contributes to a substantial heat loss during winter.
• Switch to CFLs—(if you haven’t yet). Because the days are shorter, we tend to have lights on for longer periods of time in winter, which adds to your electrical bill. However, if you replace your incandescent bulbs with the compact fluorescent ones, you will actually save money in the long run.
• Turn you thermostat down—turning down the heat while you’re away (e.g. at work, school etc) or sleeping will give you a nice return in just a few weeks.
• Have an energy audit—this will help you establish how much energy you use and where you can save it by learning how your house fares in various areas, e.g. whether your windows and doors are leaky, whether you water heater uses more energy than necessary and how you can lower it etc.

Implementing these few easy tricks will not only save you money (and who doesn’t like that?!) but make your winter a little less stressful…

photo credit: malan.andre

If you’re a coffee or tea drinker like I am and you care about saving the environment, you probably don’t like the idea of using single-serve containers for your beverages. Unfortunately, it isn’t always possible to use your own mug but you should try whenever you get a chance.

Any time you can substitute the polystyrene (commonly known as Styrofoam) cup with a glass, ceramic or stainless steel mug, you help the Earth breath just a little easier. Consider this: in the US alone 25 billion polystyrene cups are thrown away every year, which isn’t good news for the planet since polystyrene is made of non-renewable petroleum and it takes hundred of years to break down in the landfills. Moreover, scientists have found carcinogenic ingredients leeching into the soil and possibly even into your hot beverage.

As for the paper cups, they may be a little easier on the environment but producing paper requires cutting down trees, which contributes to devastating deforestation and the process of producing paper cups, including recycled paper cups, requires a lot of energy, which ultimately isn’t eco-friendly. And plastic is simply not save for so many reasons (to find out more go to “Buying a New Plastic Container, part I & II” as well as “FDA Deems BPA Save” ) but mainly because it leeches BPA (bisphenol A), phthalates and other toxic chemicals into your hot drink.

Fortunately, many coffee shops are getting on board with the new trend and some even offer a small discount if you’re bring your own mug, for instance Starbucks, which offers a 10-cent discount. This encouraged 13.5 million customers to switch to reusable mugs, which kept over 500,000 pounds of paper from ending in landfills in 2003 alone! So next time you go for coffee or tea, bring your own mug!

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There it is again, the time of the year when everyone, big and small, wants to put on a costume, decorate the house and scare, scare, scare… Halloween is here and that means yet another holiday to add to the list of moments to ‘green up’.

Here are a few tips on how to make your Halloween eco-friendlier:

• Save some trees by sending email invitations instead of paper ones.
• Make your own costumes by reusing old clothes and items or better yet swap them with your family and friends.
• During trick-or-treating walk instead of driving. Not only does it provide additional physical activity, it saves all this carbon emission.
• Avoid plastic trick-or-treat bags. Instead you can decorate old pillow cases, canvas bags or any fabric you have to spare and use that for bags. It will be original and so much more fun.
• Find alternatives to the treats, for instance cookies baked with locally grown produce or better yet organic ingredients or organic or locally grown apples in caramel.
• And after the holiday, host a pumpkin bake-off to reuse all these pumpkins.

The sky is the limit so think big…