Summer is on the horizon and it is the perfect time to start thinking about ways that you be more environmentally responsible. The average person spends a lot of time in the kitchen. This is one part of the house that can receive an influx of visits throughout any given day. The kitchen is probably one of the best places to “green” since much of our time is spent cooking, cleaning and eating there. There are hundreds of methods that you can adopt to begin making your kitchen an environmentally safe room. Here are a few! 1.) Get rid of Your Usual Detergents and Cleaning Products Most cleaning and dishwashing products utilize harmful chemicals and ingredients. Dichloromethane (DCM), alkyl phenoxy ethanol (APEs), 1,4 Dioxane, chlorine are common chemicals than can be found in your favorite brand of dishwashing liquid or all-purpose cleaning product. These chemicals can be harmful and are speculated to be cancerous. Not only are cleaning products that possess these chemicals toxi

I discovered the Real Purity Brand on the EWG cosmetics database.  Their cosmetics had excellent ratings with practically no health concerns whatsoever.  Real Purity utilizes pure ingredients and there are no toxic junk in their cosmetics and skin care products.  I cannot wait to try some of their skin care products.   For now, I'll leave you with this brief review of their lipstick.  When I went over to the website, I was ecstatic to see so many shades.  I've found that when shopping for cosmetics with toxic free brands, there really aren't too many choices for darker skin tones.  Real Purity probably has over 20 lipstick shades to choose from.  The color in review is called Harvest Blush and it is on the brown - copper toned scale of the color continuum.  Applying the lipstick is a snazz! It goes on really smooth.  While turning the barrel to get the lipstick out, I noticed that it was kind of slim compared to other lipsticks that I own.  The color was pretty apparent and

When plastic bottles are exposed to extremely high temperatures, dangerous toxins will leak from the bottle and contaminate the liquid contents inside. If you're like many, you can probably recall a time when you left your water bottle in the car on a nice summer day only to return to piping hot water. There's nothing worse than having to take a swig of hot water that was actually meant to be cold and refreshing. A couple of years ago, Sheryl Crow appeared on the Ellen show and stated that drinking water from a plastic bottle that had been left in her car was the cause of her breast cancer. Sheryl Crow's doctor confirmed this fact. Thankfully, Ms. Crow made the stride to help others realize the dangers of drinking from plastic water bottles. Plastic water bottles contain the toxins BPA (bisphenol-A) and dioxin. These chemicals found primarily in plastic bottles are very dangerous and can be harmful to the body, especially when exposed to on a consistent basis. B

Many coffee drinkers are fans of Starbucks. From the caramel macchiatos to the vanilla lattes, the taste in a cup of Starbucks coffee really packs a punch! Though the taste may be good to some coffee fiends, one can’t help but wonder if Starbucks is using GMO free ingredients in their products. Truth be told, they have made the step to cease using milk from cows injected with the artificial growth hormone rBST in 2007! It’s wonderful that they have stopped using rBST milk in their products. However, they are still giving genetically modified feed to cows. This is definitely not a wise practice for a company like Starbucks to continue to do! GMO Inside is running a petition to get Starbucks to cease giving GM feed to cows. If you want completely organic milk and dairy products from Starbucks, sign the petition NOW!

Conscious and sustainable choices in fashion can be hard to come by. Fashion designers should aim to create clothing, shoes and accessories made from natural, renewable resources. We were super hyped when we saw these amazing shoes from Sam Edelman's Circus line. These amazing flats are made from cork, the bark tissue from the Cork Oak or Quercus suber . Cork forests are primarily found in Portugal, Spain and Italy. Cork is a completely sustainable material as it is easily recyclable and emits much less carbon dioxide than other non renewable resources. The cork bark is not fully harvested until the tree reaches a prime age of approximately 40 years old. Harvesting cork entails a strict and sustainable process as no part of the cork bark is ever wasted or discarded. These spunky and chic flats are perfect for the current spring season. They are lightweight yet very durable due to the cork material. A supersonic, neon pink lining accentuates the shoe, and offers a bold an

Next on the review plate is Canadian brand-- Earth Lab Cosmetics, vegan mineral pencil. I had been looking across the seas and beyond to find a good, wholesome, chemical free eyeliner. Fortunately, this little beauty in all of its natural goodness caught my eye.  Canadian makeup brands are usually conscious companies who care about the environment and well being.  This is a really great jojoba based eyeliner pencil.  The strokes that the liner provides are thick and it quickly lines the lid.  Thinner, liquid based eyeliners require a very steady hand in order to achieve precision.  If you prefer your liner to apply like the consistency of a crayon, then this is the one for you.  This eye pencil can even be used as an eye shadow for a daring smoky eye look.   You will be able to create sultry, bold and velvety eye looks with this mineral pencil. It's so smooth and soft going on! The natural and vegan ingredients in the product make it ideal for sensitive skin or eyes. Natural makeup

The biggest faux pas that anyone can have is to be completely misinformed about a lived lifestyle when grilled about what it actually entails. People should really stop jumping on diet & lifestyle bandwagons because it makes those who actually live and know the life look bad. Jimmy Kimmel, who is obviously not very knowledgeable about eating gluten free himself, decided to take his cameras out on the road to find out if those who claimed to be gluten free really knew what gluten is. If Mr. Kimmel knew that he could still enjoy pizza---gluten free pizza that is, he probably wouldn't be so critical of the diet. An issue so very serious in nature should not be the bullseye of someone's silly, comical story lines. There are individuals living and eating gluten free due to various medical and health conditions. Some people have wheat allergies and some are just unable to tolerate gluten in their bodies. Still, it was interesting to see a few of these people who claimed